Mar 01, 2022

Dept. of Commerce

Busch

Beason

The Washington State Department of Commerce Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness appointed two new industry sector directors. Alison Beason joined the team as director/sector lead for the life science and global health industry. Carolyn Busch was appointed to the new position of director of workforce innovation and industry sector program coordinator. Beason comes to Commerce with more than 20 years of experience in public service. She will spearhead efforts to advance Gov. Jay Inslee's ongoing work to grow and strengthen scientific communities through statewide industry sector development strategies. Before joining Commerce, Beason was integral to the development of equity, diversity and inclusion at the City of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle. Beason also held strategic roles at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Busch has 30 years of experience working in public policy. She will lead the department's work to address major workforce shortages, underemployment, degree inflation and disparate work experiences by gender and race. Prior to this role, Busch served as special projects manager for King County's Department of Human Resources and as chief of staff for the King County Council. She previously worked for the Washington State Senate Democratic Caucus, initially as the policy analyst for budget and taxes and finally as chief of staff.

soona

soona, a virtual photo and video studio for e-commerce, announced it is expanding operations to the Seattle metro area as of March 1, 2022. soona allows brands to create content for e-commerce and marketing through its virtual photo and video shoot technology. The company has over 9,000 brand customers and helps businesses meet the demand for e-commerce visuals through an online platform that provides everything a brand needs to plan and experience a photoshoot and then get their content entirely online. soona's pro services marketplace connects brands with models and stylists. As part of soona's Seattle expansion, they will be adding Northwest stylists, hair and makeup, and human and pet models to their pro services marketplace. soona's Seattle studio will be headquartered in the SoDo neighborhood, 4786 1st Ave. S., Seattle WA 98134. The location is a partnership with Saltbox, a premiere co-warehousing brand for e-commerce stores. In January of 2022, soona raised $35 million in Series B funding, led by Bain Capital Ventures. This funding will be used to fuel growth in both product and capacity, led by the expansion into the Northwest market. soona was founded in 2019 by Liz Giorgi and Hayley Anderson after the successful acquisition of their first business, Mighteor.

Data I/O

Redmond-based Data I/O, a global provider of advanced data and security deployment solutions for flash-memory based intelligent devices and microcontrollers, announced that Edward Smith has joined its board of directors. Smith is the CEO of SMTC, a global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider focused on partnering with equipment manufacturers and emerging technology companies to provide the full range of end-to-end EMS services.. The addition of Smith expands the board to 6 directors, with 5 members being independent.

As CEO of SMTC since 2017, Smith led the company through 3 years of growth including a series of acquisitions until being acquired by an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital in 2021. Smith has more than 25 years' experience in the EMS industry and the electronic components distribution industry. Prior to joining SMTC, he served as president of Avnet for 7 years. Earlier, Smith served as president and chief executive officer of SMTEK International, a tier II manufacturer in the EMS industry. Smith is the founder and currently runs the We Will Never Forget charitable foundation in honor of the victims and first responders of the attacks on 9/11.

Feb 25, 2022

Maryhill Museum of Art

Maryhill Museum of Art will open for the season on March 15, 2022 with an expansive survey of contemporary Indigenous art of the last four decades. Most of the works in the exhibition Northwest/Southwest: Indigenous Art After 1980 are drawn from Maryhill's own holdings and are emblematic of the museum's commitment to collecting and exhibiting work by Indigenous American artists. The museum will also present the concurrent exhibition Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry: Silver, Turquoise, Coral, and Shell, featuring silver and turquoise jewelry by Din̩ (Navajo) and Pueblo artists. Ornithology: Avian Imagery from the Permanent Collection will showcase artworks with birds as the subject matter. Throughout the year, the museum will also present a range of exhibition-related programming either in-person or virtually, as necessitated by the pandemic. Program information can be found on the museum's website at http://www.maryhillmuseum.org. In addition to the special exhibitions mentioned above, Maryhill Museum of Art features exhibitions of more than 80 works by Auguste Rodin Рone of the largest collections in the United States РEuropean and American paintings, furnishings, personal effects and art objects from the palaces of the Queen of Romania, Orthodox icons, and a display of more than 75 chess sets from around the world. The William and Catherine Dickson Sculpture Park is home to the museum's collection of large-scale sculpture by well-known Northwest artists. Housed in a Beaux Arts mansion on 5,300 acres high above the Columbia River, Maryhill Museum of Art opened to the public May 13, 1940. The museum was founded by Northwest entrepreneur Sam Hill.

Tanium

Tanium and Carahsoft Technology announced a partnership with the common goal to help the public sector successfully manage, secure and protect networks. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as a government distributor of Tanium's endpoint management and security platform, currently available through Carahsoft's NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement V contracts and the company's reseller partners. The Tanium platform empowers IT operations and security teams to securely manage critical information stored across millions of endpoints around the world, and across a distributed workforce. Kirkland-based Tanium has been named to the Forbes Cloud 100 list of “Top 100 Private Companies in Cloud Computing” for six consecutive years and ranks on FORTUNE's list of the “Best Large Workplaces in Technology 2021.” Carahsoft Technology is a trusted government IT solutions provider supporting public sector organizations across federal, state and local government agencies and education and healthcare markets.

Feb 24, 2022

Bellevue Arts Museum

Whittington

Bellevue Arts Museum's Board of Trustees appointed E. Michael Whittington as executive director of the museum. Whittington most recently served as president and CEO of Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA), where he launched a strategic plan that led to new levels of artistic and financial success for the organization. Prior to his enure at OKCMOA, Whittington served as executive director at Monterey Museum of Art. Outgoing interim executive director Leigh Ann More led Bellevue Arts Museum for the past ten months. Whittington's appointment comes as the museum looks forward to celebrating the 76th anniversary of its signature Arts Fair, which will resume as a live event following last year's virtual marketplace. Whittington will assume the role of executive director on March 14, 2022.

tru Independence

Portland-based tru Independence, a national financial advisory partnership platform that provides independent advisors with the dedicated back-office, compliance, marketing, and investment services needed to operate independently, has appointed financial services industry veteran Amit Dogra as president of the organization. With 24 affiliated firms and approximately $8 billion in assets, tru offers wirehouse and RIA advisory teams Independence Optimized, a business model focused on driving an advisor's growth by delivering and implementing a leading-edge technology experience and amplifying an advisor's brand and story through a full-service marketing offering. In his new role, Dogra will oversee the evolution of the tru business model, as well as a mandate to accelerate the growth and recognition of the platform with financial advisory teams nationwide. Throughout his career, Dogra has held executive leadership posts at Sanctuary Wealth, Third Seven Advisors, HighTower, BNY Mellon and Brinker Capital, among others. Founded in 2014, tru Independence is a leader in delivering independence optimized for established wealth management firms and RIAs seeking to grow their business.

Spaceflight

Spaceflight, a global launch services provider, announced that it was named one of Via Satellite's 10 Hottest Companies in Satellite for 2022. The company's Sherpa-NG orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) program is also a finalist for Via Satellite's 2021 Satellite Technology of the Year (STOTY) award. In 2021, Spaceflight launched three Sherpa OTVs, including its first Sherpa-FX and the industry's first electric propulsion OTV, Sherpa-LTE1. Via Satellite's editors selected Spaceflight as one of the 10 Hottest Companies based on expected activity in 2022 and traits such as generating industry excitement, expanding market share, making ground-breaking deals, and innovating transformation technology. The selection of Sherpa-NG as one of six finalists for Via Satellite's STOTY award distinguishes Spaceflight and its Sherpa technology as innovators disrupting the market, meeting significant market demand. 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.