Sep 15, 2022

Gordon & Rees

Hughbanks

William Hughbanks joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as senior counsel in the firm's Spokane office. He joins the Construction practice group. Hughbanks focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on construction related matters. He regularly assists clients at the outset of a construction project by reviewing, negotiating and developing contract documents to protect the clients' interest. He also counsels his clients in preparing claims and evaluating liability when a dispute arises on a project. He most recently served as president and CEO of the Inland Pacific Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors. Hughbanks handles matters before the federal and state courts of Washington, Idaho and Montana and also in administrative courts of those states. He earned his law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law. Founded in 1974, Gordon Rees has offices and attorneys in all 50 states.

North Seattle College

North Seattle College has earned a STARS Silver rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. With more than 900 participants in 40 countries, AASHE's STARS program is recognized for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university's sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: 1) academics 2) engagement, 3) operations, 4) planning and administration, and 5) innovation and leadership. AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future. It provides resources, professional development and a network of support to enable institutions of higher education to model and advance sustainability in everything they do, from governance and operations to education and research.

Madrona

Madrona, a Seattle-based venture capital firm, announced it raised $690 million across two oversubscribed funds for technology startups based in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. With more than 25 years of experience building companies with founders from pre-seed onward, 100% of existing institutional investors supported the firm's new funds — $430 million Madrona Fund 9 and $260 million Acceleration Fund 3. Madrona Fund 9 will focus on its strategy of supporting Pacific Northwest-based pre-seed, seed, and Series A founders to help them build and scale throughout their company journey. Historically, over 80% of Madrona's core fund portfolio companies are based in the Pacific Northwest. Acceleration Fund 3 will focus on investing in teams that have found product-market fit, generally at the Series B or C stage, and are at a growth inflection point. About half of Madrona's Acceleration Fund companies are in major tech centers across the country, including Silicon Valley, New York City and Salt Lake City. This news follows the appointment Karan Mehandru as Madrona's new managing director. Mehandru, an experienced venture capitalist with strong ties to Seattle, will be based in Madrona's new Palo Alto office.

Sep 14, 2022

Standard Insurance

Werkman

Portland-based Standard Insurance (The Standard) announced that Gary Werkman has been hired as assistant vice president of corporate tax. Werkman will develop and lead a team of tax professionals who work with the company's financial reporting and operations personnel to achieve efficiencies in The Standard's tax compliance, planning and information reporting requirements. Werkman joins The Standard after more than 22 years of corporate tax experience with Transamerica, most recently as senior director of tax. Previously, he managed statutory tax accounting for Transamerica's largest life insurance company. In business since 1906, The Standard is a family of companies providing financial protection products and services for employers and individuals. The Standard is the marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, and its subsidiaries: Standard Insurance, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, StanCorp Mortgage Investors, StanCorp Investment Advisers, StanCorp Real Estate, and StanCorp Equities.

City of Tacoma

Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards announced a new partnership with Comcast to invest in and support families, students, and small businesses owned by people of color in the region. A total of $300,000 in new funding will be awarded by Comcast to Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce for the Thrive Tacoma Business Fund, and TeamWrk. The contributions are part of Project UP, Comcast's $1 billion commitment to reach tens of millions of people over the next 10 years by providing the tools, resources, and skills needed to succeed in a digital world.

NuScale Power

NuScale Power and Habboush Group (HG) have entered into an agreement forming a strategic alliance that establishes a “one-stop-shop” for the financing, investment, development, execution, and management of NuScale-powered projects and opportunities. This new globally-oriented, strategic alliance between NuScale and HG – along with energy transition platform ENTRA1 – aims to provide integrated capabilities for financing, investment, development, management and execution of large-scale assets and projects in connection with global demand for NuScale's clean energy solutions. NuScale Power has developed small modular reactor nuclear technology to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, commercial-scale hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. Founded in 2007, NuScale is headquartered in Portland, and has offices in Corvallis, Ore.; Rockville, Md.; Charlotte, N.C.; Richland, Wash.; and London, UK. ENTRA1 is a private investment platform purpose-built to create value by addressing global transformations. Habboush Group is an international private asset management firm focused on developing, managing, operating and financing proprietary opportunities predominantly in energy and infrastructure sectors.

Sep 13, 2022

Puget Sound Kidney Centers

DeBord

Kelly

Puget Sound Kidney Centers President and CEO Harold Kelly announced he plans to retire in 2023. Under Kelly's leadership, PSKC grew from a small, community-based, nonprofit provider of dialysis to a regional health care organization operating 11 centers in six counties with five more kidney center projects pending throughout western Washington. Kelly led the creation and introduction of PSKC's Chronic Kidney Disease patient education program, and established the PSKC Foundation, an organization that assists in fund-raising for the PSKC patients in need. To succeed Kelly, the board has hired Thomas DeBord as the incoming president and CEO. DeBord has served as chief operating officer of Overlake Medical Center since 2015. In this capacity he has overseen the day-to-day operations of the hospital, including numerous patient care services, and regulatory compliance. Also, DeBord has had primary responsibility for the planning and implementation of Project FutureCare, Overlake's major campus renewal project that was announced in early 2016.

King County

The King County Department of Community and Human Services hired Simon Foster as the new division director for housing, homelessness, and community development. Foster led teams among a range of industries, including behavioral health, transportation, homelessness and federal and state funding programs. Foster most recently led operations for the Salvation Army Northwest Division during the pandemic and oversaw outreach, social service programs, and domestic violence outreach services. In this role, Foster will oversee the Housing, Homelessness, and Community Development Division within DCHS. This division's work includes the Health Through Housing Initiative, a regional approach to address chronic homelessness at a county-wide scale, oversees implementation of anti-displacement strategies for the Skyway-West Hill and North Highline neighborhoods, staffs the Affordable Housing Committee, and manages the transit-oriented affordable housing bond program.

Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining, headquartered in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, completed its acquisition of Alexco Resource. Founded in 1891, Hecla is the largest silver producer in the U.S. In addition to operating mines in Alaska, Idaho and Quebec, Canada, the company owns a number of exploration properties and pre-development projects in silver and gold mining districts throughout North America. Alexco operates the Keno Hill Silver District in Canada's Yukon Territory. As part of the acquisition, Hecla issued 18 million shares of its common stock to Alexco shareholders for a total consideration of about $69 million; the silver streaming interest at Alexco's Keno Hill property held by Wheaton Precious Metals was terminated in exchange for $135 million of Hecla common stock; and Hecla provided Alexco with a $30 million secured loan facility, of which $25 million was drawn when the transaction closed.