Oct 04, 2022

CoreStack

Bellevue-based CoreStack, a global multi-cloud governance provider, announced that Sridhar Chandrashekar will be joining the leadership team as chief digital officer. Chandrashekar is the former co-founder and CEO of Optio3, which was recently acquired by CoreStack. Optio3 is an AI-powered operations management company based in Seattle. Prior to his time at Optio3, Chandrashekar was the founding general manager and vice president of the IT Operations Management business unit at ServiceNow. Chandrashekar joined ServiceNow after 18 years at Microsoft. He has been awarded 24 patents for his work at Microsoft and ServiceNow.

Amazon

A year after its pilot launch, Amazon announced that it will roll out the Amazon Community Lending program as a long-term offering. In partnership with BSD Capital (dba Lendistry), this program will continue to support urban and rural small businesses in socially and economically distressed communities through short-term loans at competitive rates. Since its launch, the program has loaned more than $35 million to over 800 Amazon sellers, surpassing the original goal of $10 million during the pilot. Now, the program plans to loan more than $150 million in the next three years to small businesses selling in the Amazon U.S. store. Small businesses in the program can use these funds to grow their business and cover other strategic needs, such as staffing and operations costs, inventory, product development and manufacturing, and marketing efforts. Loans provided by Lendistry through this program will range from $10,000 to $250,000, with terms of up to five years. The program also provides small businesses access to supplementary resources from Lendistry, including one-on-one consulting, webinars, and on-demand educational classes.

Symetra

Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work have recognized Symetra as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces for Women. The ranking is based on analysis of confidential survey feedback representing over 7 million employees from Great Place to Work-certified organizations across the United States. The Best Workplaces for Women selects winners based on how fairly women say they're treated at their workplace. Great Place to Work measures the differences in women's survey responses with those of their peers and assesses the impact of demographics and roles on the quality and consistency of women's experiences. Led by CEO Margaret Meister and a gender-balanced senior leadership team, Symetra was certified by Great Place to Work earlier this year, with 90% of employees saying it's a great place to work. To determine the Best Workplaces for Women, Great Place to Work analyzed the survey responses of over 640,000 women who work for Great Place to Work-certified companies that employ at least 50 women. Companies must also have at least 20% of non-executive managers who are women, and at least one executive who's a woman. Symetra is a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue.

Compass Construction

Auld

Bell

Sosavanh

Kohatsu

Compass Construction promoted Jonathan Kohatsu from general accountant to assistant controller, Sidnie Sosavanh from project accountant to project accounting manager, Destini Bell from field laborer to field assistant, and Chris Auld to safety director. Kohatsu joined Compass in 2018 as a project accountant. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from Hawaii Pacific University. Sosavanh started her career at Compass in 2017 as an accounts payable lead. She obtained her bachelor's degree in accounting at Bellevue College. Bell is working at the company's Boston project in Seattle. Auld began his career at Compass in 2000 as a laborer/carpenter and retains the title of senior superintendent along with his new role as safety director.

Wayne's Roofing

Butler

Western States Roofing Contractors Association appointed Brian Butler of Wayne's Roofing as board vice president for 2022-2023. Butler is vice president and CSO at Sumner-based Wayne's Roofing.

ABC of Western Washington

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington elected its 2023 officers and board. Officers include Dawn Lanz of Sea Tac Electric, chair; Josh Griesse of Washington Commercial Painters, chair–elect/secretary; Glen Kuntz of Tekton, immediate past chair; Cindy Axthelm of Axthelm Construction, treasurer; Adam Kemly of Kemly Electric, vice chair of government affairs; Stephanie Carlin of Propel Insurance, vice chair of membership; America George of Haggard Electric, vice chair of safety; Don Koslowsky of Deacon, vice chair of professional development; and Ryan Brown of System Mechanical and Safety, vice chair of workforce development. Directors are Candi Pfluger of BDO; Shelley Bloom of All City Fence; Karen Say-Valadez of Saybr Contractors; Scott Garcia of Parker Smith and Feek; Mitch Neeley of Neeley Construction; Jason Wandler of Oles, Morrison, Rinker & Baker; Anita Robertson of Make Ready Services; and Eric Brock of HST Construction. Those leaving the board at the end of the year are Travis Hull of Mechanical Control Services and Doug Bolar of Accountable Custodial Maintenance.

AGC of America

The Associated General Contractors of America is launching a new effort to combat high suicide rates and improve mental health among the industry's workers. The trade group noted that there were 53.2 suicides per 100,000 workers in a year compared to a national construction workplace fatality rate of 10.2 per 100,000 workers — meaning a construction worker is five times as likely to die by suicide than workplace safety hazards. AGC is preparing a series of video public service announcements featuring construction workers who almost succumbed to their mental health challenges. These workers will urge members of the construction industry to not be afraid to seek help. The association is also assembling a comprehensive collection of resources for construction companies and their workers about mental health and suicide prevention.

Sep 30, 2022

Emerald Communities

Jamison

Emerald Communities, a nonprofit senior housing and services organization based in Redmond, hired Diana Jamison as vice president, chief financial officer. Jamison will be responsible for the overall strategic and operational aspects of finance, accounting and information technology. She will work closely with the president and CEO of Emerald Communities, senior management, the board of directors, residents and numerous community partners to ensure Emerald Communities and its senior living properties, Heron's Key in Gig Harbor and Emerald Heights in Redmond, all meet their financial and business goals. Prior to joining Emerald Communities, Jamison had nearly two decades of experience in nonprofit senior housing organizations. She brings extensive experience in strategic leadership, financial planning and analysis, reporting, financial modeling, risk management, accounting and team leadership.

Curator

Garza

Christopher

Fletcher

Curator, a Seattle-based public relations agency specializing in lifestyle and consumer brands, announced that Elsa Fletcher has joined the firm as a Seattle-based assistant account executive. Additionally, Jessica Christopher, who works out of Bend, Oregon, and Xiamara Garza, who works near Phoenix, Arizona, have been promoted to account supervisor and account executive, respectively. All three will be responsible for the ideation and implementation of communication strategies for clients including PCC Community Markets, Gesa Credit Union, Qapital, Washington's Lottery and Ziply Fiber. Christopher joined the agency in 2021 as a senior account executive. Prior to joining Curator, she worked at Allied Global Marketing in Philadelphia. Garza joined Curator in 2021 as an assistant account executive after interning with the company during her senior year at Northern Arizona University. Fletcher is a recent graduate of the University of Oregon. Previously, she interned at an eco-friendly hair care and beauty company serving as a social media intern as well as a marketing intern at commercial real estate firm. Curator was founded in 2009.

Washington Federal

Washington Federal, parent company of Washington Federal Bank (WaFd Bank), promoted veteran commercial banker Dan LaCoste to regional president for Southern Oregon. LaCoste joined WaFd Bank three years ago as senior vice president – commercial division manager. LaCoste started his banking career in 1997. He held leadership roles, including region president during his 21 years at US Bank leading private banking, commercial, retail and operations. LaCoste is a 2010 graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School and has held board chair and board president roles at several non-profit organizations in the Eugene, Oregon region. Washington Federal Bank, a national bank with headquarters in Seattle, has more than 200 branches in eight western states.