Jul 22, 2020

City of Tacoma

Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell will retire at the end of the year. Ramsdell joined the Tacoma Police Department in 1985 as a patrol officer and advanced through the ranks to become chief in 2003. He is the longest-serving police chief in the department's history. He will spend the next several months helping to ensure a smooth leadership transition as the city searches for a replacement.

Washington Wine Industry Foundation

The Washington Wine Industry Foundation said Todd Newhouse of Upland Vineyards and retired winemaker Bob Betz of Betz Family Winery will develop the fifth wine in its Collaboration Series, which pairs pioneers of the Washington state wine industry. Each year, 20 cases of wine are made to showcase the collaboration between grower and vintner. Upland Vineyards, on over 800 acres of Sunnyside's Snipes Mountain, will use grenache grapes that were planted in 2000 for the collaboration. Woodinville-based Betz Family Winery is now owned by Steve and Bridgit Griessel, with Bob Betz serving as a consultant. Sales of the collaboration wine will support scholarships and other industry efforts.

Boise Cascade

In Idaho, Boise Cascade Co. priced an offering of $400 million in 4.88% senior notes due in 2030. The notes will be guaranteed by certain Boise Cascade subsidiaries. The company intends to use the proceeds, and existing cash, to redeem all of its outstanding 5.63% senior notes due in 2024, to pay off a term loan of $45 million, and to pay fees and expenses related to the current note offering. The deal is expected to close July 27. Boise Cascade produces engineered wood products and plywood in North America, and distributes building products.

Microsoft

Redmond-based Microsoft is partnering with Citrix Systems of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to help companies move to the cloud and adopt digital workspaces and virtual desktops. The companies say more organizations are making remote work permanent. Under the terms of the multi-year deal, Microsoft is using Citrix Workspace as a preferred digital workspace and Citrix is using Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform.

MultiCare

MultiCare Health System last week held its annual Nurse Camp online due to the pandemic. The program gives about 100 South Sound high school students in-depth exposure to nursing and other health care professions. In the past, it was held at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital. This year, students were mailed kits with items to practice splinting, gowning and gloving to enhance their hands-on learning experience in a virtual symposium.

Jul 21, 2020

Anitian

Rakesh Narasimhan is the new CEO of Beaverton, Oregon-based cloud security company Anitian. Narasimhan has over 30 years of experience with enterprise software and data infrastructure at companies that include Microsoft, Oracle and Citrix, as well as multiple venture-based startups. Most recently, he was president and COO of Spaceflight Industries. As a result of the appointment, Anitian founder and former CEO Andrew Plato has become chief technology officer.

Telstra

Australian telecommunications and technology company Telstra is expanding its network infrastructure in the U.S. by increasing bandwidth capacity on its trans-Pacific subsea cables, upgrading circuits for more resiliency, and opening two new connection points — one in Los Angeles and the other in Hillsboro, Oregon. The company also recently launched a connection point in Seattle. The moves are expected to increase bandwidth by more than 1.5 terabytes in the next six months.

U-Haul

Better Properties of America signed up as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer of rental trucks, trailers, towing equipment and moving supplies in Lakewood. The company is at 14440 Union Ave. S.W., Unit 1. Jeff Von Schmauder is the owner.

Amazon

Seattle-based Amazon plans to open an 820,000-square-foot fulfillment center next year in Pflugerville, Texas. In the center, employees will work alongside robots to pick, pack and ship small items such as books, electronics and toys. The development will create about 1,000 new full-time jobs.

PacStar

Aruba honored Pacific Star Communications as its 2020 Federal Partner of the Year in the Top Channel Partner awards program. PacStar was recognized for its 17-year history of large-scale, Aruba-based Wi-Fi deployments in U.S. federal installations. Portland-based PacStar develops and supplies communications solutions for military, intelligence and commercial applications. Aruba is a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.