Mar 12, 2021

City of Tacoma

Tacoma District 1 Councilmember John Hines received a Certificate of Municipal Leadership from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC). AWC's Certificate of Municipal Leadership program recognizes city and town elected officials for accomplishing training in four core areas: roles, responsibilities and legal requirements; public sector resource management; community planning and development; and effective local leadership. Hines completed more than 30 hours of training credits to earn this distinction. He has served on the Tacoma City Council since January 2020. Founded in 1933, AWC is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation that represents Washington's 281 cities and towns before the state legislature, the state executive branch, and with regulatory agencies.

Fortive

Fortive has appointed Daniel Comas to its Board of Directors. Comas served as executive vice president of Danaher from April 2005 through December 2020, including as chief financial officer through December 2018. Comas currently serves as an advisor to Danaher and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Fortive also announced that Steven Rales and Mitchell Rales will not seek re-election to the board at the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders in June 2021 when their current terms will expire. Fortive is a provider of technologies for connected workflow solutions across a range of end-markets, and is headquartered in Everett.

Smartsheet

Bellevue-based Smartsheet announced Sonnedix, a global solar Independent Power Producer, selected Smartsheet to help implement new initiatives around training, remote work, and health and safety. Sonnedix develops, builds, owns and operates more than 330 solar plants in eight countries. In response to the shift to remote working, Sonnedix's HR team created a portal with resources that allow employees to request and receive training. Global employees can now book and be approved for training sessions with Smartsheet automation.

Mar 11, 2021

Lockton Washington

Lockton Companies, an independent insurance brokerage and risk management firm, hired Peter Tran, a property risk management expert, as senior vice president. Since opening its Washington practice last year, Lockton has bolstered its local presence and Seattle-based Real Estate and Employee Benefits client service teams. Tran most recently served as a vice president and Real Estate Practice Group lead with Seattle brokerage firm Parker, Smith & Feek. With 20 years of experience developing risk management solutions for property owners, developers, contractors, and managers, Tran specializes in affordable housing insurance and non-profit housing development.

BitTitan

BitTitan, the developer of MigrationWiz and a provider of managed services automation, announced Manoj Kalyanaraman as the company's new vice president of product and engineering. Kalyanaraman will be headquartered in BitTitan's Singapore office. He joined BitTitan in 2019 as a director of engineering and site leader. Prior to joining BitTitan, Kalyanaraman held the role of chief technology officer for the hospitality industry's Next Story Group. His experience includes an extended tenure with Intuit in India and the United States. At Intuit, he led a global engineering organization, heading the TurboTax suite of products for the United States and Canadian markets. BitTitan has offices in Seattle and Singapore.

JND Legal Administration

Legal management and administration company, JND Legal Administration has again been named as the Best Class Action Claims Administrator by U.S. attorneys and legal service providers, as published in the National Law Journal's ‘Best of 2021' annual reader survey. The NLJ ‘Best of 2021' is the 10th annual edition of the national survey and lists the nation's top providers across more than 60 legal service categories. The survey recognizes best-in-class service providers and functions as a vendor guide for law firms and businesses in search of peer-approved legal products and services. The ‘Best of' survey is open to readers of the Journal. Survey winners are determined by popular vote. Founded in 2016 by Jennifer Keough, Neil Zola and David Isaac, JND has offices in Washington, California, Minnesota, New York and Washington, D.C.

Plunk

Bellevue-based Plunk, a mobile app using AI, machine learning, and computer vision to help homeowners increase their home's value, announced its launch. Plunk is led by tech, data science, and real estate industry veterans Brian Lent, David Bluhm, and Mike Shapiro. The Plunk app features include real-time valuation and recommendations of specific remodeling projects that will have the most impact on a home's value and provide the greatest returns. Plunk co-founder and CEO Lent has worked with companies such as Amazon, Nokia, IBM, and HERE Technologies. Bluhm, co-founder and president, has spent over three decades building and growing tech startups. Shapiro, investor and managing director at Plunk was the co-founder and CEO of HOM, which later merged with Pacific Sotheby's International Realty. As part of its initial rollout, Plunk will be available in the greater Seattle area.

Mar 10, 2021

City of Seattle

The city of Seattle's Department of Education & Early Learning is seeking an Early Learning Program Specialist who will monitor and assess the quality of child care and early learning programs that contract with the department. In addition, this person will provide technical assistance and training as needed to support programs in meeting the department's program quality standards. The city is accepting applications for this position until 4:00 pm on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Additional information is available at governmentjobs.com/careers/seattle/jobs/2990732/early-learning-program-specialist.

Hunter Communications

Hunter Communications, a fiber-optic communications services provider in southern Oregon and northern California, has been awarded $19.2 million through the Federal Communication Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction. Hunter will deploy 100% fiber-optic broadband networks to offer internet services to 5,771 underserved homes and businesses in rural Oregon and northern California communities. Founded in 1992, Hunter is headquartered in Medford.

Strike Graph

Seattle-based Strike Graph, a compliance automation startup, announced the launch of its new AI technology platform. The first feature on the new Strike Graph AI platform is the ability to answer each question on a company's security questionnaire based upon an organization's security habits and procedures. Launched in October 2020, Strike Graph was built to help companies successfully pass their cybersecurity audit. Strike Graph customers can scope the correct size audit, adjust controls, and complete and maintain a security certification with an internationally recognized auditor. For each security questionnaire, Strike Graph produces a unique security report that provides the answer for each question and a verification of the security activity to support the answer.