Nov 04, 2022

AARP Washington

Ro

Marguerite Ro has been selected as the new state director of AARP Washington. Ro will direct the association's activities on behalf of nearly 900,000 Washington state members and provide leadership to help meet the needs and interests of the state's older adults and their families. Marguerite is a native Washingtonian. Before joining AARP, she served as the chief of the Assessment, Policy Development, and Evaluation unit and director of the Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention section of Public Health – Seattle & King County. In 2018, she received the Public Health Leadership Award from the Washington State Public Health Association. She obtained her masters and doctorate from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As the AARP Washington State Director, Ro leads a team of eight staff members and a cadre of volunteers. She succeeds Doug Shadel, who is retiring after more than 30 years with AARP.

Amazon

Amazon and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are launching a public-private partnership to address the gender inequities that exist for women in the climate finance ecosystem and support female entrepreneurs with the resources they need to accelerate climate change innovations. Amazon will commit a total of $53 million to help accelerate women's climate solutions, including $3 million toward the USAID partnership and $50 million for Amazon to invest directly in climate tech companies run by women. Amazon will serve as a founding partner of USAID's Climate Gender Equity Fund, a new climate finance facility designed to remove systemic market barriers that prevent women and girls from accessing climate finance. USAID will also match Amazon's $3 million investment to help launch the fund.

The Climate Gender Equity Fund will have a global focus and provide grants for businesses, NGOs, accelerators, incubators, and grassroots organizations working on women-led climate solutions. It also will fund efforts to help women access the networks and technical skills they need to accelerate the development of their climate change technologies. Additionally, Amazon is allocating $50 million from its Climate Pledge Fund to invest in women-founded and women-led climate tech companies, as well as incubators and accelerators that prioritize women-led entities. The Climate Pledge Fund–Amazon's venture capital program that invests in companies pioneering decarbonizing technologies and solutions–will collaborate with USAID and the Climate Gender Equity Fund to source new investment opportunities and broaden its pipeline of female applicants.

Parcion Private Wealth

Parcion Private Wealth, a Seattle-area wealth management firm, celebrated its third anniversary with firmwide growth, increasing its assets under management and expanding its team of investment professionals. In 2022, Parcion welcomed nine new team members, enhancing the firm's services across investment and wealth transfer strategy, cash flow optimization, and next-generation planning. Among the firm's newest team members are Tim Bond, director of investment operations and portfolio management, and Stacee Kratovil, senior family advisor. Both bring over a decade of industry experience to their roles. In addition to Bond and Kratovil, Parcion further expanded its team by hiring for the roles of associate, family advisor, client service specialist, and marketing and brand manager. With these additions, the firm is now comprised of 29 total staff members. Parcion recently earned a ranking on Forbes 2022 list of America's Top RIA Firms. The honor recognizes Parcion for its best-in-class client experience and commitment to helping those they serve achieve their financial goals. Over the past three years, the firm has grown its assets under management to more than $2 billion.

Nov 03, 2022

Northmarq does three deals worth $57M

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Northmarq recently announced a trio of notable deals. Up in Everett, the firm's Scott Moline and Bob Spiro arranged an $8.3 million refinancing package for the Seaway Ridge office and industrial building, at 1930 Merrill Creek Parkway. That 1996 building is fully leased to three tenants, says Northmarq. Said Moline of the 10-year, interest-only note, “We were able to provide competitive loan terms with a quick rate lock process, which was critical at this point in the market.” And down in Sumner, in a two-step process, Jake Leibsohn arranged $13.2 million in new equity provided by PCCP to stack atop the accompanying $35.5 million construction loan, also arranged by Northmarq. The borrower and developer is local shop Timberlane Partners, which is planning an unnamed low-rise development with 162 units and 250 parking stalls. Construction began in September, under architect Casey + DeChant and Rush Construction. Completion is anticipated in the fall of next year. Timberlane's Dave Enslow said in a statement, “I grew up in the house across the street from the site, so this is a very special project for me personally. I'm glad I could be a small part of bringing more housing to this great community.” The address couldn't be verified. Northmarq says the project is about 1.5 miles east of the Sumner Transit Station.

ULI marches through ID

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The affordable housing project dubbed Uncle Bob's Place is nearing completion in the International District, and that'll be one of the stops for ULI Northwest's walking tour next Thursday. It's associated with the separate Emerging Trends confab, also held that day, at the nearby Embassy Suites. (There's separate registration for both.) The tour begins with lunch at Uwajimaya Food Hall, then eventually leads back to the main ULI gathering. A representative from Mithun, the architect behind Uncle Bob's, will be on hand to discuss that project, which is being developed by the InterIm Community Development Association. It replaced the old Four Seas restaurant. Details and registration: northwest.uli.org.

Pillar Financial Group

Northwestern Mutual announced that Trudy Leen and her two-person team have joined Seattle-based Pillar Financial Group, part of Northwestern Mutual's Private Client Group. Coming from Gateway Financial Partners with LPL Financial, Leen and her team officially joined Pillar Financial Group on Oct. 27. With over 30 years of experience in the finance industry, Leen has expertise in financial planning, wealth management, investment services, legacy building and insurance programs. In addition to Leen, Ashley Scribner and Dara Fogg will join the office as service coordinators. Pillar Financial Group now has offices in Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, and Sandpoint and Priest River, Idaho. Northwestern Mutual provides life, disability income and long-term care insurance, annuities, and brokerage and advisory services.

City of Tacoma

The city of Tacoma's Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness document is now available online at http://www.cityoftacoma.org/homelessness. Neighborhood and Community Services Homeless Services team presented its strategy document for ending homelessness to City Council on Sept. 29. The plan recognizes that ending homelessness in Tacoma will require short-term and long-range efforts built on public-private partnerships to address immediate needs like shelter, while also addressing housing affordability. In the proposed 2023-2024 biennium budget, there is a requested allocation of approximately $34.1 million for homelessness services and programs. The city allocated $19.5 million to homeless services in the 2021-2022 biennium to provide homelessness services and programs including emergency shelter, case management, job training, mental health services, domestic violence services, food banks and other supportive services. Additionally, the city invested $26 million in one-time COVID resources to address issues of homeless prevention through rental assistance and building additional shelter.

ATS Automation

ATS Automation, an independent, smart building controls provider, acquired Advanced Automation Systems, headquartered in Tampa, Florida. This purchase will enable the ATS Companies' continued growth in the Southeast region of the United States and provide increased capabilities and support for national account clients. Advanced Automation Systems will be incorporated into the ATS Waypoint business, which will focus on providing building automation solutions in Georgia and Florida. Established in 1986, ATS is headquartered in Renton.

Marchex

Seattle-based Marchex received APPEALIE's 2022 SaaS Customer Success Award as part of the 2022 APPEALIE SaaS Awards. Marchex received the award for the use of its conversation intelligence capabilities to go “above and beyond” in helping a national computer repair and support services company that relies heavily on phone calls to land new customers and drive new business in a competitively accelerating space. This is the second consecutive APPEALIE award for Marchex, as the company received the Overall SaaS Award in the Analytics + Business Intelligence Category of the 2021 awards. The APPEALIE SaaS Awards honor customer-obsessed SaaS platforms and success stories that deliver extraordinary experiences and results.