Feb 19, 2020

Knot

Xu

Cuenca

Geary

Tillinghast

Dennis

Althans-Schmidt

Portland-based Knot promoted landscape designer Erica Althans-Schmidt to associate and hired Mark Dennis as a senior landscape architect, Andrew Tillinghast as a landscape ecologist and designer and Michael Geary, Olivia Cuenca and Erxuan Xu as experiential designers. Althans-Schmidt has managed significant projects including site planning and design for U.S. embassy and consulate campuses in Malawi, Morocco, Mexico, Guatemala, Afghanistan and Somalia. Dennis has over 14 years of experience in landscape architecture, comprehensive and strategic planning and multi-scale environmental site planning. He is working with the Overseas Buildings Operations division of the U.S. Department of State on site planning and design of U.S. embassy and consulate campuses. Tillinghast focuses on environmental planning and design and has done restoration ecology and conservation biological research. Geary has designed sizable spaces for clients that include Adobe, Google, McKesson, Alibaba and Facebook. Cuenca's previous work includes high-level environmental and interior projects, including branded office and retail environments and environmental art installations. Xu has a master of fine arts in graphic design, an undergraduate engineering degree and experience working in interior design. Knot provides landscape architecture, ecological planning and analysis and experiential design.

Swenson Say Faget

Hernandez

Kern

Galvan

Structural engineering firm Swenson Say Faget hired Carlos Galvan and Stephen Kern as CAD technicians in the Seattle office, and Kim Hernandez as the receptionist for the Seattle and Tacoma offices. Galvan is a graduate of Clover Park Technical College and has been a carpenter for a general contractor for six years. He is working on a tenant improvement project at Microsoft's Redmond campus and the Northaven senior housing project in Seattle. Kern has 25 years of experience as an architect. His work includes the former Spud property apartments near Green Lake and the Ellensburg Police Department remodel.

Pacific Pile & Marine

Muller

Shields

Fisher

Davidson

In Seattle, Pacific Pile & Marine hired Jim Davidson as vice president of operations, Tim Fisher as chief engineer, Barry Shields as project manager and Eric Muller as business development director. Davidson has over 20 years of experience in heavy-civil construction operations and estimating, with an emphasis on bridge and marine projects. Fisher has over 14 years of waterfront and industrial construction experience. Shields has been project manager on several billion-dollar oil and gas projects in recent years, as well as environmental remediation projects. Muller has 15 years of business development experience within the heavy-civil marine industry.

Guerdon Enterprises

Innovatus Capital Partners acquired Guerdon Enterprises, which runs a modular building factory in Boise, Idaho. The investor group includes Guerdon founders Lad Dawson and Mike Bowers, who sold the company in 2014. Innovatus, Dawson and Bowers now run the company under the name Guerdon LLC. John Beddow, who led Guerdon Enterprises for the past 18 months, is now CEO of Guerdon LLC. Guerdon Enterprises formed in 2001 and became a leading manufacturer of factory-built modular buildings used primarily for hotels and multi-unit housing throughout the western U.S. and Canada. It was an approved supplier for Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt hotels. Innovatus is a New York City-based investment adviser and portfolio management firm.

The Standard

Briggs

Beaulieu

Ijaz

Gonzalez

In Portland, Standard Insurance Co. (The Standard) promoted Maria Gonzalez to vice president of retirement plans services, A.J. Ijaz to vice president of retirement plans, Christopher Beaulieu to vice president of individual annuities and fixed income, and Julie Briggs to assistant vice president of retirement plans actuarial and finance. Prior to joining the company in 2003, Gonzalez worked in investment banking for Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. Ijaz's career includes nearly 30 years of experience in financial services at Allstate. He joined The Standard in 2017. Beaulieu has been with the company since 2015 and has over 15 years of enterprise investment portfolio management experience, including a stint at Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. Prior to joining The Standard in 2005, Briggs spent nearly seven years in benefits plan consulting at Towers Perrin and at Mercer.

At Home Group

Texas-based At Home Group is opening six home decor superstores this month, including two in Washington state. A new store opened at 1001 E. Sunset Drive in Bellingham and another will open soon at 2530 Rudkin Road in Union Gap. At Home repurposes former big box stores, as well as builds new stores. It will have 218 stores in 39 states by the end of the month.

Funko

Everett-based Funko, a pop culture consumer products company, inked a deal for Bandai to become the exclusive distributor of Funko products across Japan. Bandai is a Japanese manufacturer and toy licensee. It will take control of Funko's distribution channel in the fourth quarter of this year.

Bellevue College

Bellevue College launched Tombolo Institute, which provides noncredit courses and programs along with industry-based certifications in the business, technology and health care fields. Registration for the inaugural quarter is now open. In-person courses will be held at the college's North Campus. Many courses can either be taken in the evening or online. The institute is part of the college's continuing education division.

Intercity Transit

In Olympia, Intercity Transit won a first prize in the 2020 AdWheel Awards competition sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association. The award recognizes the agency's comprehensive outreach effort, known as IT Road Trip, to involve the community in transportation planning. It will be presented next week at an APTA conference in Florida.