Nov 06, 2019

Columbia Sportswear Co.

Boyle

Gertrude “Gert” Boyle, board chair of Portland-based Columbia Sportswear Co., died Sunday at age 95. Boyle became the company's president in 1970 after her husband, Neal Boyle, died. Gert was known as “One Tough Mother” in a number of advertisements for the company's clothing. Her son, Timothy Boyle, took over as president and CEO a number of years ago and has assumed the role of acting chair following Gert's passing. Columbia's board in January will consider appointing a permanent chair.

Pemco Mutual Insurance

Seattle-based Pemco Mutual Insurance hired Chris Purcell as vice president and chief information officer. Purcell was vice president of technology for over 13 years at Vulcan Inc., where he was responsible for business systems, emerging technology, R&D engineering and IT operations. Before that, he was chief technology officer at McKinstry and assistant vice president of information systems and services at Safeco Insurance.

Gravis Law

Richland-based Gravis Law has seven new principals: Katherine Sierra-Kelly, Josh Bam, Stella Edens Pederson, Chad Wold, Rick Forman, Charles Bauer and Michelle Finch. Sierra-Kelly, Bam, Pederson and Wold practice law in Washington state. Their practices range from estate planning to family law to business law. Forman has over 30 years of legal experience and practices in Florida. Bauer is a member of the Idaho and Washington bar associations, and handles individual cases in Oregon. Finch has been practicing law in Idaho since 1985 and in Montana since 1993. Gravis Law has 12 locations across the country and nearly 100 employees.

Skagit County

Skagit County won the state Auditor's Stewardship Award for outstanding accomplishments in accountability, transparency and good stewardship of public resources. The county collaborated with the state to assist special purpose districts with financial reporting. Sandy Perkins is the county's auditor.

Nike

Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike is selling its Hurley surf apparel and footwear brand to Bluestar Alliance LLC. The deal is expected to close in December. Financial details were not released. Bluestar licenses and markets consumer brand companies, including Bebe, Limited Too and Brookstone.

Lamb Weston Holdings

Eagle, Idaho-based Lamb Weston Holdings formed a joint venture with Sociedad Comercial del Plata in Argentina to sell frozen potato products under the Rapipap and Morixe brands. Each partner will own 50% of the new joint venture, called Lamb Weston Alimentos Modernos S.A. Other financial details were not disclosed. Up to 130 million pounds of potato products will be made yearly in a plant in the Buenos Aires area.

Nov 05, 2019

SMC/SWC

Karen Lane is the new executive director of Seattle Men's Chorus and Seattle Women's Chorus. Lane was director of development and interim executive director at SMC/SWC. Prior to that, she was executive director of Theatre Puget Sound.

HomeStreet

Seattle-based HomeStreet Inc., the parent company of HomeStreet Bank, appointed Nancy Pellegrino to the boards of both entities. Pellegrino has 30 years of experience in wealth management and private banking, including executive positions at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Citi Private Bank and Puget Sound Bank.

WSU

Dave Cillay, vice president of Academic Outreach and Innovation at Washington State University, has become the school's first chancellor of its Global Campus. Cillay is maintaining his previous duties while taking on the new role. WSU's Global Campus is home to nearly 3,300 students taking online classes, and offers 19 undergraduate majors, 12 master's degree programs, 20 online certificate programs and two teaching endorsements.

Intercity Transit

Intercity Transit has some surplus vans it would like to give to nonprofit organizations and agencies in the cities of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Yelm, and their urban growth areas. An open house with more details on how to apply will be held 4-5 p.m. Thursday at Intercity Transit's office, 526 Pattison St. S.E. in Olympia. Applications are due Nov. 15. More information is available by calling (360) 786-8800 or by emailing vans@intercitytransit.com.

City of Tacoma

The deadline for students in Tacoma to apply for Student Government Day is Nov. 19. Students in grades 9-12 who live in the city or attend Tacoma Public Schools can apply for the Dec. 10 event. Participants will meet the mayor, council members, executives and staff to gain firsthand knowledge of how the city works. They also will participate in a mock City Council meeting. More information is at cityoftacoma.org/studentgovernmentday; or contact Latasha Ware at lware@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5274.

U-Haul

Portland Storage has become a U-Haul neighborhood dealer of rental trucks, trailers, towing equipment and moving supplies. The company is at 215 S.E. Morrison St. in Portland. Dawn Tangvald owns Portland Storage.