Feb 15, 2022

Kevala

Seattle-based Kevala announced that it raised $12.1 million in Series A funding to modernize the healthcare industry through scheduling and compliance software. Cercano Management led the round, with participation from existing investors Costanoa Ventures, High Alpha, and PSL Ventures. Kevala spun out of Pioneer Square Labs in April 2020. Kevala is an intelligent workforce management and engagement platform built to solve the staffing problems in healthcare facilities. Kevala is first addressing the needs of long-term care organizations, including senior living, skilled nursing and rehabilitation and hospice. By building an integrated and intelligent SaaS solution, Kevala is able to maximize employee productivity and engagement, while improving quality of care and the bottom line. Clients are able to curate and float pools of talent within their organizations or opt to fill open shifts from the Kevala Care Network, a fully credentialed pool of per diem and contract healthcare professionals. Kevala has also automated how healthcare facilities track and maintain caregiver credentials. Kevala currently offers solutions to hundreds of organizations across five states, and plans to continue to expand its reach into new states with its software platform and the Kevala Care Network of caregivers this coming year.

nLIGHT

nLIGHT, a provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers used in the industrial, microfabrication, aerospace, and defense markets, announced that it has acquired the assets of plasmo Industrietechnik GmbH (“Plasmo”), an Austrian-based provider of automated quality assurance and diagnostic solutions. Plasmo's products are driven by proprietary machine vision and analysis software that monitor and help automate a wide range of industrial welding and additive manufacturing processes. Complementing nLIGHT's expanding laser portfolio, the acquisition of the Plasmo assets strengthens nLIGHT's position as a critical enabler of next generation manufacturing solutions in these growth markets. Headquartered in Camas, Washington, nLIGHT employs over 1,275 people with operations in the U.S., China and Finland.

Inland Northwest Partners

Inland Northwest Partners appointed KayDee Gilkey as its new executive director. Gilkey comes to INP with more than 30 years of service to nonprofit boards on a local, regional, and state level, and is former two-term mayor of the town of Fairfield, Washington. Gilkey is the economic development organization's second director and assumed her position earlier this month. She succeeds Sharon Matthews, who held the position for 25 years. Matthews retired at the end of 2021. Gilkey will concurrently remain as director of industry relations for the Washington State Beef Commission. She currently serves on the Liberty Community Education Foundation Board of Directors and serves as chapter advisor to WSU's Alpha-Gamma-Delta chapter. Inland Northwest Partners originated in 1986 as an in-house Avista economic development program and became an official non-profit corporation in 1996. In 2004, the organization developed the Inland Northwest Economic Alliance to better support community and economic development professionals from across the Inland Northwest. INP members meet quarterly to share common economic challenges and solutions within the eastern Washington and northern Idaho region. Topics include technology, financing community initiatives, forging regional partnerships, civic capacity-building, business expansion and retention strategies, and talent attraction. INP often partners with local chambers or state organizations for value-added training.

NWCCA

Harris

Kahler

Knutson

Yalowicki

Sumsion

Till

Bagnell

The Northwest Wall and Ceiling Contractors Association elected its 2022 officers: Doug Bagnell of Olympic Interiors, president; Ryan Till of Anning-Johnson, vice president; Nathan Sumsion of Western Partitions, secretary-treasurer; and Cory Yalowicki of Superior Stucco Services, immediate past-president. Directors are Greg Knutson of G.K. Knutson, James Kahler of Northwest Partitions and Rick Harris of Performance Contracting. NWCCA members consist of signatory wall and ceiling contractors.

Alston Construction

van Niekerk

Hennie van Niekerk relocated from Phoenix to join Alston Construction's preconstruction team in Seattle. Alston says van Niekerk is well versed in working with architects and engineers in design, understanding the value-engineering process, and leading design review work sessions. During his 17 years in the industry, he has estimated and completed 258 commercial projects, from mid-size financial institutions up to 3.4 million-square-foot mega structures.

Bayley Construction

Mercer Island-based Bayley Construction restructured its leadership to expand within the Pacific Northwest, West Coast and Southwest regions of the U.S. Restructuring includes new president positions for each region, plus promoting previous president Steve Grasso to CEO. The new regional presidents are: Hans Hansen, Washington; Jerry Crowell, Arizona; and Kenny Ellis, California. Hansen has over 25 years of experience and leadership in the construction industry, including collaborative team building and a focus on alternative project delivery for both public and private clients. Crowell has been at Bayley for 24 years, starting as an intern before being hired as a project engineer, and then going into estimating. He served as director of preconstruction and estimating for 10 years at the firm. Ellis, with 25 years of industry experience, joined Bayley in 2005 as a project manager and worked his way up to project executive. He was at Bayley for 13 years, returning last year to the firm's Lake Forest, California, office. Grasso originally joined the company's San Diego office in 1985 as a project engineer. He was promoted to project manager in 1989 and moved to the Seattle office. In 1994, he became construction manager, advanced to vice president of preconstruction and estimating in 2007, and then became president in 2012.

Aldrich + Associates

Bothell-based Aldrich + Associates is marking 50 years in business in 2022. The company focuses on critical environments and technically sophisticated construction, including new construction and renovation projects for the health care and laboratory markets. It won an AGC Construction Excellence Award last year for its work on the CHI Franciscan Health St. Joseph Medical Center Level III Neonatal ICU project.

Feb 11, 2022

NuScale Power

Scott

NuScale Power announced the expansion of its leadership team to include Clayton Scott who has joined the company as executive vice president of business development. The appointment of Scott represents an expansion of executive leadership within the sales and business development functions. Scott will be leading the commercial global business development activities, including the sales, and marketing and communications functions for all NuScale products and services in the U.S. and abroad. Scott joins NuScale with an extensive business development background and more than 40 years of professional experience in the nuclear sector including managing utility contracts globally, construction management, expertise in licensing and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, engineering design, and startup and operation of nuclear power plants. Prior to joining NuScale, Scott was a senior vice president – global sales, deputy director, instrumentation and control at Framatome. NuScale is headquartered in Portland and has offices in Corvallis, Ore., Rockville, Md., Charlotte, N.C., Richland, Wash. and London, UK.

WaFd Bank

Washington Federal, Inc., parent company of Washington Federal Bank (WaFd Bank) was recognized as one of America's Best Employers 2022 by Forbes. America's Best Employers 2022 were identified in an independent survey taken by approximately 60,000 American employees working for companies with more than 1,000 workers in the United States. The evaluation was based on direct and indirect recommendations from respondents who were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their own employer to friends and family. WaFd is a national bank with headquarters in Seattle and more than 200 branches in eight western states.

Lattice Semiconductor

Lattice Semiconductor announced that it has been named a 2022 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards winner for its excellence, innovation, and leadership in information security for the second year in a row. The Lattice Sentry solution stack and Lattice SupplyGuard service were recognized in the Embedded Security and Endpoint Security product categories for North America, respectively. Cybersecurity Excellence Awards finalists and winners are selected based on the strength of their nomination as well as the popular vote by members of the information security community. Lattice Semiconductor is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon.