May 12, 2021

Oregon Tool

Blount, a global manufacturer of professional grade cutting tools and equipment, has rebranded as Oregon Tool. The company was founded by Joe Cox in 1947 in the basement of his Portland home. Over the years, the company has grown into a multinational organization with numerous acquisitions and mergers. Today, the newly named Oregon Tool has over 3,000 team members and sells thousands of products in more than 110 countries across multiple consumer brands, among them Oregon, Woods and ICS Diamond Tools.

The shift from Blount to Oregon Tool will be effective June 2. The brands and product names will remain the same – they will simply operate under the umbrella of Oregon Tool instead of Blount.

Amazon

Amazon released its 2020 Brand Protection Report which provides a comprehensive view of how it ensures customers shop from authentic products in its stores. Amazon makes investments in dedicated teams and machine learning technology to proactively protect customers, brands and its selling partners from counterfeiters, and to hold them accountable if they attempt to sell fakes through Amazon. In 2020, Amazon invested more than $700 million and employed more than 10,000 people to protect its stores from fraud and abuse. Only 6% of attempted account registrations passed Amazon's verifications processes and listed products for sale, and Amazon seized more than 2 million products that were sent to its fulfillment centers and that it detected as counterfeit before being sent to a customer. Amazon established its Counterfeit Crimes Unit to build and refer cases to law enforcement, undertake independent investigations or joint investigations with brands, and pursue civil litigation against counterfeiters.

USAFacts

Bellevue-based USAFacts, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan civic initiative making government data easy for all Americans to access and Understand, announced its Coronavirus Tracking Hub and Interactive Map earned an Innovation Services Gold Medal in the 2021 Edison Awards. It also won an honorable mention in the Pandemic Response category of this year's Fast Company World Changing Ideas competition. Both awards recognize the work that the USAFacts team did to inform the public throughout the global pandemic.

USAFacts Coronavirus Tracking Hub and Interactive Hub is still live on USAFacts and has been expanded to include a state-level vaccine tracker. USAFacts produces topical content throughout the year. The Edison Awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison, and are operated by Edison Universe, a non-profit organization with the mission of recognizing, honoring and fostering innovations and innovators.

May 11, 2021

Ziply Fiber

Ziply Fiber announced plans to bring gig-speed fiber internet service to an additional 22 markets across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana this calendar year. This expansion will focus mostly on smaller and rural towns, and is part of the company's multi-year $500 million investment in its network and improved service in both urban and rural settings throughout the region. Ziply Fiber recently launched fiber service in Moscow, Idaho, the company's 16th new fiber market since it began its four-state fiber expansion last spring, after acquiring the Northwest assets of Frontier Communications for $1.35 billion. Since that time, the company has hired more than 400 new employees and has laid more than 1,000 miles of new fiber to help improve internet connectivity in rural areas to be on par with larger metropolitan areas. Ziply Fiber is headquartered in Kirkland, and has offices in Everett, Washington; Beaverton, Oregon; and Hayden, Idaho. Most of Ziply Fiber's executive team consists of former executives from AT&T, CenturyLink and Wave Broadband.

Fortive

Everett-based Fortive has promoted Justin McElhattan and Tami Newcombe to group president. McElhattan joined Fortive in connection with Fortive's acquisition of Industrial Scientific in 2017, where he has served as president since 2007. McElhattan has led the growth and profitability of Fortive's Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) businesses with the acquisitions of Intelex, SAFER Systems, and ehsAI. As group president, McElhattan will drive the growth of Fortive's EHS businesses. Newcombe has served in a series of roles, most recently as president of Tektronix, to drive improvements across all aspects of Fortive's business at Tektronix. As part of her expanded responsibilities within Fortive, Newcombe will oversee Fortive's business operations in India. She will also serve as Chair of the Fortive Inclusion & Diversity Council.

Clearwater Paper

Clearwater Paper announced that Christine Vickers Tucker has been elected to the company's board of directors. Vickers Tucker is vice president and general manager of the Professional Products business at The Clorox Company and has lead Clorox's Professional Products Company since October 2014. Vickers Tucker started her career in financial services and since joining Clorox has served in roles of increasing scope and responsibility. Vickers Tucker has been appointed to the class of directors whose term of office will expire at the 2023 annual meeting. With this addition, Clearwater Paper's board will consist of nine directors, eight of whom meet New York Stock Exchange standards for independence. Spokane-based Clearwater Paper manufactures consumer tissue, away-from-home tissue, parent roll tissue, bleached paperboard and pulp at manufacturing facilities across the nation.

May 07, 2021

State of Washington

Galuska

The Governor's Salmon Recovery Office has named Olympia resident and long-time environmental advocate Tara Galuska to coordinate the state's orca recovery efforts. As orca recovery coordinator, Galuska will be working with partners to help implement recommendations of Gov. Jay Inslee's Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force and tracking accomplishments. Southern resident killer whales, or orcas, have decreased in numbers from 98 in 1995 to 75 as of February, causing them to be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. In 2018, Inslee created the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force to look for ways to improve the plight of orcas. The task force met for nearly two years and recommended 49 actions, many of which are being implemented now individually by state agencies and others. Galuska manages the Salmon Recovery Section of the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. Before that, she was an environmental specialist and planner for two other state natural resource agencies, working on water quality studies.

Tanium

Kirkland-based Tanium, a provider of endpoint management and security built for IT environments, announced the appointment of Marc Levine as chief financial officer. At Tanium, he'll oversee the global finance team and finance-related operational functions. Most recently, Levine was CFO of RSA Security, where he led the company's transition from a Dell subsidiary to a standalone operation. Prior to RSA, he held leadership roles at software company C3.ai, Athenahealth and JDA Software, now Blue Yonder. Levine started his career at Hewlett Packard, spending 25 years with the business in a number of financial and operational leadership positions.

Axia Home Loans

Axia Home Loans, headquartered in Bellevue, extended its market reach with a Hawaii expansion, which will be led by industry veteran and Hawaii native Byron Yap. Axia Home Loans' Hawaii Branch will focus on originations in Maui but has plans for a continued expansion into other neighboring Hawaiian Islands. Founded in 2007, Axia Home Loans is a 100 percent employee-owned company. “Mortgage Executive” magazine named Axia one of America's top 100 mortgage companies, three years in a row.

KING TV

Media company TEGNA announced that KING 5, its NBC affiliate in Seattle, has been nominated for a Peabody Award, which honors the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media during 2020. In the Public Service category, KING 5 was nominated for “Facing Race,” a multi-part series that explores issues of racial injustice and inequality in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. The “Facing Race” team includes executive producer Christin Ayers, anchor/host Joyce Taylor, reporter Taylor Mirfendereski, producer Keely Walker, senior digital producer Allison Sundell, video editor Kevin Glantz, content editor Susannah Frame, and photojournalists Ryan Beard and Michael Botsford. Dozens of KING 5 reporters, photojournalists, technical staff, and marketing team members also contributed to the series. The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.