Feb 08, 2024

Dept. of Natural Resources and Parks

Taylor

King County Executive Dow Constantine appointed John Taylor as the new director for the Department of Natural Resource and Parks, where Taylor will manage one of the largest metropolitan natural resource agencies in the country. Taylor has served as the inaugural director for the King County Department of Local Services since 2018 when Constantine established the agency to better serve the nearly 250,000 residents who live in unincorporated communities. He previously served as a member of the leadership team at the Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Taylor will lead an agency that manages a large portfolio of services and initiatives that protect and restore the region's natural environment, including climate action, land conservation, protecting water quality, restoring habitat, reducing waste, and promoting equitable access to parks and trails. He will lead a workforce of 2,000 employees and manage the largest capital portfolio of any King County government agency. He has 20 years of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors, contributing to Vermont's first Smart Growth legislation, Seattle's Restore Our Waters Initiative, and establishing the Puget Sound Partnership. Taylor previously served as a strategic advisor to the director of Seattle Public Utilities, legislative analyst for the Seattle City Council, and senior policy advisor to the governor of Vermont. Taylor will begin serving as director of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks on Feb. 12. He will replace Christie True, who is retiring after a 39-year career at the agency, including 13 years as department director. Mo McBroom will continue to serve as the department's deputy director. Taylor's appointment is subject to confirmation by the King County Council. The Executive Office will begin recruiting for a new director for the Department of Local Services.

Port of Everett

Gerking

Erik Gerking has been promoted to serve as the new chief of planning & development for the Port of Everett, a new role responsible for leading the implementation of Port development, long-range planning and environmental efforts. Gerking is a 14-year veteran at the Port, where he has been an instrumental team member in numerous efforts, involving restoring and revitalizing the environment and modernizing waterfront properties. He has also led the Port's environmental stewardship and sustainability programming, incorporating green measures and enhancing environmental protections within each of the Port's business lines. With Gerking at the helm, he and the Port team have completed many environmental projects, most recently, the Norton Terminal Cleanup and Development, 353-acre Blue Heron Slough Restoration, Bay Wood Shoreline Cleanup and Habitat Restoration, Everett Shipyard Cleanup and Central Marina Improvements, plus 65 acres of environmental cleanup to pave the way for today's Waterfront Place mixed-use development. Gerking joined the Port of Everett in 2009, after nine years of environmental consulting for ports and other clients. He is actively involved in various committees of the Washington Public Ports Association, as well as the American Association of Port Authorities where he is currently completing the Professional Port Management Program. In addition to Gerking, some other recent Port leadership news include John Klekotka's new title as chief of engineering & construction, promotions of Robert Marion to director of finance, Catherine Soper to director of external affairs & business development, Ken Scott to IT manager and Jacob Kirschner to environmental project manager, and the hiring of Cara Craig as the new director of trade development. The Port is actively seeking a chief administrative & financial officer to manage the Port's $83 million operating and capital budget, while also overseeing all financial, risk management, purchasing, technology and HR functions of the Port.

Feb 07, 2024

Pacific Office Automation

Pacific Office Automation (POA) has acquired Maunakea Integrated Solutions, a local Sharp, HP, and Kyocera family dealer based in Honolulu, Hawaii that services all of the Hawaiian islands. All employees will become a part of the POA team. Trevor Maunakea, former president of Maunakea Integrated Solutions, will stay with the company as general manager. Maunakea Integrated Solutions serves various industries across the state, from healthcare and government to finance, education, real estate, law, and nonprofits, and provides document imaging, mailing solutions, document workflow, and commercial printing. As the company grows, it will aim to focus on maintaining a strong relationship with Sharp and adding managed IT and software services, security cameras, and production print. Palani Correa, a tenured sales representative, will move from the Portland office to Honolulu and assume the role of branch sales manager. Founded in 1976, Pacific Office Automation is a privately held office technology company headquartered in Beaverton. POA has more than 1,350 employees across eleven states, and provides managed print services, enterprise level IT services, software, office equipment, and unified communications all over the United States.

PABCO Roofing Products

Tacoma-based PABCO Roofing Products is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The family-owned business manufactures asphalt shingles, serving the contractors in the Western United States and their customers. PABCO Roofing Products is a division of PABCO Building Products which services the building industry in the Western United States and Canada. PABCO Building Products is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Coast Building Products, a manufacturer and supplier of building materials for more than 70 years.

Feb 06, 2024

Exxel Pacific

Marshall

Exxel Pacific has promoted Donna Marshall to chief financial officer. Over the past 12 years, Marshall has worked very closely with Exxel's prior CFO, developing her corporate finance oversight capabilities. In addition to day-to-day financial oversight, she represents Exxel's financial relationships with its ESOP, banking, bonding and accounting partners.

Washington Wine Industry Foundation

The Washington Wine Industry Foundation recently elected its 2024 Board of Directors. Re-elected for a three-year term to the board were: Paul Champoux, owner, Lady Hawk Vineyard; Roger Gamache, owner, Dalee Vineyard, and manager/member, Gamache Vintners; Bill Shibley, Sr., agriculture officer/VP, Wheatland Bank; and Sherri Swingle, consultant, charitable giving and marketing. Elected to her first term on the board was Claire Mitchell, partner, Stoel Rives. Mitchell has spent more than a decade representing wineries and other beverage alcohol and hospitality businesses in the Pacific Northwest. She advises producers both regional and national, importers, vineyards, restaurants, hotel operators, alcohol brand owners, and others on a wide range of state and federal alcohol regulatory and licensing matters. Other board members include: Cory Brown, CFO, Long Shadows; Jeremy Camden, senior vice president, Bank of America; Catherine Jones, specialty crop advisor, Wilbur-Ellis Co.; Craig Pacheco, attorney, Stoel Rives; and Adam Ramirez, president, Coventry Vale. Since 2002 the non-profit foundation has been awarded over $3 million in grants supporting winemaking and winegrape growing, and has awarded $480,000 to over 250 viticulture and enology students.

Feb 02, 2024

Washington Federal Bank

WaFd, Inc., the parent company of Washington Federal Bank, and Luther Burbank Corporation, the parent company of Luther Burbank Savings, jointly announced that they received the required regulatory approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions for Luther Burbank Savings to be merged with and into Washington Federal Bank, and from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for Luther Burbank to be merged with and into WaFd, Inc. This merger will expand WaFd Bank's footprint to nine western states with the addition of ten California branches of Luther Burbank. The merger is expected to be completed by February 29, 2024, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement. System and brand integration efforts are expected to be completed in the first week of March 2024 so that Luther Burbank customers can access the WaFd Bank platform and service offerings. As previously announced, two directors from Luther Burbank, Brad Shuster and Max Yzaguirre, will join the WaFd, Inc. and WaFd Bank Boards of Directors following the closing. Luther Burbank is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California.

Swire Shipping

Swire Shipping announced that Westwood Shipping Lines, a niche vessel operator specializing in the trade between the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia, will change its name to Swire Shipping. Swire Shipping acquired Westwood in June 2022 as part of a growth strategy to expand its liner network in North America.

The rebranding builds on Westwood's legacy, leveraging capabilities in containers, networks, and projects across the global Swire Shipping network to better serve customers throughout North America, Japan, South Korea, and China. Swire Shipping will continue to operate its Puyallup office as the regional hub for its North America operations. Seven vessels from the Swire Shipping owned fleet will operate on the Westwood service within the expanded global network, with four vessels retaining their existing Westwood name and green hulls in a nod to its 130-year legacy. Harry Stones is the president of Swire Shipping North America. In recognition of the strong ties with Japanese customers and their supply chains, as well as to strengthen its transpacific reach, Swire Shipping also announced the establishment of a new office in Tokyo, bringing representation in-house and enabling more direct engagement with customers. Headquartered in Singapore, Swire Shipping is the wholly owned, deep-sea ship-owning and operating arm of the multinational Swire group.

Alaska Power & Telephone

The Board of Directors of Alaska Power & Telephone named William Marks president & CEO. He will succeed Michael Garrett, who previously announced his planned retirement after more than 34 years with the company. Garrett will serve as the senior advisor to Marks through March 31, 2024, to facilitate the transition. Marks has over 30 years of experience the cable TV and satellite industries. He was a founder and president of DBS Direct/DIRECTV, a direct-to-home satellite television network, and CEO of Seamobile, the parent company of Maritime Telecommunications Network, which provided the first satellite broadband connectivity to the cruise ship industry, including the ships that frequent Southeast Alaska. In 2007 Marks won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for his role as the CEO and chairman of the board of Seamobile. Alaska Power & Telephone is an employee- and investor-owned utility providing broadband, communications, and energy services in over 40 communities throughout rural Alaska.