October 05, 2022
shell
McElroy
Isaiah McElroy joined BCRA from BLRB Architects and brings nearly five years of construction administration and architectural design experience to the company. He graduated from Washington State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies. He previously worked in the education market and will support BCRA’s multi-family residential and retail markets at the company’s Tacoma office.
Jessica Hull also joined BCRA, from Thomas Architecture Studios, where she worked primarily on multi-family residential projects after completing a Master of Architecture program at Washington State University. She is currently a member of the Olympia Heritage Commission. Although her previous experience is in architectural design, she is keen to explore interior design concepts and will have the opportunity to support the interiors department through BCRA’s retail marketplace. She is also based in the Tacoma office.
Vander Ploeg
The DLR Group has promoted Michel Vander Ploeg to the Regional Workplace Manager, focusing on the North West region. In his new role, Vander Ploeg will advance the growth of DLR Group’s workplace market sector in Oregon and Washington State, guiding a team of integrated design and engineering professionals. He will continue to innovate the future of the workplace with existing client partners while driving new partnerships in DLR Group’s priority areas including science and technology, solid wood and sustainable design and development.
Vander Ploeg is currently researching new ways to collect sensor data from built environments to make them more sustainable, enjoyable and healthier. In addition to this research, he is working on methods for making new prototypes of interactive design spaces and installations that engage technology clients in the communities in which they live and work.
Kelly
FSi announced the addition of Rex Kelly at its engineering office in Spokane. Kelly holds an EIT and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Boise State University. Kelly will focus on energy modeling and support Inland Northwest client projects with plumbing and HVAC design.
Unzelman
MG2 recently announced the promotion of Wendy Unzelman to the financial director. Unzelman has over 35 years of experience in finance and accounting, most recently serving as Vice President of Corporate Finance. In her new role, she will be responsible for financial strategies that support the company’s short- and long-term business growth.
During her fourteen years at MG2, she strengthened accounting processes to improve the quality of data and reports provided by her team. Unzelman joined MG2 in 2008 as Controller, taking on increasing responsibilities including financial planning and analysis, budgeting and forecasting, and succession planning. She was promoted to Vice President of Finance in 2018. Earlier in her career, she was a CPA at the accounting firm Yergen & Meyer (now Moss Adams) with a specialty in auditing. Unzelman graduated from Southern Oregon University and received a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She is a Past President of the Seattle/Bellevue Chapter of the Washington State CPA Society and is Lean Certified.
In addition to raising Unzelman, MG2 promoted eighteen employees to the company’s Seattle office. Tracy Schneider was promoted to associate director, public relations, Dallas Dyer, was promoted to program director, Bonnie James is now BIM Account Manager, Emily Walker is now Marketing Manager, Katie Bartman is now an HR generalist, Lauren Muller was promoted to marketing coordinator, Colleen Hannah was promoted to studio 2 administrator and Angelique Brown to the contract specialist.
Brittany Hazzard was also promoted to contract specialist. Sarah Simchuck, while maintaining associated 5, Crystal Fairley is associated 4, Alina Pinchuk is associated 4, Elise Braun is associated 3, Savanna Moller is associated 3, Tehilla Ben Gershom is associated 2, Jessica Bone is associated 2, Katie Fenn is associated 2 and Sruthi Sundaresan is associated 2.
baker
John Boulanger joined Parametrix as Senior Construction Manager based in Puyallup. He has over 30 years of construction management experience with government, oil, aerospace, manufacturing and pharmaceutical clients.
Baker comes to Parametrix from Akana. He specializes in field project supervision, project management, regulatory compliance and quality control for construction, environmental and health and safety projects. His project experience includes serving as a construction inspector for Metro’s Central Waste Transfer Facility Stormwater Treatment System project.
Angel
Cabbage
Charlie Cabbage joined the Geotechnical Engineering Department of the Riley Group as a Chartered Project Geologist. He began his career in 2016 in the environmental and stormwater pollution sectors after earning his Bachelor of Science in Geology from California State University, Fullerton. Chou then expanded his hands-on field experience working on a variety of complex geology projects that included exploration and data collection for tidal and seepage studies.
During this time, he also performed site-specific historical research for Phase I ESAs and assisted in the preparation and documentation of environmental reports. In 2020, he obtained a master’s degree in applied geosciences from the University of Washington, after which he devoted himself to the geotechnical engineering sector.
Currently, his work includes performing geotechnical construction monitoring services on large-scale residential and infill projects. This work typically consists of performing compaction tests, monitoring pile installation soil nails/ties, and making observations of foundations/footings. Chou is a Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Manager. In this role and generally during construction activities, he directs temporary erosion control measures and best management practices to retain sediment and water on site. He works directly with the site owner, contractor and subcontractors to coordinate these efforts. Lastly, he is adept at performing sieve, moisture, monitor and Atterberg limit tests in the RGI soil lab.
Sam Angel also joined RGI, as a senior geologist, within the company’s geotechnical department. He has over three years of experience providing geotechnical, environmental and hydrogeological consulting services in the Pacific Northwest and is actively pursuing professional licensing. Originally from Missoula, Montana, Angel began his career working on Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments in his hometown. Currently, his expertise is in construction, involving exploration geology during the design phases and construction monitoring. He earned his BS in Geoscience while attending Pacific Lutheran University and his MS in Applied Geoscience from the University of Washington.
During his graduate program, Angel focused on slope stability and wrote landslide inventory and shallow/deep landslide susceptibility models for the Port Gamble S’ Tribe. Klallah. He uses his solid academic background in exploration work and in formulating recommendations during construction earthworks.
Moda Health, founded in Portland in 1955, will begin offering medical plans in the state of Idaho. Moda Health currently serves communities in Oregon, Alaska and Texas. In Idaho, the company will offer individual, family, Medicare supplement and group plans. Moda Health Partners with Saint Alphonsus Health Alliance Network; the Patient Quality Alliance, a comprehensive network of hospitals and physicians throughout southeast Idaho; and Minidoka Memorial Hospital, as well as other local providers. Open enrollment for Moda’s Individual/Family Medical Plans begins October 15 and ends December 15.
Avalara, a provider of tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, announced that independent proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that shareholders vote “For” the pending transaction with Vista Equity Partners at its the company’s next extraordinary shareholders’ meeting scheduled for October 14. , 2022. The recommendation supports Avalara’s board of directors’ unanimous recommendation that shareholders vote “for” the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including Avalara shareholder approval. Goldman Sachs is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Avalara, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Perkins Coie are acting as legal advisors. Based in Seattle, Avalara has offices in the United States and around the world in Brazil, Europe and India.
Seattle-based DexCare has been selected to participate in Amazon Web Services’ Health Equity Initiative, a three-year, $40 million commitment supporting organizations in developing solutions to advance health equity. Through this initiative, AWS is offering AWS Credits and customized technical expertise to select organizations around the world who want to use AWS services to improve health outcomes and health equity in any of the following areas: 1) increase access to health services for underserved communities; 2) addressing the social determinants of health; and 3) leveraging data to promote more equitable and inclusive systems of care. DexCare will use the AWS grant to create custom dashboards for use by health systems across the country to measure, track, and track progress toward increased access for medically underserved communities. The initiative is happening in tandem with the rollout of DexCare’s new Fair Access Locate feature. The new feature provides language translation to non-English speaking patients when booking a telehealth appointment. Incubated in Providence, DexCare is a data-driven intelligence company that aims to improve access to healthcare for everyone. DexCare’s core offering is a software platform, delivered exclusively to healthcare systems, that orchestrates digital demand and healthcare system capacity across all lines of care.