Sep 03, 2025

Optimum Energy

Norwood

Optimum Energy has appointed Erik Norwood as its new chief product officer. Norwood brings over a decade of experience as a former solar executive and Boeing rocket scientist. As chief product officer, he will expand on Optimum Energy’s technology in chiller plants to provide campus-wide energy solutions for its partners in hospitals, research campuses, higher education, and advanced manufacturing. Optimum Energy offers holistic energy infrastructure optimization, providing comprehensive and integrated solutions to mission-critical facilities. Its expertise spans a full spectrum of services, from initial engineering and construction to ongoing maintenance, asset management, and Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) offerings.

Aug 29, 2025

Damage Prevention Hero

Garcia

Kemp Garcia, a safety professional for Kirkland-based The Integrated Group and Dig Law Advocates, is one of four safety professionals nominated for the national Damage Prevention Hero of the Year. Kemp started out in the construction industry as a private locator and progressed to vac and excavation, and now safety and mitigation. He has played an active role in revising the Dig Law in Washington state on two separate occasions. Kemp has lead Dig Safe classes for NUCA of Washington for over a decade, working to minimize damages and injuries related to underground utilities. Voting for the Damage Prevention Hero of the Year is open at https://actsnowinc.com/ through Sept. 17.

BakerHostetler

Wang

Phillip Wang has joined BakerHostetler's Seattle office as a partner in the firm's Labor and Employment Practice Group and a member of the Employment Deal team. Wang has more than 20 years of mergers and acquisitions and transaction-related experience in a variety of employment matters, including senior-level executive terminations and restrictive covenant issues. His counseling spans key regulatory areas including Title VII, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, and the New York State and New York City human rights laws. In addition, he has successfully handled complex employment litigation and workplace disputes in federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Public Employment Relations Board. Wang received his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. BakerHostetler helps clients around the world address complex and critical business and regulatory issues.

University of Washington Tacoma

The University of Washington Tacoma has established the Strickland Fellowship for Career Pathways, named in honor of Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland's contributions to education and workforce development in Tacoma and the South Sound. The program provides students with hands-on experience working on municipal projects in Tacoma city departments, helping them prepare for engineering careers close to home. The fellowship's name was unveiled during a ceremony recognizing Strickland, who helped shape the program's vision while serving as Tacoma's mayor. The program was established through a partnership between UW Tacoma, Tacoma Public Utilities and local nonprofit Degrees of Change. It aims to build a local workforce pipeline that helps meet the region's need for more STEM talent. The program began with a focus on civil engineering with plans to expand into other disciplines within UW Tacoma's School of Engineering and Technology. The second cohort of students will begin the fellowship in September. More information is available at tacoma.uw.edu/stricklandfellowship.

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.