Dec 01, 2023

Propeller

Propeller, a Portland-based management consulting firm, announced new executive leadership. The current managing director of the Portland office, AJ Oberland, has transitioned to a new role as vice president of operations. In his new position, Oberland will oversee several internal functions to improve processes and facilitate Propeller's growth and scalability. Oberland joined Propeller in 2015 as a consultant and ascended to director in 2016. He became managing director of the Portland office in 2017. During his tenure as managing director, Oberland played a pivotal role in doubling the size of the Portland market and its leadership team and hired 120 consultants locally. Assuming the role of Portland managing director is Maura Koehler-Hanlon. Koehler-Hanlon joined Propeller as a consultant in 2017, earning a promotion to director in 2021, and later becoming the first senior director in Portland. As managing director, Koehler-Hanlon will be responsible for the Portland office's core business, fostering a positive organizational culture, and managing the client portfolio and local directors. In addition to its Portland headquarters, Propeller has offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Denver, Minneapolis, and Dallas.

Rainier Partners

Rainier Partners and its portfolio company, SCI Flooring, added United Carpet to the firm's flooring platform. United Carpet is a full-service floor covering provider serving customers in the multi-family, commercial, and residential markets. SCI provides comprehensive floor covering solutions to multi-family, commercial, and single-family property managers and builders. Rainier and SCI are actively seeking opportunities to partner with additional flooring businesses. Founded in 1981, United Carpet is headquartered in Hazelwood, MO, and has a second location in Elk Grove Village, IL. SCI Flooring is a full-service provider of soft and hard surface floor covering solutions to multi-family, commercial, and single-family property managers and builders. Rainier Partners is a Seattle-based private equity firm that invests in lower middle-market services businesses.

Nov 30, 2023

BECU

Hale

BECU hired Beth Hale as executive vice president and chief consumer and business solutions officer. In her role, Hale will lead the teams accountable for creating and managing products and services across all BECU lines of business. Hale joins BECU with an extensive background in consumer retail banking, including senior roles at Washington Mutual and Bank of the West. Most recently, she served as the president and vice chair of USAA Savings Bank, where she was responsible for presiding over all board of director meetings, developing positive relationships with regulators and managing teams focused on operations, financial performance and regulatory reporting, compliance and risk domains. Hale served on the board of directors of YMCA of Southern Nevada over the past four years and has also volunteered at organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Food Bank of Buffalo, New York and St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church. Hale holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. BECU is the largest not-for-profit credit union in Washington and one of the top four financial cooperatives in the country. The credit union currently operates 60 financial centers.

UnCruise Adventures

Sagasi

UnCruise Adventures named Monica Sagisi as its new vice president of marketing and sales. Sagisi brings long-term expedition cruising experience to the company's sales and marketing departments, including over a decade at Paul Gauguin Cruises. Her background encompasses UnCruise Adventures' primary destination of Alaska as well as Baja Mexico's Gulf of California. UnCruise Adventures operates a fleet of nine boutique yachts and small boats carrying 22-86 guests on voyages in Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, Gulf of California, Northern Baja California, Prince William Sound, Aleutian Islands, & Galapagos. UnCruise is homeported in Juneau, with offices in Seattle.

Tyfone

Tyfone announced the appointment of Tom Shen, Santo Cannone and Laurent Desmangles to its board of directors. The new board appointments join Tyfone following a significant investment of both resources and talent from Demopolis Equity Partners, an impact-oriented private equity fund. Shen has more than 40 years of experience as an advisor for several financial institutions and fintech providers. He founded Software Dynamics in 1982 and sold the company to publicly traded S1 Corporation in 2001. He also co-founded and served on the executive team for Digital Insight and he co-founded Malauzai Software in 2010, which was acquired by Finastra in 2018. Currently, Shen serves on the board of several companies, including CSI, BankiFi, and Shastic. He also serves on the board of Axiom Bank headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Cannone has more than four decades of expericence in financial technology. He is a strategic advisor for Demopolis Equity Partners. He held a leadership role at FIS as well as a chief product officer role for Fiserv. He serves as board chair at Tampa Bay Wave and board member at United Solutions and Simply Reliable. Desmangles has spent nearly 30 advising banks as a consultant. Desmangles retired from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a managing director and senior partner in New York where he advised banks for BCG's Retail Banking and Advanced Analytics practices. Desmangles also serves as a director on the board for Fifth Third Bank, as well as serving on the board of Laurentian Bank of Canada. Based in Portland, Tyfone is a provider of consumer and commercial digital banking services for community financial institutions throughout the U.S.

Nov 29, 2023

Bellevue College

Richard Fukutaki, chair of the Bellevue College Board of Trustees, was recently elected chair-elect of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Board of Directors. ACCT is a national nonprofit organization for community, technical, and junior college trustees, which brings together college leaders to address real-world challenges and help students succeed through advocacy and education. Prior to this new role, Fukutaki was ACCT's secretary-treasurer and vice chair, first elected in 2021. As chair-elect, Fukutaki is expected to lead ACCT's Board of Directors as chair in the fall of 2024. He will be the first Asian man, the first Japanese American, and the first descendant of a Japanese internment camp family to lead ACCT. The organization's 2024 ACCT Leadership Congress will be held in Seattle in October 2024. Fukutaki has served as a trustee at Bellevue College for eight years. Gov. Jay Inslee first appointed Fukutaki to a partial term in August 2015, and he is currently serving his first full term, which will continue through September 2024. Fukutaki is active with the Washington State Association of College Trustees, serving as the co-chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, chair of the Awards Committee, and is a member of the Finance, Audit, and Education Committees. Outside of higher education, Fukutaki is the managing director of Sun Break Group, a consulting practice focusing on business plans and strategies for start-ups and early-stage companies. He is also the managing partner for Encomedia, a public display entertainment company developing TV programs, apps, live events, online portals, and social media strategies. Previously, Fukutaki served as vice president/general manager at Wizards of the Coast, where he founded the Pokemon trading card game.

City of Tacoma

The Tacoma City Council is looking to fill eight volunteer positions on the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority Board (TCRA); two representatives with experience in the legal profession as an attorney; two certified public accountant representatives; two representatives with experience in banking or financing; and two representatives with at least three years of experience as a licensed real estate broker or agent. The following positions are currently held by individuals whose terms are expiring, and who have the opportunity to reapply: one representative for an attorney position, one representative for a certified public accountant position, two banking representatives, and one representative for a realtor position. The TCRA administers grants and loans to support low-income households and families in buying or repairing their homes, multi-family housing developers or owners who provide housing to low-income families, businesses which create jobs or rehabilitate blighted buildings, and nonprofit organizations that provide housing and economic development services to the Tacoma community. TCRA meetings occur at 7:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month from January to October. In November and December, meetings change to the first and third Thursdays. Meetings are currently held in hybrid format to allow either in-person or virtual on-line participation. Applications must be submitted to the City Clerk's Office by Dec. 3. Application details are available at cityoftacoma.org/cbcapplication

Nov 28, 2023

nLIGHT

nLIGHT, a provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers, has received a $34.5 million contract award that will be executed over approximately 18 months to provide a High Energy Laser in support of the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities Critical Technologies Office Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) prototyping effort. nLIGHT is serving as a subcontractor to KORD Technologies, prime contractor in support of this effort. DE M-SHORAD is a component of the U.S. Army's broader modernization strategy for air and missile defense and focuses on integrating a 50kW-class laser weapon system onto a Stryker combat vehicle to provide defensive capabilities against unmanned aircraft systems; rockets, artillery, and mortar; and rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. Compared to conventional heavy kinetic weapons, directed energy laser weapons can offer deeper magazines with lower cost-per-shot in a smaller footprint. Jeff Barchers is the president of nLIGHT DEFENSE Systems. nLIGHT is headquartered in Camas, Washington, and has defense operations in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.

Gold Reserve

Spokane-based Gold Reserve Inc. announced that Rockne J. Timm, chief executive officer and a director of the company, will retire after more than 35 years of leadership. Timm's retirement will be effective as of Feb. 13, 2024, at which time he will also resign from any officer positions held by him in the company's subsidiaries, He will continue to serve as a director of the company and its subsidiaries. Gold Reserve is currently working to identify a successor to replace Timm.

Onelife Senior Living

The former Springs of Vernon Hills Alzheimer's Special Care Center, located in Chicago, has become The Laurel at Vernon Hills after being acquired by Onelife Senior Living. Onelife retained all 59 staff members. Founded in 2009 by Zack Falk, Oregon-based Onelife Senior Living is a family-owned developer and operator of assisted living and memory care communities. Falk is the company's CEO.