Jun 18, 2021

Laird Norton Wealth Management

Albahary

Seattle-based Laird Norton Wealth Management named financial industry veteran Ron Albahary as the firm's new chief investment officer. In the role, Albahary will serve on LNWM's executive leadership team, lead all aspects of the firm's investment strategy and research function, and manage its investment platform. Albahary takes over from Gino Perrina, who has served as CIO since 2015. Albahary has held leadership positions at Merrill Lynch and Northern Trust Private Bank, as well CIO and/or CEO positions at boutique firms focused on ultra-high-net-worth families and foundations such as Threshold Group, Legacy Advisors and Convergent Wealth Advisors.

Trupanion

Trupanion, a provider of medical insurance for cats and dogs, hired Simon Wheeler as executive vice president of international business. A 30-year veteran of the animal health industry, Wheeler will be responsible for the development of Trupanion's international growth across existing markets such as Australia and driving entry and growth into new international markets including Japan, U.K., Brazil and Western Europe. Wheeler will join Trupanion in October. He is currently managing director at Sweden-based Agria Pet Insurance. Wheeler also played key roles at Allianz Animal Health and Pinnacle Pet Health Care in the U.K. Trupanion was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Seattle. Its policies are issued in the U.S. by its wholly owned insurance entity American Pet Insurance.

Seattle Thunderbirds

The Seattle Thunderbirds will welcome hockey fans back to ShoWare Center on Oct. 9 for the season home opener against the Portland Winterhawks. T-Birds fans who purchase a 20-Flex ticket package before June 30 will receive two free tickets to the home opener. The full 2021-22 regular season schedule will be released on Wednesday. Season tickets can be purchased by calling (253) 239-7825.

ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo, a provider of market intelligence solutions, announced a partnership with Beyond Codes, a B2B demand generation company serving customers globally. This strategic partnership provides companies in India, as well as other countries in Asia, with direct access to ZoomInfo's intelligence platform. Beyond Codes is ZoomInfo's first international Solution Partner under the new ZoomInfo Partner Program, which debuted in March. The program helps companies build custom engagements with the ZoomInfo platform to help them grow their businesses. Solution Partners help other businesses increase their network by connecting them with other customers, industry influencers, integrators, sales and marketing consultants, and other organizations. ZoomInfo is headquartered in Vancouver.

Jun 17, 2021

Lane Powell

Block

Steven Block joined Lane Powell as a shareholder in the firm's Seattle office. Block comes from Foster Garvey and has more than 35 years of experience in all modes of transportation and logistics. His practice also focuses on general commercial litigation before courts and administrative bodies across the U.S. Block is an active member, and former national president, of the Association of Transportation Law Professionals. He has been ranked a Washington Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters in the area of Transportation/Maritime since 2008.

State of Oregon

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed into law House Bill 2344, requiring manufacturers of personal care and household wipes for sale in the state to clearly label “Do Not Flush” on products not intended for disposal in the toilet. Introduced in January, this legislation received broad support from the wipes industry, as well as Oregon municipal wastewater agencies. During the pandemic, many municipalities saw an increase in volumes of inappropriately flushed baby wipes, hard surface cleaning/sanitizing wipes and other items not intended to be disposed via the toilet. Similar legislation has passed in Washington state, is currently under review in California and is awaiting the governor's signature in Illinois.

Remitly

Remitly, a mobile-first provider of remittances and financial services for immigrants, announced that Robert Kaskel has joined the company in its newest leadership position — executive vice president of people. In addition to Kaskel's hire, Remitly also appointed Margaret Smyth to its board of directors. Smyth is the chief financial officer for National Grid, US, one of the world's largest investor-owned energy companies. Kaskel brings nearly 20 years of experience in human resources to Remitly, having held leadership roles with some of the nation's biggest technology companies. Most recently, Kaskel was the HR director for Finance and Global Business Services at Amazon. Prior to Amazon, Kaskel worked for Microsoft and Mattel in various human resources and organizational development positions. Established in 2011 and headquartered in Seattle, Remitly operates from numerous offices around the world.

Jun 16, 2021

T-Mobile

T-Mobile announced donations of $1 million to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation's new financial and digital literacy initiatives, and $250,000 to GLSEN's efforts aimed at making schools safer and more inclusive for LGBTQ+ students. The HRC Foundation donation will support initiatives for LGBTQ+ youth, and will provide educational resources on the basics of budgeting and financial management, as well as cyberbullying and internet safety. T-Mobile's donation to this new programming is part of its Equity In Action Plan that advances diversity, equity and inclusion across all aspects of its business. T-Mobile's donation to GLSEN will support year-round initiatives and events that provide students in grades K through 12 with a safe, supportive and LGBTQ-inclusive education, including the Rainbow Library, Respect Awards 2021-2022, Day of Silence and Solidarity Week.

CoreStack

Bellevue-based CoreStack was named the winner of the People's Choice Stevie Award in the 2021 Annual American Business Awards for Favorite New Products. This recognition endorses CoreStack's AI-powered multi-cloud governance solutions that enable enterprises to decrease cloud costs while increasing operational efficiencies by governing cloud operations, security, cost, access and resources. The People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products are a feature of The American Business Awards in which the public can vote for their favorite new products and services of the year. More than 92,000 votes were cast in people's choice categories this year. More than 3,800 nominations were submitted to this year's American Business Awards for consideration in a wide range of categories.

Puzzle Break

Puzzle Break, the first U.S.-based escape room company, announced its virtual professional development series, Excellence Unlocked. Excellence Unlocked takes teams through a variety of collaboration-based, virtual escape experiences designed to challenge and refine the group's communication tactics and problem-solving skills. Each workshop includes four game segments, two discussion periods and a final debrief that recaps the experience and gives teams the opportunity to discuss lessons learned. Led by specially-trained senior Puzzle Break facilitators, the discussion periods are placed throughout the day and provide a forum to deliberate on team progress, collaborative successes, and actionable opportunities for improvement. Puzzle Break was established in 2013 by Nate Martin and Lindsay Morse. Headquartered in Seattle, Puzzle Break has physical escape room locations in New York, Massachusetts and on Royal Caribbean cruise ships around the world. In addition to its virtual escape room offerings, Puzzle Break has also operated workplace team-building challenges at offsite meetings, retreats and corporate events.

Critical Insight

CI Security, a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service provider specializing in protecting the networks of life-saving organizations and critical infrastructure, announced the company's name change to Critical Insight. Founded by Michael Hamilton, Critical Insight assists companies, organizations, and municipalities with a personalized blend of MDR, managed, and professional services that also includes assessments, penetration testing, incident response, and vulnerability scanning.