Jan 24, 2024

Environmental Science Associates

Environmental, consulting, and planning firm, Environmental Science Associates has promoted Barbra Calantas, Paul Schlenger, and Sarah Spano.

Calantas now leads the firm's national Biological Resources and Land Management (BRLM) practice. This group is the largest practice for the firm, accounting for over 30% of its professional consultants. Schlenger and Spano both take on new roles as regional business group directors; Schlenger is leading the Pacific Northwest BRLM group and Spano is leading the Southern California Water group.

Calantas previously led the BRLM group in Southern California and has more than two decades of experience as an environmental consultant and wildlife biologist. Her expertise includes preserve management guidance, Endangered Species Act consultation, wildlife field surveys, and the preparation of various environmental documents. In addition to her work in her subject matter expertise, Calantas is integrally involved in ESA's Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives, including the firm's Internship Program that engages diverse students from underrepresented groups in the environmental field.

An experienced fisheries biologist and industry leader in restoration, Schlenger has spent his nearly 25-year career specializing in salmon biology, aquatic ecology, and habitat assessment. In addition to managing teams and leading the growth of the BRLM Practice in the Northwest, he will continue to apply his expertise in watersheds on projects involving restoration, fish passage, protection planning, and prioritizations, as well as habitat restoration design throughout the region. Schlenger also took a lead role in starting up a mentorship program in the Northwest region to help ESA's next generation realize their professional goals in partnership with seasoned consultants.

Spano has been with ESA for 12 years and specializes in preparing California Environmental Quality Act documentation and coordinating environmental reviews for complex water and wastewater projects. Currently serving as the contract manager for several major public water utilities, she is pivotal in managing ESA's technical and subconsultant teams. Spano also serves as a trustee for ESA's Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

DCI Engineers

DCI Engineers has promoted Erik Pearson and Kyle Holman to the role of principal in the firm's Seattle corporate office.

Pearson boasts a diverse portfolio of mixed-use, office, residential, commercial, hospitality and high-rise projects throughout the Puget Sound region. His projects have included The Avenue Bellevue, Providence Saint Mary Medical Center, the 303 Battery project in downtown Seattle and The Viejas Hotel and Casino Development east of San Diego.

In addition to his role on several internal technical committees, Pearson is a member of the American Institute of Steel Construction, The Washington State Society for Healthcare Engineering, ACI, the Structural Engineers Association of Washington and the Design Build Institute of America. He earned both his Master's and Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from Washington State University.

Holman is known for his expertise in high-rise residential, hotel, and office tower design and management. While he is based in the firm's corporate headquarters in Seattle, he has also spent a significant amount of his tenure at the DCI San Francisco office, contributing to projects that include Miro Towers, San Jose's first performance based high-rise to exceed prescriptive codes and Tidal House, the first high-rise development on San Francisco Bay's Treasure Island.

Holman earned both his Bachelor's and Master's in Civil Engineering from Washington State University.

Swenson Say Fagét Structural Engineers

Swenson Say Fagét Structural Engineers announced three promotions and four new hires.

Aaron Lieberman and Taylor Vincent were promoted to project manager.

Lieberman joined SSF's Seattle office seven years ago as a staff engineer. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering from the University of Washington. Lieberman's current projects include multiple Bouldering Project locations and University Prep “U-Lab” with Mithun.

Vincent joined SSF's Tacoma office as a staff engineer five years ago. He holds an M.S. in Structural Engineering from Washington State University. Vincent is currently working on Tacoma Duke's Seafood and the Canon Beach Surfsand Resort.

Stephen Kern was promoted to senior CAD technician. Kern joined SSF's Seattle office as a CAD Technician four years ago. As a drafter, he works mostly on residential projects, new construction, remodels, and multi-family projects.

Joe McCoy joined SSF's Seattle office as a staff engineer in May. McCoy holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington. His current projects include a multifamily project in North Bend with The Messa Group, structural engineering for folding and relocatable buildings throughout the country with Dogwood Industries, and single-family home projects in Bellevue.

Macky Hamilton joined SSF's Seattle office as a staff engineer in June. Hamilton holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in Civil Engineering and a M.S. in Structural Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Washington. Current projects include the 4425 Fremont Ave. N. multifamily project with B9 Architects and single-family home projects in Marysville, Bainbridge Island, and Friday Harbor.

Sunny Sidhu joined SSF's Seattle office as a project engineer in September after working at another firm for four years. Sidhu holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Washington State University and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University and is currently working on new and remodeled single-family homes in Port Angeles, Seattle, and Spokane.

Gilbert Zapata joined SSF as a full-time office coordinator based in the Seattle office. His responsibilities include administrative, customer service and reception, and general office support for the Seattle, Tacoma, and Ellensburg offices.

DAT Freight & Analytics

DAT Freight & Analytics named two new leaders for its product and security organizations. Jeff Clementz, who has 25 years of experience managing networks and marketplaces, fraud, payments and e-commerce platforms, joined DAT as chief product officer and a member of the executive team. He most recently was president and chief executive officer at Shift, an e-commerce platform for the auto industry. Before Shift, he was senior vice president and general manager of Walmart's Marketplace, where he was responsible for building the retailer's foundational commerce platforms. Clementz previously held product and operations positions in leadership at PayPal and Intel. Erika Voss joined DAT as vice president of information security. Voss previously was vice president of security and engineering at Capital One, where she led all facets of security and engineering, including policies, procedures and best practices for application security, access control, authentication, third-party risk management and intrusion detection. Previously, she held information security leadership positions at Salesforce and Oracle. DAT Freight & Analytics, based in Beaverton, Oregon, operates a truckload freight marketplace, and provides market trends and data insights to shippers, transportation brokers, carriers, news organizations and industry analysts.

Alliant Insurance Services

Brooke Walton has joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within its Employee Benefits Group. Based in Seattle, Walton will provide employee health and benefits consulting services to a client base across the Pacific Northwest. Walton joins Alliant with a background that spans business development, HR solutions, human capital, and employee health benefits. She specializes in working directly with senior management to develop strategies and solutions that attract and retain top talent while maximizing total investment in health benefits solutions. Prior to Alliant, Walton was a business consultant with a San Francisco-based employee benefits consulting firm. Previously, she spent more than a decade advising HR and finance leaders on human capital management strategies. Walton holds bachelor's degrees in communications and psychology from the University of Washington. Alliant Insurance Services is a distributor of diversified insurance products and services, operating through a network of specialized national platforms and local offices.

Cairncross & Hempelmann

Seattle law firm Cairncross & Hempelmann named Ana-Maria Popp as the firm's new managing partner. She succeeds Matt Hanna, who served as managing partner since 2015 and has completed his term. Popp's practice focuses on construction litigation, real estate litigation including real estate finance, corporate and partnership disputes, and insurance coverage litigation for policy holders. She represents clients in complex cases through all aspects of the litigation process, from risk evaluation to case and settlement strategy, discovery and trial. Popp was the chair of the firm's Litigation Group from 2017 to 2023. Popp is a senior fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only, peer-selected honorary society of top trial lawyers in America. She is also a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an honorary society of judges, law faculty and legal scholars who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities. Popp was born in Romania and came to the United States in 1992. She earned her B.A. degree and J.D. from the University of Washington. Cairncross & Hempelmann provides legal counsel to clients in all aspects of real estate development, land use and zoning, business transactions, litigation, and bankruptcy and creditors' rights.

Jan 23, 2024

Geffen Mesher

Portland-based accounting firm Geffen Mesher announced that Anne Tankersley, Paige Lukens, and Rachel Henrichs had each been promoted to shareholder at the firm. Tankersley joined Geffen Mesher in 2008 and has over 10 years of experience auditing a variety of employee benefit plans, including 401(k), pension, employee stock ownership, and health and welfare plans. She has provided plan auditing services to a wide range of clients, including professional service firms and manufacturing companies, and also provides financial statement assurance and accounting services to clients, emphasizing hospitality, real estate, and investment companies. Lukens joined the firm in 2008, and has worked in both tax and audit. She is focused on providing tax services to clients in the industries of real estate, manufacturing, homebuilding, and professional services. Henrichs started her career focusing on long-term care communities. After transitioning to Geffen Mesher in 2016, she has expanded her expertise to include the greater real estate industry, focusing on the entire life cycle of a project – development, management and leasing, and ultimate sale or exchange. She is adept at navigating the requirements of Opportunity Zones and Section 1031 exchanges. With these additions, Geffen Mesher now has 20 shareholders firmwide. Michael Rompa is the CEO of Geffen Mesher.

Washington Wine Industry

The Washington wine industry is launching a fellowship for emerging writers and communicators. The Allen Shoup Memorial Fellowship is an industry-wide collaboration that brings together the Washington State Wine Commission, Auction of Washington Wines, Washington Winegrowers Association, Washington Wine Industry Foundation, individuals, wineries and growers. The Fellowship was established in memory of Allen Shoup, who passed away in 2022. Shoup played a pioneering role in developing Washington's wine industry as the longtime head of the state's biggest winery, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, and later as the owner of his own winery, Long Shadows Vintners. Funded entirely through donations, the fellowship awards one writer or communicator each year with an immersive trip to Washington's vineyards and wineries, along with a stipend. An expert panel will choose the fellowship recipient, with input from an industry advisory committee. The 2024 selection panel includes: Karen MacNeil, Karen MacNeil & Co.; Sean Sullivan, Northwest Wine Report; Eric Degerman, Great Northwest Wine; Devyani Gupta, Valdemar Estates; and Dane Narbaitz, Long Shadows Vintners. The deadline to apply is February 29, 2024. Any questions about the fellowship should be directed towards Heather Bradshaw at hbradshaw@washingtonwine.org.

Cyemptive Technologies

Seattle-based Cyemptive Technologies, a provider of pre-emptive cybersecurity solutions for business and government, has named Microsoft veteran Paul Hiteshew as vice president of solutions consulting. In his new role, Hiteshew will be leading a team of cybersecurity experts that provide cybersecurity architectural blueprints for Cyemptive customers. His responsibilities will include leading pre-sales technical support for strategic industry partners and their customers, consulting with customers to understand their current cybersecurity risk profile and mapping their journey to achieving maximum cybersecurity readiness. Hiteshew brings with him nearly 25 years of experience in IT operations, IT enterprise and cyber defense at Microsoft. Most recently, Hiteshew was with Lighthouse Global, where he served as executive director of IT and security engineering. Cyemptive's leadership team is comprised of executives from several technology and security organizations, including the former CIO of Microsoft and the former chief computer architect for the National Security Agency.

Auburn Mechanical

Auburn Mechanical, a woman-owned mechanical contractor, hired Annika Gaffney as human resources director. Gaffney brings over 20 years of industry experience across various sectors and a track record for cultivating inclusive, employee-friendly workplaces. She previously held the same role at general contractor Schuchart. In her new role at Auburn Mechanical, she will develop and implement a human resources strategy that aligns with company-wide goals. Auburn Mechanical specializes in mechanical design, HVAC, plumbing, fitting, refrigeration and maintenance.

Pacific Northwest CMAA

The Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Construction Management Association of America is seeking nominations for its 2024 Project Achievement Awards. The program is open to local chapter members that finished projects between Jan. 1, 2023, and April 1, 2024, in Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The submission deadline is May 10. Contact Sean Duffett for more information at sean.duffett@soundtransit.org.

Hood River bridge project gets $200M

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority is set to receive $200 million in federal funds to replace an aging bridge over the Columbia River, about 50 miles upstream from Portland.

The $200 million Department of Transportation grant announced yesterday is expected to cover nearly 40% of the total $520 million project cost.

The project will replace the bridge and improve transportation between the city of Hood River in Oregon and the communities of White Salmon and Bingen in Washington.

The DJC reported in November that the existing 4,418-foot-long steel bridge is nearly 100 years old and carries two narrow lanes — each measuring 9 feet, 4.75 inches wide. It also has height and weight restrictions for vehicles, lacks sidewalks and bicycle lanes, poses a navigational hazard to watercraft, and was not built to modern seismic code.

The authority is currently seeking a design-build team for the replacement bridge. Proposals for that opportunity were due yesterday.

Project planners estimate cars will be able to travel twice as fast on the new bridge, with travel speeds increasing from 22 mph on the current bridge to 45 mph on the new one. It will have a 12-foot-wide shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians and is expected to reduce vehicle crashes, emissions, and overall travel time.

With the federal funds, the total raised for the project is now $318 million. This also includes $80 million from Washington state, $25 million from Oregon and $13.6 million in other federal funds.

If the bridge is not replaced, the authority says it would have to be closed to truck traffic in six years and closed to all traffic in 2040.