Feb 25, 2025

Whatcom Community College

Guillory

The Whatcom Community College Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Justin Guillory as the college's new president, effective May 1. Following the announcement of the retirement of its current president, Dr. Kathi Hiyane-Brown, the board engaged Gold Hill Associates to conduct a comprehensive nationwide search. Guillory was selected for his distinguished record in higher education leadership and a shared vision for the future of the college. Guillory has over 20 years of experience in higher education, 18 of which include serving in various capacities at Northwest Indian College, including 12 years as the president. He previously served as a graduate assistant/mentor program coordinator within the Office of Multicultural Student Services at Washington State University. Guillory has served on the boards of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the American Indian College Fund, and the Washington Governors University Advisory Board. Guillory has a PhD in higher education administration, a master's degree from WSU, and a bachelor's degree from Eastern Washington University. Whatcom Community College is located in Bellingham.

Protect AI

Protect AI named Ralph Pisani as chief revenue officer. Pisani will lead Protect AI's global go-to-market strategy, accelerating enterprise adoption and revenue growth as the company scales to meet surging demand for AI security solutions. Most recently, Pisani served as president of Exabeam, where he played a pivotal role in scaling the company into a leading SIEM and security analytics provider. Previously, Pisani held senior leadership roles at Imperva and CipherTrust, leading global sales and go-to-market operations. Protect AI has raised $108 million in funding and acquired several companies including Rebuff, Huntr, Laiyer AI and Syde Labs to add new resources and expand the capabilities of its AI security platform. Protect AI is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Berlin and Bangalore.

Feb 21, 2025

Foster Garvey

Darrias Sime has joined Foster Garvey as an associate in the firm's Seattle-based Investment Management group. Sime has significant experience both in business transactions and corporate finance, having advised a diverse range of clients on complex financial transactions, corporate governance and regulatory compliance. He joins Foster Garvey from Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt where he supported their Business and Corporate Finance group, facilitating mergers and acquisitions, assisting with the formation and dissolution of entities and guiding clients through corporate and investment strategies. “We're excited to welcome Darrias to the team,” said Bob Perez, Investment Management co-chair. “His experience in both business transactions and corporate finance will be invaluable to our clients as we continue to expand and grow the Investment Management practice.” Simes holds a law degree from Seattle University School of Law and a bachelor's degree from Williams College. Foster Garvey has offices in Seattle, Portland, Washington, D.C., New York, Spokane and Tulsa.

Sound Cities Association

The Sound Cities Association (SCA) named Robert Feldstein as its new executive director. Feldstein has experience in public policy, strategic planning and community engagement, and has worked extensively with local governments, nonprofits, and national coalitions. Feldstein's career spans over two decades. His previously served as partner and principal at Cedar River Group, director of the Office of Policy & Innovation for the Seattle Mayor's Office, and chief of Staff for the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning under New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. His work has focused on issues including affordable housing, public safety, economic development, and immigration reform. SCA is an association of King County cities and was founded in the 1970s to help cities create vital, livable communities through advocacy, education, leadership, mutual support and networking.

Expeditors International of Washington

Expeditors International of Washington announced that Jeffrey S. Musser, president and chief executive officer, plans to retire, effective March 31. The company also announced that the board of directors has unanimously elected Daniel R. Wall, current president — global geographies, as its next president and chief executive officer. Upon his retirement, Musser will step down from the board of directors, and Wall will be appointed to the board and stand for election at the company's upcoming annual meeting of shareholders. Wall joined Expeditors in March 1987 and has held numerous positions within the company, culminating in being named president, global geographies and operations in October 2023. Expeditors is a global logistics company headquartered in Bellevue. Services include the consolidation or forwarding of air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, time-definite transportation, order management, warehousing and distribution and customized logistics solutions.

Feb 20, 2025

Sound Transit

Sound Transit has announced that Victoria Baecher Wassmer and Hughey Newsome have joined the agency to lead the Finance and Business Administration (FBA) Department. Wassmer assumes the role of deputy CEO — Finance and Business Administration, and Newsome takes on the position of chief financial officer, reporting to Wassmer. Wassmer most recently worked as assistant secretary/chief financial officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she led the budget, finance, risk, evaluation and performance administration through the implementation of the largest infrastructure program in U.S. history. Wassmer holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government and is also a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. Newsome comes to Sound Transit from Piston Group, an automotive manufacturer focused on electrification, where he was CFO. Newsome also served as CFO for both county and city governments, where he led successful bond financing initiatives and credit rating improvements. Newsome graduated from Harvard’s Business School with a Master of Business Administration and has a Master of Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford University. He graduated from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Sound Transit’s next Link light rail extension is slated to open to Downtown Redmond on May 10, followed by connections across Lake Washington later this year and to Federal Way in 2026.

Feb 19, 2025

Foster Garvey

Foster Garvey announced the addition of principals Susan Johnson and Claire Mitchell, associate Max Fujii and paralegal Nealy Evans, who join the firm's Commercial & IP practice from Stoel Rives. The former Stoel Rives team joins forces with Foster Garvey's liquor and cannabis team, led by Emily Harris Gant.

Johnson has spent more than two decades supporting breweries, wineries, distilleries, restaurant and hotel chains and other industry stakeholders on licensing structures, distribution agreements and policy matters. She represents clients in regulatory proceedings and works closely with government agencies on legislative initiatives affecting alcohol laws. She is licensed to practice in Washington and is nationally ranked in Chambers USA.

Mitchell represents a diverse range of clients, including national grocery chains, e-commerce retailers, alcohol brand owners and entertainment venues. Her work centers on complex state and federal liquor licensing matters, promotional advertising regulations, tied house issues, sponsorship agreements and other alcohol industry transactional matters. She also to collaborates with regulators on securing mission critical and often time sensitive regulatory approvals. Mitchell serves on the board of directors of the Washington Wine Industry Foundation where she works in concert with other industry professionals to support the continued success of winemakers and vineyards in the state. She is licensed to practice in Washington, Oregon and New York and is nationally ranked in Chambers USA.

Fujii advises breweries, wineries, distilleries and retailers on federal and state liquor licensing, compliance and corporate transactions. He assists clients with permitting, tied house compliance, direct-to-consumer shipping and distributor franchise matters, and supports retail expansions, winery acquisitions and operational plans for sports and entertainment venues. He is licensed to practice in California.

Evans has more than 20 years of experience supporting attorneys and clients in the beverage and hospitality industries, and is experienced with managing multistate license portfolios for alcohol suppliers and hospitality businesses, including restaurants, hotels, cruise lines, resorts and entertainment venues.

Foster Garvey has offices in Seattle, Portland, Washington, D.C., New York, Spokane and Tulsa.

Feb 14, 2025

Boise Cascade

Barney

Boise Cascade promoted Joanna (Jo) Barney to executive vice president of its Building Materials Distribution (BMD) division. She will oversee the company's 40+ distribution facilities, including millwork and door shops, across the U.S. Barney joined Boise Cascade in 2005. Prior to this promotion, she was the senior vice president of BMD Western Operations. Before that she served in several key roles and progressive leadership positions, including general manager of BMD Western Operations and branch manager for BMD's Salt Lake City, Utah, location. Boise Cascade is one of the largest producers of engineered wood products and plywood in North America and a leading U.S. wholesale distributor of building products.

K&L Gates

Global law firm K&L Gates added Samuel Breeze as a partner in its Intellectual Property practice. He joins the firm's Seattle office from Lee & Hayes, where he served as chair of its design practice group. Breeze advises clients on how to protect their brands by securing intellectual property on the ornamental aspects of their inventions. He focuses his practice on the protection of the industrial design of electronic devices, graphical user interfaces, sports equipment, apparel, and other ornamental inventions. Over the course of his career, Breeze has helped clients obtain thousands of U.S. design patents and foreign registrations. He has extensive experience protecting designs outside the United States, including knowledge of the requirements involving The Hague Agreement. Breeze also has patent experience with life science technologies, including medical equipment and other biomechanical inventions. K&L Gates' IP practice includes more than 250 lawyers and professionals, offering clients IP services across four continents.

Concord Technologies

Seattle-based Concord Technologies named William Cavanaugh as its chief executive officer, succeeding its founder Chris Moore. Moore, who led the business for more than 29 years, will now serve as chairman. Cavanaugh, who joined Concord in 2022 as its president, will focus on continuing to deliver double-digit revenue growth riding on Concord's clinical data exchange network. Concord Technologies provides secure document exchange, intelligent document processing, and interoperability solutions to the health care industry.