May 31, 2017

Gray Lumber Co.

Thrall

Fransen

Skinner

Gray Lumber Co. in Tacoma promoted Alison Skinner and Blake Fransen in the accounting department, and hired Guy Thrall in contractor sales. Skinner oversees accounts payable and human resources, and is a fourth generation Gray family employee. She holds a bachelor's degree from Pitzer College and an MBA from UW Tacoma. Fransen is also a fourth generation employee. He coordinates the marketing department and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. Thrall has been in the construction industry since 1984, specializing in commercial construction. At Gray, he is focusing on residential and light-commercial construction.

Utilities and Transportation Commission

The state Utilities and Transportation Commission named Sean Mayo director of pipeline safety. Mayo is a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Army, where he was responsible for operational and tactical safety, including hazard identification and mitigation. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Trident University and a master's degree in leadership from the University of Texas at El Paso. The UTC regulates the safety practices of 31 pipeline operators and more than 48,000 miles of hazardous liquid and natural gas pipelines.

May 23, 2017

Alston Construction

Bradford

Golbienko

Palewicz

The Seattle office of Alston Construction hired Natasha Palewicz as regional marketing manager, Jerry Golbienko as superintendent and Ryan Bradford as construction intern. Palewicz is applying her AEC industry experience to help grow and diversify the firm's West Coast region. Golbienko has 25 years of construction experience with specialties in retail, industrial and manufacturing. Bradford is a construction management student at the University of Washington. Alston specializes in general contracting, design-build and construction management.

Ritchie Bros.

Ritchie Bros. received unconditional antitrust clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice to buy IronPlanet for $758.5 million. The deal is expected to close in the next few weeks. Ravi Saligram will lead the new organization. Heavy equipment auctioneer Ritchie Bros. is based in the Vancouver, B.C., area. Pleasanton, California-based IronPlanet is an online marketplace for used heavy equipment and other durable asset sales.

Absco Solutions

Lynnwood-based Absco Solutions opened an office in Beaverton, Oregon, at 8366 S.W. Nimbus Ave. Clients served by the new office include Oregon State University, Providence Health & Services, Nordstrom and WinCo. Absco specializes in integrated fire, access control, video surveillance and mass notification systems.

Washington River Protection Solutions

Washington River Protection Solutions won the U.S. Department of Energy Mentor of the Year award. The company is a Hanford Site tank farm contractor for DOE's Office of River Protection. Through the DOE mentor-protege program, WRPS coached HUBZone business TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering in Pasco. WRPS also won the award in 2011.

AGC Education Foundation

The AGC Education Foundation awarded a record $74,750 for its 2017-18 scholarship recipients. University of Washington recipients are Logan Chun, Kelli Desrosier, Chris Erb, Morgan Harpel, Kye Johnson, Gordon Krippaehne, Hannah Russell, Katherine Vetter and David Vo. Central Washington University recipients are Jessica Harris, Hunter Hohmann, Tyler Kretschman, Jordan Weiberg and Martin Zermeno. Washington State University recipients are Austin Bartleson, Mitchell Cox, Jose Garibay, Tucker Jones, Riley O'Keeffe and Cole Schwartz. From Grays Harbor College, the winner was Sheri Beebe.