Feb 09, 2022

Darigold

van den Berg

Darigold, the Seattle-based farmer-owned dairy co-op, announced that it has named Cor van den Berg chief financial officer. Van den Berg is an international food and consumer packaged goods leader. In nearly 20 years with MARS, the global confectionary and food products company, he held several key finance roles across divisions and in multiple countries spanning the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, including CFO of the company's Health & Nutrition division, CFO of its North American food operations, and global director of strategic revenue management. Most recently, he was at City of Hope, a clinical research center, hospital, and graduate medical school in California, where he held a variety of senior finance positions, including interim CFO. The CFO role at Darigold may have added importance for the foreseeable future as the co-op is set to embark on some of the largest capital investment projects in its 104-year history, including construction of a new premium protein and butter production facility in Pasco that will elevate the co-op's production capacity, and restoration of a butter and milk powder facility in Caldwell, Idaho, that suffered fire damage in October. Darigold is the marketing and processing subsidiary of Northwest Dairy Association, which is owned by nearly 350 dairy farm families in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

Northwest Kidney Centers

Heaton

Campbell

Northwest Kidney Centers has named Tonia Campbell vice president of finance and chief financial officer and Marsha Heaton vice president of development. Campbell, comes to Northwest Kidney Centers with executive and healthcare experience, coupled with more than 20 years of financial leadership in for-profit and non-profit organizations. As chief financial officer, she is responsible for managing the financial health and wellbeing of the Seattle-based non-profit. She serves as a strategic business partner to senior executives and board members, advising them on enhancing performance and growth, and expansion opportunities. Campbell most recently worked at Community Health Care, a Federal Qualified Health Center serving Pierce County, where she served as the chief financial officer. She has also held senior level positions in financial life and investment services at Symetra Financial. Heaton, who oversees Northwest Kidney Centers' fundraising efforts, brings more than 20 years of experience working with non-profit organizations and the private sector, most recently serving as director of major gifts at United Way of King County. She also previously worked in multiple marketing roles at Nordstrom. Founded in 1962, Northwest Kidney Centers was the world's first dialysis organization.

Washington Federal Bank

Washington Federal Bank, the wholly owned subsidiary of Washington Federal, Inc., announced the successful completion of its conversion from a national bank charter, supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, to a Washington state chartered commercial bank. Going forward primary supervision of the bank will be by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. As part of this conversion, the legal name of the bank has been changed from “Washington Federal Bank, National Association” to “Washington Federal Bank.” The bank will continue to do business as WaFd Bank. WaFd Bank is headquartered in Seattle, and has 219 branches in eight western states.

CTBUH

Quintana de Uña

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat announced Javier Quintana de Uña as its new CEO. An architect with a Ph.D in Tall Buildings, Quintana de Uña has been a leader of an award-winning global architecture firm, dean of a prominent academic institution, head of a successful nonprofit research foundation, and a leader at CTBUH for many years. Quintana de Uña was honored in 2020 as a CTBUH Fellow for his work in the industry and for his contributions to the Council. He has also lead the CTBUH UK chapter. Previous CEO, Antony Wood, moves to president, overseeing thought-leadership, teaching, and research.

CG Engineering

Gulick

Wheeler

Madison

Hutchinson

Chase

Lang

CG Engineering has six new hires. Colin Chase, Emma Hutchinson, Josh Madison, Laura Wheeler, Sabina Gulick and Brandon Lang. Colin Chase, EIT, has joined the company as a design engineer. Chase graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 2021. After graduation, he began his structural engineering career as a structural design engineer at CG Engineering where he contributes his design skills to projects in the residential, commercial, and public sectors. Hutchinson, EIT, is also a design engineer. Hutchinson graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 2021. After graduation, she began her structural engineering career as a design engineer for CG Engineering where she contributes her skills to projects in the residential, commercial and public sectors.

Madison, EIT, also joins the team as a design engineer. Madison graduated from Gonzaga University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 2021. After graduation, he began his structural engineering career as a design engineer for CG Engineering where he contributes his skills to projects in the residential, commercial and public sectors.

Wheeler joins the company as an autoCAD drafter. Wheeler will graduate from the College of Southern Idaho in 2022 with an AAS in drafting technologies. She joined CG Engineering in 2021 where she contributes her drafting skills to a wide variety of projects.

Gulick, EIT, and Lang, PE, are also design engineers. Gulick graduated from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology with a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering in 2020. In 2021, she began her civil engineering career as a civil design engineer for CG Engineering where she contributes her skills to projects in the residential, commercial, and public sectors. Lang graduated from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in 2015. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering. Lang has six years of engineering experience and a PE-license in the state of Washington. As a structural design engineer he contributes his skills to projects in the residential, commercial, and public sectors.

GGLO

Wright

Sayers

Berry

Ptacek

Dana

Cochran

GGLO announced six promotions to senior associate; Chris Dana, Mitch Ptacek, Rachael Berry, Ray Sayers, Robert Wright, and Scott Cochran. At GGLO Dana has been a resource for Building Information Modeling (BIM) techniques and standards. He has worked on a diverse group of project types including corporate interiors, multi-family housing and higher education. As an architect and planner, Ptacek leads a diverse range of complex master-planned projects. During his 10+ years of practice, he has gained extensive experience in planning, urban design, educational, mixed-use, commercial, retail, and industrial projects. Prior to GGLO, Ptacek led entitlement approvals throughout North America for a large retail client.

Berry enjoys creating spaces that positively affect the end-user and provide an environment which can thrive. She is technical, detail-oriented, and values an open collaborative environment. Sayers was a summer intern at GGLO before joining the firm full-time following his graduation with a Masters of Architecture from the University of Washington.

Wright has experience in resort architecture and construction, hospitality, high-rise and high-end residential architecture. Since joining GGLO in 2012, he has been mentoring the younger staff, and working to increase the value of projects for the firms' multi-family development clients, overseeing, documentation and construction administration. As a project manager and project architect, Cochran contributes to all project phases including design, code analysis, consultant coordination, plan/spec production, agency coordination/approvals, and construction administration.

Feb 08, 2022

Impinj

Impinj promoted Hussein Mecklai to chief operating officer. In his expanded role, Mecklai is directly responsible for Impinj's engineering and operations. Mecklai joined Impinj in 2018 and has more than 20 years of experience leading engineering organizations. Prior to Impinj, Mecklai was vice president and general manager of the product architecture group at Intel, where he led the organization responsible for defining the product architecture of Intel's mainstream products, including the processors for the personal computer and datacenter franchises. Previously, he served in senior engineering and leadership roles at Infineon Technologies, LSI Group, Agere Systems and Lucent Technologies. Additionally, Impinj announced that director Steve Sanghi will become Impinj board chair after Peter van Oppen's current term ends. Sanghi has experience as the long-term CEO and current executive chair of Microchip. The company also announced that Meera Rao has joined Impinj's board of directors. Rao has more than 25 years of experience in high-tech companies. She currently serves as a director and audit committee chair on the board of Rambus, a chip and silicon IP provider. Previously, she was CFO at Monolithic Power Systems, a high-performance power solutions company. The Impinj, headquartered in Seattle, is a leader in RAIN RFID technology.

Leafly Holdings

Seattle-based Leafly Holdings, an online cannabis discovery marketplace and resource for cannabis consumers, and Merida Merger Corp. I, a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Merida Capital Holdings, announced the closing of their previously announced business combination. In connection with the closing, Merida has adopted the Leafly name, and Leafly's common stock will begin trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol “LFLY.” Since announcing the proposed combination with Merida in the summer of 2021, Leafly has introduced new tools for brands subscribers and enhanced its app to enable users to place pickup orders for cannabis products in legal state markets. The company has also announced a post-combination board of directors with wide-ranging expertise and bolstered its executive leadership team. Peter Lee, former president of Merida Merger, will continue to serve as a member of the board of directors of the combined company. Oppenheimer & Co. served as exclusive financial advisor to Leafly, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges served as legal advisor.

PRR Communications Agency

PRR, a women- and employee-owned integrated communications agency, announced that Kristen Bishop will serve as director of PRR Portland. Bishop has more than 20 years of experience in communications, community outreach, and urban planning. She has extensive experience working with public agencies at the local, regional and national levels, including port authorities, electric utilities, community-based organizations, and state and local governments. Prior to joining PRR, Bishop served as executive director for Lois D. Cohen Associates, a Portland-based community engagement firm, where she led community engagement work for several local and state agencies. The firm recently closed due to the passing of its founder, Lois Cohen. Bishop, a member of WTS and IAP2, will work with PRR's current clients in Oregon, including the city of Portland and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Celebrating its 40th year of service, PRR brings multi-disciplinary expertise in communications and outreach for environment, healthcare, and transportation industries, prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all work the agency does. PRR has offices in Seattle, Washington D.C., Norfolk, Portland, and Baltimore.

Lease Crutcher Lewis

McNaughton

Presleigh

Nielsen

Frederick

Callas

Brotherton

General contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis promoted six in its Seattle headquarters office: Rob Brotherton, Jeremy Callas, Ashley Frederick, Joe Nielsen and Mark Presleigh to project executives; and Roman McNaughton to senior project manager in the Life Sciences market. Brotherton leads the company's Meta account, overseeing teams delivering work ranging from small works to office renovations to high-tech lab buildouts. He has been with Lewis since 2007. Callas joined Lewis in 2015 and has delivered over 1 million square feet of tenant improvement space, including 11 floors in the new Qualtrics Tower for Indeed. Frederick joined Lewis in 2003 as an intern before rising to project engineer, project manager and senior project manager. He has led several challenging projects, including the Cobb Building renovation, Cedarbrook Lodge expansion and Federal Reserve Building redevelopment. Nielsen has been with the company for a dozen years, playing an integral role in design-build projects for the University of Washington, including the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health. Presleigh has been with Lewis since 2014, leading several projects including the 36-story office and apartment tower at Third and Lenora, a six-story office building at Third and Harrison, and a data center in Vancouver, B.C. McNaughton joined the company in 2013 and has since led a diverse set of complex and technical projects including work in aviation, health care and life sciences.

Absher Construction Co.

Gowing

Puyallup-based Absher Construction Co. hired Stephanie Gowing as director of sustainability — a new position created to centralize the firm's programs, processes and resources focused on environmental stewardship. Gowing has expertise in providing innovative solutions for sustainability projects, as well as program creation, planning and implementation. In addition to developing Absher's sustainability plan, Gowing is promoting sustainability within the construction industry and helping smaller firms and subcontractors achieve their own sustainability goals through shared resources and training.

BNBuilders

Seattle-based BNBuilders has become a 100% employee-owned company through an employee stock ownership plan. Management and leadership teams throughout the 1,000-plus-employee company remain the same. “Empowering our employees has been one of our primary goals since our founding in 2000,” said Brad Bastian, BNBuilders president and founder, in a news release. “Throughout the last two decades, our employees have been investing their passion and efforts in putting our client's satisfaction and goals above all else. With this transition to an ESOP, we now are reinvesting in the people who have delivered on those promises. We believe this sets the foundation for our next generation of leaders and overall future success.”

ABC of Western Washington

Harper Hayes PLLC and Beneco, both based in Seattle, joined the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington. Harper Hayes is a business litigation law firm focused on insurance coverage and construction defect disputes. Beneco provides employee benefit solutions, specializing in prevailing wage work.