Aug 10, 2022

SCJ

Dunning

SCJ Alliance welcomed Bill Dunning as the firm's Lacey Office principal. A civil engineer by training, Dunning has over 30 years of experience in the engineering field.mAs the Lacey principal, Dunning will oversee project delivery and overall management of the office which has 63 employees. He will be partnering with the transportation, planning, civil, landscape architecture, and construction management group leaders.

Dunning's project experience includes managing commercial, institutional, industrial, waterfront, retail, and residential projects. He is particularly skilled in leading complex projects and facilitating project permitting. Regional projects of note he has worked on include Seattle's Elliott Bay Marina, Tacoma's Portland Avenue and Titlow Parks, Shelton High School's Campus Remodel, and affordable and midrise housing in Mason, Thurston, Peirce, and King counties.

Atelier Drome

Wing

Hinden

Atelier Drome promoted Miriam Hinden and Shannon Wing to principal. Hinden has a multitude of experience but has a special interest in multi-family and hospitality design, especially the rehabilitation of historic buildings. Recent projects include Sourced Market, a grab-and-go restaurant outside the security gates in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, South Lake Union Bouquet, a floral design gift shop with crisp, white décor and colorful accents near the Amazon Spheres and the Capitol Hill location of Tavolata where a modern meets industrial, mixing concrete and steel with warm wood. Hinden holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington and is a registered architect in the state of Washington.

Wing splits her time between a diverse range of both commercial and residential work. Recent projects include the Wallingford Modern Farmhouse, a newly constructed home with three stories over a full basement that includes an ADU, the University Village location of Frankie & Jo's, a plant-based ice cream shop with a custom-designed triple archway and The Lanterman, a new multi-family building near Seattle Pacific University. Wing is also the studio coordinator who oversees the overall project and staffing schedule for the firm. She holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Maryland and is also a registered architect in the State of Washington.

Barghausen

Lemke

Miller

Burrell

Recla

Huylar

Robles

Foote

Cull

Kuriyama

Ong

Lazaga

Barghausen announced 11 new hires who joined the team in June. Gillian Huylar joined the firm as a design engineer. Huylar graduated from Washington State University with a B.S in civil engineering and environmental health engineering. She previously interned with Fulcrum Environmental Consulting as an environmental technician. Huylar just recently passed her FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam and is working towards earning a professional engineering license. William Recla is an engineer in training who joined Barghausen as a design engineer. He graduated from the University of Washington in 2020 with a B.S in civil engineering. Recla has earlier experience working for The Walsh Group as a project engineer where he worked on a variety of projects.

Dominic Burrell joined Barghausen's accounting department as a staff accountant. Burrell graduated from Western Governors University with a B.S in accounting. He has over 10 years of accounting and auditing experience.

Carla Miller has also joined the accounting team, as a project accountant. Miller has earlier experience in a variety of fields, including over five years in finance at Rudy's Barbershop in Seattle and six years as a service advisor with Honda.

Judy Lemke joined the administration team as the new receptionist. Before coming to Barghausen, Lemke worked in a variety of fields, including property management, customer service, and she was previously a mechanic at Toyota of Renton.

Alexander Ong joined as a design engineer. He recently graduated with his master's degree in geotechnical engineering from the University of Washington. Ong is a civil engineer in training with earlier experience as a staff engineer at a geotechnical firm, along with multiple internships to further his knowledge of the industry.

Sammie Kuriyama joined as an assistant planner. Kuriyama graduated from the University of Washington with a dual degree in environmental science and resource management (B.S) and a B.A. in community, environment and planning. She previously interned with Seattle Public Utilities working with Geographic Information Systems. Nolan Cull joined Barghausen as a survey chainperson. Cull has a wide variety of past working experience before joining the survey team, including spending summers doing wedding catering, and previously managing a restaurant, Sorci's Cafe. Molly Foote joined Barghausen as a civil engineering summer intern. Foote currently attends Seattle University where she is working towards getting her B.S in civil engineering. She is currently a part of the Society of Women Engineers at the Seattle University chapter, where she is the public relations officer.

Alejandro Robles is an environmental engineering student at Seattle University who recently joined the civil engineering internship program at Barghausen. He is a third-year engineering student and a member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. Robles also owns his own environmentally friendly athletic clothing company. Lucas Lazaga also joined Barghausen as a summer intern, on the civil engineering team. Lazaga attends Seattle University where he is studying for his B.S in civil engineering. Lazaga is currently the vice president of Seattle University's ASCE chapter club and is entering his senior year at the university.

Nolan Hubbell is another 2022 intern, studying civil engineering at Washington State University. Hubbell started his journey into engineering by taking AutoCAD classes in high school and is now set to graduate from WSU in 2024. He has been a part of Barghausen's internship program for the past three years, honing his skills in AutoCAD and helping the team update plans and set up projects.

Parametrix

Schwager

Tad Schwager has joined Parametrix as a senior scientist based in Seattle He has over 15 years of experience working in the marine, estuarine, and freshwater ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest and across North America.

Schwager joins Parametrix from Tetra Tech where he served as a Senior Fisheries Scientist. His expertise includes salmonid ecology, natural resource management, stream restoration, instream flow studies, and environmental permitting. He has worked with clients such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), United States Forest Service, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Port of Everett, City of Edmonds, King County, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and other public agencies throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Department of Corrections

Secretary Cheryl Strange has named Chris Wright as communications director for the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC), effective August 17, 2022. Wright has a background in television, Washington state government and media relations. He joins the DOC from the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), where he spent the last seven years working as a media relations manager. During his time there, Wright served as spokesperson for DSHS, including the juvenile rehabilitation system, the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, vocational rehabilitation, and the state's long-term care system. During the pandemic, Wright was selected to represent DSHS at the Joint Information Center to help coordinate the state's response to the first COVID-19 deaths in the nation. Prior to DSHS, Chris spent a decade as a local TV news reporter and anchor. His media career included stints at stations in Missouri, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Oregon.

Alaska Communications

Alaska Communications will provide home internet to educators, students and families in 10 villages in the Lower Yukon School District (LYSD) using hybrid satellite technology. In addition to providing middle mile satellite connectivity, Alaska Communications is collaborating with New Horizons Telecom to design and install the equipment needed to deliver internet access directly to students' homes in their villages in western Alaska. The communities served include Alakanuk, Emmonak, Hooper Bay, Kotlik, Marshall, Mountain Village, Nunam Iqua, Pilot Station, Russian Mission and Scammon Bay. These are some of the most remote and hard-to-serve communities in Alaska. Most of this project is funded by the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a FCC program to help schools and libraries support remote learning in underserved communities. LYSD applied for and received the funding with Alaska Communications as its chosen service provider. Service will be available at no cost to students, school staff and library patrons in the school district's service area through June 30, 2023. Service will be available this fall. Eligible residents will sign up for their home internet service directly with LYSD. Alaska Communications also provides fiber connectivity to LYSD's Kusilvak Career Academy in Anchorage. This academy provides an opportunity for rural students to receive career tech courses through a partnership with the Anchorage School District. Alaska Communications, an affiliate of ATN International, provides advanced broadband and managed IT services for businesses and consumers in Alaska.

Go-Tek Automation

Verus Associates acquired Go-Tek Automation, an industrial automation firm based in the Seattle area. Verus is an automation, engineering and consulting firm specializing in industrial automation, control systems, electrical engineering and digital manufacturing. With the addition of Go-Tek, Verus now has offices across the Northwest. Verus is headquartered in Concord, CA.

Aug 09, 2022

DexCare

Seattle-based DexCare, a data-driven intelligence company focused on healthcare access, was named to the 2022 Best Small Workplaces list by Great Place to Work and Fortune magazine. This is DexCare's first time being named to this list, coming in at 63rd place. Great Place to Work analyzed the survey responses of over 30,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified companies with 10 to 99 U.S. employees. In that survey, 96% of DexCare's employees said DexCare is a great place to work. Additionally, 100% of respondents said new employees are made to feel welcome when joining the DexCare team. DexCare has been on the market for a year and a half following its March 2021 spinout from the Providence Health System. DexCare was also named a Startup Of The Year finalist by GeekWire.

Spaceflight

Spaceflight, a global launch services provider, has signed an agreement with SAB Launch Services to fly its Sherpa orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) on Arianespace Vega missions. The agreement extends Spaceflight launch capacity on European missions managed by Arianespace for Spaceflight's OTV-based services on launches starting as soon as next year. The companies are also partnering to offer access to shared integration and storage facilities across the U.S. and Europe. Italy-based SAB is part of SAB Group and provides launch services on European launchers, including Vega and Vega C multi-payload missions. Spaceflight's first mission aboard the Vega launch vehicle was on VV16, Arianespace's first dedicated rideshare mission which successfully lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana in September 2020. Most recently, Spaceflight successfully launched Sherpa-AC onboard SpaceX's Transporter 5 in May 2022 and plans to launch its chemical propulsive OTV, Sherpa LTC, later in the year. The next Vega C missions are planned before the end of 2022. Based in Seattle, Spaceflight has successfully launched more than 550 spacecraft since it was founded in 2011. It is a part of the Mitsui & Co. portfolio, operating as an independent, U.S.-based company.

Avalara

Avalara, a provider of tax compliance automation, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses, in partnership with institutional co-investors. Under the terms of the agreement, Vista will acquire all outstanding shares of Avalara common stock for $93.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $8.4 billion, inclusive of Avalara's net debt. The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the Avalara Board of Directors, is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. Closing of the transaction is not subject to a financing condition. Upon completion of the transaction, Avalara's shares will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange, and Avalara will become a private company. The company will continue to operate under the Avalara name. Goldman Sachs & Co. is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Avalara, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Perkins Coie are acting as legal counsel. Kirkland & Ellis is acting as legal counsel for Vista. Founded in 2004, Avalara is headquartered in Seattle, and has offices across the U.S. and around the world.

Fieldworks Custom Concrete

Fieldworks Custom Concrete recently opened in Seattle. The new company says it executes high craft custom concrete projects throughout western Washington, specializing in exposed concrete features such as architectural concrete, board-formed concrete, and flatwork of stairs, plinths and floors. It is led by Rene Cruz Garcia, Nelson Santos Cruz and Juan Chavez Perez, who are all superintendents in the field and partners. Division managers Paul Caton and Liz Tapler lead the projects, schedule and office.

Pierce College

Pierce College is now offering a bachelor of applied science degree in construction management. The new degree was designed in collaboration with industry leaders to educate students in leadership, technology and management skills. Students who have earned an associate degree in construction management, or a related field, are eligible to enter the new program with little to no extra classes. Pierce College also offers construction management and construction safety technician certificate programs.

WSAC

The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded funds to 32 regional partnerships across the country, including the Washington Student Achievement Council. WSAC is getting $23.5 million to promote workforce development in several categories, including building and construction. Grants are part of the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge funded by the American Rescue Plan. The 32 winning projects were selected from a pool of 509 applicants.