Feb 23, 2007

Washington State China Relations Council

The law firm of Dorsey & Whitney announced Nelson Dong, a partner in the firm's Seattle office, has been re-elected president of the Washington State China Relations Council for 2007. The council is the largest China-related trade promotion group in the Pacific Northwest.

Banner Bank

Banner Bank's Corporate Banking Center in Bellevue hired Scott Strawn as vice president/client manager. Strawn was with Wells Fargo Bank in Everett. Banner Bank is a commercial bank headquartered in Walla Walla.

Shoreline Chamber of Commerce

The Shoreline Chamber of Commerce elected Judy Smith of The Far West Group as president, Rick Stephens of Highland Ice Arena as vice president, Diana Stephens of the Shoreline Merchants Association as secretary and Gary Batch, certified financial planner, as treasurer. The outgoing president is Cindy Ryu of Allstate Insurance.

Feb 22, 2007

Gibraltar

Seattle-based commercial real estate firm Gibraltar promoted John Slonecker to president and CFO. Prior to joining Gibraltar, Slonecker was a senior accountant for Western Wireless Corp. Pamela Keske was hired as senior property manager. She was with Pinnacle Property Management in Seattle. The commercial brokerage team has added Chris Garvin, Chris Stark, James Ellison and Erik Strom. Garvin was with US Bank. Stark was a mortgage broker and entrepreneur. Ellison worked for the past year in commercial real estate. Strom did market research for Westlake Associates. Gibraltar has an office in Kennewick, and owns and operates investment properties in the state valued at $300 million.

Surprise Lake Square

Ace Hardware franchisee Hometown Hardware signed a lease for 21,000 square feet at Surprise Lake Square in Milton. The store will open in the spring. Surprise Lake Square is currently undergoing a $2 million renovation. The 131,000-square-foot center is anchored by Safeway and Rite Aid. Ace Hardware was represented by Rolland Jones of GVA Kidder Mathews. Kevin Wallace of Wallace Properties represented the landlord, WRP Surprise Lake LLC. WRP Surprise Lake is a joint venture of Wallace Properties of Bellevue and a fund administered by Washington Capital Management of Seattle.

CB Richard Ellis

CB Richard Ellis negotiated the sale-leaseback of a 271,000-square-foot office complex in Simi Valley, Calif., on behalf of the Farmers Insurance Group. Jeffrey Thomas of the Seattle office and John Glassmoyer of the Phoenix office represented the seller in the $42 million sale to a New York-based REIT.

NAIOP Young Professionals Group

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the NAIOP Young Professionals Group on Wednesday, March 14, at Kell's Irish Restaurant & Pub on Post Alley. Admission includes food and two drink tickets. The event will go from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. For information contact Jillanne Bates at NAIOP at (206) 382-9121.

Public Health Seattle & King County

Dr. David Fleming has been confirmed as the new director and health officer for Public Health Seattle & King County. He was director of global health strategies for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He was also deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control.

Washington Mutual Leadership Center

Washington Mutual Leadership Center at Cedarbrook named Jim Watkins executive chef. Watkins was head chef and owner of Jimmy's Table in Madison Park. Cedarbrook is a leadership development center and event facility in SeaTac.

Avanade

Avanade, a global IT consultancy based in Seattle specializing in solutions based on the Microsoft platform, named Simone Reynolds vice president of human resources. She was recently vice president of human resources at Axidia Global.

Printcom

Printcom has acquired White Paper Co.'s operation in Washington state. Printcom is a locally owned printing company that provides businesses around the country with business forms, office products and corporate promotional items. The merger will give White Paper Co. access to corporate promotional products and office supplies, and give Printcom blank paper at competitive prices.

Dorsey and Whitney

Dorsey & Whitney named partner Michael Droke to lead the firm's Seattle office. He succeeds Bryce Holland, who returns to his corporate and securities law practice in the Seattle office. Droke co-chairs the Computer Fraud and Abuse Practice, is head of the Seattle Labor and Employment Practice and is a member of the Privacy Practice and the Executive Compensation Team. Dorsey & Whitney has 600 lawyers on three continents.