Oct 13, 2005

Seattle Times

The Seattle Times Co. named Corey Digiacinto communications manager. She will assist with strategic communications and coordinate content on the corporate Web site. Prior to joining the company last year, Digiacinto directed finance and coordinated communications for a statewide political campaign in Austin, Texas.

Exponent

The engineering and scientific consulting firm Exponent made promotions in its Bellevue office: engineers Gary Brugger, Russ Jones and Scott S. Shock; scientists Rhonda Kaetzel, Taryn Sparacio and Randy O'Boyle; director of environmental sciences Walter Shields; contracts manager Claudia LaRose; and information technology specialist Michael Carlson. Eileen McAuliffe is the publications supervisor. Exponent's engineers, scientists, physicians and regulatory consultants analyze product designs, look for environmental and human health concerns, and study the cause of failures for industry and government groups.

American Staffing Association

American Staffing Association recently named Joni Parcell 2005 National Staffing Employee of the Year. Parcell is based in Seattle, but travels around the country to care for patients in short-staffed hospitals. She has been a nurse for 10 years. Member companies provide temporary help, contract labor and permanent placement services through 15,000 offices.

Opus Northwest

Herrmann

Scott Herrmann is a new senior real estate manager at Opus Northwest, focusing on build-to-suit and speculative development. He is working on leasing the 40,000 square feet of medical office and 14,000 square feet of retail at the company's M Street project at Eighth and Madison in Seattle. He'll also work on the Opus project at Seventh and Madison, a 200,000-square-foot office building scheduled to start in 2006. Herrmann was with Fisher Communications in Seattle, handling marketing and business development for Fisher Plaza.

GVA Kidder Mathews

Olsen

Garth Olsen, an office specialist, has joined GVA Kidder Mathews as a senior vice president in the Seattle office. He worked at Cushman & Wakefield's Seattle office for 20 years where he was a top producer for five of the past six years. Twice in the past three years he was a top 100 producer nationwide. Olsen is a CPA and has earned the Society of Industrial and Office Brokers designation. Dan Boring of the Bellevue office received the Appraisal Institute's MAI membership. MAI stands for Member Appraisal Institute and is awarded to those who complete a graduate-level curriculum and attain 3,000 hours of qualifying experience beyond state certification requirements.

Staubach

Adrienne Hunter is a new associate at Staubach's Northwest Corporate Services office. Her specialty is sales and leasing of office properties. Previously she was an associate at CB Richard Ellis.

HouseValues

HouseValues of Kirkland has launched homepages.com. HomePages combines aerial mapping with home listings and neighborhood information, such as data on schools, crime rates and distance from fire stations, parks, hospitals and other facilities.

Paine Field Hotel Development

Mukilteo's new 102-room Hilton Garden Inn, 8401 Paine Field Blvd., is open. Beechwood Development of Deforest, Wis., developed the hotel. Paine Field Hotel Development owns and operates it.

NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson

Michael R. Merino of NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson in Portland has achieved the SIOR industrial designation from the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.

Windermere

Windermere Real Estate has formed Windermere Commercial Tri-Cities — Dirk Stricker & Associates in Kennewick. Dirk Stricker has worked in commercial real estate in the Tri-Cities since 1990. Connie Macon is on the executive staff. She has more than 26 years of experience in property management. Lance Bacon, formerly of Benton-Franklin Title Co., is an associate at the company. The company has property management contracts for Marineland Village, a shopping mall, and Pinewood, an over-55 residential community. Both are in Kennewick.

NAIOP

Jack Schultz, CEO of the industrial development company Agracel Inc. and author of "Boomtown USA," will talk about why some small towns succeed and others flounder at NAIOP's 7:30 a.m. Oct. 26 breakfast at Seattle's Grand Hyatt, 721 Pine St. Agracel works on bringing jobs in high-tech and manufacturing to small towns. The breakfast is $30 for members of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and $45 for others. Register by clicking on "Events" at naiopwa.org or call (206) 382-9121.

BetterBricks Awards

The first BetterBricks Awards for the Puget Sound region will be presented at a 7:30 a.m. Oct. 28 breakfast at Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave. BetterBricks is a nonprofit supported by Northwest electric utilities. The awards recognize architects, developers, facility managers and others for their work on high performance commercial buildings. The cost is $15 to $30. Register by clicking on News & Events at betterbricks.com.