Mar 08, 2022

Burke Museum

Gabriela Chavarria is the new executive director of the Burke Museum. Chavarria brings more than 20 years of experience in managing teams of professionals and science programs, influencing policy, developing new scientific collections, and leading scientists in research efforts both nationally and internationally. Prior to her new position at the Burke, Chavarria was the vice president and chief curator of the science division at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, overseeing scientific collections, research, and leading a team of 44 full-time staff members, along with additional staff, interns, and 400 volunteers. Before her work at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, she was senior science advisor and forensic science branch chief at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon. Chavarria received her bachelor's degree in biology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and her master's and Ph.D. in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University. Chavarria also serves on several boards and advisory councils, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the National Parks Conservation Association, Defenders of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy of Colorado, and the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In addition, Chavarria was recently named a 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow for her work in research administration, the intersection of science and policy, and science advocacy.

Bonneville Seattle

Bonneville Seattle announced that 710 ESPN Seattle is now Seattle Sports. The flagship home of the Mariners and Seahawks will still feature the same content and programming, now with a new name showcasing the commitment to local Seattle Sports. Seattle Sports is live on the air at 710 AM, online at SeattleSports.com, and streaming on the go with the Seattle Sports app. Seattle Sports content is created by Mike Salk, Justin Barnes, Jake Heaps, Stacy Rost, Bob Stelton and Dave Wyman, as well as regular contributors Michael Bumpus, John Clayton, Shannon Drayer, and Brock Huard. Seattle Sports will continue to be the exclusive ESPN affiliate in the Seattle market and home to the Seattle Sports Radio Network. Bonneville Seattle also operates KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM, 770 KTTH and MyNorthwest.com, and is owned by Bonneville International.

Mar 04, 2022

Taqtile

Brillon

Tim Brillon joins Taqtile, the Seattle-based maker of the Manifest AR-enabled work instruction platform for deskless workers, as CFO. Brillon is a 20-year veteran of the Seattle start-up and investment community. His expertise includes accounting and finance, risk management, and deployment of back-office systems that increase overall operational efficiencies and accountability. At Taqtile, Brillon will manage the company's finances, positioning the organization for employee and customer growth, and continued investment in its augmented reality enabled work-instruction platform. Over his career, Brillon has worked with both public and private technology companies, and spent time in the venture capital and private equity industries. Previously, he served as the CFO and chief compliance officer at private-equity firm Evergreen Pacific Partners and was interim CFO for a number of portfolio companies.

SanMar

SanMar, a supplier of wholesale accessories and apparel, announced two new IT leaders who have joined SanMar's executive team. David Smith was named vice president, technology, and Mark Szkudlarek was named vice president, IT operations. Smith's IT career spans nearly three decades. Most recently, he served as vice president of enterprise applications at Koch Business Solutions, leading strategy and development for applications that powered integrated services across the company's many divisions. Before that, he spent more than seven years at T-Mobile as director of enterprise systems development. Smith received his master's degree in business and bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Washington. Szkudlarek has more than 30 years of experience in IT infrastructure and operations. Most recently, he served as vice president of IT strategy at Novelis, where he led tech innovation and enterprise architecture. He also spent seven years leading global IT infrastructure, operations and governance functions at Aleris. Szkudlarek graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in management information systems. He also served four years as a field artillery officer in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany. A family-owned and operated business since 1971, SanMar is based in Issaquah, with eight distribution centers nationwide.

City of Tacoma

As part of efforts to alleviate ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tacoma's small business community, Mayor Victoria Woodards announced the availability of $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding, establishing a Window Replacement Grant Program to offset costs incurred replacing windows broken at their business location. Program details, informed by input from the City Council's Economic Development Committee, were developed by the city of Tacoma's Community and Economic Development Department. Eligible small businesses based in Tacoma, with no more than 15 full-time equivalent employees, may submit an application starting March 7, 2022 at 8 AM for a Window Replacement Grant. The deadline for submitting a grant application is March 28, 2022 at 11:59 PM. Grant recipients will be selected via random lottery and notified on April 6, 2022. The online grant application will be available at makeittacoma.com. Questions, or requests to receive information in alternate formats, can be directed to windowreplacement@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5208.

Columbia Bank

Columbia Bank announced it was recognized as the leading Small Business Administration (SBA) lender by the SBA's Portland and Seattle area district offices. The rankings cover the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2021 and are based on the number of loans made by each bank during the period. During the past year, Columbia Bank provided 186 loans to small businesses in the Seattle region and moved up a spot from a year earlier to become the No. 1 ranked SBA lender in the district. In the Portland district, Columbia Bank made 191 SBA loans. This is the fourth consecutive year the bank has been ranked first by the SBA's Portland District Office. Nationally, Columbia Bank now ranks 18. Headquartered in Tacoma, Columbia Banking System is the holding company of Columbia Bank, a Washington state-chartered full-service commercial bank with locations throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Mar 03, 2022

CBRE

Hartzell

CBRE announced last month that its veteran broker Brett Hartzell has been named vice chairman on the firm. CBRE calls the nod “the highest honorary producer title at the firm.” Hartzell has been with the brokerage for four decades. Its John R. Miller said in a statement, “His professionalism, dedication and drive have helped shape the success of our industrial capital markets platform. His tenacity has served him well, culminating in reaching our highest honorary title for brokerage.” Last year, Hartzell and his team did $9.5 billion in deals across the West Coast.

Lodge lands $19M loan

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Kevin Daniels' handsomely renovated Lodge at St. Edward State Park has received a $19 million loan for further work there. (The Kenmore hotel, restaurant and spa opened last year.) Petros PACE Finance announced what it calls a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing package. By adding an R for resiliency, Petros terms the funding a C-PACER deal. Daniels said in a statement, “The C-PACER financing was instrumental in making it possible for energy-related improvements and updated HVAC systems.” Petros says it's the first such sustainable development financing deal in our state. The company says, “C-PACE is a long-term financing product secured by a property tax assessment that provides developers with a more affordable alternative to mezzanine debt and equity. In Washington, this low-cost funding can be used for qualifying seismic improvements, energy and water efficiency, renewable energy and energy storage, fire protection, flood readiness and similar work.”

Transforming Age

Woolford

Once known as Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest, Transforming Age develops senior housing around the region. The nonprofit announced las month that its Jay Woolford will assume the role of VP for real estate development. A press release stated, “Woolford's vision includes developing more mid-market housing options for the aging baby boomers that do not qualify for subsidized housing nor can afford private-pay senior living options.” He previously led Sustainable Housing for Ageless Generations. But, in a little-noticed deal last year, SHAG and Transforming Age affiliated “to leverage their combined resources and expand further into middle-market senior housing, among other strategic objectives.” Adding to the acronyms, the Transforming Age arm DASH (Downtown Action to Save Housing), which creates affordable senior housing in east King County, is being folded into a new entity called CIRC, which will be led by Transforming Age's Kim Loveall Price. CIRC also absorbs the Community Living Foundation, or CLF.

Tour Midtown Square

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Lake Union Partners and HAL Real Estate are pretty much done with Midtown Square, which is now leasing its 432 apartments at 23rd and Union, and adding more retail tenants there. And NAIOP is offering a tour, for members and non-members alike, on March 10. The nearly full-block development was designed by Weinstein AU and built by W.G. Clark Construction. The event begins at 4 p.m. On hand will be Patrick Foley of Lake Union Partners and some of the artists who contributed public art to the project. Details and registration: naiopwa.org.

Everett Community College

Five Everett Community College Aviation Maintenance students have been offered post-graduation jobs and up to $12,330 in stipends by Horizon Air through the company's new maintenance development program. Aviation Maintenance students Anthony Provart, Ernest Muriuki, Christian Wise, Connor Reusser and Andrew Springer were selected for the program, which offers a $5,000 stipend during their first year studying aviation maintenance, $5,500 their second year and up to $1,800 for Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) testing. After graduation and A&P certification, the students are guaranteed a job as an aircraft mechanic with Horizon Air at one of Horizon's maintenance bases at Paine Field in Everett, Seattle, Spokane, Boise, Portland or Redmond, Oregon. To apply for the Horizon program, students must be enrolled in one of Horizon's partner aviation maintenance programs like the one offered at EvCC's Aviation Maintenance Technician School. For more information, visit EverettCC.edu/Aviation. EvCC's FAA-Approved Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Technician School, located at Paine Field, has been providing training for more than 50 years.

Goldfinch Partners

Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group announced they reached a major milestone with its initial closing in the acquisition of Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) for $910 million. WUBS will be renamed Convera. Patrick Gauthier, who was most recently the global head of Amazon Pay, will serve as Convera's CEO. Convera is the largest non-bank fintech in global B2B payments and has a global reach with capabilities in over 140 currencies. Convera's customers include more than 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses, educational institutions, financial institutions, law firms and NGOs. Convera will add several veteran fintech professionals to its leadership team with experience at companies including Amazon, BCG, BCG Digital Ventures, PayPal and Visa. These include Jodi Krause (chief people officer), Dharmesh Syal (chief technology officer), Jody Visser (chief transformation officer) and Drew Weinstein (chief commercial officer). They are joining the existing WUBS leadership team including Michel Foricher (head of operations), Andrew Summerill (chief financial officer) and Tristan van der Vijver (chief compliance and risk officer). Goldfinch Partners is headquartered in Seattle, and has investment professionals in the Bay Area and New York City. The Baupost Group is a Boston-based investment manager firm.

D.A. Davidson

D.A. Davidson & Co., a subsidiary of D.A. Davidson Companies, has hired Matt Lower as a managing director in the firm's Institutional Sales Group. Lower joins D.A. Davidson with over 13 years of institutional sales experience, most recently serving as a director with Northcoast Research. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from John Carroll University. D.A. Davidson's Equity Capital Markets group provides capital markets services and products that include investment banking, institutional sales, trading, research and corporate services. Founded in 1935 with corporate headquarters in Great Falls, Montana, and regional headquarters in Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha and Seattle, D.A. Davidson Companies has approximately 1,475 employees and offices in 28 states.