Nov 17, 2022

ExtraHop

Seattle-based ExtraHop, a provider of cloud-native network intelligence, appointed Chris Scanlan as president and chief commercial officer. Scanlan will lead the company’s international expansion initiatives while overseeing the global sales, sales engineering, channel sales, and renewals functions. Scanlan has more than 25 years of experience in the technology and cybersecurity industry. Most recently, he was CEO of Defy Security, a cybersecurity value-added reseller. Prior to that role, Scanlan was president of Americas for Check Point Software and senior vice president of North America sales for Cylance. He also brings extensive experience in the channel and partner ecosystem to his role through a long tenure at Optiv. Scanlan sits on the advisory board of numerous cybersecurity startups.

Tracer

Boise-based Appdetex announced the company’s rebrand to Tracer and the launch of the next generation of its flagship Tracer Platform. The SaaS platform leverages human-in-the-loop AI and machine learning to continuously trace, analyze and mitigate brand misuse across global Web2 and Web3 digital sources, including online marketplaces, NFT marketplaces, social media channels, mobile app stores, domains, websites, online advertising and paid search channels. Built on more than a decade of real-world brand protection experience, the Tracer Platform enables businesses to decrease the mean time to detect and enforce instances of brand misuse. Tracer’s latest investments in product engineering and data science have resulted in advancements across all core functionality of the next-generation Tracer Platform, including Tracer Protect, which provides online brand protection. Tracer Protect automates the detection of infringing content, the classification and scoring of infringements, the correlation of bad actor networks, and the enforcement of customer directives.

Resilient Infrastructure Group

Industry veteran Walter Lynch has joined Resilient Infrastructure Group as a senior advisor to the board of directors. Resilient develops, funds, and manages a portfolio of wastewater, water and related infrastructure assets in the U.S. and Canada. Lynch’s water and wastewater utility experience includes multiple senior level positions within American Water across several regions, serving his last 14 years with the company as both the CEO and COO. Prior to American Water, he was an entrepreneur in the resource recovery sector, selling his business to Waste Management and working as an executive for Synagro, a residuals industry company. He has served on numerous boards, including the National Association of Water Companies and the Water Research Foundation. Partners Group, a global private markets firm, acting on behalf of its clients, acquired Resilient Infrastructure Group in 2021. The company is headquartered in Portland.

Autonomy

Electric vehicle subscription company Autonomy is expanding its geographic footprint to the Seattle area. Autonomy’s subscription model offers a way to get an electric vehicle that does not require the long-term debt or commitment that comes with buying or leasing. Autonomy subscribers can pay their subscription on their credit card or through their bank account, and can subscribe month to month after a three-month minimum hold period. Vehicles are available for delivery or pickup within weeks. The company was founded by Scott Painter and Georg Bauer, who founded Fair, a used-vehicle subscription service. Autonomy will leverage its recently announced national partnership with AutoNation for vehicle preparation and delivery services in connection with customer activation, as well as maintenance, repair and reconditioning services. Autonomy offers the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y and will soon add the full Tesla lineup, among other makes and models. In August, Autonomy ordered 23,000 electric vehicles, with the order totaling more than $1.2 billion. Autonomy is based in Santa Monica, California.

Nov 16, 2022

Symetra

Work

Symetra Life Insurance promoted Mindi Work to executive vice president, Individual Life Division and Emerging Solutions. Most recently senior vice president and chief of strategy, Work reports to Margaret Meister, president and chief executive officer, Symetra Financial Corporation. She succeeds Jon Stenberg, who has left the company. A member of the Symetra Leadership Team, Work has played a key role in multiple corporate initiatives since joining the company in 2006 from Ernst & Young. As vice president, finance, she led Symetra's SEC reporting team during the company's initial public offering in 2010 and was involved in the accounting for Symetra's 2016 acquisition by Sumitomo Life Insurance. Work was promoted to senior vice president and chief of strategy in December 2019, with oversight for corporate strategic planning, including the development, design and execution of strategic initiatives supporting Symetra's customer-centric business focus. In March 2022, her role expanded to include leadership of Emerging Solutions, the team responsible for emerging opportunities, experiences, new lines of business and technologies, enterprise wide. She will retain her emerging solutions responsibilities in addition to her role leading the Individual Life business at Symetra. Symetra Life Insurance is a subsidiary of Symetra Financial Corporation, a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue.

Ossia

Ossia has been featured in TIME's list of the Best Inventions 2022, featuring 200 innovations changing our lives. To compile the list, TIME solicited nominations from TIME's editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields—such as the electric vehicle industry, green energy, and the metaverse. TIME then evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. Ossia's Cota Power Table leverages Cota Real Wireless Power for table charging. The wirelessly powered table is designed with hospitality businesses, such as hotels, airports, quick service restaurants, and coffee shops, in mind, and provides a flexible in-store experience for powering (or charging) multiple guest and employee devices simultaneously while eliminating competition for scarce outlets. The Cota Power Table can charge many devices simultaneously and automatically without wires, plugs, or charging pads. Ossia is headquartered in Redmond.

Jackson Lewis

Nationwide employment law firm Jackson Lewis announced that the firm's Seattle office has earned a Tier 1 Metropolitan designation in the Labor Law – Management category by U.S. News and Best Lawyers for 2023 Best Law Firms. The Best Law Firms rankings are based on the opinions of general counsel at major U.S. corporations as well as prominent legal practitioners. Focused on labor and employment law since 1958, Jackson Lewis employees over 950 attorneys in offices nationwide.

Nov 15, 2022

Yesler

Welch

Yesler hired Michael Welch as vice president of sales, where he will lead the sales and customer experience program. Welch has over 25 years of sales experience, and prior to joining Yesler held roles at New Relic, Thales, Verivo, Safenet and Microvision. Yesler Marketplace is a platform of software tools built specifically for managing and optimizing the buying and selling of lumber and building materials. Matt Meyers is the CEO and founder of Seattle-based Yesler.

Ascensus Specialties

Ascensus Specialties acquired the business and certain assets of Strem Chemicals UK, the independent distributor of Ascensus high-purity, research-grade catalysts, ligands, organometallics, metal carbonyls and CVD/ALD precursors for the UK market. The senior leadership of Strem UK will continue to work with Ascensus to ensure the smooth transition of customer relationships. Ascensus Specialties is headquartered in Bellevue, and operates production sites in Elma, Washington; Evans City, Pennsylvania; Newburyport, Massachusetts; and Cambridge, UK,

Washington Federal

Washington Federal and Luther Burbank jointly announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement. Washington Federal will acquire Luther Burbank and its subsidiary Luther Burbank Savings in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $654 million. The transaction is anticipated to close as early as the second calendar quarter of 2023, and will expand Washington Federal's franchise into California. The combined institution will have approximately $29 billion in total assets, $23 billion in total loans and $22 billion in total deposits with over 210 locations in Washington, California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. Washington Federal was advised in the transaction by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, A Stifel Company as financial advisor and Davis Wright Tremaine as legal counsel. Luther Burbank was advised by Piper Sandler & Co. as financial advisor and Holland & Knight as legal counsel. Washington Federal is headquartered in Seattle. Luther Burbank is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California.

Schnitzer Steel Industries

Schnitzer Steel Industries announced that its board of directors has appointed Gregory Friedman as a new independent director. Friedman will serve on the audit committee and the compensation and human resources committee of the board. Friedman currently serves as the chief financial officer of Mura Technology, a plastics recycling technology company supported by investments by multiple petrochemical and industrial companies. Friedman served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Corteva Agriscience, a spin-off of DowDuPont. This appointment brings Schnitzer's board of directors to nine members. Schnitzer Steel Industries manufactures and exports recycled metal products, with operating facilities in 25 states, Puerto Rico, and Western Canada. Schnitzer has seven deep water export facilities located on both the East and West Coasts and in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The company was founded in 1906 in Portland.