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Puget Sound Business Journal
New Bellevue Community Development head a familiar face at City Hall
Bellevue announced Monday that Emil King will be the new director of the city’s Community Development Department, effective June 1.<\p> The announcement follows the recent retirement of director Michael Kattermann.<\p>
Bellevue unicorn SeekOut lays off employees
Bellevue-based recruiting startup SeekOut laid off employees on Wednesday.<\p> A SeekOut spokesperson confirmed the cuts on Monday but didn't say how many employees the company laid off or how many remain. TechCrunch first reported the news, adding that about 30% of the company was laid off.<\p>
Workers with learning disabilities face stigmas in the workplace
There remains a big stigma facing workers seeking workplace accommodations for certain disabilities — and those employees worry asking for help will hurt their careers. <\p> A new survey by The Harris Poll on behalf of nonprofit Understood.org, which works with people who have learning and thinking differences such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, found while 69% of workers know their employers must provide reasonable accommodations for disabilities, about 60% said there is still a stigma around asking their employer for support.<\p>
Puyallup Tribe eyes opening for Tacoma waterfront restaurant
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians plans to open its new waterfront restaurant on Ruston Way in Tacoma in early July, a spokesperson for the tribe said. <\p> The tribe is partnering with James Beard Award-winning chef Roy Yamaguchi, known for his Hawaiian fusion cuisine, on the restaurant, called Woven Seafood & Chophouse.<\p>
Alaska Airlines adds daily international flight out of Sea-Tac
Alaska Airlines passengers have access to another international flight out of Seattle. <\p> Last week, the SeaTac-based airline began daily service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport — its sixth Canadian destination. <\p>
Perkins Coie partner dies in plane crash near Snoqualmie Pass
A partner for Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie was found dead Monday in an aircraft crash near Snoqualmie Pass, according to a news release from the Washington State Department of Transportation.<\p> Jerry Riedinger, 69, went missing Sunday after flying his 2001 Extra Flugzeugbau 300/L plane out of Arlington Municipal Airport at 4:30 p.m. His wife reported him missing at 6 p.m. Sunday after he did not land in Ephrata, his destination.<\p>
Old mixed-use building in Ballard trades for 30% below assessed value
The hunt for the bottom of Seattle's commercial real estate market has taken another turn with the sale of a Ballard building.<\p> On Monday, Cushman & Wakefield announced the $4.5 million sale of the circa-1927 mixed-use apartment building, Villa Luisa, at 1505 NW 60th St. The price is nearly 30% less than the assessed valuation.<\p>
Former Starbucks CEO joins board of Bay Area AI startup
Kevin Johnson, the former CEO of Starbucks, has joined the board of Recogni, an artificial intelligence startup headquartered in San Jose, California.<\p> Recogni makes hardware and chips for artificial intelligence. Johnson is joining the board after Recogni raised a $102 million Series C round in February.<\p>
Microsoft goes all in on AI to boost PC brands
Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced Monday that it's launching new Surface products with generative artificial intelligence technology, as it hopes to provide some juice to its Windows and personal computer sales.<\p> The Redmond-based tech giant unveiled Copilot + PC during its Microsoft Build conference on Monday, an initiative that will fuse its AI Copilot features with its Windows operating system. The tech will only be available in PCs that have advanced "neural processing units" — computer chips designed to do AI computing directly on the machine — such as the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro that will be available next month.<\p>
How an Ironman from West Point took over a $9B company
Dan Streetman interviewed for his new job after swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles. And he did it while tethered to another person. <\p> Streetman, an accomplished Ironman athlete, had scheduled a meeting with Tanium co-founder Orion Hindawi in October 2022 to talk about the CEO job at the Kirkland-based cybersecurity company. Hindawi, who had led the company since co-founding it in 2007, wanted to focus more on product and less on operations. To make that transition, he needed a successor. Enter Streetman, an accomplished executive and West Point graduate.<\p>
Wright Runstad expands with addition of chief investment officer
Wright Runstad & Co. has named Michael J. Yoo as principal and chief investment officer.<\p> It's one of several recent changes that together are part of an ongoing process to strengthen the executive team and position the company for future growth, said a spokesperson for the 52-year-old Seattle company with over 4.6 million square feet of office and mixed-use properties under management. <\p>
2 senior leaders out at Expedia after 'violation of company policy'
Seattle-based travel company Expedia Group Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) on Monday confirmed two senior leaders have left the company.<\p> In a statement to the Business Journal, an Expedia spokesperson said Rathi Murthy, formerly the company's chief technology officer, and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, formerly a senior vice president in product and engineering at the company, have left Expedia due to "a violation of company policy." Both executives joined Expedia from Verizon in 2021.<\p>
Opinion: Sound Transit decision affects businesses in South Lake Union
A city is not just a collection of buildings and streets. It’s an ecosystem, comprised of different components — mobility, people, innovations, products and services — within the local community. Disrupting one part of the ecosystem risks long-term prosperity and diminishes opportunities to build a thriving, livable and resilient city. <\p> Sound Transit is considering the best location for the Denny station and the South Lake Union station as part of the ST3 Ballard Link extension. This will be one of the biggest decisions to shape of downtown for the foreseeable future. <\p>
Are investors re-entering the housing market after two-year retreat?
Investors could be launching a bit of a comeback in the U.S. housing market — although the reversal of fortunes comes amid a strategy shift for many investors in the face of low inventory. <\p> Purchases by investors grew 0.5% on a year-over-year basis in Q1, according to analysis by Redfin Corp. (Nasdaq: RDFN). Redfin defines an investor as any buyer whose name includes LLC, Inc., Trust, Corp. or Homes, or any buyer whose ownership code on a purchasing deed includes association, corporate trustee, company, joint venture or corporate trust.<\p>
Affordable homes are at the heart this Amazon executive's philosophy
Social equity, especially in terms of housing, has always been the North Star for Alice Shobe.<\p> Now global director of Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Community Impact program, Shobe was born on the day the Detroit Uprising of 1967. At its core, the uprising was about racial inequities, particularly subpar housing for Black Detroit residents. Shobe, who grew up in Detroit, always understood the gravity of the event. <\p>
Bruce Nordstrom dies at 90
Bruce Nordstrom, the former co-chairman of the Seattle-based retailer who helped take the company public, died Saturday at age 90.<\p> The grandson of founder John W. Nordstrom, it was Bruce's generation that had the vision to turn Nordstrom into a national brand and established a standard for customer service that became a model for other companies.<\p>
How an ex-finance guy is building a different type of hedge fund
Kaustubh Deo, owner of Seattle-based Blooma Tree Experts, tells his employees that if they see him climbing a tree to look for a different job.<\p> Deo doesn’t know how to prune the branches of a paper birch as well as the certified arborists on his staff. But with his finance background, he knows how to run a business and how to manage acquisitions.<\p>
Green startup Tidal Vision raises $46.7M, but sets sights on more
Bellingham-based Tidal Vision, which takes a biomolecule called chitosan from crab shells to make sustainable products, has raised $46.7 million, according to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.<\p> The filing noted the funding was an equity raise, and the company is looking to raise an additional $81.8 million. The filing comes after Tidal Vision raised $22.2 million in debt funding in September.<\p>
Redfin Next coming to Seattle as part of national expansion
Redfin (Nasdaq: RDFN) on Friday said it's expanding the Redfin Next agent compensation plan to Seattle and 24 other markets.<\p> Expansion of the program, which allows agents to earn commission splits as high as 70%, likely will ratchet up competition for top brokers.<\p>
Developer: New Seattle hotel along I-5 will be 'seen from everywhere'
A Southern California hotel development company is planning an eight-story project in an unusual place: Yesler Terrace. And when it's built, it will be hard to miss.<\p> That's because the 196-room property will be perched on the bluff next to Interstate 5. "It can be seen from everywhere," says the developer, Matt Bailly, vice president of Prospera Hotels, a vertically-integrated hotel real estate and investment company.<\p>
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