Sep 27, 2019

UW Bothell

The Environmental Protection Agency named Dan Jaffe of the University of Washington Bothell to its list of clean air experts. Jaffe is a professor of environmental chemistry, and an expert on ozone and particulate matter. He becomes one of 12 experts providing technical help to the EPA on National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

King County Metro

King County Metro named Neal Safrin as Operator of the Year. Safrin was cited for his commitment to safety, customer service and service to his fellow operators. He has been a bus driver for 31 years and has served as shop steward, executive board officer and vice president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587.

Symetra

Bellevue-based Symetra Life Insurance Co. hired Miglena Rogan as vice president of stop-loss underwriting. Rogan has 14 years of experience in medical stop loss and group benefits, most recently leading the stop-loss collaborative at Willis Towers Watson in St. Louis, where she also served as a director of Willis' Health & Benefits division. She is based out of Symetra's Enfield, Connecticut, office.

Pemco Mutual Insurance

In Seattle, Pemco Mutual Insurance promoted Emil Dammel to director of enterprise quality and risk. Dammel has been with Pemco for over three decades and most recently was claims quality assurance manager. In his new role, Dammel is responsible for identifying emerging industry trends and potential risks and exposures.

Switch Inc.

Seattle-based financial technology company Switch Inc. changed its name to Strivve Inc. The company's CardSavr platform helps debit and credit cardholders more quickly update new or reissued cards anywhere they pay online. It also helps financial institutions keep their cardholders active and reduce customer attrition.

Opus Interactive

Opus Interactive, a provider of cloud hosting services, is expanding its footprint within Stack Infrastructure's data center in Hillsboro, Oregon. The expansion adds over 100 cabinets and is Opus' second in the last two years. The company says it has 30% year-over-year growth, driven by demand for distributed data processing, retail enterprise co-location and hybrid cloud solutions in the Pacific Northwest.

Sep 26, 2019

Lighter Capital

Culverhouse

Thor Culverhouse is the new CEO of Seattle-based Lighter Capital, a fintech lender to tech startups. Culverhouse is a three-time tech startup CEO, mostly recently at the helm of cloud provider Skytap in Seattle. The other two companies he led — willbeHired and Stratavia — were both acquired by other firms. Culverhouse also held senior management roles at HP, IBM, Interwoven and SeeBeyond. At Lighter Capital, he succeeds BJ Lackland, who has shifted into an advisory role.

Pacific Drayage Services

IMC Companies last month launched Pacific Drayage Services to provide drayage and warehousing services to the Seattle and Tacoma markets. Justin Britten was hired as operations manager of the Fife-based business. He has 15 years of experience in logistics, including stints in the Seattle and West Coast markets. The PDS fleet consists of company-owned trucks and employee drivers. Memphis, Tennessee-based IMC says it ordered 150 Mack trucks costing $20 million to bolster its presence on the West Coast.

Navex Global

Navex Global appointed Susan Beermann as chief marketing officer. Beermann was CMO at Ellie Mae, a mortgage finance software company. She's also worked at Jigsaw, Taleo, Microsoft and IBM. Navex is a risk and compliance software and services company based in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Alaska National Insurance Co.

Phoenix-based CopperPoint Insurance Companies is acquiring Alaska National Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary Alaska National Insurance Co., a workers' compensation and commercial insurance carrier based in Anchorage. Alaska National has about 250 employees and is licensed in 26 states. It has offices in Seattle; Lake Oswego, Oregon; and Meridian, Idaho. It will continue operating under its company name and remain domiciled in Anchorage. The deal is subject to regulatory review and approval.

Pierce County

Pierce County's Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant received the 2018 Wastewater Treatment Plant Outstanding Performance Award from the state Department of Ecology. The plant in University Place collects wastewater from a 117-square-mile area serving 294,000 people in several nearby cities and unincorporated communities.

JLL secures $36M bridge loan

[enlarge]

Bay Vista Tower at 2815 Second Ave. in Belltown.

In a deal that began at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, now part of JLL, the combined company announced that it has secured $36 million in bridge financing for the owner of the commercial portion of Bay Vista Tower at 2815 Second Ave. in Belltown. The five stories of office space and retail, totaling around 110,000 square feet, sold in 2016 to an LLC associated with Madison Marquette. The podium is sometimes called Bay Vista Office Building; it has 12 commercial condominium units. The 70 residential condominiums above in the 24-story tower are individually owned, and were not part of the deal.

Colliers promotes Stuart

Stuart

Colliers announced the promotion of Joe Stuart to property manager. He'll oversee a seven-building portfolio with 550,000 square feet. It includes 425 Fairview North in South Lake Union and Woodinville Towne Center. (Owners included TMY Properties, Greystar and Stockbridge Real Estate.) Colliers' Tory Glossip said in a statement, “Joe is a rising star in a specialty that plays a critical role in the successful operation of a portfolio of managed assets.”

Heartland adds to team

Esau

Schneider

Wharton

Armitage

Real estate advisory and investment firm Heartland, now part of Laird Norton, has announced four new hires. David Armitage joins as senior asset and portfolio manager; he makes the move from Ikea. Ben Wharton is a new project manager; he comes from RealtyShares. Previously with the University of Washington's capital planning and development team, Evan Schneider is associate project manager. Spencer Esau makes the very short move from Laird Norton to become associate acquisitions and asset manager.