Jan 23, 2024

Geffen Mesher

Portland-based accounting firm Geffen Mesher announced that Anne Tankersley, Paige Lukens, and Rachel Henrichs had each been promoted to shareholder at the firm. Tankersley joined Geffen Mesher in 2008 and has over 10 years of experience auditing a variety of employee benefit plans, including 401(k), pension, employee stock ownership, and health and welfare plans. She has provided plan auditing services to a wide range of clients, including professional service firms and manufacturing companies, and also provides financial statement assurance and accounting services to clients, emphasizing hospitality, real estate, and investment companies. Lukens joined the firm in 2008, and has worked in both tax and audit. She is focused on providing tax services to clients in the industries of real estate, manufacturing, homebuilding, and professional services. Henrichs started her career focusing on long-term care communities. After transitioning to Geffen Mesher in 2016, she has expanded her expertise to include the greater real estate industry, focusing on the entire life cycle of a project – development, management and leasing, and ultimate sale or exchange. She is adept at navigating the requirements of Opportunity Zones and Section 1031 exchanges. With these additions, Geffen Mesher now has 20 shareholders firmwide. Michael Rompa is the CEO of Geffen Mesher.

Washington Wine Industry

The Washington wine industry is launching a fellowship for emerging writers and communicators. The Allen Shoup Memorial Fellowship is an industry-wide collaboration that brings together the Washington State Wine Commission, Auction of Washington Wines, Washington Winegrowers Association, Washington Wine Industry Foundation, individuals, wineries and growers. The Fellowship was established in memory of Allen Shoup, who passed away in 2022. Shoup played a pioneering role in developing Washington's wine industry as the longtime head of the state's biggest winery, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, and later as the owner of his own winery, Long Shadows Vintners. Funded entirely through donations, the fellowship awards one writer or communicator each year with an immersive trip to Washington's vineyards and wineries, along with a stipend. An expert panel will choose the fellowship recipient, with input from an industry advisory committee. The 2024 selection panel includes: Karen MacNeil, Karen MacNeil & Co.; Sean Sullivan, Northwest Wine Report; Eric Degerman, Great Northwest Wine; Devyani Gupta, Valdemar Estates; and Dane Narbaitz, Long Shadows Vintners. The deadline to apply is February 29, 2024. Any questions about the fellowship should be directed towards Heather Bradshaw at hbradshaw@washingtonwine.org.

Cyemptive Technologies

Seattle-based Cyemptive Technologies, a provider of pre-emptive cybersecurity solutions for business and government, has named Microsoft veteran Paul Hiteshew as vice president of solutions consulting. In his new role, Hiteshew will be leading a team of cybersecurity experts that provide cybersecurity architectural blueprints for Cyemptive customers. His responsibilities will include leading pre-sales technical support for strategic industry partners and their customers, consulting with customers to understand their current cybersecurity risk profile and mapping their journey to achieving maximum cybersecurity readiness. Hiteshew brings with him nearly 25 years of experience in IT operations, IT enterprise and cyber defense at Microsoft. Most recently, Hiteshew was with Lighthouse Global, where he served as executive director of IT and security engineering. Cyemptive's leadership team is comprised of executives from several technology and security organizations, including the former CIO of Microsoft and the former chief computer architect for the National Security Agency.

Auburn Mechanical

Auburn Mechanical, a woman-owned mechanical contractor, hired Annika Gaffney as human resources director. Gaffney brings over 20 years of industry experience across various sectors and a track record for cultivating inclusive, employee-friendly workplaces. She previously held the same role at general contractor Schuchart. In her new role at Auburn Mechanical, she will develop and implement a human resources strategy that aligns with company-wide goals. Auburn Mechanical specializes in mechanical design, HVAC, plumbing, fitting, refrigeration and maintenance.

Pacific Northwest CMAA

The Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Construction Management Association of America is seeking nominations for its 2024 Project Achievement Awards. The program is open to local chapter members that finished projects between Jan. 1, 2023, and April 1, 2024, in Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The submission deadline is May 10. Contact Sean Duffett for more information at sean.duffett@soundtransit.org.

Hood River bridge project gets $200M

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority is set to receive $200 million in federal funds to replace an aging bridge over the Columbia River, about 50 miles upstream from Portland.

The $200 million Department of Transportation grant announced yesterday is expected to cover nearly 40% of the total $520 million project cost.

The project will replace the bridge and improve transportation between the city of Hood River in Oregon and the communities of White Salmon and Bingen in Washington.

The DJC reported in November that the existing 4,418-foot-long steel bridge is nearly 100 years old and carries two narrow lanes — each measuring 9 feet, 4.75 inches wide. It also has height and weight restrictions for vehicles, lacks sidewalks and bicycle lanes, poses a navigational hazard to watercraft, and was not built to modern seismic code.

The authority is currently seeking a design-build team for the replacement bridge. Proposals for that opportunity were due yesterday.

Project planners estimate cars will be able to travel twice as fast on the new bridge, with travel speeds increasing from 22 mph on the current bridge to 45 mph on the new one. It will have a 12-foot-wide shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians and is expected to reduce vehicle crashes, emissions, and overall travel time.

With the federal funds, the total raised for the project is now $318 million. This also includes $80 million from Washington state, $25 million from Oregon and $13.6 million in other federal funds.

If the bridge is not replaced, the authority says it would have to be closed to truck traffic in six years and closed to all traffic in 2040.

Jan 19, 2024

NW Natural Renewables

NW Natural Renewables Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company, has promoted Anna Chittum to president of NW Natural Renewables. Chittum replaces Mike Kotyk. NW Natural Renewables focuses on providing renewable natural gas (RNG) to a variety of sectors. Chittum has been leading the development of RNG and renewable hydrogen for NW Natural. Previously, she consulted on business models and regulatory structures for district energy, microgrids, and combined heat and power systems and worked to promote energy efficiency policies for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Chittum was a Fulbright Fellow in Denmark, where she researched local district heat planning and the use of combined heat and power systems to balance variable wind generation. She holds degrees from Gonzaga University and Columbia University. Northwest Natural Holding Company is headquartered in Portland, and has been doing business for over 160 years in the Pacific Northwest.

Parse Biosciences

Parse Biosciences, a provider of accessible and scalable single cell sequencing solutions, announced it has acquired data analysis software company Biomage. With the acquisition, customers will have access to a richer suite of single cell data analysis tools. The Biomage platform was launched in 2021, and currently maintains a user base of nearly 4,000 researchers globally, with approximately 200 scientists accessing the platform daily. All current Biomage staff members are being integrated into the existing Parse team. Founded based on a technology invented at the University of Washington, Parse has raised over $100 million and is used by over 1,000 labs across the world. Its portfolio of products includes Evercode Whole Transcriptome, Evercode TCR, Gene Capture, and a software tool for data analysis. Headquartered in Seattle's South Lake Union district, Parse Biosciences recently opened a 34,000 square foot headquarters and state-of-the-art laboratory.

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors has been named a top 100 Registered Investment Advisor in the nation by SmartAsset as measured by average Assets Under Management per client relationship. SmartAsset reviewed nearly 5.800 firms registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and ranked them according to average balances per account. Bordeaux's practice centers on serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, providing investment, financial and tax advice. In addition to investments, Bordeaux's service model incorporates estate and wealth transfer planning, tax planning, charitable gifting strategies, and equity compensation planning. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors has offices in Silicon Valley and Seattle.