Nov 22, 2019

WSU

Chastagner

The National Christmas Tree Association gave Gary Chastagner — known as “Dr. Christmas Tree” at Washington State University — its Lifetime Achievement Award. Chastagner is a WSU Extension plant pathologist and internationally recognized Christmas tree expert. Since 1979, his research with holiday fir trees has encompassed genetics, post-harvest preservation, insects, root rot, interstate shipping and needle problems. He has helped develop healthier, longer-lasting Christmas trees.

Dream Challenges

Dr. Justin Guinney is the new chair of Dream Challenges, a Seattle-based volunteer organization of collaborators benchmarking algorithms in biomedicine. Guinney is vice president of computational oncology at Sage Bionetworks in Seattle and has served on Dream's board since 2013. Other board members are Dream founder Dr. Gustavo Stolovitzky, Dr. Laura Heiser of Oregon Health Sciences University, Dr. Paul Boutros of UCLA, Dr. James Costello of the University of Colorado, Dr. Pablo Meyer of IBM and Dr. Julio Saez-Rodriguez of Heidelberg University.

Xiologix

Brian Page is the new chief technology officer at Xiologix, a Portland-based IT company. Page has over 20 years of IT experience and most recently was senior cloud security architect for cybersecurity company Fortinet. He is expanding security, cloud and managed service offerings at Xiologix.

City of Tacoma

The city of Tacoma extended the deadline for students to apply for Student Government Day to Dec. 3. Students in grades 9-12 who live in the city or attend Tacoma Public Schools can apply for the Dec. 10 event. They will meet with the mayor, council members, executives and staff to gain firsthand knowledge of how the city works. More information is at cityoftacoma.org/studentgovernmentday; or contact Latasha Ware at lware@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5274.

Shared Technologies

Seattle-based Shared Technologies plans to expand its fleet of Zoomer electric vehicles to 10 U.S. cities by the end of 2020. In July, the company launched its moped-like scooters with fat tires in Portland. It says riders in Portland log about twice the mileage per trip as those riding standard electric scooters. It didn't disclose which cities it plans to expand into. Shared Technologies was funded by Seattle venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group and a number of Seattle angel investors.

Laplink Software

Bellevue-based Laplink Software developed a free version of its PCmover program to help users of Windows 7 systems transfer their settings and data to Intel-based Windows 10 computers. Microsoft is ending support for Windows 7 at the end of the year. Laplink says about 30% of Windows PCs are still running on Windows 7. The free program is for non-commercial users.

Nov 21, 2019

TrueBlue

Willis

Lynch

Quinn

Owen

Staffing Industry Analysts named four executives at TrueBlue companies to its Global Power 150 Women in Staffing list. They are: Taryn Owen, president of TrueBlue's PeopleScout; Jill Quinn, president of Centerline Drivers; Loree Lynch, senior vice president of operations for Staff Management SMX; and Kristy Willis, chief sales officer for PeopleReady. Tacoma-based TrueBlue operates several companies that provide workforce solutions. TrueBlue recently announced that Owen will become president of PeopleReady on Dec. 30.

Tineco

Tineco, a maker of smart cordless vacuums, opened its first U.S. office in Seattle. Todd Manegold, general manager of North America, heads up the office. Manegold is a seasoned executive in smart home and consumer electronics. Tineco is part of the Ecovacs Robotics Group, a Chinese maker of home service robots.

Amazon

Seattle-based Amazon plans to open its second Mississippi fulfillment center, in DeSoto County. The center will top 1 million square feet and create 500 full-time jobs starting at $15 an hour. Workers will pick, pack and ship large items, such as sports equipment, patio furniture and bicycles. Hillwood Investment Properties is the project's developer.

Smart Foodservice

Smart Foodservice Warehouse Stores on Saturday will open a 20,000-square-foot store at 1560 N. Hickory Ave. in Meridian, its sixth store in Idaho. Portland-based Smart Foodservice is a chain of 70 warehouse-format stores in the western U.S. catering to the food service industry. It used to be called Cash & Carry.