Oct 23, 2009

American Public Works Association

Daryl Grigsby, public works director for the city of Kirkland, has been appointed to the board of directors of the American Public Works Association as director-at-large, environmental management. The nonprofit has more than 29,000 members involved in public works.

AdReady

Seattle-based AdReady, a technology company that makes online display advertising, hired Karl Siebrecht as president and chief operating officer. Siebrecht was president of Atlas, an online advertising technology provider and operating unit of aQuantive.

Cascade Water Alliance

Joe Mickelson has been named operations manager for the Cascade Water Alliance. Mickelson will oversee operations and maintenance of Cascade's Lake Tapps facilities. The nonprofit corporation includes eight municipalities and water districts that joined together in 1999 to provide water.

Seattle Genetics

Bothell-based Seattle Genetics, hired Bruce Seeley as executive vice president, commercial. Seeley has 18 years experience in oncology drug marketing and sales, most recently with Genentech BioOncology. The company also announced the promotion of Kirk Schumacher to vice president, legal affairs and compliance, and general counsel.

Oct 22, 2009

Far Bank Enterprises

Far Bank Enterprises on Bainbridge Island, the parent company of Sage Manufacturing, Redington and RIO Products Intl., hired Jennifer Gish as marketing manager for the Redington brand of fly rods, reels and fishing gear. Gish has 10 years experience in marketing and recently worked at Buck Knives.

Ponti

Alvin Binuya is returning to Ponti restaurant as chef/owner. Binuya was chef in the Ponti kitchen when the restaurant opened in 1990. Binuya was the owner and chef at Madoka on Bainbridge Island, which opened in 2005 and closed in September. Ponti is also owned by Richard and Sharon Malia. It will offer a new menu in early 2010.

United Way of King County

More than 500 volunteers are needed to prepare tax returns throughout King County for United Way of King County's Free Tax Preparation Campaign. The program will help low and middle-income families prepare their income tax forms from July 12 to April 15, 2010. All volunteers will receive free tax preparation training and be certified by the IRS. The need for volunteers is especially high in Auburn, Federal Way, SeaTac, Rainier Beach and downtown Seattle. People who speak Spanish, Chinese or Russian are especially needed.

Rental Housing Association

Banner Bank and Banner Bank Assistant Vice President/Income Property Lender Todd Hull were nominated Associate Member of the Year by the Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound. Hull works in Banner Bank's Bellevue Corporate Real Estate Loan Center. With more than 4,000 members, RHA of Puget Sound is the largest association of rental housing owners in Washington state.

Opus Northwest

Opus Northwest said Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue condominium in downtown Seattle received top honors at the Multifamily Executive Awards Gala in Las Vegas. The tower was named Project of the Year in the High-Rise category for design, floor plan efficiency, creative use of materials, landscaping, financing and working with government and community officials. The 143-unit project was designed by Weber Thompson and Opus Architects & Engineers, the architect of record. Realogics is handling marketing and sales. Opus NW Contractors was construction manager.

Seattle Mortgage Bankers Association

Matt Griffin will be the speaker at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Seattle Mortgage Bankers Association at the Washington Athletic Club, 1325 Sixth Ave. Griffin is managing partner of Pine Street Group. The event starts at 11:30 a.m. with registration. Cost is $45 for members. For information contact scory@ortc.com or go to http://www.seattlemba.org.

Paragon Real Estate Advisors

Paragon Real Estate Advisors reported the sale of a 32-unit apartment building at 20120 Whitman Ave. N. in Shoreline for $4.2 million. Saint Newton represented the seller and John Stoner represented the buyer, according to Paragon.

Keller Williams Realty

Linda M. Lowry, a real estate sales professional in Seattle, has joined the Keller Williams Realty Seattle Metro West Market Center. She worked in corporate sales and marketing. The office is at 4452 California Ave. S.W. and has more than 70 associates.

Olympic Northwest Mortgage

Silverdale-based Olympic Northwest Mortgage has started the transition to become Network Mortgage Services. Walt Bailey is branch manager for Network Mortgage and principal with Olympic Northwest. In a press release, Bailey said in late 2008 he and business partner Kay Arnold saw that regulatory changes caused by the national mortgage meltdown were going to make it extremely difficult to continue to operate as usual. Olympic Northwest became a division of Network Mortgage in April. Bailey says the percentage of loans originated by mortgage brokers has dropped from nearly 80 percent a few years ago to less than 20 percent today. Network Mortgage originates loans in multiple states through a retail loan center, six branch offices, and a wholesale lending channel.