Aug 28, 2025

Department of Commerce

Zavala

Daniel Narvaez Zavala is the state Department of Commerce's new chief operating officer. Zavala was appointed by Commerce Director Joe Nguyen and began state service earlier this summer. Zavala has nearly 20 years of experience working in education, housing, law and nonprofits. Most recently, he served as executive director of Building Changes, a statewide organization dedicated to advancing equitable solutions to prevent and end homelessness for youth and families. Under his leadership, the organization grew new partnerships, expanded its footprint and impact, and secured more funding for housing stability. Zavala also held senior leadership roles in education advocacy, leading efforts to improve school funding, transparency, and accountability across multiple states. He began his career as a special education teacher in New York City and Washington, D.C. He also worked at the state Attorney General's Office, as well as at Boeing and Amazon. Zavala holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law, and a master's in psychology and a bachelor's in international relations from Stanford University. He is a member of the Washington State Bar, and his executive education includes programs at the University of Washington Foster School of Business and Harvard Business School.

Pacific Crest Bank

Pacific Crest Savings Bank, a Lynnwood-based local and independently owned financial institution, has changed its name to Pacific Crest Bank, as part of a refresh that updates the bank's brand to better align with the financial services it provides. “Though subtle, this update to our name reflects a meaningful step forward,” said Sheryl Nilson, CEO of Pacific Crest Bank. “It allows us to better represent who we are today, while staying true to the values and relationships that have defined us for years. This new identity gives us the flexibility to expand our offerings, serve new community members and organizations, and continue delivering the high level of service our clients expect.” The bank was originally established in 1984 by John Fairchild, Harry Sankey and current President and CEO Sheryl Nilson as Phoenix Mortgage and Escrow. In 1998, Phoenix Mortgage converted to a Washington state-chartered, federally insured savings bank, known as Phoenix Savings Bank until it rebranded to Pacific Crest Savings Bank in 2005. Today, the bank offers specialized loans for commercial, multifamily, floating homes and residential properties along with construction loans for local builders. Its savings and deposit services for personal and business banking are designed to meet each client's needs and goals. The bank's local ownership remains the same.

Aug 27, 2025

Ethos Civil

Roberts

Hughes

DeJarlais

Ethos Civil recently hired Randall DeJarlais, AnnaKatherine Hughes and Cody Roberts.

DeJarlais has six years of civil engineering and project management experience, with additional background as a marine electrician with the U.S. Navy. An alum of Seattle University, DeJarlais recently worked at Psomas, where he contributed to public transportation and utility projects. DeJarlais joins the Ethos Civil team in the Tacoma office as a lead engineer for the Whittier Elementary School project with Tacoma Public Schools.

Hughes is a recent graduate of Grove City College, where she studied mechanical engineering and was the president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers chapter. Hughes is a civil designer in Ethos Civil's Tacoma office. She is serving as the lead designer on the Peck Community Sports Park project in Tacoma.

Roberts joins Ethos Civil's Wenatchee office as an AutoCAD technician. He has more than 25 years of drafting and design experience, including a variety of private and public development projects. Roberts recently completed the civil design for the Olympic High School Tennis Courts project in Bremerton.

Land Morphology

He

Crawford

Land Morphology announced the promotion of Dylan Crawford to associate principal landscape architect. With more than nine years of experience with both public and private sector projects, Crawford currently leads multiple private garden projects across the Pacific Northwest.

The firm also announces hiring Yang He as landscape designer. Prior to joining Land Morphology, He contributed to a range of significant public projects, including Elliott Bay Connections and College Creek Village at Whitman College. She brings five years of public-sector experience to her new role.

AIA Seattle BOD

Burk

Ovsak

Dahlquist

Falcetti

American Institute of Architects (AIA) Seattle ushers in a new slate of directors on Sept. 1. With 11 directors, the team will be led by officers Melissa Falcetti, Kirsten Dahlquist, Laura Ovsak and Sarah Burk.

Falcetti will serve as president, bringing her experience from a small construction defects/owner's representative firm to one of the largest design firms in the world. Falcetti has two bachelor's degrees from Scripps College and a Master of Architecture degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Falcetti is a licensed architect in Washington, a Certified Construction Specifier, and has passed the CSI's CDT exam.

Dahlquist, who will serve as president-elect, is an associate at Rice Fergus Miller and brings 17 years of architectural expertise to her role as a design architect. Dahlquist has a diverse portfolio including community-centric projects like food banks, tribal wellness facilities, and cultural gathering centers, and founded the firm's internal justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion committee.

Ovsak is an architect working as a project manager with GLY Construction and joins the slate of AIA Seattle officers as treasurer. She has a combined 11 years of experience in architecture/design and construction management. Ovsak holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University).

Burk will serve as secretary in the upcoming term. Burk is an architect focusing her career on enhancing communal spaces, especially libraries and community designs. Burk frequently volunteers with the AIA and Seattle Design Festival. Burk holds a certification in Safety Assessment Program which addresses safety and resilience of the built environment.

The full slate of directors can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/AIASeaBOD2025

Vigor Marine Group

Vigor Marine Group has announced a strategic partnership with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI). The collaboration will expand maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capacity to the Indo-Pacific region, offering the U.S. Navy and Military Sealift Command (MSC) a new option to keep vessels mission-ready. In addition, the two companies may explore opportunities to support a U.S. shipbuilding renaissance, including a return to Vigor's shipbuilding roots in the Pacific Northwest.

The U.S. Navy has been actively seeking partners capable of executing forward repair to increase the availability of its fleet. Together, this partnership will combine Vigor's customer relationships and ability to deliver complex projects on time and on budget with SHI's world-class Korean shipyard facilities, skilled workforce and advanced technology leadership. The result is a new forward repair solution designed to add high-quality repair capacity and operational agility, with Vigor Marine Group as the lead U.S.-based prime contractor.

“At Vigor Marine Group, our primary focus is on providing solutions to our customers,” said Francesco Valente, president and CEO of Vigor Marine Group. “We understand the Navy's evolving needs and have built a track record of delivering results in support of our national defense. Partnering with Samsung allows us to extend that same capability to forward-deployed operations in the Indo-Pacific and potential shipbuilding opportunities here in the U.S. — helping the Navy increase its operational tempo while maintaining the highest quality standards.”

With operations in five locations, Vigor's family of companies employs 2,500 people in the Pacific Northwest, California and Virginia.

Aug 26, 2025

City of Marysville

Kaylor

Jim Kaylor is joining the city of Marysville as its first director of utilities and maintenance services. In this role, he will oversee the department that includes the city's water, stormwater, surface water, solid waste and maintenance services divisions. He will begin working full-time in Marysville after Labor Day. Kaylor comes to Marysville with experience leading local government utilities, most recently in Cave Creek, Arizona, and with the cities of Glendale, Arizona, and San Clemente, California, and the Coos Bay North Bend Water Board in Coos Bay, Oregon. Kaylor has a bachelor's degree in environmental health from Arizona State University.

Tutta Bella

Fugere

Hardy

Tutta Bella named Cate Hardy as its new chief executive officer. Hardy, a seasoned food and beverage CEO, joins the Seattle-based Neapolitan pizza company as it continues its expansion into the national consumer packaged goods (CPG) market. Founder Joe Fugere will transition to a new role focusing on stewarding the brand's culture and supporting long-term strategic growth in retail partnerships. Hardy has over 20 years of experience in senior executive roles and national board positions spanning CPG, grocery and casual dining. Most recently, she served as president and chief operating officer of Seattle Hospitality Group, overseeing a portfolio of Pacific Northwest food, beverage, and transportation businesses. Previously, Hardy served as CEO of The Wine Group, CEO of PCC Community Markets, and spent nearly a decade in senior roles at Starbucks across retail operations, store development, supply chain, and product development. Her early career was spent at McKinsey & Company and Deloitte. Hardy currently serves on the boards of WX Brands and Kitchen & Market, and formerly served on the boards of Suja Life, Crunch Fitness, and Ballast Point Brewing. Tutta Bella owns and operates five neighborhood restaurants, two grocerants, plus a cafe, bar and food truck. Tutta Bella's CPG pizzas are made by hand in a 15,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Seattle's SoDo district, then distributed to retail locations nationwide. Tutta Bella recently launched its ready-to-heat pizzas in over 1,000 Kroger stores and Costco warehouses nationwide.