Jun 03, 2004

Sephora Seattle

Sephora Seattle recently opened at 415 Pine St. in Seattle. The European retail beauty products chain has its U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, and offers makeup, fragrance, spa and skincare products. Sephora stores feature special sections with makeup, scents and beauty accessories.

HomeStreet Bank

HomeStreet Bank will open a new branch at 505 W. Harrison in Kent, which will provide retail and business banking, and single-family lending. Linda Matherne will transfer from Federal Way to lead the new team. Formerly a credit union, the building will be renovated and is set to open later this year.

Tacoma Art Museum

Tacoma Art Museum Chief Financial Officer Rod Bigelow, who worked with US West Paging and Arch Wireless before joining the museum, will be interim director while the museum conducts a national search. Executive director Janeanne A. Upp will leave in July. The board hopes to have a new director in place this winter.

Taco Del Mar

Burrito chain Taco Del Mar's master developers David Moore and John Lonsinger have opened a store in Scottsdale, Ariz. Lonsinger anticipates a dozen Taco Del Mar stores will be open in Airzona by the end of the year.

Office of the Governor

Gov. Gary Locke named Sharon Wallace communications director for the governor's office. She has been acting as communications director since April. Wallace was also primary spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, and worked on communications planning, media and public relations. Her salary will be $85,000.

Boeing Capital

Seattle-headquartered Boeing Capital Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., will sell its $2 billion commercial financial services business to Stamford, Conn.-based GE Commercial Finance, the financial services unit of General Electric. Services include lease and loan financing for business aircraft, machine tools, marine vessels and construction equipment.

Central Washington University

Clark Daffern, a vice president with the Seattle-based financial service company Kibble & Prentice, has completed his tenure with the Central Washington University Foundation board. Keith Thompson, a senior portfolio manager for U.S. Bank, is new chair. Past chair Dennis Weston, president of the venture capital division of Fluke Capital Management in Bellevue, has one year remaining on the board.

Motivational Systems

Motivational Systems added Cynthia Minnitti as an account executive in its Seattle division. Minnitti has 17 years of experience in the sign industry, including design and account management. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Motivational Systems works on graphic and interior design services, signs and furnishings.

Time Well Saved

Rachael Eaton and Resa Miller recently started a new Seattle-based company called Time Well Saved. The company runs personal and executive errands for busy professionals, and takes on business roles such as delivering documents or making staff travel arrangements.