Sep 20, 2023

AIA Seattle

Glosecki

Ovsak

Weaver

Smith

Hutchins

Yi Li

AIA Seattle has welcomed six new board members who have either been elected to return or fill open seats on the board of directors for the term that began Sept. 1. The board members are: Matt Hutchins (president-elect); Mitch Smith (director of development); Kara Weaver (affiliate director of professional practice); Laura Ovsak (director of professional practice); Dylan Glosecki (director of public policy); and Nicole Yi Li (emerging professional, appointed and non-voting member).

Farallon Consulting

Ruth

Environmental consulting firm Farallon Consulting announced the appointment of Jeff Ruth as its new chief operating officer, effective Sept. 11.

Ruth has served in various leadership roles in the aerospace, air transport, and defense industries prior to joining Farallon, and has extensive experience in operational excellence and process improvement. Ruth developed his leadership and operational skills through a 32-year career with the U.S. Navy, where he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral before retiring. He was a five-time commanding officer of units that include the 11-state Navy Region Northwest, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, and an electronic attack squadron.

He earned a master of business administration from Colorado State University, a master of science in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power School, and the Naval School of Aviation Safety.

As COO, Ruth will oversee Farallon's day-to-day operations, lead strategic initiatives, and work closely with the executive team to further enhance the firm's reputation for delivering high-quality environmental consulting services to clients nationwide.

Sep 19, 2023

Umpqua Bank

Bascomb-Green

Umpqua Bank, a subsidiary of Columbia Banking System, appointed Nicole Bascomb-Green as head of community lending. In this role, Bascomb-Green is responsible for the management of the Community Lending team, including the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation, and the bank's Community Reinvestment Act, to deliver products and programs that address housing affordability and access issues focused on low-to-moderate income BIPOC communities. Bascomb-Green brings more than 30 years of banking, real estate, and nonprofit experience to the role. Prior to joining Umpqua Bank, she served as community affairs manager for Washington and Idaho at U.S. Bank. She is currently president for Western Washington Realtist, the local board of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, and is assistant vice president for NAREB's Region XV. Bascomb-Green was recently named state chair for Washington state's Housing Finance Commission. She holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor's in marketing from University of Washington. Umpqua Bank has offices in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado.

Avanade

Seattle-based Avanade appointed Karthik Narain, Accenture's group chief executive, technology, as chair of its board of directors. Karthik succeeds Emma McGuigan, Accenture's global lead, enterprise & industry technologies, who is leaving the Avanade board after four years in the role. Narain joined Accenture in 2015. Prior to becoming group chief executive, he led Accenture Cloud First and was responsible for the company's Data and AI business and growth strategy. He oversees Accenture capabilities, acquisitions, talent, investments and ecosystem partnerships in public and hybrid cloud, data & AI and software engineering. Narain is also a member of Accenture's Global Management Committee. Avanade is a provider of digital, cloud and advisory services across the Microsoft ecosystem. ​Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture and Microsoft.

Alliant Insurance Services

Todd Wright has joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice president within its Alliant Americas division. Based in Seattle, Wright will work with a national client base, delivering property and casualty insurance and risk management strategies across a range of industries. Wright joins Alliant with more than 27 years of experience working in construction risk management, loss prevention and control and safety systems. For the past 16 years, he has been focused on the pipeline and power industries. Wright holds a Certified Safety Professional designation from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. He earned his bachelor's degree in loss control management from Central Washington University. Alliant Insurance Services distributes diversified insurance products and services through a network of specialized national platforms and local offices. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Skanska

Daige

Skanska USA Building named Kelly Daige as its first national director of inclusion and partnerships. The global contractor says this new role is a key addition to its national diversity and inclusion team. Daige is based in Skanska's Boston office. She is focusing primarily on building and integrating the company's relationships with key external organizations and networks in the diversity and inclusion space, as well as developing national approaches and metrics around community and employee engagement. Daige joined Skanska in 2015, and since 2018 served as manager of executive support services.

Wood Technology Center

Seattle Colleges received a $750,000 Gable Grant from the Lowe's Foundation for the skilled trades training programs at the Wood Technology Center, a division of Seattle Central. The Wood Technology Center provides training for professional carpenters, from students just starting out to experienced practitioners seeking to upskill and reach a higher rung in their career. Seattle Colleges will use the Gable Grant to enhance staffing at the center, particularly for student recruitment, retention and outplacement. The funds will also support a site manager to coordinate center logistics, which will become increasingly complex as programs grow in the coming years, partly through this grant. Programs at the center include the PACT pre-apprenticeship program; associate degree programs in carpentry and boat building/fine carpentry; and a new nine-month certificate program in residential construction.

ABC of Western Washington

IDI Distributors and the Lynnwood branch of First Citizens Bank have joined the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington. Kent-based IDI provides insulation materials, fire stop materials, caulking compounds and sealants.

Boise Cascade

Boise, Idaho-based Boise Cascade plans to add a door shop in the Denver suburb of Commerce City. The company reports the 127,000-square-foot millwork facility should be finished later this year, and is expected to begin production in early 2024. The new shop will expand Boise Cascade's offerings of pre-hung doors and other millwork products in what it calls one of the country's fastest growing markets.