Feb 07, 2025

Life Science Washington

Life Science Washington, the state’s life sciences industry association, announced the expansion of its board of directors with the addition of nine new members, representing leaders from across the state’s top life sciences and technology companies. Life Science Washington’s newly elected board members include: Kamran Ansari, senior vice president, head of clinical development & operations, Pfizer Oncology Division; Jeff Cohen, senior vice president and general manager, Philips Ultrasound; Eric Dobmeier, venture partner, Samsara BioCapital; Yves Leurquin, CEO, Inventprise; Snehal Patel, executive vice president and chief technical officer, Sana Biotechnology; Chris Preti, CEO & president, Jubilant HollisterStier; Kathleen Sullivan, senior director, strategy & operations, Microsoft Research Health Futures; Eric Tham, MD, senior vice president and chief research operations officer, Seattle Children’s Research Institute; and Christina Yi, COO and Seattle site head, Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The addition of these board members is an important step in the continued growth of Washington’s $38.8 billion life sciences industry, a top 10 life sciences cluster in the U.S. In the last year, the region garnered a total of $2.6 billion in mergers and acquisitions and investment activity across 37 deals. Life Science Washington’s new board represents many of the companies leading these expansions and acquisitions. Pfizer is now the state’s largest life sciences company, while Philips Ultrasound is Washington’s largest medical device company. After its current expansion is complete, Jubilant HollisterStier will be the largest manufacturer in Spokane. Sana Biotechnology and Vertex Pharmaceuticals represent the region’s leadership in cell and gene therapy, while Inventprise reflects Washington’s roots in global health and vaccines. Additionally, Seattle Children’s Research Institute is now one of the top five children’s research institutes in the country. Dobmeier is a longtime biotech leader who previously served as an executive at two of Washington’s most successful biotech companies, Seagen and Chinook Therapeutics. Life Science Washington connects its members to each other and to funding, talent, partners and essential business services and elevates the industry by promoting policies that strengthen the environment for ground-breaking research and product development.

Feb 06, 2025

Ewing & Clark puts the flex into KOMO Plaza

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Ewing & Clark has found another tenant for KOMO Plaza. This time it's local fitness chain Transform 180 Training, which is leaving Belltown for a new 7,752-square-foot space. The gym, run by Charith Madawela, also has locations in Madison Park and South Lake Union. Brokering both sides of the deal were Tom Graff and Cameron Kent at E&C. The gym replaces prior tenant Concentra Urgent Care, in the east building, facing Denny Way.

Issaquah embraces Barnes & Noble

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There's a new retail tenant at Issaquah Commons, as was recently announced by that very expansion-minded tenant, Barnes & Noble. The bookseller is taking the former Bed, Bath & Beyond space. Now a private company, the bookseller just opened another store at Bellevue Square. It's lead by James Daunt, who said in a statement, “We are opening new Barnes & Noble bookstores at a pace unseen in decades, and we do so with a focus on returning to communities we once served. We are so pleased to be back in Issaquah, and our booksellers are very excited to welcome customers into this stunning new bookstore.” That store will be managed by Charlene Lee, who'll host a grand opening event next Wednesday morning with Marissa Meyer, author of “The Happy Writer” and “The Lunar Chronicles.” The old Issaquah store was at Pickering Place for two dozen years, before its lease ended in 2020. Since its acquisition by English investor Elliott Advisors, Barnes & Noble has been returning to its brick-and-mortar roots. It opened many new locations last year, and expects to add 60 this year — Issaquah and Bellevue included. Heitman Capital Management owns Issaquah Commons, which is also home to REI, Trader Joe's, Target, Safeway and more than a dozen other tenants. (Bed Bath & Beyond went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years back, closing most locations.) Avison Young brokers the space.

Lease signed in Kirkland

At the Peter Kirk Square Office Park in Kirkland, Ryan Dunham Real Estate recently placed a new tenant. That would be mortgage lender Cardinal Financial, which is taking 600 square feet. The business center is a few blocks north of Kirkland's old downtown, on the slope up Market Street.

VECA Electric & Technologies

VECA Electric & Technologies has launched a new website, http://www.veca.com, to elevate its online presence, and to highlight its values, departments and work, and to introduce its team. VECA is a Pacific Northwest electrical contractor responsible for powering many of the region's most iconic buildings, as well as developments, and occupied facilities. The new site was championed by the marketing team and features collective input from over 40 internal subject matter experts at VECA.

Lighthouse

Seattle-based Lighthouse, a global provider of technology-enabled eDiscovery, compliance, and information governance services, has named Julie Heller vice president of sales. Heller brings more than 25 years of experience in eDiscovery and information governance to her role with Lighthouse. She was most recently with AIG, where she served as vice president in the legal operations group, head of legal knowledge management and information governance, and a certified information governance officer. While there, she oversaw information lifecycle management, content management, taxonomy development and classification, legal hold, record retention, data preservation, and legacy data disposition processes. In addition, she led the eDiscovery management program for six years. Heller also served as president of AIG's New York and U.S. Women & Allies Employee Resource Groups. Prior to AIG, she spent time in practice support at several AmLaw firms in a variety of eDiscovery project management and legal technology management roles, as well in client services on the vendor side.

Vouched

Vouched named Tom Donlea as its new vice president of business development. Donlea has nearly two decades of expertise, and will focus on driving strategic partnerships, enhancing sales efforts, and using his 10-year dedication to identity verification. He previously held leadership roles at Ekata, where he was a driving force in the company's growth, leading to its acquisition by Mastercard in 2021. The Merchant Risk Council recognized Donlea's contributions to fighting fraud by awarding him a Director Emeritus designation in 2022. Vouched's AI-powered identity verification (IDV) solution enables businesses to authenticate individuals and meet critical regulatory requirements. Based in Seattle, Vouched is privately held and backed by Madrona Venture Labs, Ascend Ventures, Flying Fish VC, BHG VC, SpringRock Ventures, and SeaChange Ventures.

Feb 05, 2025

Cochran

Cirrotti-Caruso

Cochran, an electrical and technology services provider in the Pacific Northwest, has promoted Seth Cirrotti-Caruso to director of preconstruction. In this role, Cirrotti-Caruso will lead the preconstruction process for electrical and technology projects, ensuring seamless coordination from initial design through construction.

His responsibilities include supervising and integrating key functions such as strategic project pursuits, building information modeling, procurement, budgeting, and pre-fab operations. With a focus on early-stage project development, he will collaborate closely with clients, architects, and internal teams to align project goals, optimize designs, and deliver value-driven solutions.

He brings extensive experience in the electrical industry, having joined Cochran in 2007. Over the years, he has advanced through several roles, including electrical estimator, project assistant, project engineer, project manager, and project executive. He has played a key role in delivering some of Cochran's most high-profile and technically demanding projects, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters, Microsoft and Amazon campuses, and mixed-use towers in Seattle and Bellevue.

Hargis

Barranick

Kavulla

Brush

Eldredge

Slatton

Koch

Ide

Kunimoto

Helms

VanderKley

Peery

Pentz

Koch

Hargis Engineers has promoted seven employees to the senior leadership team. Brad Slatton, Kevin Eldredge, and Shannon Brush have been promoted to principal and are joined by new associate principals Josh Kavulla, Michael Baranick, and Taylor VanderKley, and new senior associate Ben Helms.

Since joining Hargis in 2007, Slatton has leveraged his background as a financial business analyst to strengthen the firm's business operations team. His leadership has supported the firm in navigating domestic and global growth, identifying advantageous benefit options for staff, and aligning with the distinct financial reporting requirements of public, private, and Fortune 100 clients.

Eldredge brings nearly three decades of telecommunications and audio-visual experience. Accustomed to working with Fortune 100 and 500 enterprise clients, he applies his technical expertise and leadership to guide teams in delivering solutions that align with innovative priorities and highly sophisticated specialty program applications for visionaries across the Americas.

With over 22 years of service, Brush has been a cornerstone of Hargis' marketing and business development efforts. Her active involvement as the team lead and mentor, as well as serving on boards and committees across the industry, fuels the firm's brand recognition and position across multiple markets, while her focus on cultivating market sector expansion through new discipline introductions contributes to the firm's broader reach.

Kavulla brings 25 years of experience as a consultant and owner representative specializing in multiple facets of technology. His leadership is instrumental in serving Fortune 100 and 500 clients, driving high-profile corporate office regional growth, and delivering hyperscale data center applications on accelerated timelines to meet the demands of dynamic client expansion.

Baranick leads Hargis' energy services team, helping clients achieve conservation benchmarks and align capital planning with sustainability goals. His advocacy on technical committees and leadership in code development ensure that Hargis remains a voice for productive change in the industry.

VanderKley's investment in the delivery of educational projects has contributed to several firsts for clients throughout the Puget Sound region. His adaptive approach has enabled him to be responsive to changes in the industry, build new relationships, and provide internal leadership to our digital applications team in the spirit of delivering on clients' needs.

Helms joins the team as a senior associate. He is a key member of the security and telecommunications team that serves public clients' interests. He is actively serving the enterprise needs of Washington state's departments of corrections, social and health services, and children/youth/family services. His efforts have also served colleges and universities statewide, demonstrating his commitment to higher education enterprise needs.

Hargis also announced six new associates. They are Brian Kunimoto (telecommunications), Devin Ide (mechanical), Haley Koch (electrical), Jake Reny (mechanical), James Pentz (mechanical), Travis Peery (telecommunications).

Kenmore Air

Kenmore Air, in collaboration with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, announced the extension of their seasonal seaplane flight service between Tacoma's Ruston Way and Victoria, BC's Inner Harbour. The service will run from May 15 through Sept. 15. The daily flight will depart Tacoma at 2:45 pm, flying for approximately one hour to Friday Harbor Marina. After a 30-minute stopover, the flight will continue for a 20-minute leg to Victoria's Inner Harbour, making the total flight time 1 hour and 50 minutes. Prices start at $199 per person, one-way. In addition to the Victoria route, May 15 will mark the return of Kenmore Air's seasonal seaplane service between Tacoma and the San Juan Islands with direct service to Friday Harbor Marina and stopover service to Roche Harbor, as well as a variety of seaplane marina locations on Orcas Island and Lopez Island. This service will also be available through Sept. 15, with fares starting at $199 per person, one-way. Matt Wadhwani, CEO of Puyallup Tribal Enterprises and the tribal financial officer, said the partnership with Kenmore is another success for the Tribe's economic development wing. “When we partner with the right people, we make great things happen. Kenmore has been a terrific partner from the start,” he said. “Two years ago, we said we intended to go global, and here we are.” Puyallup Tribal Enterprises is the Puyallup Tribe's economic development arm. Its objectives are to increase the Tribe's land asset base and to create jobs and job training opportunities for Tribal members, and to leverage its existing assets to generate above-market returns for the Tribe and its strategic partners. Founded in 1946, Kenmore Air serves over 90,000 passengers annually.

Chuckanut Bay Foods

Chuckanut Bay Foods named two additions to its executive team: Robert Kinsella as president and Mark Budd as director of sales. Both bring extensive experience in the bakery segment. Kinsella has had a successful 33-year career as a food broker and was the founder of Premier Sales Solutions. He revolutionized the in-store bakery segment, expanding across 37 states and achieving over $1 billion in retail sales for clients before selling his company to Empire in 2013. He stayed on as chairman of Premier Sales Solutions which would eventually was rebranded to Epic Sales Partners, a national perishable broker. At Epic he served as senior vice president of Business Development - Bakery. Budd brings over 40 years of experience in the food industry, specializing in sweet baked goods and private-label product development. Most recently, he served as director of sales at The Killer Brownie Company, where he spearheaded growth initiatives by securing key accounts, launching innovative products, and expanding into new channels. His expertise spans grocery, convenience, and foodservice channels. Chuckanut Bay Foods provides premium dessert offerings, and is based in Blaine, Wash.