Nov 30, 2021

Leafly Holdings

Warner

Leafly Holdings, a cannabis discovery marketplace, announced that Rebecca Warner will join the company as senior vice president of sales. The addition of Warner to the executive team follows several key leadership hires since announcing the company's intent to combine with Merida Merger Corp I earlier this year. Warner has over 14 years of experience designing and executing sales growth strategies at online marketplaces. Most recently, she was director of rental sales at Zillow. Prior to that, Warner held director-level roles at Domain, a real estate marketplace in Australia.

Outstanding Legislator Awards

State Sens. Lynda Wilson, David Frockt, Derek Stanford and Mark Mullet were given Outstanding Legislator Awards for their service during the 2021 session by the Washington Association of Sewer & Water Districts. The award honors significant actions that contributed to the ongoing success of special purpose water and sewer districts. Wilson and Stanford worked together on a bill that made the cost of liens and lien releases more equitable for all water and sewer customers. Mullet has been a consistent supporter of the state's Public Works Assistance Account — a program that provides local governments with affordable, low-interest financing for critical infrastructure projects. Both Frockt and Mullet negotiated to preserve the PWAA as a loan fund that would replenish itself through diverted tax revenue streams. The Washington Association of Sewer & Water Districts advances the work of about 180 water and sewer special purpose districts that provide services throughout Washington through education, advocacy and collaboration.

Strong Tower Consulting

Strong Tower Consulting, a Bellevue-based management consulting firm, has been named one of Washington's “100 Best Companies To Work For” by Seattle Business magazine. The firm was recognized for its recruitment and employee support programs focused on diversity and inclusion. Strong Tower also provides a diversity recruitment and retention service for clients, enabling the hiring and nurturing of employees and contractors composed of personnel more aligned with the diversity of society and the consumer base. Seattle Magazine's list is based on employee satisfaction scores.

Nov 26, 2021

King County

SEATTLE (AP) — King County has named a new interim sheriff as the department moves under the authority of the county executive.

County Executive Dow Constantine announced that Patti Cole-Tindall, currently second in command at the sheriff's department, will be appointed interim sheriff and will start Jan. 1.

The Seattle Times reports that Cole-Tindall, 57, will be the first person of color to serve as sheriff in Washington's largest county.

King County voters authorized the switch atop the county's law enforcement department when they voted last year to make sheriff an appointed, rather than elected, position.

That change goes into effect in 2022, when the term of current Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht, who was elected in 2017, ends.

Cole-Tindall lives in Kent and has been with the sheriff's department for about six years after a long career in public service. She has served as undersheriff, the department's No. 2, for the last year and a half, after serving as the department's chief of technical services for almost five years.

“Patti has both the experience and the temperament to be able to lead her employees forward in a productive way,” Constantine said.

Nov 23, 2021

Vacasa

Messing

Vacasa, a vacation rental management platform headquartered in Portland, announced that Barbara Messing is expected to join the company's board as an independent director upon the successful completion of its business combination with TPG Pace Solutions, a special purpose acquisition company. Messing currently serves as the chief marketing & people experience officer at Roblox and as a board member of Overstock, where she's helped guide both tech-enabled platforms through various stages of growth. Formerly, she was SVP & chief marketing officer at Walmart U.S. and SVP & chief marketing officer at Tripadvisor. In Summer 2021, Vacasa entered into an agreement to become a publicly traded company through a business combination with TPG Pace Solutions. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Knack

Knack, a custom gifting firm, has raised $3.5M in Series A equity investment to support the company's growth in the personal and corporate gifting space. The latest fundraising round was led by Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners. As part of the equity investment agreement, Second Avenue's partner and co-founder, Nick Hanauer will join the Knack board of directors. Founded in Seattle by Laura Jennings in 2015, Knack is a gift-giving e-commerce platform for personal, professional, and corporate gifting. For corporate customers, Knack also helps create gifts and programs that help with client appreciation and employee engagement. Each gift is delivered to the recipient's door, and includes a custom-printed card and optional video message personalized for the recipient. The Second Avenue equity investment closely follows a $6.5M senior debt package from Stonegate Capital which closed in July. Second Avenue Partners provides management, strategy, and capital for early stage companies in the Greater Puget Sound area.

Cloud Security Alliance

The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a global organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, announced that its Security Trust Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry, a publicly accessible listing which documents the security and privacy controls provided by popular cloud computing offerings, has reached another significant milestone wherein 1,500 cloud services have been evaluated according to the principles of CSA's STAR Program and the requirements of the Cloud Control Matrix. STAR encompasses the key principles of transparency, rigorous auditing, and harmonization of standards outlined in the Cloud Controls Matrix. Publishing to the registry allows organizations to show current and potential customers their security and compliance posture, including the regulations, standards, and frameworks they adhere to. The Cloud Security Alliance has offices in Seattle, Bellingham and around the world.

Nov 19, 2021

Sustainable Seattle

Piro

Garcia

Sustainable Seattle (S2) named Dr. Natalie Garcia as its new co-director, joining former executive director and now co-director Em Piro at the helm of the sustainability nonprofit, now in its 30th year. Piro joined the organization in 2018, succeeding local environmentalist BJ Cummings. In her three years as executive director, Piro built upon S2's legacy of community-centered sustainability initiatives. Programmatic shifts included the introduction of Interweave, S2's community-led sustainability accelerator program. Garcia is a former organizer of Black Star Farmers, one of the first members of Interweave. Of the over $1.2 million in grant funding that S2 worked with Interweave organizers to secure for local environmental initiatives, nearly half were authored by Garcia. Garcia also helped lead COVID-19 equity forums focused on food access and vaccine education. Over the past year, Garcia has focused on food sovereignty for BIPOC communities by partnering with the Indigenous women-led Na'ah Illahee Fund (NIF), an organization dedicated to the ongoing regeneration of Indigenous communities. Sustainable Seattle has assembled community members from a range of backgrounds, experiences, and sectors to align, amplify, and activate a more sustainable Seattle.

Data I/O

Redmond-based Data I/O, a global provider of advanced security and data deployment solutions for microcontrollers, security ICs and memory devices, announced that it received a 2021 GLOBAL Technology Award in the category of Programming for its SentriX Product Creator tool suite. The award was presented during a ceremony that took place Tuesday at the Productronica trade show in Munich, Germany. The GLOBAL Technology Awards have recognized the best new innovations in the printed circuit assembly and packaging industries since 2005. SentriX secures the global electronics supply chain and protects IoT device intellectual property from point of inception to deployment in the field.

City of Tacoma

Nominations for the city of Tacoma's City of Destiny Awards, which has been honoring local volunteers for the past 36 years, are due on Feb. 7, 2022. “The City of Destiny Awards Ceremony provides a place to recognize those who create vibrancy in our community and make the City of Destiny what it is,” said city Events and Recognitions Committee Chair Jessica Johnston. The CERC spends months planning and producing the City of Destiny Awards event. The committee is comprised of volunteers. For more information, visit http://www.cityoftacoma.org/CityofDestiny.