Oct 19, 2011

Stoel Rives

The business law firm Stoel Rives hired Alexandra Mertens in the Seattle office as an associate in the Corporate Group. Mertens was an associate at Fredrikson & Byron in Minnesota.

Coast Hospitality

Coast Hospitality hired Jerry Jenkins to help expand the hotel chain in the U.S. Jenkins worked for the company in the 1980s when it was WestCoast Hotels, and helped the chain grow to 12 hotels with 16 affiliates.

Korrio

Seattle-based Korrio hired Steve Banfield as first chief product officer. Banfield worked at Sony and RealNetworks, and will oversee all aspects of the consumer experience with Korrio's Playflow sports automation platform. Playflow allows coaches and team administrators to manage operations online.

KPFF Consulting Engineers

Weston

Clapham

KPFF Consulting Engineers promoted Jenifer Clapham and Rebekah Weston to associates. Clapham was hired by KPFF in 2004 with utility and drainage experience on large public transportation projects, and she continues to manage complex site development projects. She is project manager on the USACE Federal Center South. Weston joined the firm in 2006, and has expanded its business into utility modeling and system optimization. She was project manager for the Market Street project in Ballard.

PSF Mechanical

Whitmyre

Seattle-based PSF Mechanical hired Chris Whitmyre as project executive. He is an engineer with more than 30 years of experience, and will focus on health care, biotech and other complex projects. PSF provides mechanical engineering, construction, consulting and energy services.

DLR Group

DLR Group hired Lawrence (Larry) Yuan as its Asia region leader. It also named Scott Kruse and Tom O'Neil as a senior principals and Ron van der Veen and Bill Judge as principals. Yuan has been an architect for more than 30 years, with management, project development, planning and design experience in the Pacific Rim. Kruse is Northwest regional leader, managing operations and mentoring staff in Seattle, Portland and Honolulu. O'Neil is the Southwest regional leader, directing operations in six states and offices in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Denver and Colorado Springs. He has been a project, K-12 and office leader. Van der Veen works in the Seattle office as designer focusing on higher education and was a founding board member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Judge is practice leader of DLR's operations in Riverside, Calif. His background is in quality assurance. DLR Group provides architecture, engineering, planning and interior design.

USKH

USKH promoted Kennet Bertelsen to associate in the Spokane office. He is in the civil engineering department and has experience in analysis, design, cost estimating and construction inspection. He was involved in the Downtown Transportation Alternatives Analysis study by the city and Spokane Transit. He has led USKH efforts in Haiti, including the Healing Hands for Haiti Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute. USKH provides architectural, engineering, environmental, landscape architecture, planning and land surveying services.

Oct 18, 2011

Exxel Pacific

Bieber

General contractor Exxel Pacific hired Bill Bieber as vice president to manage the Seattle office. Bieber is working to maintain client relations as well as expand Exxel Pacific's market share in the greater Seattle region.

Express Construction Co.

Derrick

Express Construction Co. hired Melody Derrick as a project manager. Derrick has more than 15 years of construction industry experience, including renovations and tenant improvements. Express is a Bellevue-based general contractor.

Canyon Creek Cabinet Co.

Monroe-based Canyon Creek Cabinet Co. last week was awarded Manufacturer of the Year by the Association of Washington Business. Canyon Creek was one of seven Washington-based companies cited for their contributions to the state's economy in the areas of operational excellence, innovation and green manufacturing.

Those darn Europeans

NEW YORK (AP) — A week ago, markets were soaring on hopes that a fix for Europe's debt crisis was near. On Monday, stocks had their worst drop in two weeks after German leaders cast doubt on how fast that process would be.

Expectations that a resolution to the crisis could be reached at a European summit in Brussels Oct. 23 helped lift the S&P 500 index to its biggest gain in two years last week. Germany's finance chief Wolfgang Schaeuble said Monday that those expectations were too optimistic.

It was the worst day for U.S. stock indexes since Oct. 3, when each hit a low for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 247.49 points, or 2.1 percent, to close at 11,397. Alcoa Inc. led the Dow lower with a 6.6 percent decline.

“It's completely a reaction to Germany,” said Jason Pride, the director of investment strategy at Glenmede, a wealth management firm in Philadelphia. “The reality is everybody is hanging on to what Europe's doing.”

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 23.72, or 1.9 percent, to 1,200.86. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 were lower. Banks fell the most, 3.3 percent.

A batch of weak corporate earnings reports also pulled stocks lower. Gannett Co. Inc. plunged 8 percent, the most of any stock in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, after the newspaper publisher reported a drop in advertising. Wells Fargo sank 8.4 percent after posting results that fell short of analysts' expectations.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 52.93, or 2 percent, to 2,614.92.

Stock markets around the world rallied last week after the leaders of France and Germany pledged to come up with a far-reaching solution to the region's debt crisis by the end of October. That pledge appeared to be pushed back by German officials Monday. Schaeuble said he expects European leaders to adopt a general framework to tackle the crisis on Sunday. Separately, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said discussions on how to solve Europe's debt problems will likely last into the new year.

Concerns about a messy default by the Greek government have been the main cause behind many of the stock market's big swings lately. The fear is that a default would cause deep losses for European banks that hold Greek bonds. That could lead to a freeze in lending between banks and escalate into another financial crisis similar to the one that occurred in 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Pride said there are other issues to worry about, such as a global economic slowdown and squabbles over U.S. government debt. But Pride believes the European debt debacle is the only one that has the power to undermine the global financial system.

News on the U.S. economy was mixed. A measure of U.S. industrial production rose for a third month, but a gauge of New York area manufacturing fell more than Wall Street expected.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.16 percent from 2.25 percent late Friday. Yields on bonds fall when demand for them increases and investors become more willing to accept lower returns in exchange for holding assets they consider safe.

In corporate news, Kinder Morgan said late Sunday that it would buy El Paso Corp. for $20.7 billion. The deal would create America's largest natural gas pipeline operator. El Paso jumped 24.8 percent. Kinder Morgan Inc., gained 4.8 percent.

Citigroup Inc. fell 1.6 percent, less than the overall market, after the bank said a decline in loan losses helped it beat Wall Street's profit forecasts. The parent of American Airlines, AMR Corp., sank 6.1 percent on news the company and its pilots failed to reach agreement on a new contract over the weekend.

Magner Sanborn

Magner Sanborn, a full-service advertising, brand design and marketing communications firm, hired three staff members. Chelsea Newman is account coordinator. Teresa Ide is account coordinator. Aaron Schaber is a designer. All are based in Spokane.

Leadership Eastside

Leadership Eastside, an organization that brings leaders together to address community issues, launched its first annual Network Awards, which will be celebrated Thursday at a black-tie gala. Winners of the Leadership Eastside Network Inspiration Awards will be honored. Doreen Marchione, founder of Hopelink and Redmond mayor, wins the Sustainability Award. Annalee Luhman, learning and leadership manager with the Port of Seattle, wins the Catalyst Award. Pat Hughes, senior affiliate with the Center for Ethical Leadership, wins the Diversity Award. GLY Construction wins the Vision Award.