May 10, 2023

Betacom

Betacom was named the winner of a Gold Stevie Award in the Best Business Technology Pivot category in The 21st Annual American Business Awards. All organizations operating in the United States are eligible to submit nominations for the American Business Awards. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners in New York on June 13th. More than 3,700 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Thought Leader of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. Betacom is the first-time winner in a first-time category – Best Business Technology Pivot. Betacom was established in 1991 as a wireless infrastructure provider to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Having completed more than 800 large-scale design and deployment projects, Betacom saw an opportunity to pivot its business model to embrace the end-to-end delivery and deployment of high speed, low latency networks using private 4G/5G technology for future-looking Industry 4.0 initiatives such as robotics, autonomous vehicles, and AR/VR. In addition, Betacom's customer Teltech Group won a Silver Stevie for Minority-Owned Business of the Year. More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's Stevie Award winners. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Bellevue, Betacom has regional offices throughout the country.

T-Mobile

Bellevue-based T-Mobile US announced that T-Mobile USA, its direct wholly-owned subsidiary, plans to offer, subject to market and other conditions, senior notes in a registered public offering. T-Mobile USA intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include among other things, share repurchases and refinancing of existing indebtedness on an ongoing basis. Barclays Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, Goldman Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities are the joint book-running managers for the offering of the notes. The Issuer has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the offering of the notes. These documents are available by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

May 09, 2023

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

Carruthers

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, the largest winery in the Pacific Northwest, appointed Robert Carruthers as the new vice president, East Region. In this role Carruthers will lead the company's sales organization in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina. Carruthers comes to Ste. Michelle with two-plus decades in the wine industry. Most recently he served as a senior vice president for national/strategic accounts for Foley Family Wines. Previously, he served in leadership roles at Terlato Wines, as well as E&J Gallo Winery. Carruthers replaces Derek VanTine who was recently named vice president of customer marketing for Ste. Michelle. The Ste. Michelle Wine Estates portfolio includes: Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands, Columbia Crest, Col Solare and Spring Valley Vineyard from Washington; A to Z, Erath, and REX HILL from Oregon; Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and Patz & Hall from Napa and Sonoma, respectively; Marchesi Antinori of Italy; and Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte of France.

Banner Bank

Newsweek named Banner Bank as one of America's Most Trustworthy Companies 2023. This list is compiled by Newsweek, in collaboration with market research partner Statista, a statistics portal and industry ranking provider. Mark Grescovich is president and CEO of Walla Walla-based Banner Bank. America's Most Trustworthy Companies were identified in an independent survey based on a sample of U.S. residents who rated companies they know in terms of three touchpoints of trust: customer trust, investor trust, and employee trust. A total of 95,000 evaluations were submitted. All U.S. public and private companies with more than $500 million in revenue were considered in the study. Newsweek and Statista teams selected the most trustworthy companies across 23 industries. In the banking industry category, Banner ranked seventh of the 37 companies that made this year's list.

Washington Federal

Washington Federal, Inc., the parent company of Washington Federal Bank, and Luther Burbank Corporation, the parent company of Luther Burbank Savings, jointly announced that at special meetings of their respective shareholders held on May 4, 2023, Washington Federal shareholders approved the issuance of shares of Washington Federal's common stock to the shareholders of Luther Burbank pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Reorganization, (The Merger Agreement), dated as of November 13, 2022, and Luther Burbank's shareholders approved the Merger Agreement, the merger of Luther Burbank with and into Washington Federal, with Washington Federal as the surviving corporation. The final results on the proposals voted on at the special meetings of each company's shareholders will be set forth in the companies' separate Form 8-Ks to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after certification by each company's inspector of election. The consummation of the Merger remains subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approval. Washington Federal is headquartered in Seattle, and has 199 branches in eight western states. Washington Federal conducts its business primarily through its wholly-owned subsidiary, WaFd Bank. Luther Burbank is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, and operates 10 full service branches in California, 1 full service branch in Washington, and several loan production offices located throughout California.

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.