Oct 24, 2003

Hotel Monaco

Strober

The Kimpton Hotel Group, a San Francisco-based hotel and restaurant company, named Jeremy Strober general manager of Hotel Monaco in Seattle. Strober was previously the hotel manager of Hotel Monaco and has been with Kimpton since 1993.

Banner Bank

Parker Hasz

Clawson

Banner Bank, based in Walla Walla, promoted Bruce Clawson to senior vice president and division manager. Clawson joined Banner in 2002 as a commercial loan officer after working for Trillium Corp. as a senior finance executive. Linda Parker Hasz joins Banner's commercial lending team as a division credit officer in the Whatcom County region. Previously, Parker Hasz was Banner's senior vice president of CRA & Special Projects.

Riddell Williams

Riddell Williams, a Seattle-based law firm, hired four new litigation associates. The new associates are Wendy Lyon, a recent graduate of the Boalt Hall School of Law; Mona McPhee, previously a judicial clerk to Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander of the Washington Supreme Court; Richard Ross, formerly with Latham & Watkins; and Skylar Sherwood, previously a judicial clerk for Washington Supreme Court Justice Faith Ireland.

Washington Women Lawyers Foundation

The Washington Women Lawyers Foundation presented a leadership award to Sheena Aebig, a business attorney at Williams Kastner & Gibbs. The award recognizes an attorney or judge who demonstrates a commitment to career achievement and civic/community involvement and service. The WWL Foundation supports the charitable and educational purposes of female lawyers in Washington.

William Traver Gallery, Vetri Glass

William Traver Gallery and Vetri International Glass, based in Seattle, will open Nov. 1 in the Albers Brothers Mill Building in Tacoma. The building is located on the Thea Foss Waterway adjacent to the Museum of Glass and Tacoma Art Museum. William Traver Gallery was established in 1977 and represents emerging artists working in glass, ceramics, metal and mixed-media sculpture and painting. Vetri was established in 1995 to show innovative works of emerging artists.

Oct 23, 2003

Preston Gates Ellis

Tony Miles and Mari Horita of Preston Gates Ellis, a Seattle-based law firm, were honored at the 2003 Washington State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division awards. Miles was named 2003 Outstanding Lawyer of the Year and Horita received the 2003 Professionalism Award.

Seattle Symphony

The Seattle Symphony appointed Paul Meecham to executive director. Meecham has experience working with the San Francisco Symphony and the London Sinfonietta, and was recently general manager for the New York Philharmonic.

Taco Del Mar

Taco Del Mar hired Ken Batali as vice president of operations at the company's corporate headquarters in Seattle. Prior to joining Taco Del Mar, Batali was the vice president of operations at Restaurants Unlimited, where he worked for 20 years.

Skyway Luggage

Wilhoit

Saettle-based Skyway Luggage Co. named William H. Wilhoit, formerly executive vice president and chief operating officer, its new president. Wilhoit will continue as chief operating officer and will supervise sales, marketing, finance and administration, international partnerships, production development and production. Henry L. Kotkins, Jr. was elected to chairman and CEO. He will continue to focus on strategic issues and external relations.

Bates Technical College

Ashpole

Thompson

Bates Technical College in Tacoma hired three new employees. Daria Perry is the new library director, Steve Ashpole was named manager of enrollment services/registrar and Mary Thompson was named director of corporate development at KBTC. KBTC is Bates' television station and PBS affiliate.

Parker Smith & Feek

Parker Smith & Feek, a regional insurance brokerage based in Bellevue, hired Joe Rogers as an account executive. Rogers has extensive experience in the employee benefit and financial services industry and is a member of the Million Dollar Round Table.

Zebraclub to open 6 new stores

The trendy clothing retailer Zebraclub will open a store in Bellevue Square at the end of this month. The first Zebraclub started on First Avenue in downtown Seattle in 1985 as a "retail laboratory" for 15 sportswear vendors. The second Zebraclub is on Capitol Hill. The stores are owned by International News, headed by chairman and CEO Raj Shah. Shah said opening of the Bellevue store starts a roll-out of 20 new stores across the United States and six more abroad during the next five years. "At a time when most fashion retail is suffering setbacks, our stores are logging 30 to 50 percent comparable sales growth over the past year," Shah said. The Bellevue Square store will include a second floor with a suspended DJ booth, hot-rolled steel trim and fixtures resembling fashion runways, and a "club-rivaling" sound system. Function Design laid out the store.

Windermere

Odom

Accountant David Odom joined Windermere Services as executive vice president of finance. Windermere Services provides support for the firm's residential sales offices. Odom manages accounting, budgeting, and fiscal planning and reporting. He plans to bring "next-generation" accounting procedures to the firm and its affiliates. Odom owned his own CPA firm and has been involved in the start-up and development of closely held businesses.

Windermere Real Estate's Ballard office hired two sales associates: Bonnie Ellsworth and Susan Norman. Ellsworth previously worked as a sales associate at Loyal Realty in Seattle. Norman was a program manager at Microsoft in Redmond and at one time worked as an agent's assistant in Windermere's Northgate office.

Quadrant

Krivaneck

Gray

Ken Krivanec and Mark Gray were each promoted to senior vice president in home building at Quadrant Corp. Krivanec was vice president of sales and marketing and will continue to oversee those. He has been with Quadrant for four years. Gray was vice president of production and will continue to oversee all operations. He has worked at Quadrant for 13 years and helped cut the time it takes to build each new home to 54 days. Quadrant is selling its commercial development sites and focusing on high-volume home building. The Weyerhaeuser-owned firm's goal is to build and sell 1,700 homes next year.

Banner Bank

Banner Bank opened a branch in Seattle's Belltown area. The 3,200-square-foot branch is in the Bay Vista Office Building at Second Avenue and Clay Street. The building owner, a partnership assembled by Jim Potter, also signed NeonGecko.com as a 3,600-sqare-foot office tenant. NeonGecko.com runs e-commerce Web sites such as CoolAnimalStuff.com. The lease puts the building at 85 percent occupied.