SB Profiles
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Sue Anderson
Sue Anderson, Vice President/ General Manager, CenturyLink Puget Sound For a sign of future prospects at communications company CenturyLink, regional Vice President Sue Anderson only has to look at the number of construction cranes amid Seattles skyline. Her task for the national company is to develop a localized approach to the market here. Puget Sound…
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Dean C. Allen
Dean C. Allen, CEO, McKinstry As a young man, Dean Allen worked for his fathers mechanical contracting company, emptying garbage cans, vacuuming floors and digging ditches. Working at age 16 as a janitor to earn money for his first car, he was impressed by the firms employees. So, even though he graduated from the University…
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards
The Executive Excellence Awards began last year with a class of 14 luminaries. We follow up this year with 13 more a group that is at once eclectic yet linked by its relentless pursuit of the exceptional outcome, be it bottom-line performance, employee engagement or social awareness. Congratulations to the recipients of the 2014 Executive…
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…
Executive Q&A: William J. Ruckelshaus
Bill Ruckelshauss varied career as a consultant, PepsiCo executive and Silicon Valley investment banker prepared him well for the task of taking InfoSpace, a survivor of the dot-com bust, and reinventing it as Blucora, which now has a diverse portfolio of online companies with estimated 2013 revenues of $477 million, more than double its 2011…
Executive Q&A: Dwayne Clark, Aegis Living
YOUTH: I was the baby of the family. The greatest gift my mother gave me was confidence. We were dirt poorshe worked as a short-order cookbut she would say things like, Were just like the Kennedys. Were Catholic and theyre Catholic. Were Irish and theyre Irish. It took the mystique out of it. VULNERABILITY: There…
Executive Q&A: Robert Donegan- President, Ivar’s
During his 15-year tenure as president, Bob Donegan has doubled sales at Ivars, the Seattle-based seafood outlet that celebrated its 75th birthday in August. The company now has 850 year-round employees and sales of close to $80 million annually. As chair of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and a member of the design committee…
Executive Q&A: Joe Wang, CEO of WatchGuard Technologies
Born in China and educated at some of that nations top universities, Joe Wang has become adept at managing the American way. He has turned around several companies, including WatchGuard, a provider of internet security solutions and network security appliances, which he has transformed since taking over as CEO six years ago. EARLY DAYS: I…
The Education of Mayor McGinn
Hizzoner slides through the crowd, baseball cap in hand. There is no great to-do about his presence; Mike McGinns style doesnt demand it. Hes no glad-hander and the occasion is solemna Wedgwood neighborhood memorial walk for the family struck down on a March afternoon by a drunken driver. Clad in brown cords and tucked-in blue…
Executive Q&A: Windermere Real Estate CEO Geoff P. Wood
In 1994, Windermere founder John Jacobi brought his son-in-law, Geoff Wood, into the company to help run the rapidly growing business. Wood, CEO since 1999, works with his wife, Jill Jacobi Wood, and his brother-in-law, John OB Jacobi, to run Windermere, which includes 297 offices and 5,723 real estate agents across the western United States…
Lifestyles of The Rich & Not So Famous
Remember that scene in My Fair Lady where Eliza Doolittle goes to the Ascot races dressed like a blueblood but makes a bloomin arse of herself every time she opens her mouth? Hold that image. I cant afford valet parking at the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, let alone the $500-plus ticket to attend the Seattle…
Executive Q & A: Itron CEO Philip Mezey
In January, Philip Mezey became CEO of Itron, a company with $2.4 billion in sales last year. Mezey, who has a background in history and software, is intent on transforming the Spokane-area maker of smart meters into a technology-intensive business with an expertise in smart grids and smart cities. EDUCATION: I studied history at the…
Executive Q & A: Chris Schmidt, chairman & CEO of Moss Adams
This month, Chris Schmidt takes the helm of Moss Adams, an enterprise with 2,000 employees and record revenues last year of $343 million. The company is the largest accounting firm in Washington and Oregon and among the largest in California and Arizona. It also has offices in New Mexico and Kansas. EARLY YEARS: I grew…