Jan 06, 2022

Southland Industries

Southland Industries completed a brand consolidation with its Portland-based subsidiaries TCM and Envise Northwest. This completes the first phase of the company's plan to consolidate all brands to Southland Industries by January 2023. As one of the nation's largest MEP building systems firms, this unification aligns with Southland's strategy to provide fully integrated building lifecycle solutions under one brand. Dan Heichelbech will continue as the Northwest Division leader for Oregon, Washington and surrounding markets. Founded in 1949, Southland specializes in the engineering, construction and service of mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, process piping, and automation and controls systems, as well as comprehensive energy services needs.

Coastal Farm & Ranch

Coastal Farm & Ranch has transitioned to a new ownership group with Nolan Capital as the majority partner. Buzz Wheeler, owner of Coastal since 1990, will maintain an ownership stake and continue as a board member. CEO Lori McKinnon, who has worked for the company since 1995, will continue in that role. Larry Hayward, CEO of Del Mar Ventures, will join Coastal's ownership group and serve as non-executive board chair. Hayward made an investment in Coastal alongside Nolan Capital and will play a strategic role in advising the company's growth. Ted Nark will also join Coastal's ownership group and serve on the board. Nark is a managing director of KRG Capital Partners. He was previously a partner at Leonard Green & Partners and, from 2002 to 2006, was CEO and board chair of White Cap Construction Supply. Coastal Farm & Ranch is a West Coast farm and ranch lifestyle retailer, with 20 locations across the Northwest.

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain is offering free luxury coach shuttles to the ski area on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Shuttles will pick up guests from the Enumclaw Expo Center at designated times for the one-hour trip to the base of Crystal. The move is expected to alleviate parking issues at the resort. Crystal also is holding Mountain Safety Fest Jan. 10-16. This event, in conjunction with National Ski Area Association's Safety Awareness Month, is a mountain-wide scavenger hunt designed to teach guests about staying safe on the mountain. It's open to all ages and skill levels.

Jan 05, 2022

Lyn Health

Marcotte

Seattle-based Lyn Health, a healthcare start-up focused on people with multiple chronic conditions, announced the addition of Brian Marcotte, former president and CEO of the Business Group on Health, to its board of advisors. At the Business Group, Marcotte established the Health Innovations Forum, which helped accelerate market traction for digital health startups, and the Executive Committee on Value Purchasing, a cross-industry council focused on shifting the market toward value-based pricing and provider accountability. Prior to the Business Group, he was the vice president of compensation and benefits for Honeywell International. Rick Abbott is the founder and CEO of Lyn Health.

Metrist

Apella Capital, a financial advisory and wealth management firm, announced Metrist Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisor headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, has joined the firm. Metrist brings over $130 million in assets under management to Apella Capital. Metrist provides clients with financial planning, portfolio creation, asset management, and income management. Founded in 2004 by CEO Taylor Drake, the Metrist team brings more than 34 years of collective experience. Prior to becoming an advisor, Drake managed 401k bond portfolios and developed investment products as an investment banker. This is Apella's first transaction in 2022. Apella Capital, with over $2.5 billion in assets under management and administration, is headquartered in Glastonbury, Connecticut, and now has 12 offices around the country in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Colorado, and California. Apella was founded in 2014 by financial advisors Patrick Sweeny and David Connelly.

Library Piracy Lawsuit

The U.S. Court for the Western District of Washington awarded $7.8 million in statutory damages to 12 Authors Guild members, Amazon Publishing, and Penguin Random House for 52 acts of copyright infringement in a default judgment against Kiss Library, shutting down the Ukraine-based piracy ring. Judge Marsha Pechman, senior district judge for the Western District, decided all claims for the plaintiffs and awarded $150,000 per infringed book, the maximum penalty allowed under U.S. law. The plaintiffs filed suit against the book piracy entity and its operators on July 7, 2020.“We could not be happier with the decision,” said Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild. “Authors rarely have the necessary resources to fight commercial-scale piracy and take on protracted litigation, so we are extremely grateful to Amazon Publishing and Penguin Random House for their collaboration on this action.” Kiss Library did business through dozens of domain names that illegally sold pirated ebooks at discounted prices to unsuspecting readers. The Authors Guild is the nation's oldest and largest professional organization for writers. Its mission is to empower working writers by advocating for the rights of authors and journalists. The Guild protects free speech and authors' copyrights, fights for fair contracts and a living wage and provides a community for all published authors.

Jan 04, 2022

Carney Badley

Cosgrove

Haveman

Zachary Haveman and Rory Cosgrove have been voted in as shareholders at Carney Badley Spellman. Haveman's practice focuses on corporate and business law, mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, and trademark and intellectual property. His practice involves significant work in new entity start-up formations, financing and corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions of businesses. Cosgrove's practice focuses on civil appeals in state and federal courts. He has argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and in all three divisions of the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington. He has filed amicus briefs in the Supreme Court of Washington on behalf of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers, national trade associations, and insurance companies. Before joining the firm, Cosgrove clerked for the Honorable James R. Verellen at the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington, Division One, for two years.

Office Ally

Office Ally, headquartered in Vancouver, announced its acquisition by Francisco Partners, a global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses. Office Ally is a healthcare technology company that offers cloud-based solutions to healthcare providers, independent physician associations and health plans. Office Ally's platform supports both the management of care and facilitates payments between providers, health plans and patients. Office Ally's platform is paired with a clearinghouse that enables the exchange of healthcare information including claims, remits, and eligibility information between covered entities and across the healthcare market. In conjunction with the closing of this transaction, Brian O'Neill, Office Ally founder and CEO will be retiring, and industry healthcare technology veteran Chris Hart will become CEO of the company. Since its launch over 20 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in more than 300 technology companies. Lazard and Meridian Capital served as financial advisors and K&L Gates served as legal advisor to Office Ally. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Francisco Partners.

Cowden

LafargeHolcim in the United States announced the acquisition of the ready-mix concrete and aggregate assets held by Cowden, a longstanding supplier in Washington state, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Aggregate Industries (AI). Cowden, established in 1945, is based in Bellingham, and has grown in the region to include ready-mix concrete plants, aggregate facilities and a hauling fleet, supplying both large commercial and small residential projects. More than 100 Cowden employees will join AI's organization. The organization will operate as Cowden, a division of Aggregate Industries Pacific Northwest, and will become a member of the LafargeHolcim family of companies in the US. LafargeHolcim US is part of Holcim, a global provider of sustainable building solutions.