May 19, 2020

AWSWD

Andrea McNeely is the new executive director of the Association of Washington Spirits & Wine Distributors in Tacoma. McNeely has practiced law since 2005 at Gordon Thomas Honeywell in Tacoma. She succeeds John Guadnola, who retired but continues as a senior adviser to the association. Guadnola led the organization since its founding in 2013, after Initiative 1183 privatized the distribution and sale of spirits in Washington state.

Cyemptive Technologies

Snohomish-based Cyemptive Technologies hired Bryan Seely as senior security architect. The company says Seely is a cybersecurity expert, author, speaker and ethical hacker, and became the first hacker to successfully wiretap the U.S. Secret Service and FBI. Cyemptive provides preemptive cybersecurity products and technology.

SirionLabs

Contract management software developer SirionLabs raised $44 million in a series C financing round that will help it open an artificial intelligence lab in Seattle. Tiger Global and Avatar Growth Capital led the financing round. The Seattle lab will be headed by Anu Engineer, chief technology officer; Mahesh Unnikrishnan, chief product officer; and Vijay Khera, chief customer officer. SirionLabs helps companies reduce invoice leakage in their contracts. It has offices in New York City, India and Singapore.

Columbia Sportswear Co.

Portland-based Columbia Sportswear Co. reopened 30 U.S. stores last week and returned 250 furloughed employees back to work in 10 states. These stores have new protocols in place: employees wear face coverings, cashiers wear gloves, store layouts are adjusted for social distancing, and clothes tried on in fitting rooms are not restocked for 24 hours. This reopening of 30 stores follows the first reopening, a store in Nebraska, in the previous week.

Auburn Mechanical

Zak

Darrel Zak is the new safety director at Auburn Mechanical. Zak is a Certified Safety Professional with over 15 years of experience working in safety for specialty contractors in the Puget Sound region. At Auburn Mechanical, he is reviewing workplace safety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the firm’s return-to-work policy and safety guidelines for the company’s offices. The Auburn-based contractor specializes in design-build, full-mechanical construction.

AGC of Washington

The Associated General Contractors of America is launching a nationwide program designed to help expand diversity in the industry by making jobsites more inclusive. The new program, called Culture of CARE (commit, attract, retain and empower), is designed to help firms create more welcoming workplace environments for staff, particularly those from diverse demographic backgrounds. The program is based on one developed by the AGC of Washington.

Inland Northwest AGC

The state Department of Commerce awarded three grants to help increase Washington’s skilled workforce, including a grant of $30,000 to the Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors’ Head Start to Construction Trades Apprenticeship program. Two other grants went to Whatcom Community College and Aerospace Machinists Institute.

May 15, 2020

Symetra

Elizabeth Turner won Symetra's 10th annual CEO Service Award, which recognizes Symetra employees for exemplary community service. Turner is a senior auditor at the company's Bellevue headquarters. She has contributed to a number of Puget Sound organizations, including Kindering, Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank, and Treehouse for Kids. For the last four years, she has led one of two Symetra teams that prepare and serve dinner every month for residents at Ronald McDonald House in Seattle. As part of the award, Symetra is donating $2,500 to two nonprofits picked by Turner: Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank and Avery Huffman Defeat DIPG Foundation. Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance.

KNKX

Tacoma public radio station 88.5 KNKX won a 2020 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. Reporter Ashley Gross won in the Investigative Reporting category for her three-part series, “Who's Counted: Taking a Closer Look at School District Graduation Rates.” Others working on the series were Erin Hennessey (editor), Kari Plog (digital content editor), Parker Miles Blohm (digital manager) and Adrian Florez (development coordinator). Regional winners automatically advance to the national Edward R. Murrow Awards competition.

Laplink Software

Bellevue-based Laplink Software donated $10,000 to Maker Mask to produce respirator-style masks. Maker Mask was formed in March to help fill the need for high-quality personal protective equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Seattle-based nonprofit designed an open source 3D printable protective mask, approved by the National Institutes for Health, which can be downloaded for free at makermask.com. Laplink's donation will be used to offset some of the costs of mask-making materials and other operational expenses. Laplink develops software used for PC migration.

CenturyLink

CenturyLink is awarding $500,000 nationwide to fund 114 technology-focused projects as part of the CenturyLink Clarke M. Williams Foundation's 2019-20 Teachers and Technology grant program. Among the local recipients are Tillicum Middle School in Bellevue, Olympia School District, A.G. West Black Hills High School in Tumwater, The Center School in Seattle and Arbor Heights Elementary in Seattle. The funding will buy a range of equipment including robots, drones, virtual reality mechanisms, laptops and microscopes.