Feb 04, 2021

Northwest Seaport Alliance

The Northwest Seaport Alliance, a marine cargo operating partnership between the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma, named Dick Marzano and Fred Felleman as new co-chairs for 2021. The Northwest Seaport Alliance is overseen by a board of managing members which include the elected commissioners from the north and south harbors. Marzano recently retired after 52 years as a Tacoma longshore worker, serving as president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23 for six years. Felleman was elected to the Seattle Port Commission in 2015. He serves on the Board of Maritime Blue and the Puget Sound Regional Council's Executive Board.

Alaska Communications

Alaska Communications expanded broadband service by more than 3,700 locations in underserved areas of Alaska during 2020. The expansion was funded in part through the Federal Communications Commission Connect America Fund Phase II program. Once complete, the project will be the single largest deployment of affordable broadband under any one program in Alaska. Alaska Communications provides advanced broadband and managed IT services for businesses and consumers in Alaska.

Evolution Advisors

Global insurance broker Acrisure announced the formation of Evolution Advisors, a new joint venture to focus on the insurance needs of minority-owned businesses and diverse communities across the United States. Russell Wilson and his wife, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, Ciara, are founding partners and equity owners in the joint venture and will help guide the business and its community impact strategies. The joint venture will focus on providing greater access and more effectively distributing insurance products to minority-owned enterprises. Additionally, the joint venture will also seek to make a specific impact through community-focused efforts, building on Wilson and Ciara's work through their Why Not You Foundation, and Acrisure's focus on children's health.

Pop-Up Dining

Seattle-based Columbia Hospitality announced the inaugural Puffy Jacket Pop-Up Dining Series, a limited-time, outdoor dining experience to be held at 14 hotels, resorts and restaurants throughout Washington and Oregon. This six-week program will be held at The Dining Room at Salish Lodge & Spa, Packers Kitchen + Bar at Semiahmoo Resort, Copperleaf Restaurant at Cedarbrook, Ben Paris at The State Hotel, Hearth at The Heathman Hotel, Waterleaf Restaurant & Bar at Hotel Interurban, Jetty Bar & Grille at Hotel Indigo, JJ Hills Fresh Grill at Icicle Village, The Restaurant at Friday Harbor House, Strikers' Bar & Grille at Echo Falls Golf Club, The Clubhouse Restaurant & Bar at McCormick Woods Golf Club, The Wayfarer Restaurant & Lounge and Public Coast Brewing. The Puffy Jacket Pop-Up menus will be available every Friday and Saturday from Feb. 19 through March 27. All participating properties will adhere to Columbia Clean, a set of health, hygiene and sanitation standards, and will offer outdoor seating and extra touches, including heat lamps, blankets and fire pits.

Feb 03, 2021

Fortive

Fortive announced the appointment of Read Simmons as senior vice president of strategy and the promotion of Jonathan Schwarz to senior vice president of corporate development. Simmons will report to Jim Lico, Fortive's president and chief executive officer, and will lead Fortive's strategic development efforts, as well as growth strategies across all segments. Schwarz will continue to lead Fortive's corporate development function, and will also oversee Fortive's tax and treasury teams. Simmons comes from Vista Equity Partners, a private investment firm focused on software, data, and technology-enabled businesses. Prior to joining Vista, Simmons was a partner at Bain & Co. Fortive is a provider of technologies for connected workflow solutions and is headquartered in Everett.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse launched Lighthouse Prism, an in-house technology that uses proprietary AI and machine learning algorithms to analyze text, metadata, and prior attorney work product of documents for a contextualized understanding across an entire portfolio. Seattle-based Lighthouse provides software and services to manage enterprise data for compliance and legal teams.

Kochava

Kochava has earned the TikTok Marketing Partner designation. TikTok is a destination for short-form mobile video. TikTok For Business is the company's global platform for marketing solutions designed to give brands and marketers the tools to engage with the TikTok community. The TikTok For Business Marketing Partner Program helps connect advertisers with technology providers who can help them find success on TikTok. Kochava is a real-time data solutions company offering omni-channel measurement and attribution solutions for data-driven marketers. Kochava also hosts an independent mobile data marketplace, the Kochava Collective. Headquartered in Sandpoint, Idaho, the company has offices globally.

Feb 02, 2021

TrueBlue

Tacoma-based TrueBlue announced that its PeopleReady, PeopleScout and PeopleManagement segments all earned the Top Workplaces USA Award issued by Energage. Winners of the Top Workplaces USA list are chosen based solely on employee feedback gathered through an employee engagement survey conducted by Energage. This is the inaugural year for Top Workplaces USA, and more than 1,100 companies participated in the survey. TrueBlue is a provider of specialized workforce solutions. Its PeopleReady segment offers on-demand, industrial staffing; PeopleManagement offers contingent, on-site industrial staffing and commercial driver services; and PeopleScout offers recruitment process outsourcing and managed service provider solutions.

Klamath River Dams

RES, headquartered in Bellaire, Texas, and the Klamath River Renewal Corp. have signed a contract for RES to provide restoration services in connection with the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. The primary goal of the dam removal is the restoration of more than 400 miles of native vegetation and fish habitat along the historical, pre-dam path of the Klamath River. The design and management plans described in the agreement fulfill the criteria of regulatory agencies involved in the project, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, fisheries agencies in California and Oregon, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

City of Tacoma

The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) and their partner the American Beverage Foundation for A Healthy America, have selected Tacoma as the first place winner of the 2021 Childhood Obesity Prevention/Environmental Health and Sustainability Grants Award in the Medium City category. The City of Tacoma's Solid Waste Management will be awarded a grant for $175,000 to improve environmental health and sustainability. Through funding from the USCM, the city's Recycle Reset Project can expand its programs and offer training for residents in how to properly use the city's food and yard waste program, as well as food waste reduction techniques. Through partnerships with community organizations such as Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Pierce Conservation District, Safe Streets, and VT Radio Universal, staff will be able to offer these additional trainings in six languages.

Ellensburg Film Festival

The 2021 Ellensburg Film Festival will be a hybrid event with online ticketed screenings and, if allowed, a live encore screening later in the fall. Organizers have added new judging categories open to regional filmmakers. The Best Pacific Northwest Film Short and Best Pacific Northwest Film Feature categories were created to put the focus of the festival back on Northwest Filmmakers. To be eligible, a narrative or documentary film must have been produced in the Pacific Northwest and feature a cast and crew of at 50 percent Pacific Northwest residents. Tickets go on sale in March.