Sep 28, 2021

Trico Companies

Wittman

Conijn

In Burlington, Trico Companies hired Joel Conijn as civil project manager and Joe Wittman as superintendent. Conijn has eight years of experience in civil construction, working on projects for multiple state agencies and private clients. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Washington State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in South Carolina and Washington. Wittman has over 30 years of construction experience, initially working in residential construction and then moving to commercial construction, including tenant improvements, steel building erection and mixed-use buildings.

Compass Construction

Bennett

O'Connell

Auld

Messer

McElwee

Lopez

Kirkland-based Compass construction hired Eber Lopez as project engineer, Dani McElwee as human resource generalist and Scott Messer as assistant superintendent. It also promoted Chris Auld, Ryan O'Connell and Steve Bennett to senior superintendents. Lopez interned at Compass in summer 2020 and recently received a bachelor's degree in construction management from the University of Washington. McElwee holds a bachelor's degree in human resources management from Western Governors University and in June obtained her human resources certification. Messer previously worked for a contractor/developer and is experienced in multifamily construction. The role of senior superintendent was created to leverage the experience of Auld, O'Connell and Bennett. They are now charged with developing young superintendents while identifying and preparing promising assistants to take the next step in their careers.

ABC of Western Washington

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington announced its 2022 slate of officers and board members. Officers are: Glen Kuntz of Tekton Group, chair; Dawn Lanz of Sea Tac Electric, chair-elect/secretary; Jason Wandler of Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker, immediate past chair; Josh Griesse of Washington Commercial Painters, vice chair of government affairs; Stephanie Carlin of Propel Insurance, vice chair of membership; Eric Brock of HST Construction, vice chair of safety; Travis Hull of Mechanical & Control Services, vice chair of the professional development council; and Cindy Axthelm of Axthelm Construction, treasurer. Directors are: Mitch Neeley of Neeley Construction; Candi Pfluger of Peterson Sullivan; Shelley Bloom of The Blue Book Building & Construction Network; Karen Say-Valadez of Saybr Contractors; Scott Garcia of Parker, Smith & Feek; Doug Bolar of Accountable Custodial; Jose Gutierrez of Deacon; and Byron Kelly of Compass Construction. Members leaving the board at the end of the year are Marc Victor of Rafn Co. and Mike Yore of Olympian Precast.

Paway App

Paway has expanded its community and is now available in Seattle with a pet-friendly app. Paway is a free dog walking companion app that helps pet owners and dog caregivers find dog-friendly routes and get live alerts to keep dogs safe. Paway was created by professional dog walkers, and uses real-time crowd sourced data to map out a neighborhood while connecting with other dogs and humans along the way. Paway puts dog and owner safety first and includes features that allow other caretakers to follow along on walks, find lost dogs and check their pet's “report card.” Jason Meltzer is the founder of Paway and first CEO of Wag!

Johnstone Supply

Johnstone Supply's members approved a conversion agreement with Redwood Capital Investments that will provide the capital for Johnstone to convert its business structure from an Oregon cooperative into a Delaware limited liability company operating under the name Johnstone Supply LLC. Johnstone Supply will continue to operate as a wholesale distributor based in Portland, providing products and services to the former members of the Johnstone Cooperative. The 90-plus individual Johnstone business owners are expected to execute exclusive territory distribution agreements with Johnstone Supply, and will remain significant equity holders in the new entity. The conversion agreement is subject to regulatory approval and the deal is expected to close later this year. Wells Fargo Securities served as financial advisor to Johnstone, with K&L Gates as the legal advisor. Kirkland & Ellis was the legal counsel to Redwood. Johnstone Supply Cooperative is a North American HVACR brand with over $3 billion in annual sales generated by over 450 independently owned stores across the U.S. and Canada.

Petabyte Consortium

Unavets, a European platform for veterinary centers with over 43 practices across Spain and Portugal, is partnering with Bellevue-based Petabyte Technology, a veterinary software company, to join the new Petabyte Consortium, which is focused on cleaning and standardizing data to improve veterinary practices. Petabyte patient management solutions for veterinary hospitals offer a suite of software solutions, including Rhapsody, a cloud-based practice information management system; Petabyte Analytics, an enterprise-level analytics platform; and Boop, a mobile application simplifying the pet care experience for pet owners. Founded in 2019, Petabyte's mission is to give veterinary health care practitioners greater understanding and control over their business using cloud-based technology. Michael Hyman is the co-founder and CEO of Petabyte. Unavets is the third group to join the Petabyte Consortium.

Sep 24, 2021

Business Impact NW

Victor Saldanha has joined the loan department of Business Impact NW as chief lending officer. He will anchor the department from Oregon, one of four states that Business Impact NW serves. Previously, Saldanha was the Business Banking Center manager at KeyBank Beaverton. He brings nearly 20 years of banking experience. Saldanha is president of the Hispanic-Latino Key Business Impact networking group and a graduate of Business & HR Management from Portland State University. He will be responsible for SBA, 7a, USDA, CDFI, and investor-funded loans, and work with the technical assistance programs within the organization to deliver coaching and capital to underserved small business owners. Business Impact NW is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) dedicated to serving BIPOC, women, Veteran, immigrant, refugee, LGBTQ+, and low-income entrepreneurs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska through financial services, business coaching and training.

City of Tacoma

October 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Tacoma Arts Month, 31 days dedicated to celebrating the arts in the Tacoma community. The month is full of virtual and in-person arts and culture programs, including: music, dance and theater performances; visual art exhibits; literary readings; lectures; workshops; film screenings and cultural events. Tacoma-based artists and organizations are hosting a wide range of arts and culture programs, both virtual and in-person. Visit tacomaartsmonth.org/events for a calendar of current programming. Over 90 Tacoma artists, working in all artistic disciplines and mediums are holding an “Arts in the Armory” event at the Tacoma Armory for an interactive arts experience on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Artists will be sharing their work and attendees will have an opportunity to learn about the artistic process, ask questions, and make purchases. This event is free and is sponsored by Tacoma Arts Live. Also, community members are invited to submit an honoree for an AMOCAT Arts Award, which recognizes the people and organizations who positively impact the community with their passion, innovation, and commitment to the arts. Additional information is available at TacomaArtsMonth.org/amocat-artsawards.

Seyfarth Shaw

Lisa Schaures has joined Seyfarth Shaw's Seattle office as a partner in its corporate department. Schaures is the fourth partner Seyfarth has added in Seattle in the past five months. Seyfarth's Seattle office was launched in 2020, and now has 24 lawyers from a cross-section of the firm's practices. Schaures counsels privately-held companies, startups, social ventures, and nonprofit organizations, as well as boards of directors, across industries, and through every stage of growth. She advises clients on corporate structures, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate conversions, and develops strategies for complex tax concerns, deferred compensation, and potential conflicts of interest. In addition, Schaures assists nonprofit organizations on governance, tax exempt compliance, lobbying restrictions, fundraising law, and collaboration with other nonprofits and for-profit corporations. Schaures was most recently a shareholder and technology industry group leader at Pacific Northwest law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. She is also an adjunct professor at the Seattle University School of Law. With more than 900 lawyers across 17 offices, Seyfarth Shaw provides advisory, litigation, and transactional legal services to clients worldwide.

Albertsons

Boise-based Albertsons Companies received the Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the company's efforts to provide products that use safer chemicals. The company was recognized in the “Retailer” category for launching new Safer Choice-certified Own Brands products, raising awareness of the Safer Choice certification, and helping to identify opportunities for educating consumers to make informed buying decisions. Since the inception of the EPA program in 2015, Albertsons has received the award four times. Consumers can identify products made with chemicals that are safer for human health and the environment by the Safer Choice label that appears on the product. This label means the EPA has evaluated the product's ingredients and determined they meet the necessary criteria. The company's exclusive Open Nature line was introduced in 2011 and offers products that are free from 110 additives with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.