Dec 20, 2017

Symetra Life Insurance

Bellevue-based Symetra Life Insurance Co. named Rich LaVoice executive vice president of retirement distribution strategy, Wes Severin senior vice president of retirement distribution, and Andrew Farrell vice president and national sales manager. LaVoice joined Symetra in 2010 from MassMutual Financial Group. Severin joined in 2011 after a stint at Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. Farrell also joined in 2010 from MassMutual. The appointments are effective Jan. 1.

City of Tacoma

Dr. Dexter Gordon will receive the 30th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award from the city of Tacoma on Jan. 15, King's birthday. Professor Gordon is director of the Race & Pedagogy Institute at the University of Puget Sound, and is a community advocate for social change.

REI

Kent-based outdoor co-op REI hired Christine Putur as chief information officer, Chris Speyer as vice president of private brands, and Wilma Wallace as vice president, general counsel and legal secretary. Putur was executive vice president and CIO at Coach, and global CIO at Staples. Speyer was CEO at Accell North America and worked at Canadian sports retailer Forzani Group. Wallace was interim general counsel at Enveritas and spent 20 years at Gap Inc.

Graham Baba Architects

Jonas

Crist

O'Leary

Borghesi

Graham Baba Architects promoted Francesco Borghesi and Maureen O'Leary to principal, and Leann Crist and Brian Jonas to associate principal. Borghesi has a background in interior design, notably for commercial and residential spaces. His retail and restaurant portfolio includes work on Tom Douglas' restaurants at Via 6, and Uwajimaya's Kai Market, both in Seattle. O'Leary has over 25 years of architectural experience, including on complex projects. Her work includes The Studios in Seattle and Pybus Market in Wenatchee. Crist is an architect with over 14 years of experience with retail, restaurant, public space, house and multifamily projects. She worked on The Hanger, a community event space for Kenmore, and glass artist Lino Tagliepietra's Seattle gallery. Jonas has over 20 years of experience on a range of projects. His work includes a flagship roastery and cafe for an international coffee company and Center Table, a six-restaurant dining facility for the University of Washington.

Runberg Architecture Group

Johnson

Seattle-based Runberg Architecture Group promoted Kristen Johnson to senior associate. She has nearly 15 years of experience and is project manager for Little Saigon Family Housing, a 69-unit low-income development in Seattle. Runberg specializes in urban mixed-use, housing and adaptive reuse projects.

KBA

Overleese

Kris Overleese has become president of KBA in the Bellevue engineering firm's leadership succession. Overleese has 20 years of experience as a public works director, city engineer, capital projects manager and management analyst. She has worked with utilities, municipalities and public entities, including WSDOT. Kris Betty, the firm's founder and former president, is CEO. KBA provides construction management, project/program management, and specialty services.

WHPacific

Agers

WHPacific hired Kris Agers as manager of its Bothell operations. Agers has 25 years of experience on architecture/engineering teams for public and private infrastructure projects. She has managed business lines across the U.S., including operations management for billion-dollar projects.

SCJ Alliance

Greenig

Mark Greenig joined the downtown Seattle office of consulting firm SCJ Alliance as a project manager and environmental planner for the transportation group. He has over 30 years of experience including land use planning, aesthetic impact assessment, shoreline management planning, and project compliance with federal land management plans.

Botesch, Nash & Hall Architects

Raef

In Everett, Botesch, Nash & Hall Architects promoted architect Chris Raef to senior associate. Raef has over 14 years of experience designing medical, municipal and commercial facilities. The firm provides planning, design, administrative, permitting and construction administration services.

Maul Foster & Alongi

Schaefer

Moore

Elliott

Environmental consulting firm Maul Foster & Alongi hired Kate Elliott as a project communications specialist, Martha Moore as a principal engineer and Carly Schaefer as marketing manager. Elliott has over seven years of experience managing communications for infrastructure and transportation projects. She works on MFA's projects and provides stand-alone communication and facilitation services to public and private clients. Moore provides air quality and acoustical engineering services. She has experience in regulatory permitting; impact analyses for new projects and upgrades; conditional use permitting; land use compatibility and planning analyses; and facility siting studies. Schaefer has 13 years of experience helping engineers and architects integrate marketing and business development.

The Blueline Group

Weatbrook

The Blueline Group hired Alex Weatbrook as an engineer-in-training. He has a bachelor's in civil engineering from Washington State University, and will work on private and public works projects. Blueline provides civil engineering and land use planning.

Parametrix

Rohler

Parametrix hired Robert Rohler as a senior electrical engineer in Puyallup. He has 29 years of experience in electrical and project engineering. He is in the water group, supporting projects for LOTT Clean Water Alliance, and the cities of Olympia and Yelm.

Bernardo|Wills Architects

Kincaid-Slate

Claire Kincaid-Slate joined Bernardo|Wills Architects of Spokane as an architect. She is working on Bow & Aero Medical Office Building in Cheney. She was a project architect and interior designer with H2A Architects. Bernardo|Wills provides architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and master planning.

Cross 2 Design Group

Brad Minogue has become president of Cross 2 Design Group, replacing Larry Cross who is retiring Dec. 31 from the company he started in 2009. Cross 2 Design Group is a Seattle-based architecture firm that specializes in building envelope consulting. It works in the Pacific Northwest and West Coast.