Jun 17, 2014

Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker

Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker said Barat M. LaPorte has joined as a partner in Anchorage in the Commercial Litigation group. Before entering private practice, LaPorte was a clerk for the Alaska Supreme Court.

Highline Community College

The Highline Community College is going back to its original name: Highline College. It will offer several bachelor of applied science degree programs starting fall quarter, providing the third and fourth years of college for people who have a two-year technical degree. The programs are cybersecurity and forensics, global trade and logistics, respiratory therapy, and youth development.

Estate Planning Council of Seattle

The Estate Planning Council of Seattle has new officers for 2014-2015: Michael Vranizan of Vranizan & Associates is president; immediate past president is Joan Albee of Wellspring Group CPAs; Kurt Olson of Fahlman Olson & Little is treasurer; and Ron Nagle of Peterson Sullivan is secretary. The executive committee is Kathryn Garrison, Ford Clary, Kammie Lewis and Kristina Udall.

Venture General Contracting

Finnegan

Spinrad

Killian

Seattle-based Venture General Contracting added Craig Killian and Tony Spinrad as project managers and Steve Finnegan as controller. Killian has more than 30 years of construction management experience, specializing in multifamily and commercial projects. He is working on the Crossroads Apartments in Lynnwood and the Addison II in Seattle. Spinrad has nine years of industry experience and is focusing on the commercial market with Venture. Finnegan has more than 35 years of experience in construction finance and accounting. Venture recently moved into new headquarters at 1631 15th Ave. W. in Seattle.

Jun 13, 2014

Blue Box

Two former Tier 3 senior executives from CenturyLink Cloud have joined Blue Box. Last month, Tier 3's former CEO Matthew Schiltz became the CEO of Blue Box, a Seattle-based managed private cloud technology provider. Now Tier 3's chief revenue officer Bob DeSantis is chief revenue officer at Blue Box and Ken Cavallon is vice president of partners, responsible for indirect channels.

Snap Skout

Snap Skout, a Seattle media tech startup that recommends offers and deals to users, hired Steve Nieker as chief operating officer. Nieker has founded and led a series of tech ventures in online publishing and advertising, including AdKeeper and Sphere, which was purchased by AOL in 2008.

U.S. Bank

Starbucks Center has added a full-service U.S. Bank branch. The building is corporate headquarters for Starbucks Coffee, and also has Sears, Office Max and a number of start-up companies. The 600-square-foot branch is on the third floor. Mark Evans is manager.

Jun 12, 2014

Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker

Smoot

Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker said Jeffrey Smoot has joined as a partner in Seattle. Smoot practices in the creditor-debtor group, representing individuals, business owners and closely held companies. He represents both creditors and debtors in bankruptcy and receivership proceedings, and also assists with business planning.

University of Washington

The International Parking Institute named Josh Kavanagh of University of Washington Transportation Services the 2014 Parking Professional of the Year. The group said he improved the UW program's business model, built up a $16 million reserve, helped create a funding strategy to preserve transit service in King County, got federal funding for cycling infrastructure, and found ways to eliminate 600 parking spaces without forcing relocations. The UW also achieved LEED platinum certification for a new transportation services center.

SCI Solutions

SCI Solutions, a Kirkland-based firm that offers ordering, referral management and scheduling platforms for health care operations, said Stasia Huiner and Jamie Gier have joined the company. Huiner fills a new position: senior vice president of client performance optimization. Gier is senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Huiner worked at Tenet Healthcare on strategy and restructuring. Gier has worked for more than 20 years marketing health care technologies.

Cogo Capital hires 4 in Spokane

Cogo Capital is a private money lender based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, that works with investors to finance property. It recently hired four people in its Spokane office. Carla Johnson will be a loan processor, Greg Gordon and Jeff Spitzer will be loan officers, and Yvette Meyer will manage the office. Johnson has 20 years of experience at Bank of America, GMAC Mortgage and Wells Fargo. Gordon has more than 30 years of experience with financial services and credit companies. Spitzer started as a general contractor before getting into financial services and mortgage lending. Meyers has more than 18 years in the lending industry.

NorthMarq helps finance senior housing

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Stuart Oswald of Northmarq Capital's Seattle office arranged $14.45 million for Quail Park at Crystal Terrace, a senior housing project in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

The three-story complex has 67 units and 20 cottages. A portion of the loan will be used to add a 24-unit, 36-bed memory care facility nearby.

NorthMarq says it is the largest private commercial real estate financial intermediary in the U.S., with more than $10 billion in financing secured annually and a loan portfolio of more than $42 billion.

NAIOP panel on Seattle vs. Bellevue

A panel will explore the differences between office markets in Seattle and Bellevue at a NAIOP breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. June 18 at the Seattle Sheraton. The moderator will be CBRE Senior Managing Director Jim Bowles. The panelists will look at what is planned or under construction in both downtowns, and what effects each city's top tenant — Amazon.com in Seattle and Microsoft in Bellevue — have on the markets. Panelists are Paul Sweeney of Broderick Group, Chris Hughes of Jones Lang LaSalle, Jesse Ottele of CBRE and Brian Hayden of Flinn Ferguson. For more information, or to register, visit: http://bit.ly/UsF7iZ