Nov 29, 2004

Dendreon Corp.

Seattle's Dendreon Corp. appointed Rick Hamm senior vice president and general counsel. Hamm will oversee corporate governance, licensing and merger and acquisitions. Hamm has 20 years' legal experience. Dendreon is a biotechnology company that works to develop cancer treatments.

Columbia Bank

Columbia Bank promoted commercial loan support officer, Jodi Wunder and special credits officer Brenda Ehnat to assistant vice presidents in their respective departments. Columbia Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia Banking System and has 34 branches in Pierce, King, Cowlitz, Kitsap and Thurston counties.

Weyerhaeuser Co.

Weyerhaeuser Co. named Andrea Howell manager of federal affairs. She will relocate to Washington, D.C., to work with Congressional members and their staffs, agencies and associations. Howell started at Weyerhaeuser as a public affairs associate in Longview. Weyerhaeuser grows and harvests timber, makes forest products and works on real estate development.

Nov 26, 2004

Network Mortgage Services Inc.

Lynnwood-based Network Mortgage Services Inc., has promoted Kevin Lane to executive vice president, Anthony Blodgett to vice president and retail lending manager, and Robert Hallum to vice president. Lane oversees retail and wholesale lending and is on the company strategic planning committee. Lane was hired by Network Mortgage in 1996 as a retail loan officer. Also, construction of the company's retail lending center has been completed.

American Reporting Co.

American Reporting, an 18-year-old credit reporting company, has added appraisal services. It's part of a plan to roll out what the company calls a complete settlement services package by the end of next year. American Reporting has hired Sue Potteiger, former senior vice president and chief appraiser of Washington Mutual. She plans to add title and escrow services. Duane Peterson, former national production manager for Washington Mutual, has joined Potteiger as manager of appraisal services.

Orion Residential LLC

Seattle-based Orion Residential LLC has acquired the 240-unit Timberstone, a luxury apartment in Houston. Debt financing was provided through the assumption of existing tax-exempt bonds and the replacement of the in-place credit enhancement by Fannie Mae through RED Mortgage Capital. Equity comes from a joint venture of Orion and a Guggenheim Real Estate PLUS portfolio company managed by Guggenheim Real Estate LLC. The price wasn't disclosed. Since its inception in April, Orion has acquired more than 1,700 apartment units around the nation.

Merit Inc.

Merit Inc., a Kirkland-based provider of mortgage and residential real estate services, has expanded its sales force by 20 percent and extended the calling hours of its telemarketing division by 30 percent. Andrew Shute and Wes Graham have been promoted to production managers of the two new teams. They'll oversee 10 new loan officers and one credit services representative each.

Windermere Real Estate

Ivan Agerton is a new sales agent in Seattle at Windermere's Ballard office.

John L. Scott Real Estate

Steven Kasemeier, Hayley Nichols, Bruce Orr and Jana Orr are new agents at the John L. Scott Gig Harbor office.

Commercial Brokers Association

Matt Griffin of Pine Street Group, Eli Khouri of Broadreach Capital Partners, Don Milliken of Milliken Development Group, Frank Stagen of Nitze-Stagen & Co., and Patrick Callahan of Equity Office Properties will speak at the Commercial Brokers Association's annual forecast breakfast at 7 a.m. Dec. 8 at the Hyatt Grand Hotel, 721 Pine St., Seattle. It's $59 for individuals, $550 for tables of 10 and $650 for tables of 12. Mail reservations to the Commercial Brokers Association, 11422 N.E. 120th St., Suite A, Kirkland, WA 98034 or fax them to (425) 821 9494.