Feb 24, 2000

Global Partnerships

Peter Blomquist has been appointed the executive director of Global Partnerships, a Seattle-based private foundation focused on alleviating poverty in Latin America. Blomquist was most recently executive director of the Starbucks Foundation, and prior to that was director of the Northwest Office of CARE. Bill and Paula Clapp founded Global Partnerships in 1993 to provide private sector solutions to issues of poverty in developing nations. Blomquist succeeds Bernadene “Bernie” Dochnahl, who retired earlier this year to pursue other interests.

Tegris

Bellevue-based Tegris Corp., provider of business-class Internet solutions, hosted applications and information technology services to the residential real estate industry, has completed a $6.5 million round of financing. Banyan Private Equity Management and Spangler Financial Group, as well as local investors, participated in the financing. The company has received $6.2 million in previous capital, bringing the total amount to $12.7 million. The new capital will be used for national expansion. The company expects to increase its staff from approximately 45 to up to 120 by the end of 2000.

Avista

Avista Advantage and Strategic Energy LLC announced an alliance. Spokane-based Avista is a business-to-business e-commerce provider of utility bill validation, payment and information services in North America. SEL, owned by a subsidiary of Kansas City Power & Light, provides management of electricity and natural gas supply for commercial and industrial end-users through analysis of supplier alternatives.

Dorsey & Whitney

Dorsey & Whitney, an international law firm with offices in Seattle, announced that Irwin Treiger, a partner in the firm's Seattle office, has been nominated by the American Bar Association to serve on its Board of Govenors. The 39-member board oversees the general operation of the association and develops specific plans of action. Treiger focuses his practice on general business with an emphasis on estate planning.

Seattle Chocolate

Seattle-based Seattle Chocolate Co. announced a partnership with Food & Wine, to launch a new line of high-quality baking ingredients. The new line, which uses only premium European chocolate, includes baking bars, semi-sweet chocolate chips and unsweetened baking cocoa. The baking ingredients will be available for retail sale in March at groceries, natural food retailers and speciality kitchen stores. They are also available for wholesale through the Seattle Chocolate Co.

Coconut Beach Grill

Coconut Beach Grill, a new restaurant to be opened in Sammamish, will celebrate its grand opening on April 10. The restaurant's menu will feature island cuisine and vacation cocktails from around the world. The restaurant is operated by Consolidated Restaurants, a restaurant company in the Pacific Northwest, which also operates Elliott's Oyster Bar, The Metropolitan Grill and Hiram's.

Apollo

Apollo of Kennewick, a full-scale construction and mechanical contracting firm, has acquired National Drying Machinery Co. of Philadelphia. National is a designer and maker of customized convective dryers for diverse industrial uses. Apollo specializes in building pulp, nuclear, food processing and petroleum plants. The company also delivers pre-construction services, specializing in water/wastewater treatment plants, bridges, buildings and other engineered structures.

Evergreen Building Products

Evergreen Building Products has been named the exclusive local distributor of VerCeram Co. products, which include lightweight, non-porous and heat-resistant panels that can be used as wall cladding, integral panel sections and accent pieces. Evergreen will supply the products to markets in Washington, Oregon and Alaska through its distribution centers in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham and Port Townsend.

SME Inc.

Seattle-based electrical contractor SME Inc. has received the "Accredited Quality Contractor" award from the Associated Builders & Contractors of Western Washington. The award is based on a firm's commitment to four key areas: worker safety, benefits, training and community involvement.

Vanir Construction Mgmt.

The Feb. 15 edition of People & Companies didn't give the full name for Vanir Construction Management. Vanir is a program, project and construction management consulting company. Troy K. Pyles was recently promoted to vice president, heading up the Bellevue office.