Nov 06, 2019

AKS Engineering & Forestry

Walker

Godwin

Rettig

Roper

Multidisciplinary consulting firm AKS Engineering & Forestry named four new associate members to the ownership group: Steve Roper, Rob Rettig, Renee Godwin and Richard Walker. Roper came to AKS in January when the company he owned, SR Design, merged with AKS. As part of that agreement, he became an AKS associate member. He has worked in the Pacific Northwest for over 25 years, founding SR Design in 2001. At AKS, he works on private development in Washington County. Rettig is a licensed surveyor in Oregon, Washington and Utah, and a certified floodplain manager and local professional in floodplain management. He was hired in 2007 and has 25 years of experience on projects, including construction, development, residential, commercial and floodplain permitting.

Godwin has over 30 years of industry experience. AKS hired her in 2010 to develop and lead its marketing efforts to diversify its client base. She now heads its employee and client relations, managing recruiting, events, facilities and marketing. Walker was hired in 2012 and is a project manager. He has 14 years of experience in civil and geotechnical engineering giving him a background managing engineer-of-record contracts with local municipalities, including the cities of Keizer and Turner. He works in the Keizer, Oregon, office and the others are based in Tualatin, Oregon.

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.

Integrus Architecture

Keyser

Integrus Architecture hired Stephen R. Keyser as a senior project designer in its Seattle office. Keyser will play a strategic role in advancing the firm's civic and higher education learning environments design practice in western Washington. He has 33 years of experience designing and planning civic and higher educational facilities, and has worked with academic institutions nationally (including on buildings at all LEED levels) and with governments and corporations around the world. Integrus provides architecture, planning, interior design and structural engineering.

Davido Consulting Group

Belding

In Seattle, Davido Consulting Group promoted Tracey Wentz Belding to principal of civil engineering and hired Mark Schwartz and Brian Wise as civil engineers, Mike Heck as an engineering technician, Nicole Foster as an environmental scientist, Heather Kyle as human resources manager, Daniella Dow as marketing coordinator and Brook Wohlers as an accounting and administrative assistant. In Federal Way, it hired Taylor Garvin as a civil engineer. In Mount Vernon, the firm hired Stephen Tabert as a structural engineer. On Whidbey Island, it hired Natalie Tasoff as an intern.

Belding joined the firm in 2004 and has 27 years of experience in planning, design and construction of stormwater and other utility facilities. She is managing creek restoration, utility and planning projects for Seattle Public Utilities, the city of Olympia and Covington Water District. Davido is a civil and structural engineering firm.

HNTB Corp.

Thorpe

E. Gregory Thorpe joined HNTB Corp. as rail and transit senior project manager and associate vice president based in Salt Lake City and serving clients in the eight-state Northwest Division. Primarily, he supports HNTB transit projects in Utah, Colorado and the Puget Sound region. He has over four decades of experience in project management, engineering and executive leadership. For the past 17 years, he was with Utah Transit Authority, managing light rail projects that include the 10.6-mile Mid-Jordan and the 3.8-mile Draper TRAX extensions. HNTB is an infrastructure firm.

HKP Architects

Olsufka

Mount Vernon-based HKP Architects hired Spencer Olsufka as a project manager. Olsufka has detailing and construction experience, and worked in the architecture studio at Valerio Dewalt Train Associates in Chicago on student housing projects and tenant improvements. At HKP, he is working on the Lakedale Resort Activity Center, a multipurpose guest facility for the resort on San Juan Island. He has a bachelor of science in architectural studies from Washington State University and a master of architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.