Jul 01, 2020

B.E. Meyers & Co.

Lee

Yong Lee is the new CFO of Redmond-based B.E. Meyers & Co. Lee previously held senior banking roles with KeyBank, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo in the greater Seattle region, where he provided debt capital and financing solutions for middle market and large public companies. He also held leadership roles in the Army and Washington State National Guard. Lee took over for Steven Oliver, who has retired but remains on the company's board of advisers. Meyers makes advanced photonic systems primarily for the aerospace and defense industries.

Lattice Semiconductor

The Portland Business Journal named Sherri Luther of Lattice Semiconductor as CFO of the Year 2020 in the Public Companies category. Luther was cited for helping the company improve its finance, IT and facilities operations. Hillsboro, Oregon-based Lattice Semiconductor makes programmable computer chips.

Dumpling

Grocery shopping and delivery app Dumpling raised $6.5 million in Series A funding in a round led by Forerunner Ventures, Floodgate and Fuel Capital. The company, co-headquartered in Seattle and Berkeley, California, now has $10 million in funding. It connects personal shoppers with customers, allowing customers to pay in-store prices without markups while shoppers set their own service fees and keep 100% of their tips.

Convoy

Business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan named Seattle trucking software company Convoy as Company of the Year in a study covering the nation's top digital freight providers. The award is given to companies that demonstrate innovation and growth in their fields. Convoy was recognized for its ability to help shippers improve their supply chains and weather market volatility through its digital freight network.

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines has donated over 1 million pounds of food around the world since announcing in April that it would adjust food and beverage service due to the pandemic. In Seattle, that included 25 pallets containing more than 2,000 cases of food, providing nearly 4,000 meals and thousands of snacks to Food Lifeline.

Jun 30, 2020

Dana Kindberg Optometry

Kindberg

In Redmond, Dana Kindberg Optometry is launching Sports Vision Academy, a new venture that trains athletes to receive and process visual information faster and more accurately. The program begins with a visual acuity test to address any existing vision deficits, then an individual performance baseline is developed to create an athletic profile specific to the sports each patient plays. Other markers such as eye movement, brain processing and reaction time are also measured and tracked.

Seattle Art Museum

Effective Sunday, the Seattle Art Museum will begin furloughs and reductions in staff hours as a result of the pandemic. The museum, along with the Asian Art Museum and Paccar Pavilion at Olympic Sculpture Park, has been closed since March 12. SAM has been paying regular wages to all staff since the closures due to donations and a $2.8 million Paycheck Protection Program loan. SAM said it will maintain health insurance for its staff through the end of September. It is working towards a July 31 reopening, but that could change given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.

Arcimoto

Eugene, Oregon-based electric vehicle maker Arcimoto will retire all of its convertible promissory notes with the repayment of about $769,000 of its notes and the conversion of $1.4 million of debt to equity at $4.25 per share. This comes in addition to the $3.45 million senior secured note that was repaid on June 15. The moves leave the company debt free, except for $1.6 million in equipment capital lease financing.

PotlatchDeltic

Spokane-based PotlatchDeltic agreed to sell about 72,000 acres in Minnesota to The Conservation Fund for about $48 million. The deal is expected to close later this year. PotlatchDeltic has a long-term strategy to maximize shareholder value through rural real estate sales. It said nearly all of its ownership in Minnesota is under contract, with a series of closings scheduled to occur through 2022. PotlatchDeltic is a REIT that owns 1.8 million acres of timberlands in several states.

Port of Seattle

The Port of Seattle formed a partnership with five local nonprofits in an effort to save youth jobs for the summer and beyond. The port's Opportunity Initiative aims to provide summer jobs for 220 youth, ages 16 to 24, who have been adversely affected by the pandemic. Youth unemployment was around 25% in May, according to the port. The $1.5 million initiative is funding job programs at Seattle Goodwill, Seattle Parks Foundation, Partners in Employment, The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee, and Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.