Jan 10, 2025

Mechanical Contractors Association

Leonard

Frank Leonard of the Key Mechanical was elected president of the board of directors of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Western Washington for the term 2025-2026. Other newly elected board members include Matt Campbell, vice president, General Mechanical; Geno Timmons, secretary/treasurer, Enviromech; and directors Maria Boyer, MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions; and Jennifer Koch, McKinstry Co. Jeff White of Holmberg Mechanical is the immediate past president. The Mechanical Contractors Association of Western Washington membership consists of union-signatory plumbing, piping and HVAC/R contractors throughout western Washington. The association’s mission includes developing and promoting the mechanical contracting industry and exploring and supporting industry best practices.

Jan 09, 2025

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

Schlosser

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) has appointed Jacob Schlosser as vice president of human resources. In this role, Schlosser will oversee all activities related to benefits, compensation and hiring as well as environmental health and safety, learning and development, and university relations. Schlosser began his career at SEL in 2004 as a human resources intern while a student at Washington State University. Over the next 12 years, he held various positions of increasing responsibility within the HR division. In 2017, he transitioned into the Manufacturing division, where he took on leadership of the SEL manufacturing operation in Lewiston, Idaho, before assuming his most recent role as a senior manufacturing director. Schlosser earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from Washington State University. Pullman-based SEL invents, designs and builds digital products and systems that protect power grids around the world.

Ballard Spahr

Ballard Spahr and Lane Powell have completed their combination effective Jan. 1 — creating a firm of more than 750 lawyers in 18 U.S. offices. The combination will expand the firms' collective capabilities in litigation, corporate transactions, real estate, finance and intellectual property. The combined firm will operate under the Ballard Spahr name and will be led by its chair, Peter Michaud. Barbara Duffy, who served as Lane Powell's president, will serve on Ballard Spahr's Executive Committee. Patrick Franke will serve as board observer and co-leader of the firm's Corporate practice, alongside Ballard Spahr's Barbara Lano Rummel. To help introduce the market and Lane Powell clients to Ballard Spahr, the firm may be referred to as Ballard Spahr Lane Powell in the Pacific Northwest during a transition period. The combination will increase across-the-board service offerings in a number of key industries, including banking and finance, health care and senior living, transportation, and life sciences. It expands Ballard Spahr's geographic footprint into the Pacific Northwest, giving the firm new offices in Anchorage, Portland and Seattle. Seattle will be Ballard Spahr's largest office outside of Philadelphia. “Combining with Ballard enables us to bring a far greater range of services — and a national platform — to our clients,” said Duffy. “Ballard Spahr shares our values and our focus on holistic strategy, a team approach, and shared accountability. That has been a hallmark of Lane Powell for 150 years, and our clients can rest assured that it will continue after this combination.”

PSCSC

Mayor Bruce Harrell appointed Queniya Mays to the Public Safety Civil Service Commission (PSCSC). She began her three-year term on Jan. 1. Mays has over 18 years of expertise in human resources roles across the United States Army, city of Seattle, King County, and the state of Washington. In addition to her public service, Mays has contributed to the private and nonprofit sectors. As CEO of JL Consulting Group, and director of HR services and entrepreneurship at Vault89, she oversees programs that provide training and mentorship to previously incarcerated individuals.

Jan 08, 2025

Regence BlueShield

Cole

Regence BlueShield named Michael Cole as its new market president. Cole, currently the market president of Regence's health plan in Oregon, will add Washington to his portfolio while retaining his duties in the neighboring state. In addition to the Oregon market, Cole will oversee strategy and growth for Regence BlueShield, which serves more than 1.6 million people in Washington. He takes over for Claire Verity, who is retiring this month after a three-decade career in the health care industry, including four years as president of Regence BlueShield. In his expanded role, Cole will provide continuity by drawing on his experience working with producers, providers and community partners in the Northwest. Many Regence business partners, including providers, brokers and employers, work across both Washington and Oregon. Before joining Regence in 2023, he served as president of Aetna's North Atlantic territory, where he oversaw 11 states and 6 million members. Cole brings more than 20 years of executive health care leadership experience across a wide spectrum of the industry, including payer, payment integrity and health care diagnostics. Cole is a longtime board member at Erie Family Health Centers, a federally qualified health center providing safety-net care for the underserved, and on the board of Trillium Family Services, a behavioral health provider in Oregon. Regence BlueShield has been providing health care solutions to Washingtonians in select counties for more than a century.

Boeing

Boeing named Dana Deasy as the company's new chief information digital officer and senior vice president, Information Technology & Data Analytics. Deasy will oversee all aspects of information technology, information security, and data and analytics. He will report to Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg and serve on the company's Executive Council. “Dana is a well-respected, global technology leader who has a track record of delivering on innovative technologies across large and complex organizations,” said Ortberg. “With the need to stay vigilant to protect against cyber threats, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence playing a larger role across all industries, our IT team will have a key role as we focus on meeting our safety and quality goals, delivering reliably for our customers and positioning ourselves for the future.” Deasy brings to Boeing more than 40 years of technology and leadership experience and a career that has spanned multiple industries. Most recently, he served as chief information officer at the U.S. Department of Defense and before that, at JPMorganChase, BP and General Motors. His career started in information management at Rockwell's Space Systems Division. Deasy replaces Susan Doniz, who left the company late last year.

Jan 07, 2025

NWCCA

Flinn

Knutson

Kahler

Orlosky

Mehrer

Sumison

Harris

The Northwest Wall and Ceiling Contractors Association has elected its officers for 2025, including Kurt Mehrer of Mehrer Drywall as board president. Other officers are vice-president Robert Orlosky of Olympic Interiors, and James Kahler of Northwest Partitions as secretary-treasurer. Directors are Greg Knutson of G.K. Knutson, Andrew Flinn of Firstline Systems, Rick Harris of Performance Contracting, and immediate past-president Nathan Sumsion of Western Partition. The NWCCA mission is to provide exceptional member services, harmonious labor relations through unified employer representation, and the advancement of industry standards to empower and strengthen signatory wall and ceiling contractors' businesses.

King County Superior Court

Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Susan Llorens to the King County Superior Court to fill one of the two new seats approved by the King County Council, effective Jan. 1. Llorens' nearly 20-year legal career includes serving as an assistant attorney general in multiple divisions of the Washington State Office of the Attorney General. Most recently, she has served as a section chief and appellate advisor of the agency's Complex Litigation Division, where she is responsible for opioid-related litigation and manages a team of attorneys and staff in support of that effort. She has also litigated other significant and complex civil cases related to violations of the Consumer Protection Act and the constitutionality of state statutes. Llorens has twice received the attorney genera's Excellence Award for her work. Llorens also previously served as a senior staff attorney for the Court of Appeals, Division I. In addition, Llorens has served as a pro tem judicial officer since 2014, including as a pro tem commissioner for King County Superior Court and a pro tem judge for Seattle Municipal Court. Llorens has presided over a broad range of matters, including those pertaining to dependent children, involuntary commitment proceedings, arraignments, trial setting and sentencing hearings. Llorens earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas and her law degree from the University of Washington School of Law.