Jul 20, 2023

City of Tacoma

City Manager Elizabeth Pauli appointed Nicole Emery City Clerk effective Aug. 14. Emery will oversee the City Council's agenda and business meetings, the official record of all formal meetings of the City Council, and the incorporation of all passed ordinances into the Tacoma Municipal Code. She will also serve as the city of Tacoma's municipal election official, and assist in the initiative and referendum process. For nearly four years, Emery served as an office administrator in the City Manager's Office providing direct support to the Office of the Mayor with duties related to public records and public meeting administration and support. Prior to that position, she spent six years in the City Clerk's Office where she acquired first-hand experience supporting the City's Charter Review process, onboarding new staff, and finalizing the City Council's agenda and meetings. The City Clerk position is appointed by the City Manager pursuant to City of Tacoma Charter.

The Standard

The Standard promoted Tony Soble to regional vice president for Defined Contribution Investment Only sales, where he will work with advisors, outside platform wholesalers and third-party administrators. Soble has more than 17 years of experience in the retirement plan and financial services industry. He held previous roles at The Standard and as an advisor at Principal Financial Group and OneAmerica working with retirement plans supporting plan sponsors, participants, advisors and TPAs. Soble earned an Associate of Arts degree from Broward College in Florida, in addition to FINRA Series 6, Series 7 and NASAA 63 and 65 licenses. Soble also earned the Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor designation. The Standard, based in Portland, is a family of businesses providing financial products and services for groups and individuals.

Perimetrics

Redmond-based Perimetrics, an artificial intelligence dental diagnostics company, announced the creation of its Clinical Advisory Board consisting of industry leaders in general dentistry, endodontics, periodontics and prosthodontics. Made up of eight founding members, the Perimetrics Clinical Advisory Board will provide strategic and clinical insights as the company seeks regulatory approval for InnerView Technology, a dental diagnostic system to detect cracks, failing restorations and mobility in teeth. The Clinical Advisory Board Members include: Jeffrey Dalin, who practices general dentistry at his private practice in St. Louis; Jack Ferracane, professor and chair of the Department of Oral Rehabilitation and Biosciences at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland; Robert Kelly, professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences, Institute of Materials Science; Kenneth Malament, clinical professor of Dental Medicine and Prosthodontics at Tufts University; Linda Niessen, vice provost for Oral Health Affairs at Kansas City University, and founding dean and professor for the KCU College of Dental Medicine in Joplin, Missouri; Clifford Ruddle, founder and director of Advanced Endodontics, an educational organization focused on endodontic technologies and techniques; E. Todd Scheyer, board-certified periodontist at Perio Health Professionals in Houston; and John West, founder and practicing endodontist at the Center for Endodontics in Tacoma, and an affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington.

Jul 19, 2023

Department of Ecology

In what would be a first for Washington state, the Department of Ecology is proposing to classify four water bodies as “Outstanding Resource Waters” – a special designation under the federal Clean Water Act that carries extra water quality protections and recognition.

The four water bodies are:

• Soap Lake in Grant County

• The upper watershed of the Cascade River in Skagit County

• The upper watershed of the Green River (near Mount St Helens) in Skamania County

• The Napeequa River in Chelan County

Outstanding Resource Waters have exceptional water quality, ecological and recreational values, or unique attributes that distinguish them among state water bodies and warrant special protection. These waters are assigned additional protections to prevent further degradation except for certain temporary projects or discharges, or to protect public health or property in an emergency.

Ecology is accepting public comments on the proposed Outstanding Resource Waters designations through Sept. 27.

Jul 18, 2023

Northwest Kidney Centers

Reddy

Patel

Pappoe

Gardner

Northwest Kidney Centers recently added four new members to its board of trustees. Lauren Gardner is corporate vice president, global talent acquisition, at Microsoft. Gardner leads a team responsible for the company's university, industry, and executive-level hiring. She has worked in various human resources leadership roles at Microsoft since 1991, and serves as HR executive sponsor for Microsoft's Blacks at Microsoft employee resource group. Gardner earned her bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Washington. Shika Pappoe is chief medical officer and nephrologist with Hill Physicians Medical Group. She previously worked for Strive Health, where she served as the renal and value-based care expert. She earned her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine, her Master of Public Health from Harvard, and her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Hina Patel is chief growth officer, strategy & market development, healthcare at Microsoft. Patel earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Westminster. Sanjit Reddy, a transplant nephrologist and member of Swedish Medical Center's transplant program, joins the board of trustees and steps into the role of chairman of Northwest Kidney Centers' Foundation Board, where he has served since 2017. Reddy graduated from the University of the West Indies, completed his residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and completed fellowships in transplant nephrology and nephrology at California Pacific Medical Center and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, respectively. Raj Mehrotra, Rich Bloch, Russ Stepp, Chris Seel, and Meredith Matthews stepped down from the board when their terms ended on June 30th. Founded in Seattle in 1962, Northwest Kidney Centers is a not-for-profit, community-based provider of kidney dialysis, public health education and research into the causes and treatments of chronic kidney disease.

Tangibly

Seattle-based Tangibly announced the successful completion of its $6.5 million seed round. The round was led by Madrona and included Spike Ventures, Volo Ventures, Holt Ventures, MVP Ventures, Incisive Ventures, WS Investment Company (an affiliate of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) and DLA Piper. Tangibly will use the investment to expand its recently launched AI-powered Patent X-Ray, which enables in-house legal teams and outside counsel to rapidly identify potential trade secrets associated with their issued and published patents. The next generation of Patent X-Ray, which is currently in internal testing, can be used in the patent drafting process. Tangibly helps streamline and simplify legal requirements and implement best practices to establish company assets as legally protectable trade secrets.

Lattice Semiconductor

Lattice Semiconductor was named a 2023 Top Workplace in the Technology Industry. Based on direct employee feedback from a research-backed employee engagement survey, Lattice was recognized for creating a desirable work culture, empowering employees, leading the technology industry in innovation, and forging the movement towards more transparent business practices. The Top Workplaces program has a 17-year history of surveying and celebrating people-first organizations nationally and across 60 regional markets. The Top Workplaces Industry Awards celebrate organizations that have built people-first workplace cultures within their sector. The award marks them as an employer of choice for those seeking employment in the industry. Lattice Semiconductor is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Jul 14, 2023

MultiCare

Busick

Bradd Busick, senior vice president and chief information officer for MultiCare Health System, received the 2023 Healthcare ORBIE award for hospitals and health care organizations from SeattleCIO. Busick led a collaborative partnership between the IT and operations departments that saved the health system $15 million while also designing a state-of-the-art enterprise resource planning system and upgrading the enterprise medical records system. His team also implemented technology for autonomous robots and designed a drone delivery service that will provide more delivery efficiency throughout MultiCare in 2024. More than 80 individuals were nominated for the ORBIE awards. Finalists were selected in seven categories through an independent peer review process led by prior award winners. MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit health care organization with 12 hospitals and more than 22,000 team members, and is the largest community-based, locally governed health system in Washington.

Childhaven

The Boards of Directors of Childhaven and Washington Association for Infant Mental Health voted unanimously to merge organizations. Through the merger, the organizations are joining forces to launch a center for workforce development in infant and early childhood mental health. The Washington Association for Infant Mental Health was founded in 2014 to educate, support, and advocate for service providers in Washington to improve the well-being of babies and young children, while advancing racial equity and belonging for marginalized communities. Under this merger, WA-AIMH becomes part of Childhaven with continued membership in the national Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health, serving as the state's central resource for endorsement and training. WA-AIMH's executive director, Kelli Bohanon, will lead development of the workforce development hub slated to launch Fall 2023. The hub will operate as an extension of the Childhaven brand to deliver evidence-informed, accessible, and affordable in-person and online resources, trainings, and tools for a wide range of providers and for anyone who wants more information on how to best support the mental and relational health of young children and their families.

Verasonics

Ultrasound research company Verasonics expanded its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to include nine additional members with expertise in the fields of biomedical engineering and materials science. These leaders will work closely with the Verasonics leadership team and existing SAB membership to provide external scientific review and insight on existing and emerging technologies, as well as potential research and development programs. New members of the Scientific Advisory Board are as follows: Pierre Belanger, PhD, Ecole de technologie sup̩rieure Montr̩al, Department of Mechanical Engineering professor; Frederic Cegla, PhD, Imperial College London, senior lecturer & EPSRC research fellow in NDE; Hong Chen, PhD, Washington University, McKelvey School of Engineering associate professor; Hyun Dongwoon, PhD, Stanford University, Radiology РPediatric Radiology instructor; Caterina Gallippi, PhD, Joint UNC, NCSU Department of Biomedical Engineering professor; Joergen Jensen, PhD, Technical University of Denmark, Department of Health Technology professor; Matt O'Donnell, PhD, University of Washington, Department of Bioengineering professor; Jean Provost, PhD, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Department of Engineering Physics associate professor; and Pengfei Song, PhD, University of Illinois, Electrical & Computer Engineering assistant professor. Additionally, James Greenleaf, Mayo Clinic, retired from the Verasonics SAB at the end of 2022. Verasonics is a privately held company founded in 2001 headquartered in Kirkland.