Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Business Journal Untucked, where we catch you up on Seattle-area business news and take a quick look at what's on the horizon.
week, in conjunction with our Success in Education event, we spoke to the presidents at three of Washington's largest universities to gauge their views on workforce development, diversity in higher education and business partnerships. University of Washington's Ana Mari Cauce, Seattle University's Father Stephen Sundborg and Washington State University's Kirk Schulz shared their insights into the changing face of higher education.
Speaking of education, if you missed our story earlier this year on the top ranked public high schools in Washington, we've unearthed it here. (One school in the Puget Sound region cracked the national top 20.)
Photo Taken In Aerzen, Germany
Also last week, Paxtyn Merten caught up with Apptio CEO Sunny Gupta, who said after buying Cloudability earlier this year, his company isn't done with acquisitions.
Ashley Stewart explored HomeStreet Bank's buyout of the activist investor who launched a proxy battle and broke down a big Q2 of investment activity in the region. The graphic below has those details.
Elsewhere in the paper, Andrew McIntosh examined a report that says the results of Boeing's big tax break for the 777X are muddled, Marc Stiles highlighted a real estate firm trying to make solar panels more viable for commercial and industrial projects, and Megan Campbell reported on the bankruptcy filing of Seattle-based Restaurants Unlimited, which closed Palomino in Bellevue.
In other news, WalletHub is a fan of Seattle, ranking it No. 3 on its best big cities to live in list. Click through the slideshow below to see the top 40 cities.
The top big cities to live in for 2019, as ranked by WalletHub.
That's a taste of what was featured in the print edition, but we also had some fun features online, including out-of-the-area stuff like the homes of football hall of famer Joe Montana and former First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis hitting the market.
The Montana home can be seen in the slideshow below:
Joe and Jennifer Montana are selling the estate they built in 2003 for $28.9 million.
Keep reading to catch up on more news from the past week.
THE TALKER
THE TEAM BUILDER ... Ron Francis, a two-time Stanley Cup winner and Hockey Hall of Famer, was named the first general manager of Seattle’s new National Hockey League team.
Francis played 22 seasons in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. He was general manager of the Hurricanes from 2014 to 2018. The 56-year-old will hire the team’s coach and oversee the assembly of the roster ahead of the 2021-22 season, when it begins play at Seattle Center Arena.
Francis is fifth all-time in NHL points, second in assists and fourth in games played at 1,731. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007.
BY THE NUMBERS
FIVE THINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN AS SUMMER FINALLY ARRIVES
PSBJ INTERVIEW: Andrew McIntosh caught up with Robin Toth, Washington's top aerospace official, who talked about the state's efforts to win Boeing's proposed New Mid-market Airplane manufacturing site.
BANKING ON POT: Our Innovators of the Year feature spotlights Tony Repanich, president and chief operating officer of Shield Compliance. His company works with banks that deal with cannabis business and the complexities therein.
EARNINGS WEEK: Area companies HomeStreet Bank, Amazon and Alaska Airlines are among the companies set to release their information this week. Boeing last week reported that it will report a $4.9 billion hit due to fallout from the 737 Max crashes.
DEADLINE AHEAD: The Business Journal will recognize Washington's most Equitable Workplaces this fall, and the deadline for nominations is July 31. You can nominate a company by clicking here.
COMING SOON: The Business Journal's CRE Leaders breakfast on Aug. 2 will focus on Eastside development Speakers include Michael Christ, CEO of SECO Development; Scott Matthews, Vulcan's senior director for acquisitions and residential development; Murphy McCullough, executive vice president of Skanska; Kevin Wallace, president of Wallace Properties; Tim Shoultz, CEO of Smartcap; and Wende Miller, managing director of Talon Private Capital. The event begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington in Renton. Tickets are available here.
FIVE THINGS THAT HAPPENED AS YOU WAITED FOR YOUR PRIMARY BALLOT
COMBINED: Stokes Lawrence will add nine lawyers from Mills Meyers Swartling when it shutters Sept. 1. “We are two great firms that are going to be more than the sum of the two parts that are combining because of the synergies that we bring to one another,” MMS managing shareholder Caryn Geraghty Jorgensen said. This will bring Stokes Lawrence to 44 attorneys in the region.
DELAYED: T-Mobile and Sprint plan to extend their merger agreement past its July 29 deadline. The carriers are struggling to agree on ownership restrictions and other conditions for Dish Network once it acquires divested assets from the wireless carriers, according to The Wall Street Journal. This would be the second extension for the $26.5 billion deal.
FINED: Washington health insurer Premera Blue Cross will pay $10 million for not securing patient data that was exposed in a 2014 cyberattack, affecting 10.4 million people nationwide. Premera will pay $5.4 million to Washington state and $4.6 million to the 29 other states that joined the investigation. The payout will go toward the enforcement of state data security and privacy laws.
HONORED: Smith Tower, a Seattle landmark for more than a century, won a TOBY Award for best Historical Building by the Building Owners and Managers Association. Lynda Collie, properties director for Unico, which manages the building, said her company was “honored to receive the prestigious TOBY Award” at the banquet in Salt Lake City this month.
OFFERED: First Choice Health announced it will offer companies in the Puget Sound region free, one-time data analysis and outreach for workers who are struggling with chronic opioid use. The program is open to companies with more than 200 employees from July 15 to Sept. 15. For more on the program, call 833-957-0032 or email opioidcare@fchn.com.
THE UPDATE
Shareholder suit unlikely to block Salesforce acquisition of Tableau
Tableau Software and Salesforce face lawsuits from Tableau shareholders over the recent $15.7 billion acquisition, but the suits likely won’t impact the deal. Shareholder Marcy Curtis filed a lawsuit last week for alleged Securities and Exchange Commission violations surrounding Salesforce’s acquisition of Tableau and seeks class action status on behalf of other shareholders.
The lawsuit alleges that documents Tableau filed July 3 omit information about the transaction, including financial projections for both companies. The deal is expected to close in October. Shareholders are demanding Tableau rescind or pay damages if the deal closes.
EXECUITIVE MOVERS
April West, NHL Seattle
April West has been named vice president of human resources for NHL Seattle and Oak View Group. She has experience working as an HR professional at organizations including JW Marriott Chicago, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and the Chicago Cubs. West will be responsible for development, implementation and supervision of policies and programs for staff at NHL Seattle, OVG-Seattle and the new Arena at Seattle Center.
Jason Williams, Kleinfelder
Kleinfelder engineering company has named Jason Williams as supervisory technician/project manager of its Seattle office. Williams will lead construction materials testing and inspection services for some of the largest projects in the Puget Sound region. Williams has worked in the construction industry for 20 years and has been part of projects for Sound Transit, Washington State Department of Transportation, Port of Tacoma and Joint Base Lewis–McChord. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Southern Polytechnic State University.
FIVE THINGS THAT CAUGHT MY EYE
HERBIE GOES ... AWAY: Bloomberg explored the ramifications that come with the news that Volkswagen will no longer make its popular Beetle. The basic point: small cars are being driven out of existence.
MORE ON MUELLER: With Special Counsel Robert Mueller set to testify about his report before Congress regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election, Insider.com teamed up with "Black Hawk Down" author Mark Bowden and Chad Hurd, art director for the FX show "Archer" to break down the report "so you'll actually read it."
Top 30 cities to open a brewery
FROTHY MARKET: Travel + Leisure ranked the top 13 breweries in Seattle, and it's clear that I have to get out more — I've only been to four of them. Let me know your favorite, and what you think of their list. Meanwhile, you can read Megan Campbell's story about why Seattle is considered one of America's best cities to start a brewery. The slideshow above features the top 30.
EATING RIGHT: I've been meaning to share this Wall Street Journal story about eating healthy without cooking. Here are the basics if you don't want to read the story: make salads and order meals from websites like Presto Eats and Freshly.
KENMORE AIR: Microsoft is looking for Kenmore residents to take part in a study about air quality. You can see if you're eligible for the study here.
That's all for this week. Thank you for reading this edition of the Business Journal Untucked.
