Aug 07, 2020

AAA Washington Insurance Agency

Bellevue-based AAA Washington Insurance Agency expanded into South King County through the acquisition of Fenix Insurance Agency in Auburn, at 903 E St. S.E. Fenix was formed in 2008 by Bob Melnyk and his son Jeff. Bob decided to retire after 48 years in insurance, but Jeff and the rest of the Fenix team remain as part of AAA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Microsoft

Redmond-based Microsoft extended its strategic alliance with Chicago-based Allscripts to support Allscripts' cloud-based Sunrise electronic health record. The move also is expected to open up co-innovation opportunities between the two companies to benefit health care.

Lewis & Clark Bank

In Oregon City, Oregon, Lewis & Clark Bank formed a holding company called Lewis & Clark Bancorp. The deal exchanged existing shares of Lewis & Clark Bank stock for shares of the new holding company. It allows the bank increased access to capital markets and provides flexibility for continued growth, as well as opportunities to expand into new business lines.

Avalara

Seattle-based business tax software developer Avalara priced a public offering of 3.94 million shares of common stock at $127 per share. The offering is expected to close Aug. 10. Goldman Sachs & Co., BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

CWU

TD Ameritrade awarded a $15,000 NextGen Grant to Central Washington University to help fill a need for more diverse personal financial advisors. The university says it offers the only bachelor's level program in personal financial planning in the Pacific Northwest. CWU will use the grant to increase program enrollment from 47 to 60, expand the number of women enrolled from 19 to 30, and grow the number of students of color enrolled from 11 to 15 — all by fall 2021. CWU was one of six universities nationwide to receive the grant.

Amazon

Seattle-based Amazon in late 2021 will open an 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, developed by Panattoni Development Co. This will be Amazon's seventh fulfillment center in Tennessee and its second to use robotics. Workers at the center will pick, pack and ship small items such as books, electronics and consumer goods. Over 1,000 full-time jobs will be created, with wages starting at $15 an hour.

Aug 06, 2020

Pyramid Analytics

Bellevue-based business software developer Pyramid Analytics hired Sherman Wood as strategic alliances enterprise architect and Mark French as sales engineer. Wood has over 30 years of experience selling and marketing enterprise software. He has held leadership roles in engineering, open source communities, customer success, professional services, sales engineering and product marketing at numerous technology companies. French has been in analytics for over 25 years, holding several roles at software companies such as IBM, Domo and ThoughtSpot. Pyramid enables large companies to analyze data in a modular, easy and fast way.

Gurobi Optimization

Beaverton, Oregon-based software developer Gurobi Optimization added three mathematical optimization experts to its R&D team: Drs. Ed Klotz, Pierre Bonami and Roland Wunderling. All three previously worked for IBM on the CPLEX Optimizer R&D team. At Gurobi, Klotz is senior mathematical optimization specialist, and Bonami and Wunderling are senior developers. Gurobi develops mathematical optimization software used by over 40 industries to solve complex problems and make automated decisions that optimize their efficiency and profitability.

Sentinel Healthcare

Seattle digital health care company Sentinel Healthcare formed a partnership with Vituity, a nationwide multi-specialty partnership led by doctors. As part of the deal, Vituity is investing in Sentinel to advance Sentinel's remote care programs and bring health care into the home following hospital stays. The two groups also will co-develop a phone app for remote patient monitoring.

Chronus

In Bellevue, mentoring software developer Chronus started a grant program to benefit nonprofits pursuing mentoring programs that improve racial equity. Each year Chronus will give $7,500 to a nonprofit, along with three years of software and support for a mentoring program that can support up to 500 participants. The deadline for applications is Sept. 30, at https://www.tinyurl.com/Chronus-Mentor. Chronus on Nov. 10 will announce a winner.

Lithia Motors

Medford, Oregon-based Lithia Motors acquired four John Eagle dealerships in Dallas and Austin, Texas. The deal includes John Eagle Honda of Dallas, Honda Cars of Rockwall, Howdy Honda of Austin and John Eagle Sports City Toyota. Combined, these businesses have $500 million in annual revenue. Lithia says this acquisition was financed with free cash flows and existing on-balance sheet capacity.

Ryan Cos.

Jordan

Ryan Cos., one of the developers behind Kirkland Urban, recently announced that Bret Jordan will become regional president of the Northwest region. He was a broker with Colliers before joining Ryan in 2017 to lead its new office. The company is based in Minneapolis. Jordan's other recent projects include Wesley at Tehaleh, a senior community in Bonney Lake. Ryan's Rick Collins said in a statement, “Bret brings the Ryan values and culture into his mentorship, customer service and community involvement.”

Weidner Apartment Homes

Colard

Weidner Apartment Homes has named Kevin Colard its new chief investment officer. He's been with the company for 14 years. Company founder W. Dean Weidner said in a statement, “One of Kevin's greatest accomplishments is the national network of real estate brokers that he has helped cultivate. This pristine standing in the marketplace has provided an invaluable edge to help consistently win deals in a very competitive landscape that is packed with other very qualified buyers.” Based in Kirkland, Weidner now counts about 280 buildings and 56,500 units in its portfolio.

Kidder Mathews

Benoit

Neman

GlobeSt Real Estate Forum recently named Kidder Mathews' Janet Neman and Karen Benoit as Women of Influence. Neman is based in Los Angeles, while Benoit is a longtime presence here in Seattle. As senior VP of corporate marketing for the company, Benoit is in charge of all corporate marketing, brand strategy and communications.

More funding for JetClosing

JetClosing, the digital escrow and title platform, was spun out of Pioneer Square Labs about four years ago. Now the startup has secured $9 million in Series B funding, it recently announced. The firm now has about $35 million raised. The new financing came from T. Rowe Price-advised funds, Pioneer Square Labs and Trilogy Equity Partners (which was also an original investor). CEO Dan Greenshields founded the cloud-based home closing service, and said in a statement, “In light of the current economy, this funding demonstrates unequivocally that there is a real market need for a digital workflow to facilitate home closings for resale and refinancing transactions. Pandemic or not, consumers expect a technology-first closing process that's catered to their fast-paced, on-demand, and mobile lifestyles.” The company's services are now available in our state, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Texas.