Nov 07, 2025

Stoel Rives

Stoel Rives has elected nine attorneys to the firm's partnership, effective Jan. 1, 2026. The new partners are located in five offices spanning the firm's geographic footprint — Anchorage, Boise, Minneapolis Seattle and Portland.

Stoel's new partners in Northwest offices are: Shannon Bleicher (Anchorage) – Bleicher is a natural resources attorney in the firm's Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources practice group. She represents natural resource developers and regulated utilities on land, mineral, and regulatory matters. She earned her J.D. from Creighton University School of Law.

David Brandon (Boise) – Brandon is a tax attorney in Stoel's Corporate practice with broad experience in domestic and international transactional tax matters. He earned his J.D. and LL.M, Taxation, from the University of Washington School of Law.

Whitney Brown (Anchorage) – Brown is an attorney in Stoel's Litigation practice and chairs the firm's Appellate Critical Motions Group. She returned to Stoel Rives after serving as a law clerk to Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme Court. Brown received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law.

Alex Pearson (Seattle) – Pearson is an attorney in Stoel's Corporate practice group and a member of the Energy Industry Group. He advises renewable energy sponsors and developers in project finance matters for the financing of renewable energy projects across the country. Pearson earned his J.D. from University of Washington School of Law, and served as editor-in chief of Washington Law Review.

Bradley Prowant (Minneapolis/Boise) – Prowant is a commercial litigator in the firm's litigation practice group, representing a range of clients in complex commercial litigation and appellate advocacy across the country. Prowant received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Connor Smith (Anchorage) – Smith is a trial attorney in the firm's Litigation practice group. He represents clients in the commercial fishing, energy, mining, and oil and gas industries and works frequently with Alaska Native Corporations. Smith received his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law.

Ariel Stavitsky (Portland) – Stavitsky is an energy and environmental attorney in the Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources practice group. She represents clients across multiple industries, including energy development, natural resource production, and manufacturing, with focuses in environmental and natural resource-related litigation and energy facility permitting. Stavitsky received her J.D. from University of Oregon School of Law.

Michael Such (Portland) – Such is a tax attorney in the Corporate practice group. In his practice, he primarily represents renewable energy clients in all tax matters related to project development nationwide. Such received his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School.

Nov 06, 2025

City of Redmond

The city of Redmond has announced the vacancy of City Council Position No. 1, following the resignation of Councilmember Osman Salahuddin.

“While Councilmember Salahuddin's enthusiasm and thoughtful contributions as a member of City Council will be missed, we sincerely thank him for his dedication to Redmond and wish him well in his next chapter,” said Mayor Angela Birney. “We also look forward to City Council filling this vacancy and ensuring that Council's service to the community continues uninterrupted.”

A Councilmember since 2023, Salahuddin's role concludes this week. His council position and remaining term through 2027 will be filled by an external candidate voted on by current council members. City Council will review vacancy-related materials at its Nov. 12 study session, followed by review of the recruitment process at its Nov. 18 Committee of the Whole meeting. At that time, the city will formally announce its timeline and process for filling the vacancy.

Nov 05, 2025

Alaska Partnership

Mosaic Media and MSI Communications have announced their intent to form a strategic partnership — the largest of its kind in Alaska — uniting two agencies with complementary strengths to deliver greater value to clients. Mosaic Media is an Alaska-owned media strategy and buying agency with expertise in programmatic advertising, digital strategy, and data-driven campaign management, serving both regional and national brands. Established in 1995, MSI Communications is an Alaska-based full-service communication firm, serving clients in the tourism, oil and gas, mining, and transportation industries and Alaska Native corporations. The partnership, anticipated to be finalized later this year, expands Mosaic's history of supporting national brands while staying deeply connected to Alaska. It will also give local Alaska businesses access to sophisticated, national-level media strategies and fully integrated campaigns. “It's a perfect match of skills and culture. This ensures the agency, which is built on long-term relationships with the state's leading industries, is poised for even greater success,” says Laurie Fagnani, founder and CEO of MSI Communications.

Dorsey & Whitney

International law firm Dorsey & Whitney has added two partners to its Boise, Idaho office. Deborah Dunn began her career in Chicago, practicing for 16 years at one of the city's largest law firms. Dunn advises high-net-worth families, family offices, and owners of closely held businesses. She drafts sophisticated estate plans, often centered around complex trust structures, represents clients in complex estate and gift tax audits, and advises executors in will contests and disputes with beneficiaries. She also counsels trustees on trust and estate administration, as well as beneficiaries on rights and claims. Bruce Pinegar is experienced in the preparation of all manner of estate planning documents, including wills, revocable trusts, and powers of attorney. He regularly drafts and implements wealth transfer transactions, such as grantor-retained annuity trusts, sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, and gifts to generation-skipping dynasty trusts. He advises and assists trustees with respect to administering trusts and, when necessary, modifying trust terms through judicial and nonjudicial processes. Additionally, Pinegar advises executors in the estate administration process, prepares and files estate and gift tax returns, and assists with estate and gift tax audits. Pinegar was named “Best-in-State, Idaho – Trust & Estate” by Forbes in 2025. Dorsey has locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Nov 04, 2025

BECU

Costa-Perales

BECU named Carla Costa-Perales as executive vice president and chief impact officer. In this role, Costa-Perales will lead the teams driving BECU's social impact, equity, inclusion and belonging, communications and government relations work. “The Chief Impact Officer is a critical role at BECU, and Carla brings over 20 years of experience across all functions that make up this division,” said BECU CEO Beverly Anderson. “Given her prior roles with healthcare and public health organizations, Carla also brings a deep understanding of the connection between physical and financial health. She will be instrumental in driving the impact team's strategic approach toward serving and uplifting our members and communities, while partnering closely with elected officials and industry partners.” Before joining BECU, Costa-Perales served as vice president of communications, marketing, consumer experience and community health at Kaiser Permanente Washington. Prior to Kaiser Permanente, she held leadership roles at PATH, a global public health organization, and the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian crisis response organization. She also founded Highway Twenty, a strategy and communications agency and served as president. Additionally, Costa-Perales is an affiliate instructor at the University of Washington. BECU is the largest not-for-profit credit union in Washington, and currently operates more than 60 financial centers, including two in South Carolina.

Tech Soft 3D

Payne

Tech Soft 3D, a global provider of engineering software toolkits and 3D data conversion and visualization solutions, has appointed Robbie Payne as chief executive officer. He succeeds founder Ron Fritz, who will transition to executive chairman where he will help guide strategic direction and continue to leverage his industry relationships to further accelerate Tech Soft 3D's growth and acquisition strategy. Payne, previously an executive-in-residence at Battery Ventures, brings over two decades of leadership in scaling SaaS and industrial technology businesses. Before joining Tech Soft 3D, he served as CEO of Battery-backed manufacturing software provider CAMBRIO and kitchen automation company QSR Automations. Founded in 1996, Tech Soft 3D is headquartered in Bend, Oregon, and operates offices in the United States, France, England, Japan, Germany, and Norway, and is backed by Battery Ventures.

Oct 30, 2025

Gurobi Optimization

Bastert

Gurobi Optimization, a provider of decision intelligence technology, has appointed Oliver Bastert to the role of chief technology officer, leading the company's Research and Development team. Bastert joined Gurobi in February and brings over 20 years of experience in B2B software, SaaS, and AI technologies. Prior to joining Gurobi, he served as vice president of product management at FICO, where he led product management for analytics, machine learning, generative AI, and optimization. He also served as a member of the Research & Development team at Dash Optimization, where he contributed to the development of advanced mixed-integer programming algorithms. Founded in 2008, Gurobi is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, and has operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. It serves customers in nearly all industries, including organizations like SAP, Air France, and the National Football League.

Milliman

Seattle-based Milliman, a global actuarial, consulting, and risk management firm, has been named as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion on the Disability Index. The recognition highlights Milliman's commitment to advancing disability inclusion and building a workplace where all employees can contribute to long-term success. “We're honored to be recognized as a disability-friendly employer,” said Christal Morris, Milliman's chief sustainability and inclusion officer. “Creating an inclusive workplace where people of all abilities can thrive isn't just the right thing to do — it strengthens our culture, fuels innovation, and ensures we reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. We remain committed to accessibility, equity, and removing barriers so every colleague has opportunities to succeed.” The Disability Index measures performance across six key areas, including culture and leadership, enterprise-wide access, employment practices, community engagement, supplier inclusion, and responsible procurement. Companies earning a top score are recognized as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.” The Disability Index is an independent, third-party resource for the annual, confidential benchmarking of disability inclusion policies and programs in business. Founded in 1947, Milliman is an independent firm with offices in major cities around the globe.