Apr 04, 2023

MultiCare

MultiCare Health System is launching a nursing assistant training program. A 2021 survey by the Washington State Hospital Association showed hospitals in Washington need to hire 6,100 new nurses to meet current staffing needs. Other data shows that nearly half of nurses and hospital staff plan to leave the industry in the next few years. MultiCare's new five-week paid training program has an inaugural class of six students training at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital. Participants in the program will be full-time MultiCare employees. Once the students complete training, they will be able to take the state's certification test and become certified nursing assistants (CNAs). The nursing assistants will be placed at a MultiCare hospital based on need. MultiCare is looking to fill up to 200 CNA positions throughout the system. The organization currently works with nursing assistant programs at Tacoma Community College, Bates Technical College in Tacoma, and Sparrow Healthcare Education in Spokane. Participants in the nursing assistant training program need to have a high school diploma or GED, and previous patient care experience is preferred. Classes will run every eight weeks, with the goal of increasing classes to 30 students. Current MultiCare employees are eligible to apply, as well as the public, provided they meet the program requirements. MultiCare Health System is a Washington-based not-for-profit health care organization with 12 hospitals and more than 22,000 team members.

The Standard

Portland-based StanCorp Financial Group (The Standard) and Elevance Health announced a definitive agreement under which The Standard will acquire the Life & Disability business from Elevance Health and enter into a product distribution partnership. The Standard, a group life, disability and ancillary benefit provider, was founded in 1906. Elevance Health provides health solutions that serve customers through a portfolio of medical, digital, pharmacy, behavioral, clinical, and complex care solutions. Its Life & Disability unit provides life, disability and related employee benefits. The distribution agreement partners The Standard's sales team with Elevance Health's medical sales team, expanding The Standard's network and bringing a life and disability partner to Elevance Health customers. Upon closing, The Standard will acquire Elevance Health's life, disability, accidental death and dismemberment, absence management and paid family leave businesses. Citi is acting as financial advisor and Debevoise & Plimpton is acting as legal advisor to The Standard. Barclays is acting as financial advisor and Faegre Drinker is acting as legal advisor to Elevance Health.

KinderCare

KinderCare Learning Companies received Gallup's Exceptional Workplace Award for the seventh consecutive year. KinderCare is the only early childhood education provider recognized with this award, and one of just four companies worldwide to receive the distinction seven years in a row. This award recognizes organizations for their ability to build an engaged workplace where employees thrive and drive business outcomes. KinderCare, headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, employs more than 38,000 teachers and staff who provide early childhood education and care at more than 2,000 early learning centers and sites across the country. KinderCare provides all employees with competitive benefits, including a child care tuition benefit.

Mar 31, 2023

Lemonade

Lemonade, a digital insurance company, announced the launch of Lemonade Car in Oregon, marking the fifth state where the full suite of Lemonade insurance products are available. Lemonade Car offers drivers the ability to only pay for the miles they drive on top of a monthly base price. With the Lemonade app, this gives drivers an option for car insurance with built-in safety features, including free crash detection and emergency services, and access to its claims process. Additionally, Lemonade Car will fund reforestation efforts throughout Oregon's Santiam State Forest. Lemonade also offers renter, homeowner, car, pet and life insurance. Lemonade is currently available in the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom.

PACCAR

Bellevue-based PACCAR announced that it has made a minority equity investment in its connected truck partner, Platform Science. This strategic investment complements the partnership recently launched by PACCAR and Platform Science to integrate Platform Science's Virtual Vehicle technology with the PACCAR Connect telematics system. The integrated product will offer Kenworth and Peterbilt customers a standardized telematics operating system and application store, enabling customers to access software solutions, real-time vehicle data, and third-party applications directly from their vehicles. Platform Science provides enterprise fleets with a unified, user-friendly technology platform.

Mosaic Dental Collective

Mosaic Dental Collective, announced a partnership with Audax Private Equity, an alternative investment manager and capital partner for North American middle market companies. Mosaic is a dental services organization (DSO) supporting 49 affiliated dental offices in California and Washington, with a differentiated dentist-led DSO model. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Proskauer Rose served as legal counsel to Mosaic. Based in Vancouver, Washington, Mosaic supports practices across general dentistry, periodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, endodontics, and oral surgery. Mosaic was founded by Jagdev Heir. Audax is an experienced investor in healthcare, having acquired over 30 platforms in the sector and more than 450 add-ons. Audax was founded in 1999, and is based in Boston and San Francisco.

Mar 30, 2023

Impinj

Washington

Seattle-based Impinj announced that Miron Washington will join its board of directors on April 2. Washington has 25 years of experience across business-to-consumer and business-to-business ecommerce, global supply chain operations, and digital transformation. He currently serves on the boards of The Eighth Notch and KairosPDX, and is the chief digital officer of Parts Town. He was previously Home Depot's vice president of customer experience and general manager of its Quote Center business unit. Prior to that, Washington served in executive roles at Monotype Imaging, Staples and Amazon. The Impinj platform uses RAIN RFID to deliver data about everyday things to business and consumer applications.

Building Transparency

Seattle-based Building Transparency hired Francesco Pomponi as program director for Europe; and Katie Poss as procurement and policy program manager. Also, Vaclav Hasik was promoted to program director for North America, where he will continue to spearhead the development of Building Transparency's tools and training programs. Pomponi will be the nonprofit's first Europe-based employee, where he will play a fundamental role in driving growth and awareness globally of the organization's tools and the importance of embodied carbon awareness and reductions. He joined the organization from Edinburgh Napier University, where he was a professor of sustainability science and head of the Resource Efficient Built Environment Lab. Poss will focus on elevating the embodied carbon conversation and ensuring that project stakeholders understand their role in decarbonizing the built environment sector. Poss was the sustainability program manager for the Technology Division at Turner Construction, where she managed LEED certification, embodied carbon accounting and reduction, and construction phase emissions tracking. Promoted from his previous role as program manager, Hasik will lead methodology, data quality and LCA research. He will also spearhead demos, webinars and trainings of tools to help educate the AEC industry on the importance of reducing embodied carbon emissions. Formed in 2020, Building Transparency provides open-access data and tools that support action across the building industry in addressing embodied carbon's role in climate change.

Glue

Glue, an employee engagement company formerly known as Mystery, launched a new AI-powered connection platform that uses machine learning, recommendation, optimization, network science, and modeling across data points to help leaders maximize employee connection and engagement. Sequencing and optimization machine learning models work within the new platform to help learn what is working to keep companies connected, and what interventions can be taken to give leaders the highest ROI for moving connection and engagement. Unlike survey-based employee engagement platforms, Glue gives HR and people teams access to real-time connection data based on employees' digital interactions. Additionally, Glue acquired PopStage, an HR software company focused on creating virtual experiences. Glue is headquartered in Seattle, and is backed by investors including Greylock, Moving Capital, Endeavor and Gaingels.