May 26, 2022

Skagit County

The Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County (EDASC) has hired Jorge Estefan as its new bilingual business advisor, responsible for increasing entrepreneurial opportunities and success for small business owners in Skagit County. In this role, he'll provide culturally aware one-to-one business support, lead classes and workshops, and advise on policy and programmatic work. He speaks English and Spanish fluently. Estefan joins EDASC after most recently running his own real estate business. Estefan lived in Mexico City, where he earned a bachelor of science in business administration and marketing, until 2010 before moving to the U.S. Estefan brings with him 18 years of experience in sales and management roles. He is also a current Leadership Skagit facilitator.

YouthCare

YouthCare, a Seattle-based nonprofit focused on ending youth homelessness, announced Degale Cooper as its new chief executive officer. Cooper has been YouthCare's chief program officer since 2018. YouthCare's CEO search committee worked with national search firm Kittleman and Associates and engaged community leaders and staff in defining agency needs. More than 50 individuals applied and seven candidates from across the country engaged in an interview process. As YouthCare's CEO, Cooper will be charged with working in close partnership with the board, while leading the staff to further YouthCare's strategic direction and programming in support of youth experiencing homelessness. Cooper has more than 30 years of experience meeting the needs of children and families in the Puget Sound region. Cooper held leadership positions at the YWCA, Youth Eastside Services, Treehouse and the Mockingbird Society. Colleen Echohawk has served as interim CEO since September 2021. Echohawk has recently accepted the role as CEO of Eighth Generation, a Seattle-based art and lifestyle brand owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe. Echohawk will continue to serve as a member of YouthCare's board of directors. Founded in 1974, YouthCare was one of the first shelters to serve runaway and homeless youth on the West Coast. Since then, YouthCare has expanded to offer 19 programs at 16 locations serving more than 1,500 youth every year.

Crelate

Crelate, a flexible recruitment platform for the talent industry, has added two new hires. Leigh Haydon will serve as senior vice president of revenue, and Gabe Hicks will serve as vice president of engineering. With over 15 years of sales and account management leadership across a range of successful B2B SaaS companies, Haydon will lead all sales and go-to-market functions to accelerate growth for the Crelate platform. Haydon's recent experience includes serving as vice president of investmentmanagement at Real Page, chief revenue officer at Investor Management Services, and as an advisor to early-stage SaaS B2B companies. Hicks, a technology veteran, will lead the engineering team in driving platform scale and innovation. He previously served as CTO to both Dev9 and Nortal. Earlier this year, Crelate announced new funding from Five Elms to support additional strategic growth, including key hires as the company scales. Located in the Seattle area, Crelate was founded in 2012.

May 25, 2022

Whatcom Community College

Whatcom Community College (WCC) was awarded $686,975 from the National Science Foundation to improve the academic preparation of entering engineering students and ultimately increase the number and diversity of engineering graduates. The grant is titled “Preparing Early Engineers through Context, Connections and Community” and will be led by WCC engineering faculty Eric Davishahl as grant principal investigator and co-led by WCC faculty members including, Patrick Burnett (engineering), Mei Luu (mathematics), Anna Booker (history), Anna Wolff (English), along with senior personnel, Seth Greendale (mathematics) and Tran Phung (physics). It runs from May 15, 2022 through April 30, 2027. The project proposes to: (1) address disparities in community college students' academic, social, and emotional preparation for an engineering major using a holistic approach; (2) accelerate engagement of participating students within existing curriculum, community, and support systems; and (3) increase course success rates, improve program retention, and reduce equity gaps in engineering transfer preparation and associate degree completion. The project team will develop and pilot a two-quarter, integrated learning community with a place-based curriculum to welcome students into the engineering transfer pathway with a holistic model for academic preparation. This project will feature cross-disciplinary collaboration of faculty in engineering, math, physics, English, and history working together on design, implementation, and assessment.

CoreStack

Bellevue-based CoreStack, a global cloud governance provider, announced the appointment of Robert Ford as vice president of enterprise strategy. Ford is an experienced former Microsoft IT executive, CIO, and a digital transformation expert. In his 26-year long stint with Microsoft, he led field-based IT teams across EMEA and APAC, core engineering teams, strategic planning, and marketing & communications teams. Prior to joining CoreStack, Ford was CIO of Northwest University. As an enterprise strategist, Ford has partnered and advised many organizations around the world, providing strategic direction, proven best practice, and practical hands-on guidance to advance cloud ambitions.

Summit Bank

Summit Bank appointed Stacy Koos to the newly created position of senior vice president and market development officer for the Eugene/Springfield region. In this position, Koos will explore new business opportunities in the existing Eugene/Springfield market, as well as expand Summit's footprint to the north in communities such as Albany and Corvallis. The announcement was made by Jenny Bennett, Summit Bank's Eugene/Springfield market president. Koos has spent the past three years as Summit's commercial banking team leader and was a key driver of the bank's growth in the region. A veteran banker of more than 25 years, she has extensive experience in commercial banking, lending, and branch management. A graduate of Northern Colorado University, Koos is active in several civic and business organizations, including as the vice-chair of the Albany Millersburg Economic Development Corporation and the vice-chair of the Samaritan Albany General Hospital Board. Summit Bank has offices in Eugene, Central Oregon, and downtown Portland. In 2021, Summit Bank was named the Top Small Business Administration Community Bank Lender in the state of Oregon, and in 2022, has been named to Oregon Business Magazine's Top 100 Best Places to Work.

May 24, 2022

Kidney Research Institute

de Boer

The Kidney Research Institute (KRI) has named Ian de Boer as its new director. He becomes only the second director in the KRI's 14-year history, following the departure of founding director Jonathan Himmelfarb. de Boer has served as associate director of the KRI since 2016. He is recognized worldwide for his expertise in diabetic kidney disease and vitamin D metabolism, as well as a sought-after research collaborator and speaker. He currently serves as deputy editor of the Clinical Journal of American of Nephrology and is co-chair of the international KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline for Diabetes Management in Chronic Kidney Disease. In addition to his own research, de Boer has been an active mentor to many training in Nephrology. He attended medical school at Oregon Health & Science University and completed his residency at the University of California San Francisco, where he was named outstanding third-year medical resident. The KRI was established in 2008 as a collaboration between UW Medicine and Northwest Kidney Centers with the mission to conduct research to improve the lives of people with kidney disease. In the years since, the KRI has become recognized worldwide for a wide range of high-impact patient-oriented research, the application of innovative technology, and advances in person-centered care for people living with kidney disease. Founded in Seattle in 1962, Northwest Kidney Centers is a regional, not-for-profit, community-based provider of kidney dialysis, public health education and research into the causes and treatments of chronic kidney disease.

Tectonic

Koro

Woodinville-based Tectonic Audio Labs announced the appointment of Fuat Koro as president and chief executive officer. Koro brings more than two decades of experience driving international growth for both B2B and B2C companies, having previously served as vice president of corporate strategy and innovation for Bose. Earlier in his career, Koro worked as a management consultant at Innosight alongside executive teams at several Fortune 500 technology companies to bolster growth strategies, business model designs and innovation capabilities. He also held engineering positions at Delphi and General Motors. Tectonic Audio Labs is an audio technology company that evolves the audio landscape through its proprietary Balanced Mode Radiator audio transducer design, which distributes acoustic energy to create an immersive listening experience. Tectonic delivers sound solutions that can currently be heard in product categories ranging from gaming, home audio entertainment and vehicles to unified communications and connected fitness products.

Veeve

Seattle-based Veeve, a retail technology startup, announced an agreement with Albertsons Companies that will make Veeve Smart Carts available to customers at a few dozen stores across the country. Once launched later this year, consumers will be able to use the smart carts to skip the checkout line with a fast, convenient, and contactless way to shop. Veeve Smart Carts offer a personalized shopping experience enabled by a touch screen that provides a running total for in-cart items and a built-in scale for easy produce purchase. The tech-enhanced carts will also integrate with the Albertsons for U loyalty program. Once done shopping, customers can complete payment on their cart and walk out, completely skipping the checkout line. Veeve Smart Carts are powered by computer vision and deploy into existing stores with no additional retrofit required. The Veeve platform integrates with existing retailer mobile apps and ad-networks.