Sep 20, 2022

Seattle Seahawks

Alexander

The Seattle Seahawks announced that Shaun Alexander will enter the Seahawks Ring Of Honor. Early in his second season in Seattle, Alexander took over the starting running back job from an injured Ricky Watters, and in his first start, Alexander rushed for 176 yards and two scores to help lead the Seahawks to a win over Jacksonville. Alexander went on to take over the Seahawks record book, becoming the most productive back in franchise history. When the Seahawks host Arizona on October 16, Alexander, who is the only player in team history to earn NFL MVP honors, will become the 15th member of the Seahawks Ring of Honor. The other members of the Ring of Honor are Matt Hasselbeck, Mike Holmgren, Steve Largent, Jim Zorn, Dave Brown, Pete Gross, Curt Warner, Jacob Green, Kenny Easley, Dave Krieg, Chuck Knox, Cortez Kennedy, Walter Jones and Paul Allen.

Cascadia Capital

Seattle-based Cascadia Capital has reached a definitive agreement to secure a strategic growth equity investment from an investment fund affiliated with Atlas Merchant Capital. With the additional resources from the investment and the Atlas team's support, Cascadia will continue its geographic, product, team, multi-industry and sponsor coverage growth nationwide. The firm plans to hire additional experienced bankers and cohesive teams to augment its existing sector expertise, initially focused on growing the healthcare, technology, and industrial technology teams. With clients across the U.S. and around the world, the firm has a presence in strategic markets, including Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Nashville. Perkins Coie provided legal counsel, and Houlihan Lokey served as Cascadia's financial advisor in connection with the transaction. Cascadia Capital is an independent investment bank providing middle-market entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, and private equity firms with merger and acquisition, capital raising, and strategic advisory services. Based in New York and London, Atlas Merchant Capital was founded to participate in market opportunities in the financial services sector.

Alliant Insurance Services

Veteran benefits consultant David Knoop has joined Alliant Insurance Services in Idaho as vice president within its Employee Benefits Group. Knoop will provide a full range of employee benefits solutions to clients across the Northwest. Prior to joining Alliant, Knoop was a senior vice president with a global insurance and employee benefits consulting firm. Knoop attended the University of Colorado, Boulder. Alliant Insurance Services is a national distributor of diversified insurance products and services.

Tacoma Arts Commission

The Tacoma Arts Commission has announced this year's AMOCAT Arts Award winners: Grit City Magazine (Arts Patron), Real Art Tacoma (Community Outreach by an Organization), and Tamiko Nimura (Community Outreach by an Individual). The AMOCAT Arts Awards honor the people and organizations that positively impact the community with their passion, innovation, and commitment to the arts. The Arts Patron award recognized Grit City Magazine for its devotion to sharing Tacomans' life stories in an artistic way and raising up those in the creative community, providing opportunities for local creatives to be published. The Community Outreach by an Organization award recognized Real Art Tacoma for being an all-ages arts and music space that promotes artistic creation in the community. Real Art Tacoma helps emerging artists, bands, vendors, and community members feel included and supported on the local music scene in Tacoma. The Community Outreach by an Individual award recognized Tamiko Nimura for her commitment to changing the local landscape of literary arts in Tacoma to better represent the complex identities of our community members. Nimura is a creative nonfiction writer and public historian. The 2022 awardees will be honored at Kaleidoscope, the annual Tacoma Arts Month opening party, on Wednesday, October 5, from 6:30 - 9 PM, at STAR Center. This all-ages, free public event is presented by the Tacoma Arts Commission in partnership with Metro Parks Tacoma.

Sep 16, 2022

Expedia Group

Whalen

Expedia Group announced that Julie Whalen will be Expedia Group's executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective September 26, 2022. She succeeds Eric Hart, who will remain with the company through October 1, 2022. Whalen will lead the company's global finance organization and financial activities including accounting, corporate development, financial reporting and analysis, internal audit, investor relations, real estate, tax, and treasury. Whalen comes to Expedia Group with more than two decades of finance experience. Most recently, she served as EVP and CFO of Williams-Sonoma, having progressed through positions of increasing responsibility in Williams-Sonoma's finance organization since joining in 2001, including 10 years as CFO. Whalen has served as a member of the Expedia's Board of Directors and Audit Committee since June 2019. While she has resigned as chair of the audit committee, she will continue as a member of the board of directors following her appointment. Expedia Group is headquartered in Seattle.

MultiCare

Powell

Lisa Powell has joined MultiCare Health System as senior vice president and chief human potential officer, where she will support more than 20,000 employees and more than 1,800 staff providers. Powell brings more than 20 years of health care human resources experience. The past 13 years she worked at Providence Health and Services in Portland, where she served as the vice president and chief human resources officer for the Oregon region. For the past two years, Powell served as the interim chief human resources officer for Providence's Alaska region. Joining MultiCare brings Powell back to Tacoma, where she started her career as the human resources director for Community Health Care. Powell earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, and a Master of Business Administration from City University of Seattle. She is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. MultiCare is a not-for-profit health care organization, and today is the largest community-based, locally governed health system in the state of Washington.

Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University is launching the Center for Lifelong Learning to offer continuing education, professional development, and personal enrichment programs to the public. Programs and certificates available through the new Center are designed to meet the needs of those who are currently working and seeking to advance into leadership roles, those who want to start a career, and those who desire to grow and learn, no matter what stage in life. The Center for Lifelong Learning partners with departments across campus to offer a wide-range of non-degree programs, including webinars, workshops, professional certificates and consulting services. Current programs include design thinking, servant leadership and women's leadership. Gonzaga also offers a Certificate in Foundational Leadership and a Certificate in the Business and Legal Aspects of Wine; additionally, the university will be launching a Certificate in Healthcare Leadership in January 2023. The Center plans to add more programs in the near future, including in the areas of engineering, business, education and climate studies. Further information is available at Gonzaga.edu/keepgrowing.

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.