Executive Q+A
Executive Q&A: Kimberly Harris, president and CEO, Puget Sound Energy
Kimberly Harris is President and CEO of a regional gas and electric utility with $3.1 billion in annual revenues. Shes a dynamic leader who navigates a changing technological and regulatory landscape with intelligence and precision. YOUTH: I grew up in Los Angeles. I was a Valley girl. My dad was an insurance man. When I…
Executive Q&A: Jim Hendricks, President, Seattle Childrens Research Institute
Jim Hendricks has presided over dramatic growth at Seattle Childrens Research Institute. The organization now has more than a thousand employees and Hendricks has an ambitious plan to develop a 2-million-square-foot campus in downtown Seattle. EARLY YEARS: I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but now I root for the Seahawks, much to my parents…
Executive Q&A: Adriane Brown & the Idea Factory
In January, Adriane Brown celebrated the fifth anniversary of her joining Intellectual Ventures as president and COO. Brown seemed an unconventional choice to run a 600-employee nonmanufacturing firm that has acquired 70,000 patents and monetized 40,000 of them. But, as one who has always been comfortable with change, she embraced the vision of IV cofounder…
Executive Q&A: Jeff Roe
Jeff Roe, who took over as CEO of Premera Blue Cross at the beginning of October, is a strategist who sees significant opportunities for growth in the coming years as the health care sector moves from a once sleepy entity to one in the midst of disruption and innovation. EARLY YEARS: My father, a Boeing…
Executive Q&A: Doug Dixon, Pacific Fishermen Shipyard
Doug Dixon joined Pacific Fishermen Shipyard nearly 14 years ago to keep the legacy Ballard business afloat. His professional career covers several aspects of the maritime industry, from oil drilling to boatbuilding. Much of his time these days is spent making sure PacFish has the capacity to survive in a booming Seattle neighborhood that is…
Executive Q&A: Ted Fick, CEO, Port of Seattle
Port of Seattle commissioners said they found the right combination of skills, expertise and entrepreneurial spirit in Ted Fick when they hired the former Paccar executive as the ports new CEO. Fick, 55, will be steering the port at a time of transition that commissioners says calls for a fresh perspective and a steady hand….
Executive Q&A: Adam Warby, CEO, Avanade
As CEO of Avanade, Adam Warby manages a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture that helps clients make better use of Microsoft technology to improve productivity and accelerate innovation. Although the company is based in Seattle, Warby manages his 21,000 employees spread across 21 countries from an office in London. EARLY YEARS: Im a Brit,…
Executive Q&A: Murray Wright, CEO, Zones Inc.
Murray Wright has worked for large multinationals like Sharp, Lenovo and Xerox. Now, as the CEO of Zones Inc., an Auburn-based IT solutions provider, he plans to double in a matter of years the sales of a business that already has 1,400 employees and generates revenues of more than $1 billion annually. EARLY YEARS: I…
Executive Q&A: Greg Johnson
Gregory K. Johnson, who was raised in the New York City suburbs and studied civil engineering at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, took a circuitous route to his current job as president of Wright Runstad & Company, which is engaged in an ambitious $2.3 billion project to create a new urban center in Bellevue. Seattle-based Wright…
Executive Q&A: Jerry Chase, CEO, Bsquare
Former marine who has served as chief executive of several companies in the world of video and software, Jerry Chase was appointed interim CEO of Bsquare last October and then CEO in February. He has been hard at work turning around the money-losing software and engineering services company as well as focusing efforts on the…
Executive Q&A: Kevin Baldwin, Pacific Northwest market managing partner, PwC
Kevin Baldwins background is in health care consulting, but since arriving in Seattle three years ago, he has become heavily involved in the citys civic life, serving on the board of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce as well as the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association. EARLY LIFE: I was raised in Oklahoma City by…
Executive Q&A: Mary-Lou Misrahy, CEO, Physicians Insurance
Seattle-based Physicians Insurance was established in 1981 after many insurance companies stopped offering medical malpractice coverage. When Mary-Lou Misrahy was appointed CEO of the company in 2004, most of its policyholders, who are also owners of the mutual company, were small practices and the organization was struggling. Misrahy introduced professional management and new strategies that…
Executive Q&A with Harley Franco
Harley Francos Seattle-based holding company runs a fleet of tugboats and barges that deliver oil by sea to ships in harbors across the country. By building what he says is the safest, cleanest, greenest marine services company in the region, Franco has garnered a huge share of the oil delivery business of the large oil…