Executive Profiles
Seattle Public Relations Legend Jay Rockey Dies at 90
Rockey was director of public relations for the Seattle World's Fair, and was a staple in the community for two generations.
Jay Rockey, the dean of public relations professionals in Seattle for two generations, died last week. He was 90. Rockey founded Jay Rockey Public Relations in 1962, immediately after the Seattle Worlds Fair ended. Rockey had been director of public relations for the fair and was largely responsible for the fairs being noticed across the…
Off the Clock with Ann Downs of The Skillet Group
This month's C-Suite Confidential with the leader of the Seattle-based restaurant group.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Tell us what your company does and what attracted you to this business. Skillet operates four restaurants, a catering business and two food trucks here in Seattle. A Skillet diner came into my neighborhood in 2011 and I was…
Executive Q&A: Steve Davis on Overseeing Healthy Innovation at PATH
CEO Steve Davis steers PATH along a restructured path.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. An attorney, activist and China expert, Steve Davis built Bill Gates digital media venture, Corbis, into a multinational firm with 1,100 employees before serving as interim CEO at the Infectious Disease Research Institute and then running McKinsey & Companys…
Q&A: John Richards, Co-Owner of Downtown Seattle Boutique Jackstraw
John Richards worked at the Seattle luxury fashion stores Butch Blum and Marios for 25 years before opening Jackstraw in 2008.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. John Richards is co-owner and buyer at Jackstraw, a specialty boutique selling mens and womens apparel. Situated at First Avenue near Virginia Street in downtown Seattle, it endeavors to sell clothing with stories and character, beautiful construction nothing too…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards, Lifetime Achievement: Howard Behar, Starbucks
The former Starbucks executive is being honored for his 50-year career, where he helped lead the coffee company from 28 stores to more than 15,000 stores on five continents.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. A decade of retirement has only affirmed Howard Behars commitment to his business ideals. The former president of Starbucks now travels the world evangelizing the ways leaders need to lead. I need to fill my soul every day, Behar…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Simon Woods, Seattle Symphony
The president and CEO at one of Seattle's most treasured artistic institutions.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. To thrive, a citys art needs to match the citys character. This belief guided Simon Woods when he took the executive leadership of the Seattle Symphony in 2011. The orchestra had great cultural assets notably the acoustic jewel that…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Craig Dawson, Retail Lockbox
The president and CEO of Seattle-based firm is one of this year's winners.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. This small, impressive company provides remittance processing to banks, utilities and municipalities across seven states, but founder Craig Dawson focuses much of his energy on concerns closest to home. That philosophy is evident in his leadership style, which includes…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Randy Lee, PCC Natural Markets
Lee is stepping down after 46 years as the CFO of the nation's largest community-owned food market.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Randy Lee managed Puget Consumer Cooperatives single storefront when it committed to selling natural and organic foods.Its time we become more concerned about what goes into our mouths, he declared at the time. Forty-six years later, Lee is stepping…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Board of Directors, TrueBlue
The board from the Tacoma-based company are winners at this year's awards.
SETTING THE STANDARD: TrueBlues board of directors, cited for its highly principled governance, also embraces racial and gender diversity. Directors, from left, are CEO Steven Cooper, Kim Harris Jones, Jeffrey Sakaguchi, William Steele, William Goings, Joseph Sambataro Jr., Bonnie Soodik, Colleen Brown and Stephen Robb. This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue….
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Sharon Osborne, Children’s Home Society of Washington
The recently retired president and CEO of the Seattle agency is one of this year's winners.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. It may be the heart that draws one to a social services career, but a head for managing serves people, too. Sharon Osborne has shown plenty of both in her 25-year tenure at Childrens Home Society. Upon her retirement…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Sharelle Klaus, Dry Soda Company
The founder and CEO of the Seattle-based beverage maker is one of this year's winners.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Not knowing what the rules are, admits Sharelle Klaus, can be an advantage. The single mother of four spent 2005 and $15,000 from a home equity loan delivering cases of soda to QFC supermarkets in her car. The drinks…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Dave Clark, Amazon
The SVP of Worldwide Operations at Amazon is one of this year's winners.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. To succeed at running Amazons sprawling customer service operations, Dave Clark jokes that everything he needed to learn came from 250 seventh-graders. He believes teaching kids to play in junior high band, his job before business school, gave him…
2018 Executive Excellence Awards: Jeff Lyon, Kidder Mathews
The chairman and CEO of the Seattle-based commercial real estate firm is one of this year's winners.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Jeff Lyons first experience in expanding a business was selling his own company to someone else. The Tacoma brokerage his father had founded, Lyon Commercial, became the fourth office of commercial real estate firm Kidder Mathews in 1991, making…