Apr 21, 2000

Publicis

Publicis, a communications agency with offices in Seattle, announced its annual appointments of senior executives to principal, senior principal and executive principal positions. The new Seattle office appointments are Jane Morimoto, senior principal, director of test kitchens, Lorin Walker, principal, executive producer, Mark Jones, principal, associate creative director, John Bissell, principal, group management director and Wendy Johnson, principal, group management director.

Edmonds Community College

Governor Gary Locke has appointed Jack C. McRae of Edmonds, senior vice president of legislative and congressional affairs for Premera Blue Cross, to the Edmonds Community College Board of Trustees. He replaces Charles Kee, Lynnwood insurance executive, who is retiring.

Prairielaw.com

Prairielaw.com, a Seattle-based legal information site dedicated to educating Main Street America on the basics of the law, announced a strategic partnership with AskMe.com, the largest person-to-person question and answer service on the Web. The partnership will integrate the AskMe Network Q&A service into the Prairielaw.com site, giving visitors access to over 790 legal experts offering personalized responses in more than 2,000 categories, ranging from immigration and business law to law enforcement and legal careers.

Communicate.com

Communicate.com announced that it has expanded its Vancouver, B.C., offices and opened a Seattle office. To accommodate its growth, Communicate.com has added an additional office to its Gastown location and has opened a new office in downtown Seattle. Communicate.com is building a network of intuitive brands. With brands in several key categories including Sports & Leisure, Health & Beauty and Country portals, Communicate.com’s mission is to deliver the best and most accessible Web sites on the Internet.

LightingUniverse.com

LightingUniverse.com, a Kirkland-based Web site dedicated to the lighting needs of interior designers, architects, builders and other lighting specifiers, is donating more than $2,500 worth of lighting fixtures to the Lighthouse project of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. The Lighthouse is a 20-unit apartment complex in south Seattle that will provide safe, continued after-care programs for Union Gospel Mission clients.

Marmon/Keystone

Marmon/Keyston, a distributor of carbon, stainless, aluminum and nickel alloy, announced two appointments at its Seattle service center. Vernon Lyter has been rehired as western regional fluid power manager. Lyter has been with the company since 1983. Tracie Fowler has accepted the position as an inside salesperson.

Northwestern Trust

Northwestern Trust, a Seattle-based private trust and investment management company, announced that Kelly Bartle has been promoted to marketing director. Bartle is responsible for managing marketing and public relations for the company. She has more than six years experience in marketing, public relations and communications, most recently serving as marketing director at Holy Names Academy.

Shurgard

Tony Stallings has been hired as the president and chief operating officer of Shurgard Storage To Go, a subsidiary of Shurgard Storage, a Seattle-based self-storage company. Stallings will be responsible for the Shurgard subsidiary which delivers mobile storage units to customer's homes or businesses. Prior to joining Shurgard, he was the acting principal and chief operating officer of Value Group, a specialty consulting practice.

5th Avenue Theatre

The board of directors of Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre announced the selection of David Armstrong to fill the newly created position of producing artistic director. Armstrong has directed both plays and musicals at many leading regional theaters including the Kennedy Center, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and Ford's Theater. He has been the adjunct professor and guest director at Brandeis and Hofstra universities.

Seattle's Best Coffee

Seattle's Best Coffee announced that due to consumer demand, it will expand its organic coffee line to six by adding two new blends, Tierra Verde and Twilight Decaf. Sales for Seattle's Best coffee were 55,687 pounds in 1998, and shot up to 74,881 pounds in 1999, prompting the expansion.

Seniors get help moving to assisted living

Leisure Care Retirement Communities and Coldwell Banker Bain have created a service to help seniors move from their homes to assisting-living units.

The two Bellevue-based companies said they consider the service a first-of-its-kind.

"This is a much-needed service," said Shari Blackwood, development and relocation director for Coldwell Banker Bain. "It takes the stress away from seniors and their families during a time of flux."

The service links a network of brokers, appraisers and moving companies to Leisure Care, Blackwood said.

Leisure Care manages 30 assisted-living communities in the Western United States, making it the country's ninth-largest privately-held retirement company. Six of the facilities are in the Puget Sound area.

Pay Attention opens in Seattle

A BertramMann outdoor clothing store recently opened in downtown Seattle at 1211 First Ave., near Harbor Steps.

Gibson Mann and Dianne Bertram, operating as Pay Attention LLC, opened their first store in San Francisco in 1997. The one in Seattle is their second.

Bertram said their travels led them to design "well-made clothing and equipment with style that would cross over to a wide range of uses beyond sports." Their clothes are made from washable wools, blended stretch twills, micro-fiber fleece and coated nylon.

UW wants a redeveloper in Tacoma

The University of Washington issued a request for proposals for developers interested in redeveloping the 34,500-square-foot Joy Building near the UW-Tacoma campus on the sound end of downtown Tacoma. The school describes the structure as a historic building.

Proposers should outline a design and how they would finance the project. The university is offering a 10- to 20-year ground lease.

Proposals are due by June 15. A pre-bid site inspection is scheduled for 10 a.m. April 24 at the Joy Building, 1720 Pacific Ave. To get a request for proposal form, fax Kerry Kahl at (206) 685-6836.

Transnation Title

Peter E. Johndrow has become a commercial sales representative for Transnation Title, covering King and Snohomish counties. Johndrow has several years of sales experience in the insurance industry.

Tacoma officials will talk to CREW

Juli Wilkerson and J.J. McCament of the Tacoma Economic Development Department will speak May 11 at lunch to Commercial Real Estate Women. The two will talk about development in Tacoma, which is picking up speed. The event will be at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle, with registration beginning at 11:45 a.m.