Jul 29, 2020

Uwajimaya

Moriguchi

The selection committee for the 2020 Seattle-King County First Citizen Award named Tomio Moriguchi and family its 82nd honoree of the annual award, which celebrates community leadership, volunteerism and public service. Moriguchi is former chairman and CEO of specialty supermarket chain Uwajimaya. His daughter, Denise Moriguchi, now runs the business. The Moriguchis were cited for enhancing the quality of life throughout the area. Tomio is revered for his volunteerism, generosity and advocacy. He is still active with the company's real estate holdings, selling the site of the original family store in Seattle's International District where developers are now building the Koda condos. The award will be presented at a civic celebration at a date to be determined.

Roasters Coffee

Derek Tonn is the new president and CEO of Roasters Coffee, a 14-location coffee chain based in Richland. Tonn spent 15 years at Pacific Northwest National Lab, where he served in various roles, most recently as a financial specialist. He replaces founder Wes Heyden, who announced earlier this month that he was stepping down as CEO and transferred his holdings to a management trust operated by Collaborative Team Management. Tonn said he planned to join the company as CFO before Heyden decided to leave. Roasters was founded in 2009 and has stores in Richland, Pasco, Kennewick, West Richland and Walla Walla. Its website says three more locations will open over the next 12 months, in Airway Heights, Spokane Valley and Yakima.

CurvaFix

Bellevue-based CurvaFix raised $10.75 million in Series B private equity financing. CurvaFix is developing medical devices to repair fractures in curved bones. It plans to use the money to complete a clinical study and start production. Financing was led by Sectoral Asset Management of Montreal and included participation from existing investors, including Delta Dental Washington Seed Fund, and board members. As part of the deal, Michael Sjostrom and Marc-Andre Marcotte of Sectoral became board members of CurvaFix.

LeoStella

Tukwila-based LeoStella will build several satellites for upcoming space missions by Loft Orbital Solutions of San Francisco. Loft Orbital flies payloads as a service using common satellite design without mission-specific customization. LeoStella is a specialized satellite design and manufacturing company. It is a joint venture between Thales Alenia Space and BlackSky.

Lithia Motors

Medford, Oregon-based Lithia Motors acquired DCH Subaru in Thousand Oaks, California. The store is expected to increase Lithia's annual revenue by $60 million. Other financial details were not disclosed. Lithia owns car dealerships across the country.

Accenture and Avanade

Accenture and Avanade have been named Microsoft Global Alliance SI Partner of the Year for the 15th time. They were cited for excellence in customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Dublin-based Accenture has local offices and provides technology, business and management consulting. Avanade is a Seattle-based management consultant. The two co-develop solutions for clients using Microsoft technologies and services.

GeoEngineers

Flangas

The board of directors of Seattle-based GeoEngineers unanimously affirmed Lindsay Flangas as the firm's next chief operations officer. Dan Campbell will continue as COO for the next nine months, with Flangas working alongside to gradually take on new responsibilities. Campbell will also become president, a role intended to retain his decades of engineering and management experience and allow him to focus on acquisitions, contracts and risk management. Flangas started as an intern with GeoEngineers in 2002 and has been with it 18 years. Her technical work has often focused on Seattle downtown development and dam safety projects in the Pacific Northwest. As COO, she will manage the daily operations of the employee-owned engineering and earth science consulting firm. It has 17 offices nationwide.

Pace Engineers

Mantie

Kirkland-based Pace Engineers promoted Erin Mantie to marketing manager. Mantie has over 20 years of experience in the A|E|C industry. She will implement marketing strategy in all offices. Pace is a civil and structural engineering, planning and surveying firm with offices also in Everett and Wenatchee, and Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Soundview Consultants

Jackson

Willett

Jones-Vogel

Gig Harbor-based Soundview Consultants hired Nicole Jones-Vogel as an environmental planner and project manager, Shauna Willett as an environmental scientist and arborist and Stephen Jackson as a design technician. Jones-Vogel has over nine years of experience in local government and public sector work including wetland management, brownfield assessments, master planning/visioning, park development and land management. Willett has a background in horticulture, arboriculture, urban forestry and landscape architecture. She has designed and installed residential landscapes incorporating water features, wildlife ponds, native plant gardens, bioswales, biofiltration systems and rain gardens. She has also done research in agriculture, nutrition, aquatic toxicology and urban forestry. Jackson uses specialized software to create designs for construction, utilities, land development and site planning. He has a degree in civil engineering technology from Bates Technical College along with three years of experience in civil engineering and five years in engineering technology. He works with project managers, contractors and engineers on commercial and residential projects. SVC is a environmental consulting firm.

Bernardo|Wills Architects

Rathbun

Mercer

Spokane-based Bernardo|Wills Architects hired Matt Mercer and Cody Rathbun as BIM/CAD technicians. Mercer is working on a multifamily and mixed-use development in Colbert. He has 22 years of drafting and design experience, including at Bernardo|Wills from 2016 to 2018, and an associate degree in computer drafting and design from ITT Technical Institute. Rathbun is working on an aseptic manufacturing facility for Selkirk Pharma in Airway Heights. He has two years of drafting and design experience, including most recently as a project designer with Fusion Architecture. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture from Washington State University. Bernardo|Wills provides architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and master planning.