Aug 06, 2020

Weidner Apartment Homes

Colard

Weidner Apartment Homes has named Kevin Colard its new chief investment officer. He's been with the company for 14 years. Company founder W. Dean Weidner said in a statement, “One of Kevin's greatest accomplishments is the national network of real estate brokers that he has helped cultivate. This pristine standing in the marketplace has provided an invaluable edge to help consistently win deals in a very competitive landscape that is packed with other very qualified buyers.” Based in Kirkland, Weidner now counts about 280 buildings and 56,500 units in its portfolio.

Pyramid Analytics

Bellevue-based business software developer Pyramid Analytics hired Sherman Wood as strategic alliances enterprise architect and Mark French as sales engineer. Wood has over 30 years of experience selling and marketing enterprise software. He has held leadership roles in engineering, open source communities, customer success, professional services, sales engineering and product marketing at numerous technology companies. French has been in analytics for over 25 years, holding several roles at software companies such as IBM, Domo and ThoughtSpot. Pyramid enables large companies to analyze data in a modular, easy and fast way.

Gurobi Optimization

Beaverton, Oregon-based software developer Gurobi Optimization added three mathematical optimization experts to its R&D team: Drs. Ed Klotz, Pierre Bonami and Roland Wunderling. All three previously worked for IBM on the CPLEX Optimizer R&D team. At Gurobi, Klotz is senior mathematical optimization specialist, and Bonami and Wunderling are senior developers. Gurobi develops mathematical optimization software used by over 40 industries to solve complex problems and make automated decisions that optimize their efficiency and profitability.

Sentinel Healthcare

Seattle digital health care company Sentinel Healthcare formed a partnership with Vituity, a nationwide multi-specialty partnership led by doctors. As part of the deal, Vituity is investing in Sentinel to advance Sentinel's remote care programs and bring health care into the home following hospital stays. The two groups also will co-develop a phone app for remote patient monitoring.

Chronus

In Bellevue, mentoring software developer Chronus started a grant program to benefit nonprofits pursuing mentoring programs that improve racial equity. Each year Chronus will give $7,500 to a nonprofit, along with three years of software and support for a mentoring program that can support up to 500 participants. The deadline for applications is Sept. 30, at https://www.tinyurl.com/Chronus-Mentor. Chronus on Nov. 10 will announce a winner.

Lithia Motors

Medford, Oregon-based Lithia Motors acquired four John Eagle dealerships in Dallas and Austin, Texas. The deal includes John Eagle Honda of Dallas, Honda Cars of Rockwall, Howdy Honda of Austin and John Eagle Sports City Toyota. Combined, these businesses have $500 million in annual revenue. Lithia says this acquisition was financed with free cash flows and existing on-balance sheet capacity.

Ryan Cos.

Jordan

Ryan Cos., one of the developers behind Kirkland Urban, recently announced that Bret Jordan will become regional president of the Northwest region. He was a broker with Colliers before joining Ryan in 2017 to lead its new office. The company is based in Minneapolis. Jordan's other recent projects include Wesley at Tehaleh, a senior community in Bonney Lake. Ryan's Rick Collins said in a statement, “Bret brings the Ryan values and culture into his mentorship, customer service and community involvement.”

Kidder Mathews

Benoit

Neman

GlobeSt Real Estate Forum recently named Kidder Mathews' Janet Neman and Karen Benoit as Women of Influence. Neman is based in Los Angeles, while Benoit is a longtime presence here in Seattle. As senior VP of corporate marketing for the company, Benoit is in charge of all corporate marketing, brand strategy and communications.

More funding for JetClosing

JetClosing, the digital escrow and title platform, was spun out of Pioneer Square Labs about four years ago. Now the startup has secured $9 million in Series B funding, it recently announced. The firm now has about $35 million raised. The new financing came from T. Rowe Price-advised funds, Pioneer Square Labs and Trilogy Equity Partners (which was also an original investor). CEO Dan Greenshields founded the cloud-based home closing service, and said in a statement, “In light of the current economy, this funding demonstrates unequivocally that there is a real market need for a digital workflow to facilitate home closings for resale and refinancing transactions. Pandemic or not, consumers expect a technology-first closing process that's catered to their fast-paced, on-demand, and mobile lifestyles.” The company's services are now available in our state, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Texas.