Aug 04, 2022

Departpment of Corrections

Holbrook

Obenland

Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Cheryl Strange announced the retirement of Mike Obenland as the assistant secretary of the men's prisons division. Obenland has been with DOC for 33 years. He started his career in 1989 as a correctional officer at Clallam Bay Corrections Center. He served in a variety of leadership roles across the department including superintendent of Clallam Bay Corrections Center and superintendent of Monroe Correctional Complex. Strange also announced the appointment of Donald Holbrook to the position of assistant secretary of the men's prisons division. Holbrook began his career as a correctional officer at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla in 1989. During his 32-year career, he has been promoted through the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and in 2014, was appointed superintendent for the Washington State Penitentiary. Most recently, Holbrook served as the interim deputy assistant secretary for the men's prison division with a primary focus on managing DOC's emergency COVID response across the 12 prisons.

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors hired several new team members, encompassing a variety of areas including client service, wealth advisory and business development. Bordeaux is expanding its team to support the firm's growth in new clients. New team members include associate wealth advisors Miles Amodeo, Justin Dime, and Yanxiao “Chloe” Li, as well as client service associate John Tashjian and business development officer Sean van der Wal. These new employees are based in the firm's Seattle and Silicon Valley offices. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors provides custom and comprehensive financial and investment advisory services to ultra-high net worth clients across the U.S.

Sound Transit

Sound Transit appointed Eric Beckman as Portfolio Services Office executive director. The Portfolio Services Office is focused on maintaining key project delivery functions and standards in efficiently building, activating and operating a safe, high-quality transit system, with emphasis on transparency and consistency. Beckman reports to Sound Transit Deputy CEO Kimberly Farley. Beckman joined Sound Transit in 2003 as a project manager supporting ST Express and Sounder services before he became a Sounder project director. He recently served as the deputy executive director in the agency's Department of Design, Engineering and Construction Management, overseeing the Business and Construction Services Division. Earlier in his career Beckman worked as an independent design and construction management consultant, as a senior civil engineer for Carter and Burgess, and as a project manager for the King County Department of Transportation. He is a registered professional civil engineer and earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Washington.

Aug 03, 2022

Paseo

Paseo will open a new location at 6160 E. Lake Sammamish Parkway S.E., Issaquah, in the Lake Sammamish Shopping Center. Paseo owner Ryan Santwire is leasing the 1,500-square-foot space which previously housed a Papa John's. Designed to be a tropical getaway in the typically rainy Pacific Northwest, Paseo Issaquah interiors boast a color scape of bright teals, yellows, and pinks paired with the greenery of live tropical plants and neon lights. The remodel was overseen by Kristie Kucur of Plum Project Services and Rob Henken of Premier General Contracting. The grand opening celebration will be on Aug. 13 at 10 a.m. Paseo Issaquah is the fourth Paseo in the Puget Sound region. Other locations include Seattle's Fremont and SoDo neighborhoods and the Microsoft Redmond Campus. Paseo employs more than 50 local residents and is currently hiring. Featuring Caribbean-infused food, and its trademark sandwiches, Paseo has been operating in the Seattle community for more than 25 years.

Frazier Healthcare

Frazier Healthcare Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm focused exclusively on the health care industry, announced that Amy DuRoss has joined the firm's growth buyout team as a senior advisor. In this role, DuRoss will help the firm build and execute investment strategies to serve the growing pharmaceutical and life sciences markets. This work will be complementary to DuRoss' new role as president, cell and gene therapies for CSafe Global, a Frazier portfolio company. She brings over 25 years of entrepreneurial, corporate development, and patient advocacy experience in precision and personalized medicine. Prior to joining Frazier and CSafe Global, DuRoss was the co-founder and CEO of Vineti, an enterprise software platform digitizing the chain of identity and chain of custody requirements for CGT products.Vineti was incubated at GE Ventures, where DuRoss served as a managing director focused on equity investing and new business creation prior to co-founding Vineti. Before GE Ventures, DuRoss served as the chief business officer at Navigenics, a personalized genomics company. Prior to Navigenics, she was the co-founder, co-author, and executive director of California's stem cell research ballot initiative, which led to the launch of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Founded in 1991, Frazier has offices in Seattle, and Menlo Park, California, and invests across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Aug 02, 2022

Alaska Power & Telephone

Alaska Power & Telephone ‘s subsidiary APT Wireless has been selected by the US Department of Agriculture to receive a $29,344,717 grant award from USDA Rural Utility Service's ReConnect grant program. The grant will be used to expand fiber optic connectivity in communities on Prince of Wales Island. AP&T will invest $9,781,573 in matching private funds. The project, called “SEALink South,” will involve developing fiber optic networks in the remote, rural communities of Craig, Klawock, and Hollis, helping to enhance telecommunication resiliency for residents throughout the Tongass National Forest region. AP&T estimates a marine route survey, permitting, and environmental review activities will occur in 2023. Construction would occur between 2024 and 2027, depending on timing of environmental and permit approvals. A diverse group of indigenous and environmental stakeholders rallied around AP&T's application with letters of support, including the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Sealaska, the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, Sitka Conservation Society, Klawock Cooperative, Craig Tribal Association, and Shaan-Seet. Alaska Power & Telephone Company is an employee- and investor-owned utility providing utility services in over 40 communities in rural Alaska.

DigniFi

Bellevue-based DigniFi, a fintech platform for the automotive industry, announced a new partnership with asset manager Brigade Capital Management. Among other investments across the fixed income spectrum, Brigade provides tailored capital solutions to specialty finance companies, as well as capital markets expertise and access to a broad network of institutional investors. This initial recapitalization enables DigniFi to execute its three-year growth strategy centered on operational stability, product development and commercialization, and expansion into transportation-adjacent markets and ecosystems. A representative from Brigade will join DigniFi's Board of Directors as an advisor and observer.

Schnitzer Steel

Schnitzer Steel Industries' Board of Directors appointed Richard Peach, the company's executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief strategy officer, to serve as the company's executive vice president and chief strategy officer, with expansion of scope and responsibility. Peach has served as Schnitzer's CFO since 2007. Prior to joining Schnitzer in 2007, Peach was CFO at PacifiCorp, an energy utility in the Western United States. The board also appointed Stefano Gaggini, the company's vice president, deputy chief financial officer, and chief accounting officer, to serve as the company's senior vice president and chief financial officer. Gaggini has served in his current position since September 2018, and has been the company's principal accounting officer since December 2013. Gaggini is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Oregon and prior to joining the company in 2011 worked for KPMG, a public accounting firm, in Portland and Zurich, Switzerland. Additionally, the board appointed Mark Schuessler, the company's vice president, accounting and reporting, to serve as the company's vice president and chief accounting officer. Schuessler has served in his current position since April 2021 after holding various roles in the company's SEC Reporting and Technical Accounting department. Prior to joining the company in November 2011, Schuessler was an audit manager at Perkins & Co. He is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Oregon. The new appointments are effective September 1, 2022. Schnitzer Steel is a manufacturer and exporter of recycled metal products, with operating facilities located in 25 states, Puerto Rico, and Western Canada. The Portland-based company began operations in 1906.