May 15, 2019

Northwest Kidney Centers

Jackson

Joyce F. Jackson, president and CEO of Northwest Kidney Centers for the past 20 years, will retire after a successor is found. During Jackson's tenure, annual patient services revenue grew from $32 million to $131 million, and fundraising revenue grew from $200,000 to $3 million. Northwest Kidney Centers is now the eighth-largest dialysis provider in the country.

Shyft Technologies

Paravecchio

Paula Paravecchio joined Shyft Technologies as vice president of sales. Paravecchio has 20 years of experience in business development and the software as a service industry. She previously was senior industry director for retail, CPG and hospitality at Microsoft. Shyft has an app that helps workers swap shifts, communicate with each other, and make more money by covering shifts.

Chasing

China-based underwater drone company Chasing opened its first U.S. office in Seattle and hired Sage Raterman as general manager to lead its expansion in North America. Raterman has over 15 years of experience, with stints as senior director of sales in North America and Australia for PowerVision Robot and as director of sales and channel marketing for Autel Robotics.

May 14, 2019

Miller Nash Graham & Dunn

Swanson

Piper

Attorneys Josh Piper and Tristan Swanson joined Miller Nash Graham & Dunn as partners in the Seattle office. Piper focuses on franchising, licensing and distribution issues. He was co-head of Dorsey & Whitney's Franchise and Distribution and Hospitality groups. Swanson focuses on construction, real estate and insurance coverage disputes. He spent 10 years at Ashbaugh Beal.

Brightwork Consulting

Seattle-based Brightwork Consulting is moving from Ballard to Queen Anne Square, at 200 Mercer St. Brightwork is a risk management, change management and business strategy consultant. It says the new space will allow it to accommodate new hires, including a creative director and vice president of business development.

Banner Bank

The U.S. Small Business Administration named Banner Bank as Washington Regional Lender of the Year for the Seattle/Spokane District and Star Performer for the Portland District. The Walla Walla-based bank also won SBA's National Lender Recognition Award for the Sacramento District.

May 10, 2019

Port of Seattle

Gheisar

The Port of Seattle hired Bookda Gheisar as senior director for equity, diversity and inclusion. Gheisar was policy advisor for King County's Office of Equity and Social Justice. When she starts at the port on June 12, Gheisar also will lead the port's first ever Equity Department.

F5 Networks

In Seattle, F5 Networks completed its acquisition of San Francisco-based Nginx, an open source leader in application delivery. The combined companies will provide multi-cloud application services.

Builders Capital

Oakland-based 1Sharpe Capital closed a strategic partnership with Seattle-based Builders Capital to buy construction loans from Builders Capital. The multi-year deal brings together Builders Capital's regional construction lending expertise and 1Sharpe's assets and structured credit expertise.

Neu

Seattle-based Neu, a cleaning service for Airbnb hosts, won a bronze prize in the FedEx Small Business Grant Contest. Neu was one of 10 winners that received a $15,000 grant and $1,000 in FedEx Office services.