May 05, 2023

City of Tacoma

The city of Tacoma will conduct an economic disparity study from June through December to refine its efforts to help historically underutilized small businesses. Through its Equity in Contracting (EIC) Program, the city seeks to ensure that small businesses, and those owned by BIPOC individuals and women, have equal access to contracting opportunities with the city. While the current focus is on public works contracts, the goal is to expand the scope to include contracts for supplies, goods and services. The EIC Program is housed within the city of Tacoma's Community and Economic Development Department, which has expanded its efforts in recent years to facilitate economic growth while supporting broader goals relating to equity and accessibility with increased levels of culturally competent support, guidance and technical assistance. Once EIC Program staff members have reviewed the results, and presented those results along with their recommendations to the Tacoma City Manager and City Council, that information will also be made available on the city's website at cityoftacoma.org/disparitystudy, social media channels and other official platforms. Additionally, the consultant selected for the study will conduct public outreach meetings in the Tacoma Public Utilities service area to share study findings.

PACCAR

PACCAR and Toyota Motor North America announced an expansion of their joint efforts to develop and produce zero-emissions, hydrogen fuel cell (FCEV) Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks powered by Toyota's next-generation hydrogen fuel cell modules. The expanded agreement supports ongoing development and commercialized zero-emission versions of the Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579 models featuring Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell powertrain kit, with initial customer deliveries planned for 2024. PACCAR and Toyota have collaborated on FCEV truck development for the past several years, including a successful pilot program which deployed ten Kenworth T680 FCEV trucks at the Port of Los Angeles. Designed for use in heavy-duty commercial vehicles, Toyota's heavy-duty fuel cell electric powertrain kit was recently awarded the Zero Emission Powertrain certification by the California Air Resources Board. Toyota will begin assembly of the modules in the United States in late 2023. Bellevue-based PACCAR designs and manufactures Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF trucks.

Amazon Business

Amazon Business, the Amazon business procurement storefront, kicked off its second annual Small Business Month with the announcement of its 2023 Small Business Grants, designed to spur innovation and support the growth of small businesses that are driving impact in their local communities. This year, Amazon Business will give eligible small businesses in the U.S. the chance to win more than $250,000 in grants. Existing Amazon Business customers with annual revenues of $1 million or less can apply for a grant, with one grand-prize winner, a group of finalists, and semifinalists receiving monetary grants, Business Prime membership, and select Amazon devices. Applications are due by May 21, and winners will be announced on July 17. Additional information about how to apply is available at the Amazon Small Business Grants website.

May 04, 2023

Recreation and Conservation Board

Craig

Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Kathleen “Kitty” Craig, a national program director for The Wilderness Society, to the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board. The board awards about $200 million in grants every other year to tribes, nonprofits and government agencies to create parks, trails and other outdoor recreation opportunities. The board also awards grants to conserve the state's natural resource heritage by protecting working farms and forests and wildlife habitat, including places inhabited by plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. As director for the Urban to Wild program, Craig helps lead The Wilderness Society's efforts to advance equitable access to nature in urban communities across the country by eliminating barriers and fostering connections to the outdoors and public lands. The Wilderness Society is a national nonprofit land conservation organization founded in 1935 that works to protect America's wild places. Craig joined The Wilderness Society in 2010. She became advocacy director for urban communities in 2021, and a year later took the job as Urban to Wild director. Before joining The Wilderness Society, Craig led The Trust for Public Land's Conservation Vision program in Washington state, where she worked with communities to develop collaborative action plans that balanced community recreation, conservation and development needs. Craig has a bachelor of arts degree from Whitman College and master of arts degree in community and regional planning from the University of Oregon. She is on the boards of directors for the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and the Stewardship Partners, and serves on various advisory committees for public agency grant programs. Craig's term runs through 2025.

May 03, 2023

Stoel Rives

Griffith

Stoel Rives announced that Kiran Griffith has returned to its Seattle office as a partner. Griffith, an employee benefits lawyer who joins the firm from Perkins Coie, was an associate at Stoel Rives from 2013 to 2016. She brings to the firm 10 years of experience in employee benefit matters relating to health and welfare plans.

Griffith has significant experience advising public and private sector employers, associations, and boards of trustees, as well as service providers in the health and welfare space. She advises on plan design and drafting, strategy and innovation, and regulatory compliance, with a focus on the Affordable Care Act, health care transparency, mental health parity, COBRA, and other federal and state laws that affect health and welfare plans. Griffith also regularly advises on HIPAA privacy and security matters for health plan benefits. Griffith earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law, and attended the University of Texas at Austin for her undergraduate education. Prior to attending law school, Griffith served as a senior compliance manager at Gerson Lehrman Group, a financial services company. Griffith currently serves on the board of Seattle Arts & Lectures, as well as the board of Campaign for Equal Justice. Stoel Rives has offices in seven states and Washington, D.C.

Appen

Johnson

Appen Limited appointed Helen Johnson as chief financial officer. Appen's current CFO, Kevin Levine, will remain with the business in an advisory role until 1 September 2023 to ensure a smooth transition. Johnson has more than 25 years leading finance organizations across a variety of industries, including privately held IT Managed Service providers, medium sized public healthcare and financial services companies, and Fortune 500 ranked publicly traded corporations in the IT industry. Most recently, she was CFO of North America for Insight Enterprises. Prior to her 14 years at Insight, Johnson served as senior vice president, treasurer for eFunds Corporation, a publicly traded, multi-national enterprise that delivers electronic payments and risk management solutions. Johnson will be based out of Appen's offices in North America. Appen is a global market platform for the AI Lifecycle. Founded in 1996, Appen has customers and offices globally, with its United States headquarters located in Kirkland.

Alaska Airlines

On the heels of its inaugural trans-Pacific flight to Los Angeles, Taiwan-based luxury carrier Starlux Airlines announced a strategic partnership with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines. The agreement will give both Starlux and Alaska loyalty program members more opportunities for rewards by earning points on flights operated by each carrier. Once fully implemented, the partnership will allow customers of both airlines to book connecting flights on a single ticket. The partnership will greatly expand Starlux's reach into the U.S., with customers accessing Alaska Airlines' domestic and international network, connecting at Alaska's Los Angeles gateway. It will also increase travel choices for Alaska customers looking to travel to Asia, with access to 16 destinations, with a transfer in Taipei. The new Taipei-Los Angeles flights will be flown on Starlux's Airbus A350 aircraft and feature four seats in First, 26 in Business, 36 in Premium Economy and 240 in Economy. Starlux was launched in 2020.

May 02, 2023

Aiberry

Bellevue-based Aiberry, a mental health screening platform, was awarded the Best Mental Health Technology Solution of 2023 by Health Digital Tech Awards. The awards program recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in health technology. Aiberry's platform enables mental health screenings in a wide range of settings, from doctors offices to schools, workplaces, or even homes. It offers outcomes that can be tracked over time for trend analysis. The AI-powered virtual therapeutic assistant asks questions to gather mental health information. At the end of each screening, users and clinicians are provided with a risk level assessment for mental health disorders including suicidal ideation. Led by co-founders and co-CEOs Linda Chung and Johan Bjorklund, Aiberry received $8M in seed funding in March of this year.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks announced a multi-year extension with Bonneville Seattle Media Group to continue with Seattle Sports 710 AM and KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM as the official flagship radio broadcast partners of the Seahawks. The announcement was made by Seahawks Executive Vice President/General Manager John Schneider. Per the agreement, Seattle Sports and KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM will continue to broadcast all Seahawks games, including pregame, play-by-play and postgame coverage. Radio coverage will also remain available for fans in the Seattle market on the Seattle Sports, KIRO Newsradio and Seahawks mobile apps. In addition, the partnership includes special programming, joint community service projects and exclusive web content. Bonneville International is an integrated media and marketing solutions company. Founded in 1964, Bonneville is headquartered in Salt Lake City.