May 22, 2020

Washington Board of Education

Wang

Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Kevin Wang to the Washington State Board of Education. Wang is a former educator, Microsoft engineer and social entrepreneur. While at Microsoft, Wang was involved in launching Office 365 and founded Microsoft Philanthropies' Technology Education and Literacy in Schools program, which helps high schools across the country build diverse computer science programs.

Altavair

In Seattle, Altavair and investment firm KKR closed the sale and leaseback of six Airbus A321-200 aircraft with Delta Air Lines. The acquisition was made through Altitude Aircraft Leasing, which was established by KKR's credit and infrastructure funds in 2018 to acquire aircraft to be serviced by Altavair, a financier of aircraft.

State of Washington

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said 1,400 Washington residents who have long-term care policies through Time Insurance Co. of Wisconsin will maintain their benefits while the state of Wisconsin orders the company into rehabilitation and manages its operations. Policyholders will be notified within 30 days of the rehabilitation ordered by Wisconsin. All claims will continue to be paid while the company is in rehabilitation.

U.S. Gain

Appleton, Wisconsin-based U.S. Gain signed supply agreements for renewable natural gas in Oregon with Salem Area Mass Transit District, Gresham Sanitary, Heiberg Garbage & Recycling and Pride Disposal. The company claims the agreements make it the largest RNG supplier in Oregon. U.S. Gain also recently inked an RNG supply agreement with the Port of Seattle for use at Sea-Tac Airport. U.S. Gain develops, procures and distributes sustainable energy for the transportation and energy markets.

Comcast

Comcast Washington donated $55,000 to Asian Counseling and Referral Service in support of the nonprofit's COVID-19 response effort and digital literacy training in western Washington.

Because Health

Seattle-based Because Health now offers coronavirus testing conducted at the workplace using blood or nasal swab tests. Samples are collected by certified medical personnel and results are available in 24 to 72 hours. Because Health connects patients and specialist physicians through video chat, messaging, and/or in-person office consults.

May 21, 2020

US Post Acute Care

Henning

Tacoma-based US Post Acute Care added Dr. Kevin Henning as chief medical officer. In his new role, Henning is leading a clinical team of 40 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants focused on the care of post-acute and long-term care patients in an inpatient setting. Since 2013, Henning served as medical director for Optum CarePlus in Washington and Oregon. Prior to that, he was chief medical director for Amedisys, a national hospice and home health company.

Regional Homelessness Authority

The first meeting of the governing committee of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority will be held today online. The authority oversees countywide policy, funding and services for people experiencing homelessness. The governing committee is made up of: Johnathan Hemphill, Kirk McClain and Zaneta Reid, who have experienced homelessness; King County Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Joe McDermott; Seattle Councilmembers Lorena Gonzalez and Andrew Lewis; Sound Cities Association representatives Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus, Redmond Mayor Angela Birney and Renton Councilmember Ed Prince; King County Executive Dow Constantine; and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.

Office of the Insurance Commissioner

In Olympia, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler and Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine are asking insurance companies in Washington state if they can lend workers to help the state deal with a huge volume of unemployment compensation claims. The state is seeking two classifications of workers: unemployment insurance specialist level 4 adjudicator and fraud investigator level 3. Employment Security will pay for those hired for three to six months, along with providing the training and equipment needed for the jobs. Adjudicator pay ranges from $4,600 to $6,036 monthly, and fraud investigators make $3,682 to $4,829. To apply, contact Sam Virgil at SVirgil@esd.wa.gov or (360) 742-7095.

Xealth

Seattle-based Xealth won the Best Connected Health Platform award in the 2020 MedTech Breakthrough Awards program, which honors excellence in medical and health technology companies, products, services and people. Xealth's platform helps health providers integrate, deploy and scale digital health programs.

Ryan to renovate Mercer Island offices

[enlarge]

As the DJC first reported last month, Ryan Cos. paid over $46 million for the empty old Farmers Insurance headquarters on Mercer Island. Now the developer has confirmed that it'll give the building a makeover in the hopes of attracting a new tenant (or tenants). Ryan's Marc Gearhart said in a statement, “The investments we plan to make to this 1982 structure will modernize it for today's office user.” More significant is the likely redevelopment of the huge parking lot. He said, “We're also considering a residential use for a portion of the adjacent parking lot. We are excited to engage with the Mercer Island community to understand what we should consider when planning the next life for the property.” Outreach meetings begin this month. No architect has been named for a future residential component. Burgess Design is working on the office redo.

CoStar and Ten-X team up

CoStar Group announced last week that it would acquire the digital transaction platform Ten-X for $190 million. The cash deal combines two national players in commercial real estate: The publicly traded CoStar sells data and research, while Ten-X has grown from an online marketplace for distressed commercial properties into a hub used by all the nation's big brokerage houses. (The firm was launched in 2009 to help liquidate casualties of the Great Recession.) Ten-X will join LoopNet and many other real estate websites in being part of CoStar Group. Ten-X has room to grow. Its CEO, Steve Jacobs, said, “Today, only 1% of all commercial real estate sales transactions take place online. Just like CoStar Group, we are focused on driving volume and efficiency and have devoted ourselves to addressing the massive, untapped demand for digital commercial real estate solutions.”