Apr 14, 2023

Lamb Weston

Smith

Lamb Weston Holdings appointed Mike Smith as the company's chief operating officer, effective May 29, 2023. Smith will continue to report to Tom Werner, president and chief executive officer of Lamb Weston. In this newly created position, Smith will have accountability for the commercial, supply chain, agriculture, marketing and innovation organizations for the company. Smith joined Lamb Weston in 2007. Most recently, he served as senior vice president and general manager, foodservice, retail, marketing & innovation. He previously led strategy development for the company as senior vice president, growth & strategy. He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. In connection with Smith's new role, Sharon Miller will become president, North America, and Marc Schroeder will become president, international, both reporting to Smith. Gerardo Scheufler also will report to Smith in his role as the company's chief supply chain officer. Lamb Weston, along with its joint venture partners, is a supplier of frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers around the world. The company is headquartered in Eagle, Idaho.

BERK Consulting

Cortes

Bjorn

BERK Consulting announced that Andrew Bjorn has been promoted to associate principal and that Katherine Cortes has joined the company as senior associate. Bjorn has been with BERK since 2017 and has 13 years of experience in economics and land use planning. He has expanded BERK's capabilities in pro forma analysis, urban economics, and online tool development. He works with rural communities on economic development strategies and community planning projects, and his client list includes communities, tribes, and organizations across the Pacific Northwest region. Cortes brings more than 20 years of experience in local government and non-profits on a range of fiscal and policy issues. She most recently served as the finance & operations manager for the city of Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. Previously, she worked for the Council of State Governments Justice Center, housing-focused nonprofit Building Changes, and in both the legislative and executive branches of King County. She recently joined the board of ECOSS, an environmental justice nonprofit providing outreach, engagement, and services in the greater Seattle area.

Pacific Office Automation

Pacific Office Automation (POA) has acquired Fenton's Office Solutions (FOS), a Konica Minolta and Epson family dealer in Idaho Falls that serves Southeastern Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. This expands POA's Konica Minolta footprint into three new markets for the company. Fenton's Office Solutions customers and the region will have immediate access to an expanded product and service line including IT services and software, backup and recovery products, cybersecurity, mailing systems, telephony services, commercial security cameras and electric vehicle charging solutions. As part of the transaction, Vernon Fenton will join POA in a consulting capacity and all employees of FOS will become part of the POA team. Founded in 1976, Pacific Office Automation is a privately held office technology company headquartered in Beaverton, with more than 1,300 employees across eight states.

Apr 13, 2023

Woodland Park Zoo

Sweeney

Following a nationwide search, Woodland Park Zoo named Roger Sweeney as its new chief zoological officer. Sweeney will join the zoo directly from North Carolina Zoo, where he is the director of animal management and welfare and a member of their senior management team. His first day at Woodland Park Zoo will be May 1.

The chief zoological officer is the reimagined and realigned role that was previously the chief operations officer, and was designed with an increased focus and call for extensive experience in animal care and project management. Sweeney will lead overall zoological operations in animal care, facilities and maintenance, exhibits, sustainability, and safety and security. Sweeney will support upcoming planning for the zoo's environmental sustainability, as well as a fresh look at the zoo's animal population sustainability. Sweeney's career in zoo leadership has spanned facilities around the world including the United States, Spain, Qatar, Barbados and the United Kingdom. Sweeney currently serves as an Association of Zoos & Aquariums inspector and the Asian Hornbill Saving Animals From Extinction program leader. He has served on numerous national and international animal care and conservation committees and advisory groups. Woodland Park Zoo is currently open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Washington Lottery Commission

Pettigrew

Gov. Jay Inslee named Eric Pettigrew to serve as director of the Washington State Lottery Commission, effective May 1, 2023. Pettigrew replaces Marcus Glasper, who left the position at the end of March to become director the Department of Licensing. Pettigrew is currently vice president of government relations & outreach at Seattle Kraken Hockey, a position he has held since 2019. Pettigrew has decades of experience in public service. From 2003 to 2021, he represented the residents of Washington's 37th legislative district in Washington's House of Representatives, including 10 years as caucus chair. During his tenure, he championed funding for economic development initiatives, community programs and public transit. He also secured key funding to bolster foster care programs, expand higher education opportunities for incarcerated individuals and to promote charter schools in his district. Pettigrew has served on a number of volunteer boards, including Rainier Vista and King County Boys and Girls Clubs, Greater Seattle Business Chamber, Edgar Martinez Foundation, ACT Theater Group, and the Pike Place Market Foundation. He currently serves on the boards of the United Way of King County, the Pacific Science Center, Casey Family Programs and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

Avalara

Avalara, a provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, appointed Sean Flynn as senior vice president of global sales. In his new role, Flynn will be responsible for leading go-to-market sales teams at Avalara, including new and existing sales, customer success, sales development, and solutions engineering. With more than 25 years of experience, Flynn has scaled businesses ranging from startups to established technology companies. He previously led global sales at IBM and held leadership roles at other private equity-backed companies, including as U.S. chief executive officer at Gympass and chief customer officer at InStride. Flynn also served as an armor officer in the U.S. Army, experience that will enhance Avalara's goal of recruiting and retaining military veterans. Headquartered in Seattle, Avalara has offices across the U.S. and around the world in Brazil, Europe, and India.

Apr 12, 2023

Summit Bank

Summit Bank hired Dan Wahlin as senior vice president, commercial team lead for its Westside Portland office. Wahlin spent the majority of his almost 40 year career working in leadership positions with Oregon-based community banks. During his last tenure, he was responsible for managing a team of over 20 commercial bankers. Wahlin attended Portland State University and received his Bachelor of Science in Business Finance and Accounting. He is also an alumni of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado. He has served on various local boards and committees including: finance committee for Community Action of Washington County, chairman of Habitat for Humanity, and the Pilgrim Lutheran School Board, where he served as chairman for 6 years. Wahlin joins the Westside Portland office team that includes: Greg Oakes, senior vice president, business client advisor; Joshua Adams, senior vice president, business client advisor; Zach Weber, associate business client advisor; Chris Barron, vice president, relationship banking manager; and Fernando Lira, business banking associate. Summit Bank has offices in Eugene, Central Oregon, and downtown Portland.

Orca Security

Portland-based Orca Security appointed James Love as president of field operations. In this role, Love will be responsible for all revenue-generating activities including global sales, customer success, and channel partner teams, to support the demand for the company's cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP). Under Love's leadership, Orca Security will implement a 100% channel-led go-to-market strategy. Love joins Orca Security from Illumio, where he served as chief revenue officer. Prior to Illumio, Love grew Arxan Technologies' revenue by almost 500%, leading to an acquisition by private investment firm TPG. Before that, Love served as senior vice president at Imperva. Orca recently secured a patent for its agentless SideScanning technology, and was recognized as the AWS Global Security Partner of the Year. Additionally, Gartner recognized Orca Security as a representative vendor for CNAPP in its 2023 Gartner Market Guide for Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms, and Frost & Sullivan honored Orca with a 2023 Customer Value Leadership Award.

Lasher Holzapfel

Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson is celebrating 50 years of practicing law. On April 1, 1973, Earl Lasher decided to launch a law firm with a couple of friends from the University of Washington School of Law - Jeff Brotman and Mike Sweet. That firm would become Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson. Today, the firm stands at 35 attorneys supported by a team of paralegals and staff. In 2023, Lasher boasted 27 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, 18 Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch honorees, six Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year recipients and Seven U.S. News Best Lawyers Best Law Firms rankings. Lasher provides comprehensive legal services for select businesses, their owners and families. Areas of practice include business and tax law, divorce and family law, general civil litigation, creditors' rights and bankruptcy, employment law, estate planning, probate and related litigation, and real estate law.