Jan 23, 2024

Geffen Mesher

Portland-based accounting firm Geffen Mesher announced that Anne Tankersley, Paige Lukens, and Rachel Henrichs had each been promoted to shareholder at the firm. Tankersley joined Geffen Mesher in 2008 and has over 10 years of experience auditing a variety of employee benefit plans, including 401(k), pension, employee stock ownership, and health and welfare plans. She has provided plan auditing services to a wide range of clients, including professional service firms and manufacturing companies, and also provides financial statement assurance and accounting services to clients, emphasizing hospitality, real estate, and investment companies. Lukens joined the firm in 2008, and has worked in both tax and audit. She is focused on providing tax services to clients in the industries of real estate, manufacturing, homebuilding, and professional services. Henrichs started her career focusing on long-term care communities. After transitioning to Geffen Mesher in 2016, she has expanded her expertise to include the greater real estate industry, focusing on the entire life cycle of a project – development, management and leasing, and ultimate sale or exchange. She is adept at navigating the requirements of Opportunity Zones and Section 1031 exchanges. With these additions, Geffen Mesher now has 20 shareholders firmwide. Michael Rompa is the CEO of Geffen Mesher.

Washington Wine Industry

The Washington wine industry is launching a fellowship for emerging writers and communicators. The Allen Shoup Memorial Fellowship is an industry-wide collaboration that brings together the Washington State Wine Commission, Auction of Washington Wines, Washington Winegrowers Association, Washington Wine Industry Foundation, individuals, wineries and growers. The Fellowship was established in memory of Allen Shoup, who passed away in 2022. Shoup played a pioneering role in developing Washington's wine industry as the longtime head of the state's biggest winery, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, and later as the owner of his own winery, Long Shadows Vintners. Funded entirely through donations, the fellowship awards one writer or communicator each year with an immersive trip to Washington's vineyards and wineries, along with a stipend. An expert panel will choose the fellowship recipient, with input from an industry advisory committee. The 2024 selection panel includes: Karen MacNeil, Karen MacNeil & Co.; Sean Sullivan, Northwest Wine Report; Eric Degerman, Great Northwest Wine; Devyani Gupta, Valdemar Estates; and Dane Narbaitz, Long Shadows Vintners. The deadline to apply is February 29, 2024. Any questions about the fellowship should be directed towards Heather Bradshaw at hbradshaw@washingtonwine.org.

Cyemptive Technologies

Seattle-based Cyemptive Technologies, a provider of pre-emptive cybersecurity solutions for business and government, has named Microsoft veteran Paul Hiteshew as vice president of solutions consulting. In his new role, Hiteshew will be leading a team of cybersecurity experts that provide cybersecurity architectural blueprints for Cyemptive customers. His responsibilities will include leading pre-sales technical support for strategic industry partners and their customers, consulting with customers to understand their current cybersecurity risk profile and mapping their journey to achieving maximum cybersecurity readiness. Hiteshew brings with him nearly 25 years of experience in IT operations, IT enterprise and cyber defense at Microsoft. Most recently, Hiteshew was with Lighthouse Global, where he served as executive director of IT and security engineering. Cyemptive's leadership team is comprised of executives from several technology and security organizations, including the former CIO of Microsoft and the former chief computer architect for the National Security Agency.

Jan 19, 2024

NW Natural Renewables

NW Natural Renewables Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company, has promoted Anna Chittum to president of NW Natural Renewables. Chittum replaces Mike Kotyk. NW Natural Renewables focuses on providing renewable natural gas (RNG) to a variety of sectors. Chittum has been leading the development of RNG and renewable hydrogen for NW Natural. Previously, she consulted on business models and regulatory structures for district energy, microgrids, and combined heat and power systems and worked to promote energy efficiency policies for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Chittum was a Fulbright Fellow in Denmark, where she researched local district heat planning and the use of combined heat and power systems to balance variable wind generation. She holds degrees from Gonzaga University and Columbia University. Northwest Natural Holding Company is headquartered in Portland, and has been doing business for over 160 years in the Pacific Northwest.

Parse Biosciences

Parse Biosciences, a provider of accessible and scalable single cell sequencing solutions, announced it has acquired data analysis software company Biomage. With the acquisition, customers will have access to a richer suite of single cell data analysis tools. The Biomage platform was launched in 2021, and currently maintains a user base of nearly 4,000 researchers globally, with approximately 200 scientists accessing the platform daily. All current Biomage staff members are being integrated into the existing Parse team. Founded based on a technology invented at the University of Washington, Parse has raised over $100 million and is used by over 1,000 labs across the world. Its portfolio of products includes Evercode Whole Transcriptome, Evercode TCR, Gene Capture, and a software tool for data analysis. Headquartered in Seattle's South Lake Union district, Parse Biosciences recently opened a 34,000 square foot headquarters and state-of-the-art laboratory.

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors

Bordeaux Wealth Advisors has been named a top 100 Registered Investment Advisor in the nation by SmartAsset as measured by average Assets Under Management per client relationship. SmartAsset reviewed nearly 5.800 firms registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and ranked them according to average balances per account. Bordeaux's practice centers on serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, providing investment, financial and tax advice. In addition to investments, Bordeaux's service model incorporates estate and wealth transfer planning, tax planning, charitable gifting strategies, and equity compensation planning. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors has offices in Silicon Valley and Seattle.

Jan 18, 2024

Berk Consulting

Ferdouse Oneza has joined Berk Consulting as an associate principal. Oneza brings extensive experience in local government planning, policy and regulations development and implementation, and public engagement. She has more than two decades of experience in public and private sector planning and project management. Her experience working for the city of Kennewick and running her own consulting firm deepens Berk's existing connections in eastern and central Washington. She also spent five years as CEO of Spreeha Foundation, focused on empowering people in communities to thrive through healthcare, education, skills training, and economic opportunities.

Berk is an interdisciplinary consultancy integrating strategy, planning, and policy development; financial and economic analysis; and facilitation, design, and communications.

City of SeaTac

The SeaTac City Council selected Councilmember Mohamed Egal as mayor and Councilmember Iris Guzman as deputy mayor. Mayor Egal works as a King County Municipal Court interpreter, assisting in the translations and interpretation of English materials to Somali speakers. He has over two decades of senior social services program management experience. Egal is the chair of the Planning and Economic Development Committee, a member of the Parks and Recreation Committee and a member of the King County Sheriff's Office Community Advisory Committee. Deputy Mayor Iris Guzman is the chair of the Parks & Recreation Committee and a member of the Administration & Finance Committee.

Boise Cascade

Boise Cascade announced the retirement of Tom Hoffmann, senior vice president of purchasing, Building Materials Distribution division, effective March 1. Hoffmann joined Boise Cascade in 1981. He served in leadership positions over the years, including division operations manager, Pacific region manager, and Denver branch manager. He holds a bachelor's degree in business with a dual major in management and marketing from the University of Idaho. He was promoted to vice president in 2016 and senior vice president in 2021. He currently oversees the procurement, safety, and transportation functions for the BMD division. Boise Cascade produces engineered wood products and plywood, and is a leading U.S. wholesale distributor of building products.