Jul 21, 2023

Amazon Literary Partnership

Amazon Literary Partnership announced nearly $1 million in grant and sponsorship funding to 93 literary nonprofits across the United States. Amazon Literary Partnership's funding includes support for groups that are working to empower diverse, marginalized, and underrepresented voices, helping writers to create, publish, learn, teach, experiment, and thrive. For the fifth year, Amazon Literary Partnership is working with the Academy of American Poets on the Poetry Fund and with the Community of Literary Magazine and Presses on the Literary Magazine Fund, each awarding more than 15 grants to poetry organizations and literary magazines. Amazon Literary Partnership has provided more than $16 million in funding to 160 organizations since 2009. The 2023 grants represent recipients in more than 40 states, including Clarion West, Seattle; Hugo House, Seattle; Literary Arts, Portland; Seattle Arts & Lectures, Seattle; Alaska Quarterly Review, Anchorage; Humanities Washington, Seattle; Poetry Northwest, Seattle; and Pongo Poetry Project, Seattle.

Energy Northwest

Energy Northwest and X-Energy Reactor Company, a developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation, signed a joint development agreement for up to 12 Xe-100 advanced small modular reactors in central Washington capable of generating up to a total of 960 megawatts of carbon-free electricity. Energy Northwest expects to bring the first Xe-100 module online by 2030. Energy Northwest owns or operates numerous clean energy generating facilities throughout the Northwest region of the United States, including Columbia Generating Station in Richland. Under the JDA, the Xe-100 project is expected to be developed at a site controlled by Energy Northwest adjacent to Columbia Generating Station. Energy Northwest and X-energy have engaged extensively on plans for an Xe-100 facility in central Washington since 2020. The JDA defines and details the scope, location, and schedule under which the commercial development of the project will move forward. The companies will also work together to determine the best approaches to licensing and regulatory matters, as well as the project delivery model. Energy Northwest is a Washington state public power joint operating agency and a provider of carbon-free electricity. Energy Northwest comprises 28 public power member utilities, serving more than 1.5 million customers.

Tanium

Kirkland-based Tanium has been named by Great Place To Work and Fortune as one of the 2023 Best Workplaces for Millennials. This marks Tanium's fourth consecutive annual placement. To determine the Fortune Best Workplaces for Millennials List, Great Place To Work collected nearly 500,000 responses from millennials at eligible companies. Honorees are selected based on their ability to offer positive outcomes for employees regardless of job role, race, gender, sexual orientation, work status, or other demographic identifier. Tanium provides converged endpoint management (XEM), and is used to manage complex security and technology environments by integrating workflows across IT, Risk, Compliance, and Security into a single platform.

Jul 20, 2023

City of Tacoma

City Manager Elizabeth Pauli appointed Nicole Emery City Clerk effective Aug. 14. Emery will oversee the City Council's agenda and business meetings, the official record of all formal meetings of the City Council, and the incorporation of all passed ordinances into the Tacoma Municipal Code. She will also serve as the city of Tacoma's municipal election official, and assist in the initiative and referendum process. For nearly four years, Emery served as an office administrator in the City Manager's Office providing direct support to the Office of the Mayor with duties related to public records and public meeting administration and support. Prior to that position, she spent six years in the City Clerk's Office where she acquired first-hand experience supporting the City's Charter Review process, onboarding new staff, and finalizing the City Council's agenda and meetings. The City Clerk position is appointed by the City Manager pursuant to City of Tacoma Charter.

The Standard

The Standard promoted Tony Soble to regional vice president for Defined Contribution Investment Only sales, where he will work with advisors, outside platform wholesalers and third-party administrators. Soble has more than 17 years of experience in the retirement plan and financial services industry. He held previous roles at The Standard and as an advisor at Principal Financial Group and OneAmerica working with retirement plans supporting plan sponsors, participants, advisors and TPAs. Soble earned an Associate of Arts degree from Broward College in Florida, in addition to FINRA Series 6, Series 7 and NASAA 63 and 65 licenses. Soble also earned the Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor designation. The Standard, based in Portland, is a family of businesses providing financial products and services for groups and individuals.

Perimetrics

Redmond-based Perimetrics, an artificial intelligence dental diagnostics company, announced the creation of its Clinical Advisory Board consisting of industry leaders in general dentistry, endodontics, periodontics and prosthodontics. Made up of eight founding members, the Perimetrics Clinical Advisory Board will provide strategic and clinical insights as the company seeks regulatory approval for InnerView Technology, a dental diagnostic system to detect cracks, failing restorations and mobility in teeth. The Clinical Advisory Board Members include: Jeffrey Dalin, who practices general dentistry at his private practice in St. Louis; Jack Ferracane, professor and chair of the Department of Oral Rehabilitation and Biosciences at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland; Robert Kelly, professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences, Institute of Materials Science; Kenneth Malament, clinical professor of Dental Medicine and Prosthodontics at Tufts University; Linda Niessen, vice provost for Oral Health Affairs at Kansas City University, and founding dean and professor for the KCU College of Dental Medicine in Joplin, Missouri; Clifford Ruddle, founder and director of Advanced Endodontics, an educational organization focused on endodontic technologies and techniques; E. Todd Scheyer, board-certified periodontist at Perio Health Professionals in Houston; and John West, founder and practicing endodontist at the Center for Endodontics in Tacoma, and an affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington.

Jul 19, 2023

Department of Ecology

In what would be a first for Washington state, the Department of Ecology is proposing to classify four water bodies as “Outstanding Resource Waters” – a special designation under the federal Clean Water Act that carries extra water quality protections and recognition.

The four water bodies are:

• Soap Lake in Grant County

• The upper watershed of the Cascade River in Skagit County

• The upper watershed of the Green River (near Mount St Helens) in Skamania County

• The Napeequa River in Chelan County

Outstanding Resource Waters have exceptional water quality, ecological and recreational values, or unique attributes that distinguish them among state water bodies and warrant special protection. These waters are assigned additional protections to prevent further degradation except for certain temporary projects or discharges, or to protect public health or property in an emergency.

Ecology is accepting public comments on the proposed Outstanding Resource Waters designations through Sept. 27.

Jul 18, 2023

Northwest Kidney Centers

Reddy

Patel

Pappoe

Gardner

Northwest Kidney Centers recently added four new members to its board of trustees. Lauren Gardner is corporate vice president, global talent acquisition, at Microsoft. Gardner leads a team responsible for the company's university, industry, and executive-level hiring. She has worked in various human resources leadership roles at Microsoft since 1991, and serves as HR executive sponsor for Microsoft's Blacks at Microsoft employee resource group. Gardner earned her bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Washington. Shika Pappoe is chief medical officer and nephrologist with Hill Physicians Medical Group. She previously worked for Strive Health, where she served as the renal and value-based care expert. She earned her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine, her Master of Public Health from Harvard, and her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Hina Patel is chief growth officer, strategy & market development, healthcare at Microsoft. Patel earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Westminster. Sanjit Reddy, a transplant nephrologist and member of Swedish Medical Center's transplant program, joins the board of trustees and steps into the role of chairman of Northwest Kidney Centers' Foundation Board, where he has served since 2017. Reddy graduated from the University of the West Indies, completed his residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and completed fellowships in transplant nephrology and nephrology at California Pacific Medical Center and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, respectively. Raj Mehrotra, Rich Bloch, Russ Stepp, Chris Seel, and Meredith Matthews stepped down from the board when their terms ended on June 30th. Founded in Seattle in 1962, Northwest Kidney Centers is a not-for-profit, community-based provider of kidney dialysis, public health education and research into the causes and treatments of chronic kidney disease.

Tangibly

Seattle-based Tangibly announced the successful completion of its $6.5 million seed round. The round was led by Madrona and included Spike Ventures, Volo Ventures, Holt Ventures, MVP Ventures, Incisive Ventures, WS Investment Company (an affiliate of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) and DLA Piper. Tangibly will use the investment to expand its recently launched AI-powered Patent X-Ray, which enables in-house legal teams and outside counsel to rapidly identify potential trade secrets associated with their issued and published patents. The next generation of Patent X-Ray, which is currently in internal testing, can be used in the patent drafting process. Tangibly helps streamline and simplify legal requirements and implement best practices to establish company assets as legally protectable trade secrets.

Lattice Semiconductor

Lattice Semiconductor was named a 2023 Top Workplace in the Technology Industry. Based on direct employee feedback from a research-backed employee engagement survey, Lattice was recognized for creating a desirable work culture, empowering employees, leading the technology industry in innovation, and forging the movement towards more transparent business practices. The Top Workplaces program has a 17-year history of surveying and celebrating people-first organizations nationally and across 60 regional markets. The Top Workplaces Industry Awards celebrate organizations that have built people-first workplace cultures within their sector. The award marks them as an employer of choice for those seeking employment in the industry. Lattice Semiconductor is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon.