Jul 13, 2022

D.A. Davidson

Ramtin

D.A. Davidson announced that Nick Ramtin has joined as managing director in the Financial Sponsors Group, where he will be responsible for further developing the financial sponsor coverage platform, with a focus on broadening and deepening relationships with middle-market private equity firms in the Midwest and on the West Coast. Ramtin has 13 years of industry experience, having served as a principal investor and advisor to private equity clients throughout that time. Most recently, he was with principal Direct Lending, where he provided debt and equity financing to support leveraged buyouts, add-on acquisitions, and recapitalizations for middle-market sponsors. He began his career with BMO Capital Markets and he has worked with several middle-market focused banks including William Blair and KeyBanc. D.A. Davidson Companies is an employee-owned financial services firm offering a range of financial services and advice to individuals, corporations, institutions and municipalities nationwide. The company was founded in 1935 with corporate headquarters in Great Falls, Montana, and regional headquarters in Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha and Seattle.

Strom Manufacturing

Compass Precision, a Charlotte-based manufacturer of custom, close-tolerance metal components for mission-critical applications, announced it has acquired Strom Manufacturing, located in North Plains, Oregon. Strom Manufacturing was founded in 1974 and owned solely by Bill Strom since 2008. Strom serves a select group of high-tech customers and consumer products customers, primarily in the Pacific Northwest. Bill Strom is Strom's President and will continue in his current role going forward. Strom's entire management team and workforce are remaining with the company including Mike Strom, Bill's brother who does much of the firm's CNC programming. Also joining Compass are Strom sales manager Paul Sonderen and quality manager Brian Kedroske. Strom Manufacturing will become the seventh operating company under the Compass umbrella, and the third situated outside the Charlotte area. Together, Compass's operating companies serve a diversified group of customers in the aerospace & defense, space, medical, industrial automation, power generation, telecommunications, high tech, and specialty industrial markets.

Jensen Investment Management

Jensen Investment Management, a 100% employee-owned active equity investment management firm, appointed Phil Bennett as its new director of institutional sales and client service. An industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Bennett has built and managed large, complex relationships with both consultants and plan sponsors. He joins Jensen from Thornburg Investment Management, where he spent four years as regional director of its institutional group, servicing the firm's institutional client base, as well as leading business development in the Western United States and Canada. Previously, he spent four years at Mellon Capital Management, where he was head of global consultant relations, also in the Western United States. In addition, he has held senior positions at GMO, Causeway Capital Management, and EnnisKnupp. Jensen Investment Management is headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Jul 12, 2022

Zuper

Schiltz

Zuper, a solutions provider to scale and modernize fast-growing field service organizations, announced the addition of Matthew Schiltz to its advisory board. As an experienced SaaS CEO of both public corporations and private tech start-ups, Schiltz brings extensive executive management and leadership skills. Schiltz is a current member of the board of several growth SaaS companies including Conga, Symend, Showpad and Parachute Health. Zuper's advisory board connects experienced SaaS professionals and entrepreneurs to provide Zuper with intelligent counsel to better serve its customers and improve business performance. Zuper's platform integrates with industry-leading apps and CRMs and comes with personalized support, as well as reporting and analytics. Founded in 2016, Zuper is headquartered in Seattle with offices in India and the Middle East.

Carney Badley

Wiese

Matt Wiese joined Carney Badley Spellman as the chair of the Carney's Estate Planning Practice Group. He focuses primarily in the areas of trusts and estates, closely held family business structures, and international and domestic taxation for high-net-worth individuals. He helps clients through all stages of estate planning, including probate and trust administration. He advises foreign and domestic clients on U.S. federal income, gift, and estate tax matters. Wiese has also worked on significant sales of privately held companies and helps business owners with succession planning and general business law.

Nintendo

Pritchard

Nintendo of America named Devon Pritchard executive vice president of sales, marketing and communications, following her tenure as the acting executive in that role since November 2021. A member of the Nintendo of America team for 16 years, Pritchard previously served as executive vice president of business affairs and publisher relations. While serving as the acting head of sales, marketing and communications, Pritchard has overseen major Nintendo Switch game launches like Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Nintendo Switch Sports. Moving forward, Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution across the U.S. and Canada. In her new role, Pritchard will be report to Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America. Nintendo of America, based in Redmond, serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Americas.

Jul 08, 2022

Imperative

Seattle-based Imperative, an enterprise peer coaching platform, announced that Steve O'Brian has joined the company as chief executive officer. Previously, the company announced the addition of J.R. Jesson as its chief technology officer. O'Brian is a B2B SaaS startup veteran with multiple successful exits and over 20 years of executive experience. Most recently he served as the chief operations officer at Shiftboard. Prior to that, O'Brian served as the vice president of marketing and customer success at Chronus, a leader in mentoring and talent development. Imperative, powered by AI technology, was founded in 2020 by Aaron Hurst.

DreamBox Learning

DreamBox Learning announced that Jennifer Mullin is joining the DreamBox executive team as chief marketing officer to lead marketing strategy, including brand management, corporate communications, marketing operations, and demand creation. Mullin brings more than two decades of marketing leadership from across a broad array of market segments including e-commerce, entertainment, cybersecurity, and education technology for brands such as Leapfrog Enterprises, Visa, Evite, and Gap. Most recently Mullin served as the vice president of marketing for Malwarebytes, a SaaS cybersecurity firm. As DreamBox's chief marketing officer, Mullin will work in close partnership with the company's executive leadership and its sales, product, and customer success teams to connect more school districts with DreamBox's mathematics and reading solutions. DreamBox Learning is a leading K-12 education technology provider, and is headquartered in Bellevue.

Premera

Premera named Amy Humphreys chair of its board of directors. Humphreys replaces Jack Heath, president and chief operating officer of Washington Trust Bank, whose term as the chair expired. Heath remains on the board. Humphreys has 25 years of experience in manufacturing, commodities, global marketing, and distribution, including holding executive leadership positions with large privately held companies across several industries, such as seafood, dairy, and petroleum. Humphreys also has strong roots in the Alaska business community through her past leadership roles with American Seafoods, one of Alaska's largest whitefish suppliers, Alaska seafood processor Icicle Seafoods, Bristol Bay Seafood Investments and Delta Western, a leading petroleum distribution company operating throughout Alaska. Humphreys earned an MBA from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting and finance from the University of Puget Sound. Heath, who joined the Premera board in 2011, began his tenure as the chair in 2018. Heath has held his position at Washington Trust Bank since March 2000. Heath received a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance from the University of Idaho and an MBA in finance from Gonzaga University. While chair, Premera worked to address the primary care crisis and made significant investments in the community through the Premera Social Impact program. Premera Blue Cross, a not-for-profit, independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association based in Mountlake Terrace, is a leading health plan in the Pacific Northwest, providing comprehensive health benefits and tailored services to more than 2.75 million people.

Digistor

Vancouver-based Digistor, a provider of secure storage solutions, announced it tapped cybersecurity technology expert Ben Warner as director of applications engineering. Warner will work closely with customers to identify and prioritize requirements to develop solutions for securely storing Data at Rest. Throughout his career, Warner honed his expertise working with the United States military. He worked on projects involving security and protection of networks holding some of the nation's most sensitive and classified information with Applied Research Solutions at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Warner has also worked with Booz Allen, a leading cyber defense contractor, GE Aviation, and is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.