Aug 31, 2023

The Standard

McEleney

Mannino

The Standard announced that Kevin Mannino and Sarah McEleney are joining Retirement Plan Sales — each in a new national sales director role. With an increase in demand for services in the company's $25 million-and-above asset market segment, the roles were created to enhance the delivery of strategies and tools to these customers. Mannino has 12 years of experience in the retirement industry. He spent most of his career generating new business for mid- to large-sized retirement plans at Prudential Retirement. Prior to joining The Standard, Mannino served as senior director of distribution at Principal Financial Group. McEleney has over 20 years of experience in the retirement industry, mostly with mid- and large-sized retirement plans. She has worked as a retirement plan advisor and in a variety of recordkeeping roles, including product development, sales and relationship management. Prior to joining The Standard, McEleney was director of sales strategy at Transamerica. The Standard is the marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group and its subsidiaries. All are Oregon corporations.

ESS Inc.

ESS Inc., a manufacturer of long-duration energy storage (LDES) for commercial and utility-scale applications, named Harry Quarls as board chair. Michael Niggli, ESS founding board chair, will remain on the board to assist with this transition. With over 40 years of energy experience, Quarls brings strategic, financial, transactional and energy investing experience to ESS as the company continues to scale to meet global demand for LDES. Quarls served as a managing director at Global Infrastructure Partners, leading its efforts in North American energy midstream investments, and as managing director and practice leader for Global Energy, as well as a board member at Booz & Co. Quarls currently is board chair for CHC Helicopter, Key Energy Services, and Mesquite Energy. He is also a director at Seadrill and has served on the boards of a number of private and public companies. Established in 2011, ESS is based in Wilsonville, Oregon.

PotlatchDeltic

Spokane-based PotlatchDeltic appointed Wayne Wasechek as vice president and chief financial officer. Wasechek has served as interim vice president, chief financial officer and chief accounting officer since April 19. Previously, he was PotlatchDeltic's controller and principal accounting officer since 2018, where he led the accounting and treasury functions. He was vice president and assistant controller of Vail Resorts from 2011 to 2018, and senior director of financial reporting of Vail Resorts from 2006 to 2011. Wasechek, a certified public accountant, began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers. PotlatchDeltic is a real estate investment trust that owns nearly 2.2 million acres of timberlands in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina. Through its taxable REIT subsidiary, the company also operates six sawmills, an industrial-grade plywood mill, a residential and commercial real estate development business, and a rural timberland sales program.

Aug 30, 2023

NanoString Technologies

Garland

Seattle-based NanoString Technologies, a provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, appointed Todd Garland as chief commercial officer. Garland has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare and life sciences technologies that serve customers in the discovery, translational and clinical markets. Most recently, he served as chief commercial officer at Cytek Biosciences, a provider of flow cytometry products and services. Prior to joining Cytek, Garland spent 6 years at BD Biosciences as vice president and general manager responsible for all commercial functions including marketing, sales, service and support. Prior to that, he was vice president of Sales at CareFusion, a medical device company, and also held a variety of commercial leadership roles at Cardinal Health. Garland earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from California Polytechnic State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

City of Tacoma

The City of Tacoma has partnered with the Tacoma Tree Foundation to launch Tacoma's Community Tree Program. The program will focus on increasing the urban tree canopy across Tacoma in an equitable manner through neighborhood-based planting projects and tree giveaways, as well as educational activities that highlight the social and environmental benefits of trees. Through the City's Neighborhood Planning Program, residents in Tacoma's McKinley Hill Neighborhood had identified their top priorities. These priorities include developing a neighborhood tree planting program which focuses on outreach and aims to achieve a 25 percent tree canopy cover in the business district and a 35 percent tree canopy cover in residential areas. In direct response, the Community Tree Program will offer 250 street trees to McKinley Hill residents this fall through Green Blocks: McKinley Hill. Requests from residents for free street trees in McKinley Hill project area will be accepted now through September 17. Additional information, including how to request free street trees is available at tacomatreefoundation.org/green-blocks-mckinley.

Gene Juarez Salons & Spas

Gene Juarez Salons & Spas is opening its 10th and newest salon in downtown Bellingham this week, with another location in Gig Harbor projected for early November. Gene Juarez's Bellingham shop, located at 1411 Railroad Ave., is the company's first in the North Cascades area and will feature salon services as well as skincare, waxing, and eyelash/brow services. Gene Juarez CEO Katie Trent received her bachelor's degree from Western Washington University in Bellingham. Gene Juarez's Gig Harbor shop will be at 4779 Point Fosdick Dr. N.W., Suite 200, in the former location of Studio Six: The Salon and Spa. The shop's targeted opening is Nov. 11. In June, the company announced that it had sold its Gene Juarez Academy beauty school in Federal Way to Paul Mitchell Schools North Star Group to focus on its salon and spa locations throughout the Puget Sound region.

Aug 29, 2023

Armanino

Armanino, a accounting and consulting firm, appointed Sam Coursey as Pacific Northwest growth leader and added new partners Katrina Perlewitz, formerly of Ernst & Young, and Jason Woon, a former KPMG managing director and M&A valuations specialist, to the Bellevue office. In his new role, Coursey will concentrate on enhancing Armanino's market strategies, fostering team collaboration, and reinforcing the firm's presence in the region. Perlewitz will focus on corporate and partnership tax matters. Perlewitz spent over 15 years at Ernst & Young, and prior to that, worked at KPMG. She holds a master's degree in accounting from the University of Florida. A Seattle-area native and University of Washington alum, Woon is a partner on Armanino's Valuation & Financial Modeling Services team, bringing expertise from roles at KPMG, the SoftBank Vision Fund and other corporate venture capital and M&A finance teams. Armanino provides an integrated set of audit, tax, business management, consulting and technology solutions to companies in the U.S. and globally.

KOMO/Seattle

Sinclair Broadcast Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair, Inc., announced that KOMO in Seattle, has been honored by the Radio Television Digital News Association with a National Edward R. Murrow Award. The Murrow Awards recognize outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism. KOMO news anchor Eric Johnson and the Eric's Heroes team were honored in the Sports Reporting/Large Market Television category for Birth of a Boom, a story about a Bainbridge Island family that invented the sport of pickleball, 58 years ago. Johnson's Birth of a Boom earned him his third consecutive National Murrow Award win and is the only National Murrow Award winner in the Seattle market this year. Sinclair, Inc., owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets.