Apr 06, 2010

Miller Nash

Law firm Miller Nash elected two new partners to its five-person executive committee. They are LeAnne Bremer and Erich Merrill. Bremer is the partner in charge of the Vancouver office, and is a land use, real estate and government affairs lawyer. Merrill is a senior partner in the business, mergers and acquisitions practice team.

Underground Tour

Bill Speidel's Underground Tour expanded its management staff. Jennifer Willison, former controller at Tillicum Village & Tourism is finance manager. Frank Zoretich, a writer and editor, is tour manager. Hakan Sebciouglu, formerly operations manager for Alaska-Canopy Adventures in Ketchikan, Alaska, is customer service manager. Chuck Pirtle, a bookseller who has worked for the University Book Store, is retail manager. The Underground Tour also hired new administrative assistants. They are Bob Oswald, formerly an administrative assistant at the Waldorf School in Seattle; Maureen Wallace, formerly a paralegal for Foster Pepper; and Yolanda Hall, an eight-year veteran of the company.

Williams Kastner

The law firm of Williams Kastner hired Perry Granof as of counsel. Granof has 25 years of experience in the insurance industry and serves as managing director of Granof International Group of Glencoe, Ill. He will focus his practice on insurance matters and work from his Glencoe office.

Apr 02, 2010

Keller Rohrback

Susan Kim has joined Keller Rohrback as an associate attorney. Kim counsels businesses on new entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, private placements, corporate finance and corporate governance issues. Kim was previously in-house counsel at Vulcan and was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell and Morrison & Foerster.

Envision Telephony

Envision Telephony in Seattle, a global provider of workforce optimization solutions, named Mark Perrin executive vice president of sales and service. Perrin has 20 years of experience in telecommunications and call center automation. He was previously a principal with Brandwell International.

Public Disclosure Commission

Vicki Rippie has left her post as executive director of the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission. Rippie has held the job since 2000 after serving as acting executive director for a year, and assistant director for public information and policy development. Assistant Director Doug Ellis has been appointed interim executive director while the commission searches for a new executive director. Ellis has worked for the commission for 18 years.

Apr 01, 2010

Wells Fargo Investments

Wells Fargo Investments added Mark Murphy as vice president and financial advisor. Murphy will be handling the investment needs for clients in Seattle and throughout the Eastside. He has 16 years of experience in financial services.

Washington State Court of Appeals

Gov. Chris Gregoire has appointed Judge Michael Spearman to the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division I. Spearman is a former King County superior court judge who is an attorney at Judicial Dispute Resolution in Seattle. Gregoire also appointed Laurel Siddoway to the Court of Appeals, Division III.

Washington State Parks

Washington State Parks Director Rex Derr will retire on Nov. 30. Derr is a lifelong parks and recreation professional, having served for 33 years with Washington State Parks. He has been agency director since 2002. Derr said he and his wife want to pursue their outdoor recreation passions, and spend time with children and grandchildren in other parts of the country.

Washington Restaurant Association

The Washington Restaurant Association has honored four restaurant and foodservice industry leaders with awards. Jim Aitken of Consolidated Restaurants in Seattle received the Devere Jerry Burtenshaw Lifetime Achievement Award. Joe Fugere of Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria in Seattle received the Full Service Operator of the Year Award. Bob Mauer of Bargreen Ellingson in Tacoma won the Allied Member of the Year Award. Jeff Harvey of Burgerville in Vancouver won the Quick Service Operator of the Year Award.

Marcus & Millichap

Real estate investment services firm Marcus & Millichap promoted Armand Tiberio to first vice president investments. A member of the Seattle office, he joined the firm eight years ago. He specializes in selling Section 42 low-income housing tax credit properties and is a senior director of the firm's National Multi Housing Group.

Windermere Real Estate

Lynly Hewett and Jennifer Pells joined the Poulsbo office of Windermere.

BRE Properties

Kevin Granit was named vice president of property operations for BRE Properties' northern division. He is responsible for about 8,000 units in Seattle and California, and nearly 2,600 units in Denver that BRE owns jointly with others. He previously worked for Carmel Partners and Equity Residential.

CREW Seattle & Sound luncheon

The Seattle & Sound chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women will hold a luncheon April 8 on “Restaurants — The Shining Star or the Necessary Evil?” at the Washington Athletic Club, 1325 Sixth Ave., Seattle. A panel will discuss why restaurants are important in projects, how to attract them and their infrastructure needs. Panelists are Leslie Mackie, Macrina's Bakery; Michael Carr, Schwartz Brothers; Jeff Harmer, Schnitzer West; James Hamm, Commercial Development Consulting; Melanie Corey-Ferrini, Dynamikspace. Register at crewseattle.org.

CHH looks at rail impacts

Capitol Hill Housing will host a panel discussion at 5:30 p.m. April 14 about changes the 2016 arrival of light rail service will bring to the area around the Broadway station. The discussion, part of CHH's annual meeting, will be at Erickson Theatre, 1524 Harvard Ave., Seattle. Panelists are King County Executive Dow Constantine, Cathy Hilenbrand of Capitol Hill TOD Champions, Grace Kim of Schemata Workshop, Hunters Capital Principal Michael Malone, Mike Roewe of Via Architecture and Alex Steffens of worldchanging.com. Space is limited. RSVP to rsvp@capitolhillhousing.org or (206) 204-3842.

Golf Savings Bank

Gerald R. Zachary was appointed chairman of Golf Savings Bank board of directors. The North Seattle bank's primary focus is home loan origination. Zachary has been on the board since 2000. He previously was director of banks for the state. He retired in 1998 and works as a bank consultant. Sterling Financial Corp. is the parent of Golf Savings Bank and the holding company for Sterling Savings, a commercial bank. Two weeks ago, Spokane-based Sterling Financial reached a tentative deal with the U.S. Treasury and a potential investor in its battle for survival, The Associated Press reported. Treasury would accept a steep markdown on the $303 million that it invested in Sterling as part of the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program. The company would raise an additional $650 million in capital from new investment. Sterling would also repurchase $238 million in trust-preferred securities for which it is offering 20 cents per $1 face value.

Colliers

Colliers International and FirstService Real Estate Advisors combined their operations and services platform. Colliers Puget Sound is retaining the Colliers International brand. In addition to current service offerings, Colliers International now offers a wider range of services through 15,000 professionals in 480 offices in 61 countries.

Law Seminars International

“Land Use in Washington” is the title of Law Seminars International class on April 19-20 at the Seattle Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1113 Sixth Ave., and also available by Webcast. The class is for attorneys, real estate professionals, land owners, developers, governmental officials, planners, consultants and engineers. Tuition ranges from $497.50 to $995. Register at lawseminars.com or by calling (800) 854-8009.

Realtors Open House

Seattle King County Realtors will participate in the first nationwide open house weekend on April 10-11. The event is modeled on last year's statewide open house. The goal is to double or triple the number of open houses on a typical weekend, said Russell Hokanson, CEO of Seattle King County Realtors. Prospective buyers will receive information about tax and other incentives.