Nov 10, 2020

Willamette Community Bank

People's Bank of Commerce and Willamette Community Bank, headquartered in Albany, Oregon, announced the signing of an agreement whereby Willamette Community Bank will merge with People's Bank of Commerce. The combined company will operate nine branches in Southern Oregon and Willamette Valley markets. The boards of People's Bank of Commerce and Willamette Community Bank unanimously approved the transaction, which is subject to approval by shareholders and regulatory approval. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. Upon closing, Joan Reukauf will serve as area president and executive vice president, chief operating officer of People's Bank of Commerce. Willamette Community Bank's three branches will continue to operate under the name Willamette Community Bank, a division of People's Bank of Commerce. People's Bank of Commerce is headquartered in Medford, Oregon.

Avalara

Avalara, a provider of tax compliance automation software for businesses of all sizes, announced that it has acquired the operational assets of Business Licenses, a company that provides software and services for the research, acquisition, and management of business licenses, registrations, and permits. The transaction is valued at approximately $97 million in cash and stock. Headquartered in Seattle, Avalara has offices across the United States and in Brazil, Europe and India.

PotlatchDeltic

PotlatchDeltic's board of directors announced that Eric Cremers, currently the company's president and chief operating officer, has been appointed president and chief executive officer. Michael Covey, who joined the company in 2006 as president and chief executive officer, and who has served as chairman and chief executive officer since 2007, will continue in his role as a director, serving as executive chairperson of the board of directors. Cremers joined the company in 2007 as vice president and chief financial officer, and has held various executive roles at the company, including serving as the president and chief operating officer since 2013. He was appointed to the board of directors in 2013 and will continue to serve as a director. PotlatchDeltic is a Real Estate Investment Trust that owns approximately 1.8 million acres of timberlands, and operates a sawmill and industrial-grade plywood mill in Idaho, as well as other locations in the United States.

Nov 06, 2020

Concord Technologies

Concord Technologies, a provider of cloud-based fax and document automation software for health care organizations, hired Brian Rice as chief financial officer. Rice previously was CFO at MediaPro, where he led all finance activities for the security training solutions company. Prior to that, he was CFO at NetMotion Wireless. Founded in 1996, Concord is based in Seattle.

nLight

Vancouver-based nLight appointed retired Maj. Gen. Camille Nichols to its board of directors, with a term expiring in 2022. Nichols' career included roles in Department of Defense acquisition and operations. She is currently executive vice president of project services at Amentum, a global technical and engineering services firm. Nichols was a graduate of the second class of women at West Point. nLight is a provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, aerospace and defense applications.

Summit Bank

Summit Bank shareholders approved the formation of Summit Bank Group, a holding company. All regulatory information and documentation for the holding company has been approved, making Summit Bank a wholly owned subsidiary of Summit Bank Group. As a result, Summit Bank shareholders have become 100% owners of the holding company. With offices in Eugene/Springfield, central Oregon and the Portland area, Summit Bank serves professionals and medium-sized businesses and their owners.

ZoomInfo

Vancouver-based ZoomInfo acquired EverString, an artificial intelligence-powered, business-to-business data solutions provider. EverString was founded in 2012 in San Mateo, California. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. ZoomInfo sells access to its database of business people and companies to sales, marketing and recruiting professionals.

Nov 05, 2020

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

Legg

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has appointed Derika Legg as vice president, West Region. She will lead the company's sales organization in the seven-state region that includes Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. Legg joins Ste. Michelle from a consultancy she founded in 2016 – D2 Consulting and On The Horizon Coaching – where she specialized in helping small to mid-size beverage startups launch and expand regionally and nationally. Previously, Legg spent seven years with PepsiCo in a variety of roles including national account manager, director of innovation and senior director of business development.

Washington Wine Foundation

The Washington Wine Industry Foundation will offer more than $30,000 in scholarships this year for students studying viticulture, enology, or any related disciplines. Applications are due by May 31, 2021. Scholarships include: Foundation Fund Scholarship, which ranges from $2,000 to $10,000; Horse Heaven Hills Wine Growers Scholarship, two scholarships of $3,000 with preference to students who reside in Benton, Yakima, or Klickitat counties and whose parents are employed in the Washington wine industry; Walter J. Clore Scholarship; and the George & Susan Carter Scholarship, established to help students of limited means attain degrees in viticulture and enology. Since 2002, the foundation has awarded more than $350,000 to more than 220 students for education in the grape and wine industry. Application information is available at http://www.washingtonwinefoundation.org.

NextGen TV

TEGNA's KONG-TV announced it has partnered with GatesAir on the technological infrastructure for the launch of NextGen TV in the Seattle-Tacoma market. Pending final FCC approvals, TEGNA's independent station KONG-TV plans to begin NextGen TV broadcasts for KONG-TV and KING 5, the NBC affiliate in Seattle, in early December, with KONG-TV serving as the host, or lighthouse station. GatesAir will supply its Maxiva ULXTE-30 liquid-cooled transmitter to support over-the-air transmission of the NextGen TV signal. GatesAir will also provide installation and commissioning support leading up to the early December launch. GatesAir, a portfolio company of The Gores Group, provides solutions for over-the-air radio and television broadcasting.

Picnic Pizza System

Seattle-based Picnic, a provider of food production technology and Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) solutions, announced updates to its automated pizza assembly system. The company also announced the addition of food industry executives to the company's leadership team: Kati Fritz-Jung as chief food scientist, Lamont Glendinning as vice president of sales, Don Coyner as brand director, and Tim Talda as vice president of engineering. Founded in 2016, Picnic provides specialized intelligent technology and solutions for the food service and hospitality industries.