Jul 18, 2023

Northwest Kidney Centers

Reddy

Patel

Pappoe

Gardner

Northwest Kidney Centers recently added four new members to its board of trustees. Lauren Gardner is corporate vice president, global talent acquisition, at Microsoft. Gardner leads a team responsible for the company's university, industry, and executive-level hiring. She has worked in various human resources leadership roles at Microsoft since 1991, and serves as HR executive sponsor for Microsoft's Blacks at Microsoft employee resource group. Gardner earned her bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Washington. Shika Pappoe is chief medical officer and nephrologist with Hill Physicians Medical Group. She previously worked for Strive Health, where she served as the renal and value-based care expert. She earned her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine, her Master of Public Health from Harvard, and her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Hina Patel is chief growth officer, strategy & market development, healthcare at Microsoft. Patel earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Westminster. Sanjit Reddy, a transplant nephrologist and member of Swedish Medical Center's transplant program, joins the board of trustees and steps into the role of chairman of Northwest Kidney Centers' Foundation Board, where he has served since 2017. Reddy graduated from the University of the West Indies, completed his residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and completed fellowships in transplant nephrology and nephrology at California Pacific Medical Center and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, respectively. Raj Mehrotra, Rich Bloch, Russ Stepp, Chris Seel, and Meredith Matthews stepped down from the board when their terms ended on June 30th. Founded in Seattle in 1962, Northwest Kidney Centers is a not-for-profit, community-based provider of kidney dialysis, public health education and research into the causes and treatments of chronic kidney disease.

Tangibly

Seattle-based Tangibly announced the successful completion of its $6.5 million seed round. The round was led by Madrona and included Spike Ventures, Volo Ventures, Holt Ventures, MVP Ventures, Incisive Ventures, WS Investment Company (an affiliate of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) and DLA Piper. Tangibly will use the investment to expand its recently launched AI-powered Patent X-Ray, which enables in-house legal teams and outside counsel to rapidly identify potential trade secrets associated with their issued and published patents. The next generation of Patent X-Ray, which is currently in internal testing, can be used in the patent drafting process. Tangibly helps streamline and simplify legal requirements and implement best practices to establish company assets as legally protectable trade secrets.

Lattice Semiconductor

Lattice Semiconductor was named a 2023 Top Workplace in the Technology Industry. Based on direct employee feedback from a research-backed employee engagement survey, Lattice was recognized for creating a desirable work culture, empowering employees, leading the technology industry in innovation, and forging the movement towards more transparent business practices. The Top Workplaces program has a 17-year history of surveying and celebrating people-first organizations nationally and across 60 regional markets. The Top Workplaces Industry Awards celebrate organizations that have built people-first workplace cultures within their sector. The award marks them as an employer of choice for those seeking employment in the industry. Lattice Semiconductor is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Rafn Co.

Miller

Ambrey

Cottell

Bellevue-based general contractor Rafn Co. promoted Jered Cottell to project manager, Ben Ambrey to senior project engineer, and Dan Miller to assistant superintendent. Cottell has a bachelor's degree in construction management from Washington State University, and has been at Rafn for 10 years. He is leading the Nook at Northaven Apartments project in Seattle. Ambrey has nine years with Rafn, and is a graduate of the construction management certificate program at the University of Washington. He is also working on the Nook at Northaven. Miller has been a carpenter and foreman at Rafn for 29 years, and is working on a manufacturing facility expansion in Auburn.

Lakeside Industries

Lakeside Industries, an Issaquah-based asphalt paving and construction company serving western Washington and northwest Oregon, acquired Watson Asphalt Paving Co., a full-service asphalt production and paving company covering western Washington and the greater Puget Sound area since the 1940s. Watson is based out of Redmond, and also operates the Palmer gravel pit east of Kent. As with Lakeside, Watson has been family-owned and operated since its beginning. “These two employee groups are amongst the most talented and dedicated in the industry. We are confident that the experience, resources, and services that the Watson team brings will further contribute to our ability to provide our customers with the exceptional service they deserve,” said Lakeside President Mike Lee in a news release. The deal was scheduled to close last Friday.

Deeny Construction Co.

Deeny

Patrick Deeny, vice president of Deeny Construction Co., was chosen by Family Business Magazine as one of the 22 members of the 2023 class of “NextGens to Watch.” This annual list spotlights rising stars under the age of 35 that the magazine says are “making stellar contributions to their family business, family enterprise or family governance system.” Deeny joined the firm in early 2014 and was named vice president in 2022. He manages many of the company's projects, in addition to his role as chief estimator. He eventually will take the reins of the company from his father, Jon Deeny. When this happens, Patrick will become the fourth generation leader of the family business, which was founded in 1938 by his great-grandfather John Deeny. Deeny Construction specializes in underground utility installation, mass excavation and grading projects throughout the central Puget Sound region.

IUOE Local 612

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 612 is teaming with Washington Virtual Academies and the Omak School District to offer the new Operating Engineers Career Pathway Program to high school students across the state. This program gives students the opportunity to enroll in online elective courses that are designed to introduce them to the heavy equipment industry. Students also may receive hands-on experience operating equipment at the Local 302/612 training center in Ellensburg. Pathway participants earn high school credit and are also eligible for apprenticeship credit after graduation. Students can remain enrolled in their local school while taking four one-semester classes that cover topics from equipment fundamentals to grade and construction math. Fall enrollment is now open. To learn more, visit http://www.iuoelocal612.org or http://wava.k12.com.

Jul 14, 2023

MultiCare

Busick

Bradd Busick, senior vice president and chief information officer for MultiCare Health System, received the 2023 Healthcare ORBIE award for hospitals and health care organizations from SeattleCIO. Busick led a collaborative partnership between the IT and operations departments that saved the health system $15 million while also designing a state-of-the-art enterprise resource planning system and upgrading the enterprise medical records system. His team also implemented technology for autonomous robots and designed a drone delivery service that will provide more delivery efficiency throughout MultiCare in 2024. More than 80 individuals were nominated for the ORBIE awards. Finalists were selected in seven categories through an independent peer review process led by prior award winners. MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit health care organization with 12 hospitals and more than 22,000 team members, and is the largest community-based, locally governed health system in Washington.

Childhaven

The Boards of Directors of Childhaven and Washington Association for Infant Mental Health voted unanimously to merge organizations. Through the merger, the organizations are joining forces to launch a center for workforce development in infant and early childhood mental health. The Washington Association for Infant Mental Health was founded in 2014 to educate, support, and advocate for service providers in Washington to improve the well-being of babies and young children, while advancing racial equity and belonging for marginalized communities. Under this merger, WA-AIMH becomes part of Childhaven with continued membership in the national Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health, serving as the state's central resource for endorsement and training. WA-AIMH's executive director, Kelli Bohanon, will lead development of the workforce development hub slated to launch Fall 2023. The hub will operate as an extension of the Childhaven brand to deliver evidence-informed, accessible, and affordable in-person and online resources, trainings, and tools for a wide range of providers and for anyone who wants more information on how to best support the mental and relational health of young children and their families.

Verasonics

Ultrasound research company Verasonics expanded its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to include nine additional members with expertise in the fields of biomedical engineering and materials science. These leaders will work closely with the Verasonics leadership team and existing SAB membership to provide external scientific review and insight on existing and emerging technologies, as well as potential research and development programs. New members of the Scientific Advisory Board are as follows: Pierre Belanger, PhD, Ecole de technologie sup̩rieure Montr̩al, Department of Mechanical Engineering professor; Frederic Cegla, PhD, Imperial College London, senior lecturer & EPSRC research fellow in NDE; Hong Chen, PhD, Washington University, McKelvey School of Engineering associate professor; Hyun Dongwoon, PhD, Stanford University, Radiology РPediatric Radiology instructor; Caterina Gallippi, PhD, Joint UNC, NCSU Department of Biomedical Engineering professor; Joergen Jensen, PhD, Technical University of Denmark, Department of Health Technology professor; Matt O'Donnell, PhD, University of Washington, Department of Bioengineering professor; Jean Provost, PhD, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Department of Engineering Physics associate professor; and Pengfei Song, PhD, University of Illinois, Electrical & Computer Engineering assistant professor. Additionally, James Greenleaf, Mayo Clinic, retired from the Verasonics SAB at the end of 2022. Verasonics is a privately held company founded in 2001 headquartered in Kirkland.