Mar 15, 2022

Blue Dot Kitchen

Seattle's Blue Dot Kitchen recently launched its first product-Seacharrones, a puffed kelp snack. Blue Dot Kitchen's goal is to bring seagreens to the people with tasty organic foods that help restore ocean health. Seacharrones are a crispy, crunchy, salty puffed snack that is currently available in three flavors: Spicy, Salt and Pepper, and Umami. Each bag contains the dried equivalent of 1.5 ounces of fresh kelp sustainably grown by BDK's partner farms including at its sister kelp farm, Blue Dot Sea Farms, located in the Puget Sound's Hood

Canal. Kelp sea farming enhances water quality, creates habitat, and provides a cost-effective and ecologically sustainable food source. The product is poised to leverage a growing global snack market and increasing demand for both seaweed and more responsible snack options. Seacharrones are currently available in stores in the Puget Sound Area, and are also available for purchase at seacharrones.com. They will continue to roll-out across the region into the Spring.

People's Bank

People's Bank of Commerce hired William Whalen as executive vice president and chief credit officer. Whalen joins People's Bank with almost 33 years of experience in the banking industry, of which 30 have been in Oregon. He most recently worked as senior vice president and chief credit officer for another Oregon based community bank. Whalen is currently a member of the Oregon CASA Network board of directors. He worked in the Rogue Valley as a commercial lending officer from 1992 to 2005. People's Bank of Commerce is a community bank headquartered in Medford, Oregon with branches in Medford, Ashland, Central Point, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, Albany, Lebanon, Salem and now in Jacksonville.

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors, a boutique investment advisory and wealth management firm with offices in Silicon Valley and Seattle, announced it has relocated its Seattle office to Carillon Point in Kirkland. The move stems from Bordeaux's growth in both headcount and new clients in the Seattle region, necessitating expanded office and meeting space. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors launched its first Seattle office in 2020 and has nearly tripled its overall headcount since March of 2017. Bordeaux's growth includes the doubling of its client assets under management over the last five years. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors provides custom and comprehensive financial and investment advisory services to ultra-high-net-worth clients across the United States.

EchoNous

Redmond-base EchoNous, a leader in portable AI-guided ultrasound tools and software, has been named to Fast Company's annual list of the World's Most Innovative Companies for 2022. This year's honorees are businesses that are making the biggest impact on their industries and culture as a whole. Founded in 2016, EchoNous develops industry-leading, intelligent POCUS tools that help medical professionals solve common everyday problems in healthcare. Its flagship device, Kosmos, offers diagnostic-quality heart, lung, and abdominal scans in a handheld tool. The product offers ultrasound, ECG, color pulsed-wave and continuous-wave Doppler capabilities, acts as a digital stethoscope, and provides AI-guided cardiac scanning. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures.

UMC

Hubbard

Roberson

Saeyang

Mukilteo-based UMC promoted Shawn Ganal to field application engineer in the Reality Capture group; Chongpao Saeyang and Rigoberto Loreto to construction technologists in the Virtual Construction group; and Austin Roberson to project manager and Cullen Hubbard to startup/CX engineer in the Major Projects group. Ganal joined the Reality Capture group after three years in UMC's Virtual Construction group. He is responsible for the technical support and service of clients, from scanning to layout. Saeyang joined the Virtual Construction group in 2012, and is helping roll out the Leica iCon construction software program for the layout team. Loreto has been with UMC for three years, and is currently working on Trackvia, an in-house software platform for supply chain operations. Roberson joined UMC in 2018, and is working on the Kirkland Urban South project for a high-tech owner. UMC says Hubbard's interest in equipment startup/commissioning helped drive the company to create the position of startup/CX engineer. Hubbard is helping develop new tools, procedures and processes that lead to streamlined project commissioning.

PT Blink

Watson

Australian construction and property tech company PT Blink appointed former Arup and Katerra engineering executive Will Watson as U.S. director, based in Seattle. Watson's appointment follows a major partnership and multi-million-dollar capital raise with the owners of U.S.-based property developer and operator Holland Partner Group. The partnership has PT Blink applying its technology to several Holland developments in the U.S. as the cloud platform is created. The partnership has started an eight-story apartment in Seattle. PT Blink is creating a technology platform and digital marketplace that enables the off-site manufacture of buildings.

Skanska USA

Skanska USA formed a partnership with the Office of African American Male Achievement at Seattle Public Schools designed to bring equitable access to career paths in the construction industry through its Youth in Construction program. Skanska and AAMA have held two Youth in Construction events, and a third is tentatively scheduled for April 20. A key element to the program is the “Passport Project,” which aims to showcase the breadth of careers available within the industry, such as tradespeople, engineers, BIM technicians, financial managers and marketers.

Mar 11, 2022

Delta Dental

Robinson

Delta Dental of Washington named Monty Robinson as its new chief revenue officer. Robinson will oversee the sales, account management, product development and customer implementation teams and is responsible for the vision and strategies to increase value to customers, retaining existing accounts, drive new growth and develop innovative products and services. Robinson has more than twenty-four years of healthcare and financial services experience. Prior to joining Delta Dental of Washington, he held key senior leadership positions for sales at Aetna and at Nationwide Financial. Robinson holds a bachelor's degree in organizational management & finance from the University of South Carolina, and an MBA in marketing from Troy University in Alabama. Delta Dental of Washington is the state's leading dental benefit provider, covering over 3 million people in Washington State and nationally.

Belleuve Chamber of Commerce

Malaba

Chavez

The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce announced the hiring of Jodie Chavez as the new vice president for government affairs. Chavez previously served as the director of operations for the Political Affairs and Federation Relations department at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. In this role, she oversaw the department's compliance needs, serving as the FEC Treasurer and reporting all electioneering communications activities during the 2020 election cycle. Chavez will oversee the chamber's extensive advocacy and government affairs portfolio. Additionally, Patience Malaba has been named the executive director of the Housing Development Consortium (HDC). Malaba has served as HDC's director of government relations and policy over the past four years. Prior to that, she managed Seattle for Everyone, a broad coalition that was central to the success of Seattle's Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda. She also co-chairs the Eastside Housing Roundtable alongside her fellow co-chair and Bellevue Chamber CEO, Joe Fain. Malaba will start her new role on March 21.

AuthenticID

AuthenticID, a global provider in identity proofing and fraud prevention solutions, officially opened the doors of its new corporate headquarters in Seattle. AuthenticID first announced the planned relocation earlier this year. AuthenticID, originally headquartered on the East Coast, moved its headquarters to the West Coast in 2019. In 2021, AuthenticID saw record revenue, with a 186 percent increase in year-over-year revenue. To meet the demands of this expansion, AuthenticID doubled its staff last year. To accommodate its projected trajectory of growth, AuthenticID plans to increase headcount by another 50 percent in 2022. AuthenticID's new headquarters features approximately 20,000 square feet of office space and overlooks Lake Washington. These new offices will continue to support the company's growth by providing a central location for in-person interaction opportunities for AuthenticID's nationwide remote team, including training and employee summits.

Chronus

Bellevue-based Chronus, an enterprise mentoring platform, announced the appointment of two new executives, Nick Milne-Home as chief revenue officer and Mostafa Ahmed as chief financial officer. This news follows last year's Level Equity investment of $78 million to fund growth initiatives and accelerate Chronus' ability to serve the needs of organizations looking to adapt their workforce to thrive in a more hybrid and inclusive future. Milne-Home will be accountable for driving integration and alignment between all revenue-related functions, including marketing and sales. Ahmed will be responsible for finance, accounting, legal, M&A, investor relations and overall business operations. Milne-Home's most recent role was chief revenue officer at Parse.ly. Prior to that, he spent 13 years at 1E where he was chief operating officer and president. Prior to Chronus, Ahmed served as the managing partner of Vertex Accounting Solutions, a professional firm he started to provide emerging high-tech companies an access to senior financial executives on a fractional basis, and as the managing partner of Blackstone Realty.