Sep 17, 2021

DreamBox Learning

Education technology provider DreamBox Learning announced new expansions and partnerships with school district customers, including Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland and East Baton Rouge Parish School System. The districts join DreamBox during a year of expansion into the K-12 English Language Arts market with the acquisitions of Reading Plus and Squiggle Park. DreamBox now delivers personalized and adaptive math and reading learning experiences to nearly 6 million students. DreamBox adapts and differentiates in real time based not only on students' answers, but also on how they solve problems. Along with actionable reporting and tools that empower differentiation for all learners, DreamBox gives teachers content-specific professional development and provides administrators with insights about how all students are progressing. The company's platform has won more than 40 top education and technology industry awards. DreamBox Learning was founded in 2006 in Bellevue

Alaska DIRECTV

Streaming services through DIRECTV STREAM, formerly known as AT&T TV, are now available to all Alaskans through Alaska Communications. As an authorized reseller of DIRECTV STREAM, Alaskans in and out of Alaska Communications' service footprint can watch local, national and premium channels anytime, anywhere on their phone, tablet or television. Alaska Communications, an affiliate of ATN International, is a provider of advanced broadband and managed IT services for businesses and consumers in Alaska. The company operates an advanced statewide data network connecting Alaska to the contiguous U.S.

Spaceflight

Spaceflight, a leader in global launch services, announced a new mission: “GEO Pathfinder.” As a secondary payload on board Intuitive Machines' IM-2 South Pole Mission, Spaceflight will execute rideshare deployments in trans-lunar orbit, low-lunar orbit and beyond to geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO). Spaceflight will utilize a lunar flyby with its new propulsive transfer vehicle, Sherpa EScape (Sherpa-ES), to deliver a payload from GeoJump, a new company dedicated to providing smallsat rideshare opportunities to GEO, that will also contain an Orbit Fab in-space fueling payload. The mission is slated to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 no earlier than Q4 2022. Spaceflight's rideshare missions allow customers to quickly access lunar orbits affordably, and allow customers to reach farther destinations in the solar system. Spaceflight has flown three Sherpa OTVs on two different missions in 2021, successfully deploying all 50 customer spacecraft. Based in Seattle, Spaceflight has successfully launched hundreds of satellites and is a part of the Mitsui & Co. portfolio, operating as an independent, U.S.-based company.

Sep 16, 2021

Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications Kevin Martinez announced that the Mariners and Bonneville Seattle Media Group have agreed upon a multi-year extension to keep 710 ESPN Seattle as the flagship radio station for Mariners baseball. The 2022 season will be the 32nd year that 710 AM has been the Mariners radio home. The Mariners have been broadcasting on 710 ESPN Seattle since the station's transition to an all-sports format in 2009, and KIRO-AM was the team's home from 1985-2002. In addition to broadcasting all 162 games during the regular season, the Mariners year-round presence on 710 ESPN Seattle includes programming featuring Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto, manager Scott Servais as well as new weekly shows showcasing Mariners coaches, players, broadcasters and staff. Coverage also includes podcasts, pre- and post-game radio shows, the weekly Mariners Magazine on Sunday's during the season, the Hot Stove League Show in the winter, the Cactus League Report during spring training and spring training game broadcasts.

YouthCare

YouthCare, a Seattle-based nonprofit focused on ending youth homelessness, hired Colleen Echohawk as interim chief executive officer. In the interim CEO role, Echohawk will work in close partnership with the board of directors, lead the staff, and further facilitate YouthCare's strategic direction and programming in support of youth experiencing homelessness. YouthCare offers more than 19 programs focused on housing, education and employment, wellness, and community. Prior to this role, Echohawk served as executive director of Chief Seattle Club. She is the founder of the Coalition to End Urban Indigenous Homelessness, a board trustee for the Seattle Foundation, a co-founder of Headwater People Consulting and a board member for KUOW Public Radio. Echohawk is an enrolled member of Kithehaki Band of the Pawnee Nation and a member of the Upper Athabascan people of Mentasta Lake. YouthCare will continue its search for a permanent CEO and more details about the executive search process will appear on the organization's website as new information becomes available.

Amazon

Amazon announced that it is providing an additional 4,500 local employment opportunities throughout Washington on top of the 40,000 corporate and technology jobs recently announced. The roles in fulfillment and transportation offer an average starting wage of more than $18 per hour, and up to $22.50 per hour in some locations. Jobs are available in several cities across Washington and hiring for the new roles is already underway. Interested candidates can apply at http://www.amazon.com/apply. Amazon is also hiring for positions at Amazon Fresh store locations in Washington state. Interested candidates can apply for those positions online at http://www.amazonstores.jobs. Amazon has 80 fulfillment centers, sortation centers, regional air hubs, and delivery stations in Washington and will open four more buildings this month. Amazon was recently named by LinkedIn as the No. 1 company where Americans want to work and develop their careers.

Vouched

Seattle-based Vouched, a developer of proprietary, AI-powered, real-time identity verification, announced that Steve McQuade has joined the company as chief technology officer. McQuade will accelerate development of the company's patent-pending identity verification AI, and scale both the engineering team and international capability for the company's global expansion. McQuade previously headed technology at TUNE as the vice president of engineering and operations. Prior to TUNE, he served as vice president of engineering at Yapta and AudienceScience, and held senior technology management roles at the Walt Disney Internet Group.

Sep 15, 2021

Edifecs

Edifecs, a health information technology solutions company, announced that it has acquired Talix, an information technology company that provides risk and quality solutions to healthcare payers and providers. Talix provides health plans with a natural language processing-enabled risk adjustment coding, retrieval, and analytics platform to improve coding accuracy, efficiency, and overall revenue integrity of their programs. Talix also helps providers identify, document, and code risk-adjusted conditions accurately at the Point-of-Care. By integrating Talix's technology with Edifecs' signature Encounter Management solution, Edifecs will provide the opportunity for customers to operate risk adjustment processes more efficiently for Medicare Advantage, Managed Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act products. Edifecs is headquartered in Bellevue, with additional offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Mohali, India, an engineering center in Moldova, and has more than 750 employees globally.

CU Servnet

CU Servnet, a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) dedicated to mortgage loan servicing, announced that BECU senior vice president of mortgage lending, Lorraine Stewart, has been appointed to chair of its board of directors. CU Servnet shapes the design and execution of the mortgage loan servicing experience for credit unions. The CUSO has partnered with Cenlar, a mortgage loan subservicer since 2005. Stewart has more than 35 years of experience in mortgage banking. She joined BECU in January 2014. Prior to BECU, she held leadership positions in production support, fulfillment operations and strategic analysis and business development with depository institutions and independent mortgage bankers. In addition to her mortgage lending role at BECU, Stewart is the executive sponsor of the credit union's Veterans Employee Resource Group and is actively engaged in the credit union's equity and inclusion work. She is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association D&I Advisory Committee and serves on the board of Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County.

Rural Alaska Internet

Nearly 12,000 rural Alaskans in 23 communities along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers will receive high-speed internet for the first time, if the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approves requests for tribal broadband grants. The Alaska FiberOptic Project, a collaboration between Calista Corporation, Doyon, Limited, Gana-A ‘Yoo Limited and Alaska Communications, would connect one of the most underserved regions in the United States with a fiber-optic cable that would be the foundation for expanding broadband to communities in the region. It would offer Gigabit service in communities that today cannot access virtual meetings, online classes, telehealth, or online jobs. The proposed project would create a fiber optic network that starts at Fort Yukon, ends in Napakiak and connects to Alaska Communications core network in Fairbanks. The Alaska FiberOptic Project would also deploy fiber-to-the-home in each of the 23 communities served on the route. Grant applications were submitted to the NTIA Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program Sept. 1. NTIA expects to award grants by the end of 2021. If awarded, the project would be complete in 2024.