Feb 14, 2024

McGranahan Architects

Serra

Fields

Belcher

Berry

Russell

McGranahan Architects has announced a series of leadership changes and promotions within the firm.

Amanda Russell is the newest partner at McGranahan Architects. As partner, Russell will concurrently fill the roles of senior project architect and director of information systems.

The firm also announced the following promotions:

Latoya Berry has been promoted to administrative manager.

Mark Belcher has been promoted to accounting manager.

Benjamin Fields has been promoted to principal for marketing.

Dion Serra has been promoted to director of operations. In addition to his new role, he will continue to serve as a partner and actively contribute as a project manager.

P2S Inc.

Sloane

Prabhu

Spitluski

Lentz

P2S Inc. has promoted Brad Lentz to vice president, leading the firm's Seattle office and the P2S federal market. Lentz leads multidisciplinary design teams, specializing in developing innovative and energy-efficient designs for a diverse range of facility types, including waterfront, aviation, industrial, maintenance, administration, and healthcare projects.

P2S also recently promoted three staff to oversee engineering groups in the Seattle office. Associate principal Sierra Spitulski has been promoted to Healthcare Group leader, and associate principals Akshay Prabhu and Peter Sloane have both been promoted to Engineering Group leaders.

The P2S Seattle office includes over 50 staff members and provides mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and commissioning services.

PACE Engineers

Larsen

PACE Engineers announced the addition of a new structural engineering manager, Scott Larsen. Larsen brings over 35 years of experience and will support the expansion of the firm's structural team's services in transportation and vertical structures.

Before PACE, Larsen's projects spanned more than a dozen countries and included work on over 100 bridges including a 1,200-meter main span suspension bridge, design of multiple airport terminals and over eight airport tunnels, and a ferry terminal rehabilitation.

Bellevue Arts Museum

Casprowiak Scher

Bellevue Arts Museum's Board of Trustees has appointed Kate Casprowiak Scher as executive director of the museum. With a background in art history, Casprowiak Scher has held various academic positions, including faculty roles at Portland State University, Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, and Bellevue College, where she earned tenure and served for 11 years. She also chaired the Art Department at Bellevue College for two years. In addition to her academic career, she has curated several exhibitions, managed a private art collection and founded an art appraisal business. For the last four months, Casprowiak Scher has been serving as the interim executive director at BAM. The mission of Bellevue Arts Museum is to engage people in the power of art, craft and design. This year the museum will celebrate the 78th anniversary of its Arts Fair.

Expedia Group

Expedia Group announced the appointment of Ariane Gorin as CEO, effective May 13. Gorin will succeed Peter Kern, who has served as the company's CEO since 2020. After completing his contract as CEO, Kern will continue to serve as the company's vice chairman and member of the board of directors, working closely with Gorin to ensure a smooth transition. Gorin has also been elected to serve on the board of directors. Gorin has held various executive roles at Expedia Group since 2013, most recently as president of Expedia for Business, where she led the company's global supply partner group, advertising business, and B2B partner network. Expedia Group powers travel through its global platform. Expedia Group's three flagship consumer brands are Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo.

Oregon Wind Farm

Avangrid Inc., a sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, announced the signing of a new power purchase agreement with Amazon to source renewable energy from an Avangrid wind farm located in Gilliam County, Oregon. Amazon Wind Farm Oregon – Leaning Juniper IIA is a repowering project that will significantly extend the life of the existing wind farm and make it work more efficiently. Consisting of 40 turbines, the wind farm will produce enough energy to power 22,800 homes every year. During construction, the project will support about 200 jobs. Additionally, Avangrid has executed contracts to recycle all turbine blades that will be decommissioned with this project, which is estimated to divert more than 1,000 tons of mass from landfill. Through the Avangrid Community Sponsorship Program, the wind farm has contributed to local libraries, preschools, and firefighters. Repowering the project through Amazon's investment ensures this work can continue. Avangrid is headquartered in Orange, Connecticut, and has operations in 24 U.S. states.

Feb 13, 2024

Exxel Pacific

Marshall

Exxel Pacific has promoted Donna Marshall to chief financial officer. Over the past 12 years, Marshall has worked very closely with Exxel's prior CFO, developing her corporate finance oversight capabilities. In addition to day-to-day financial oversight, she represents Exxel's financial relationships with its ESOP, banking, bonding and accounting partners.

King County Superior Court

Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Angela J. Kaake to the King County Superior Court. She will replace Judge Chad Allred, who retired from the bench effective January 15, 2024. For over 22 years, Kaake has served as a prosecuting attorney at the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office (KCPAO). She has significant misdemeanor and felony trial experience and specialized in domestic violence and sexual assault cases for much of her career. As part of the leadership team in the KCPAO's Domestic Violence Unit, she participates in discussions and consultations regarding Project Safety, their program to provide civil legal aid to crime victims. Over the last five years, Kaake has held a trial supervisory position, during which time she supervised, mentored, advised and developed over 35 attorneys. Kaake also assisted in starting a partnership between the KCPAO and the YWCA to provide services to victims of gender-based violence who have been arrested or charged as defendants. This partnership resulted in the creation of Survivors FIRST (Facilitating Interventions and Resources for Survivors of Trauma), a program that focuses on women of color who have been arrested or charged and diverts them from the criminal justice system. It is the first program of its kind in the nation and receives federal and state funding. Kaake earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Washington and her law degree from Seattle University School of Law.

Silver Creek Capital

Seattle-based Silver Creek Capital Management, an alternative investment boutique focused on developing investment solutions for investors globally, announced that David Matter has joined the firm as co-chief investment officer. Matter was most recently a managing director and co-chief investment officer of BlackRock Alternative Advisors, BlackRock's Hedge Fund Solutions business. In this role, Matter will partner with Eric Dillon, Silver Creek's chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer, to lead the firm's investment activities. At BlackRock, Matter also chaired the BAA Investment Committee and was a member of the BAA Management Committee and the Co-Investment Portfolio Management Group. He joined BlackRock in 2007 upon its acquisition of the core asset management business of Seattle-based Quellos Group, where he was a principal and a member of the Investment Committee. Matter began his career at Capital Group and later moved to Bankers Trust. He holds an MBA and MAIS from the University of Washington and a BS from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kinley Construction

Texas-based Kinley Construction is opening a Seattle office headed by two longtime construction industry veterans: Jeff Crisafulli and David Worley.

Crisafulli is leading the office as director of operations, focusing on sales, development, and operational management of industrial and commercial building projects, with a specialization in pre-engineered metal buildings. Crisafulli has over 40 years of industry experience, most recently at Swinerton, where his projects included a warehouse-to-apartment conversion, hotels, multiple casinos, retail buildings, over 200 restaurants, multiple sports complexes, and large-scale office tenant improvements. Prior to Swinerton, he ran his own contracting business for over 35 years.

Worley, a 35-year industry veteran, is a former vice president and division manager for Swinerton's Northwest Region, where he helped grow the corporate services, Native American, health care and multifamily markets. At Swinerton, he led project management and field operations, including project planning and staffing, contract review and negotiation, and oversight of project teams. He is doing the same for Kinley's Building Services division.

Also in Seattle, Kinley hired Kristen Connor as lead project manager. Connor has nearly 20 years of construction project management experience, including 12 years at Johnson Barrow. The company said it also has hired other supporting roles in estimating, as well as traveling field superintendents and general office personnel.

Kinley works in industrial fueling infrastructure, commercial and industrial building construction, and service and maintenance in aviation, railroad, government and energy. The company specializes in midstream terminals, hydrant fueling facilities, bulk storage facilities, diesel fueling platforms, industrial waste systems and related facilities.

ABC of Western Washington

Hatch Fence Rentals of Lake Stevens joined the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington. The company provides rentals for temporary construction fencing, privacy screens and sandbags. Chris Hatch is the owner.