Feb 06, 2024

Exxel Pacific

Marshall

Exxel Pacific has promoted Donna Marshall to chief financial officer. Over the past 12 years, Marshall has worked very closely with Exxel's prior CFO, developing her corporate finance oversight capabilities. In addition to day-to-day financial oversight, she represents Exxel's financial relationships with its ESOP, banking, bonding and accounting partners.

Washington Wine Industry Foundation

The Washington Wine Industry Foundation recently elected its 2024 Board of Directors. Re-elected for a three-year term to the board were: Paul Champoux, owner, Lady Hawk Vineyard; Roger Gamache, owner, Dalee Vineyard, and manager/member, Gamache Vintners; Bill Shibley, Sr., agriculture officer/VP, Wheatland Bank; and Sherri Swingle, consultant, charitable giving and marketing. Elected to her first term on the board was Claire Mitchell, partner, Stoel Rives. Mitchell has spent more than a decade representing wineries and other beverage alcohol and hospitality businesses in the Pacific Northwest. She advises producers both regional and national, importers, vineyards, restaurants, hotel operators, alcohol brand owners, and others on a wide range of state and federal alcohol regulatory and licensing matters. Other board members include: Cory Brown, CFO, Long Shadows; Jeremy Camden, senior vice president, Bank of America; Catherine Jones, specialty crop advisor, Wilbur-Ellis Co.; Craig Pacheco, attorney, Stoel Rives; and Adam Ramirez, president, Coventry Vale. Since 2002 the non-profit foundation has been awarded over $3 million in grants supporting winemaking and winegrape growing, and has awarded $480,000 to over 250 viticulture and enology students.

NWCCA

Kahler

Knutson

Orlosky

Mehrer

Sumsion

Till

Harris

The Northwest Wall and Ceiling Contractors Association elected its officers for 2024, including Nathan Sumsion of Western Partitions as board president. Other officers are vice president Kurt Mehrer of Mehrer Drywall, and secretary-treasurer Robert Orlosky of Olympic Interiors. Directors are Greg Knutson of GK Knutson, James Kahler of Northwest Partitions, Rick Harris of Performance Contracting, and immediate past president Ryan Till of Anning-Johnson Co.. NWCCA members consist of signatory wall and ceiling contractors.

JTM Construction

O'Leary

Coffman

At the start of 2024, Benjamin Coffman took over as president of JTM Construction from Martin O'Leary, who transitioned to the role of CEO. O'Leary co-founded Seattle-based JTM in 2005 with John Hayduk and Tom Titus. Coffman, who joined JTM shortly after its formation, has over 21 years of local construction experience and has overseen some of the company's most significant projects. JTM has built notable local buildings such as Avenue Bellevue, Weyerhaeuser headquarters, The Jack, and the Ovation apartment towers. JTM provides preconstruction, self-perform work and construction management.

Feb 02, 2024

Washington Federal Bank

WaFd, Inc., the parent company of Washington Federal Bank, and Luther Burbank Corporation, the parent company of Luther Burbank Savings, jointly announced that they received the required regulatory approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions for Luther Burbank Savings to be merged with and into Washington Federal Bank, and from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for Luther Burbank to be merged with and into WaFd, Inc. This merger will expand WaFd Bank's footprint to nine western states with the addition of ten California branches of Luther Burbank. The merger is expected to be completed by February 29, 2024, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement. System and brand integration efforts are expected to be completed in the first week of March 2024 so that Luther Burbank customers can access the WaFd Bank platform and service offerings. As previously announced, two directors from Luther Burbank, Brad Shuster and Max Yzaguirre, will join the WaFd, Inc. and WaFd Bank Boards of Directors following the closing. Luther Burbank is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California.

Swire Shipping

Swire Shipping announced that Westwood Shipping Lines, a niche vessel operator specializing in the trade between the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia, will change its name to Swire Shipping. Swire Shipping acquired Westwood in June 2022 as part of a growth strategy to expand its liner network in North America.

The rebranding builds on Westwood's legacy, leveraging capabilities in containers, networks, and projects across the global Swire Shipping network to better serve customers throughout North America, Japan, South Korea, and China. Swire Shipping will continue to operate its Puyallup office as the regional hub for its North America operations. Seven vessels from the Swire Shipping owned fleet will operate on the Westwood service within the expanded global network, with four vessels retaining their existing Westwood name and green hulls in a nod to its 130-year legacy. Harry Stones is the president of Swire Shipping North America. In recognition of the strong ties with Japanese customers and their supply chains, as well as to strengthen its transpacific reach, Swire Shipping also announced the establishment of a new office in Tokyo, bringing representation in-house and enabling more direct engagement with customers. Headquartered in Singapore, Swire Shipping is the wholly owned, deep-sea ship-owning and operating arm of the multinational Swire group.

Alaska Power & Telephone

The Board of Directors of Alaska Power & Telephone named William Marks president & CEO. He will succeed Michael Garrett, who previously announced his planned retirement after more than 34 years with the company. Garrett will serve as the senior advisor to Marks through March 31, 2024, to facilitate the transition. Marks has over 30 years of experience the cable TV and satellite industries. He was a founder and president of DBS Direct/DIRECTV, a direct-to-home satellite television network, and CEO of Seamobile, the parent company of Maritime Telecommunications Network, which provided the first satellite broadband connectivity to the cruise ship industry, including the ships that frequent Southeast Alaska. In 2007 Marks won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for his role as the CEO and chairman of the board of Seamobile. Alaska Power & Telephone is an employee- and investor-owned utility providing broadband, communications, and energy services in over 40 communities throughout rural Alaska.

Feb 01, 2024

Dorsey & Whitney

Stott

Herberholz

Dana Herberholz and Jordan Stott have joined Dorsey & Whitney as partners in the Intellectual Property group in Boise. Herberholz advises and represents clients in technology disputes involving patents, trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets. He comes to Dorsey from Parsons Behle & Latimer, where he chaired its Intellectual Property Litigation practice. Herberholz received his J.D. from the Gonzaga University School of Law and his B.S. from the University of Washington. Stott focuses on the protection of innovative products, the development of brands, and enforcement of rights. He has represented clients ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations, including in patent, trademark, and copyright litigation in federal courts and before the Patent and Trademark Office. He joins Dorsey from Parsons Behle & Latimer. Stott received his J.D. from the University of Idaho, College of Law, and his B.S. from Utah State University. Their arrival continues the growth of Dorsey's Boise office since it opened in 2023, bringing the attorney count in this office up to eight. This includes the expansion of its corporate group with associates Kristiana Lubomirova, Michael Pietruszewski, and J.B. Evans. Dorsey & Whitney has locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Shipbuilders Council of America

Haller

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), the national association representing the U.S. shipbuilding, maintenance and repair industry, announced its new board of directors leadership and the incoming chairs of the SCA Partners Committee. Brad Moyer, vice president of BAE Systems Ship Repair, is ascending from his vice chairman post to chairman of the board, assuming the position from Ben Bordelon, CEO of Bollinger Shipyards. David Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO, will serve as vice chairman. Mark Haller, CEO of Seattle's Tri-Tec Manufacturing has been named chairman of SCA's Industrial Base Partnership Committee. Haller was promoted from vice chairman and will lead the industrial base strategy for the association. Replacing Haller as vice chairman is John Rhatigan, chairman of the board at Marine Machinery Association. The SCA Partners Committee is charged with representing SCA's shipyard supplier members from across the country. SCA members constitute the shipyard industrial base that builds, repairs, maintains and modernizes U.S. Navy ships and craft, U.S. Coast Guard vessels of all sizes, as well as vessels for other U.S. government agencies. In addition, SCA members build, repair and service America's fleet of commercial vessels. The Council represents 40 companies that own and operate over 80 shipyards, with facilities on all three U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes, the inland waterways system, Alaska and Hawaii. SCA also represents 87 partner members that provide goods and services to the shipyard industry.

Porch Group

Porch Group announced it signed a strategic business collaboration agreement with Aon Corp. and Aon Re Inc. to provide a variety of services to Porch Group companies, resulting in payments to Porch of approximately $25 million upfront and an expected approximately $5 million over the following four years. Aon Re is a reinsurance broker and provides a wide variety of services for insurance and non-insurance companies. Seattle-based Porch Group, a vertical software and insurance platform for the home, provides software and services to approximately 30,700 home services companies such as home inspectors, mortgage companies and loan officers, title companies, moving companies, real estate agencies, utility companies, and warranty companies.