Dec 07, 2021

Skagit Tourism Bureau

Buganski

The Skagit Tourism Bureau, created to promote the area worldwide as a travel destination, has hired Jake Buganski as the organization's first CEO. Buganski joins the organization after most recently serving as vice president of strategy at Tempest, a Philadelphia-based digital marketing and customer relationship management company for the travel and tourism industry. Prior to that, he held several public sector and government positions in the tourism industry, serving as executive director at Visit South Jersey, president and CEO of Corning and the Southern Finger Lakes, and as executive director of the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. The Skagit Tourism Bureau was formed to meet the tourism marketing needs of Skagit County, and is a collaborative effort among the lodging businesses, municipalities, chambers of commerce and the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County (EDASC) to create a strategic destination marketing organization to promote tourism to Skagit County. The EDASC will be fostering the Skagit Tourism Bureau, serving as its fiscal agent and performing other organizational duties.

Ballard FC

Ballard is set to get a new minor-league soccer team - Ballard FC. The club is founded by former Sounders FC player Lamar Neagle and former Ballard High soccer captains, Chris Kaimmer and Sam Zisette. Ballard FC plays its debut match in May 2022 and will be part of the United Soccer League (USL) League Two's Northwest Division. The team's home pitch will be Interbay Soccer Field.

Fortive

Fortive announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Clearlake Capital Group to acquire Provation Software, a provider of clinical workflow software solutions used in hospitals and Ambulatory Surgical Centers, for $1.43 billion. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the year. Founded in 1994, Provation delivers solutions to enhance clinical productivity, care coordination, and reporting and billing accuracy in order to deliver high-quality patient care. Provation currently serves more than 5,000 customers and is expected to have 2021 revenues of approximately $110 million. Fortive expects to finance the acquisition with short-term debt and available cash, and estimates the acquisition will be accretive to adjusted diluted net earnings per share by greater than $0.08 in fiscal 2022. Evercore served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Fortive. Credit Suisse and William Blair served as financial advisor and Sidley Austin served as legal counsel to Provation. Fortive is headquartered in Everett, and employs a team of more than 18,000 research and development, manufacturing, sales, distribution, service and administrative employees in more than 50 countries around the world.

Dec 03, 2021

Pacific Program Management

Perkins

Pacific Program Management (PPM) announced a new human resources operations director, Dave Perkins, has joined the company. Reporting to Deb Hamm, vice president, people, culture and operations, Perkins will be responsible for the operations function of HR for the firm, including payroll, analytics, reporting, and systems involving employee data and information. Perkins has more than 25 years of HR experience and led initiatives relating to policy design, compensation, performance management, talent acquisition, compliance reporting, HRIS implementation, HR workflow development, learning and development, and mergers and acquisitions in both large and small organizations. Prior to joining PPM, Perkins was regional director of HR operations for Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits. Founded in Seattle, PPM is a commercial real estate program and project management firm.

Holden Southcenter

Holden Southcenter, an assisted living and memory care community, has named Shane Fowler executive director. Fowler brings over 14 years of experience in senior care to his position. Most recently, he was a senior executive director for Sunrise Senior Living. Holden Southcenter offers 138 apartments, including assisted living apartments and memory care suites. Managed by Milestone Retirement Communities for the Holden Collection, an Alliance Residential company, Holden Southcenter is located at 112 Andover Park E., Tukwila.

TEGNA Foundation

TEGNA Foundation, the charitable foundation sponsored by TEGNA Inc., in partnership with local stations, announced it awarded 234 community grants to address critical community needs and initiatives. In 2021, TEGNA stations supported a variety of local causes, including providing shelter and support for those experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, education programs for at-risk youth, and programs supporting and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. In partnership with KING Seattle, grantees include 14 Seattle-based organizations, including BlackPast.org, Gathering Roots Wellness, Green Plate Special, Holocaust Center for Humanity, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, Refugee Women's Alliance, The Hub – Youth Central and more. TEGNA is a media company with 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets.

Visit Seattle

Visit Seattle hired Jessica Johnson as director of marketing. Johnson will oversee marketing initiatives and work closely with stakeholders to identify market opportunities and execute marketing campaign strategies. She will be responsible for promoting the destination and building brand awareness on behalf of the city, county, and region through multi-channel campaigns with a focus on uplifting voices of historically disadvantaged neighborhoods and BIPOC communities. With more than 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, Johnson most recently served as the director of marketing and business development at Wild Gravity. She also helped launch Votiv, a Seattle-based label, artist management and music publishing company.

Dec 02, 2021

CoreStack

CoreStack has appointed Manish Bharti, former president at UiPath, as its chief revenue officer. Manish brings more than 23 years of experience to CoreStack across market development, GTM strategy, business and technology consulting. Manish was most recently the president of UiPath India & South Asia, and was an early member of its global executive team. CoreStack, headquartered in Bellevue, is an AI-powered next generation multi-cloud governance solution, working with customers across multiple industries including financial services, healthcare, retail, education, telecommunications, technology and government. It is a recipient of the 2021 Gold Stevie American Business Awards in Cloud Infrastructure, 2021 Stratus Award as Cloud Disruptor and 2021 Globee Gold Winner as the Most Innovative Company of the Year in IT Cloud/SaaS.

Audere

Seattle-based Audere, a digital nonprofit developing software to improve global health, will participate in a study with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Jhpiego, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, MYDAWA, and University of Washington to develop and evaluate an ePharmacy platform for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis delivery in Kenya. The study is funded by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It involves partners across the global health space that will jointly design and execute a new end-to-end virtual care delivery model for HIV. The UW, in partnership with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, will lead the study's research design, data collection, analysis and dissemination. MYDAWA will create the virtual self-care model to provide individuals with online access to HIV testing, while connecting them with remote clinicians to initiate PrEP therapies. Jhpiego will provide technical assistance for PrEP services implementation and policy advocacy support.

SWITCH Maritime

SWITCH Maritime announced the world's first hydrogen fueling of a commercial marine vessel was successfully completed on Nov. 18 at All American Marine shipyard in Bellingham, and the vessel is now beginning its final sea trials before delivery. The event is a step toward decarbonization of the worldwide shipping industry and showcases the United States' energy transition away from fossil fuels. The new 75-passenger ferry, called the Sea Change, received hydrogen into its 242 kg tanks on the upper deck. It uses that hydrogen in fuel cells producing electricity to power electric motors for distances up to 300 nautical miles, and speeds up to 20 knots – similar capabilities as diesel-powered vessels – with the added benefits of zero exhaust smoke or other emissions and very little vibration and noise. The fueling follows the regulatory approval in October by the United States Coast Guard of the hydrogen powertrain and storage systems onboard the Sea Change, representing the culmination of years of cooperation with the USCG focused on safely integrating hydrogen power and storage systems on passenger vessels.

Zero Emission Industries formerly Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine, is responsible for the design and development of the first-of-its-kind maritime hydrogen and fuel cell system as well as the vessel's unique fueling system that allows it to be fueled directly from a hydrogen truck, and was responsible for the successful regulatory approvals of all hydrogen-related aspects onboard.

The Sea Change project is managed and financed by SWITCH Maritime, an impact investment firm building the first fleet of exclusively zero-carbon maritime vessels for adoption by existing ship owners and operators. It is the first of the larger zero-carbon ferry fleet that SWITCH plans to construct in 2022, in partnership with municipalities and shipowners aiming to transition to carbon-free vessels, leveraging government grant funds related to transportation decarbonization activities targeted by the landmark US infrastructure bill.