Nov 08, 2019

Port Madison Enterprises

Attorney Rion Ramirez is the new CEO of Port Madison Enterprises, the economic development arm of the Suquamish Tribe. Ramirez was general counsel of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Prior to that, he was general counsel for Port Madison Enterprises. He has over 20 years of experience in tribal law and is a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Band of Indians of North Dakota.

The Standard

In Portland, Standard Insurance Co. (The Standard) promoted Tom Simpson to assistant vice president and corporate controller. Simpson was senior director of financial planning and analysis. He has 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and started with the company in 2007 as a senior financial analyst. Prior to that, he was a finance manager at Nationwide Insurance Co. The Standard provides financial protection products and services.

Coupang

Korean E-commerce company Coupang hired CPA and former Nike executive Michael Parker as chief accounting officer. Parker was vice president and controller of governance and reporting at Nike. Before that, he held various executive accounting positions with Walmart. Coupang has an office in Seattle.

Seattle Genetics

Bothell-based Seattle Genetics inked a licensing deal worth up to $160 million with BeiGene for an advanced preclinical cancer drug. The agent uses a proprietary Seattle Genetics antibody-based technology and is expected to advance into clinical trials in the first half of 2020. Seattle Genetics will develop it in the Americas, Europe and Japan while BeiGene will have Asia and the rest of the world. Beijing-based BeiGene focuses on cancer therapeutics.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services plans to open data centers in Spain in late 2022 or early 2023 to boost cloud computing. The new Spain region will be the company's seventh in Europe, joining Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Stockholm and Milan (launching in early 2020). AWS is a company of Seattle-based Amazon.com.

Lithia Motors

Medford, Oregon-based Lithia Motors acquired Williams Automotive Group's Honda and Toyota stores in Florida's greater Tampa area. The deal includes Wesley Chapel Toyota, Wesley Chapel Honda and Tampa Honda, which together generate $325 million in yearly revenue. Lithia is planning for future growth in Florida.

Nov 07, 2019

Central Washington University

Mazzacavallo

Jack Mazzacavallo joined the culinary team at Central Washington University Dining Services as campus sous chef. Mazzacavallo worked at several upscale restaurants in Seattle, including Copine, Marche, the Goldfinch Tavern at the Four Seasons and Matt's in the Market. He was named one of Seattle's Next Hot Chefs 2018 by Seattle Met.

Mission Support Alliance

Ward

Ashley Ward won Innovator of the Year at the Women in IT Awards Silicon Valley 2019 event recently held in San Francisco. Ward is director of information systems for Mission Support Alliance at the Hanford Site. She was recognized for equipping Hanford workers with mixed-reality technology, potentially streamlining training and accelerating schedules. Mission Support Alliance, a team of Leidos and Centerra Group, is leading cleanup at Hanford.

Phoenix Lab

New Jersey-based Zoetis bought Mukilteo-based Phoenix Central Laboratory for Veterinarians. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Phoenix Lab was founded in 1989 and serves veterinary clinics in 20 states with clinical and anatomic pathology testing. Zoetis is an animal health company developing and manufacturing medicines, vaccines and diagnostic products.

Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator

Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator, operated by VertueLab in Portland and CleanTech Alliance in Seattle, awarded prizes to four clean technology startups as part of its 2019 program. Here they are: BlueDot Photonics, a Seattle developer of an efficiency-boosting coating for solar panels, won the Grand Prize; Hempitecture, a Ketchum, Idaho, developer of hemp-based insulation for buildings, won the Standout Company Award; Hexas Biomass, an Olympia producer of non-wood biomass also won the Standout Company Award; and Stark Street Materials, a Portland maker of recyclable X-ray shielding garments, won the Customer Discovery Award. BlueDot also won the Impact Award, which recognizes the startup with the biggest tangible environmental and market impact. The accelerator provides education, mentorship and business connections.

T-Mobile

Bellevue-based T-Mobile and the T-Mobile Foundation are donating $1 million to over 120 nonprofits across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The donation is part of the company's Regional Grants Program, an employee-led approach that allows them to volunteer hours and choose where the funding will go in their communities.

Basics

Basics, a food market designed to help people cook more at home with fresh regional ingredients, opened in Tualatin, Oregon. The new location is across from Dutch Bros. Coffee at 8680 S.W. Old Tualatin Sherwood Road. The store offers seasonally rotating meal stations, nutrition classes and cooking demos. Basics is part of the Wild Rose Food Co. Its first store opened last year on Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland; another store is planned for Northwest 14th Avenue in Portland.