SB Profiles
The 2014 Community Impact Awards
From job creation to workforce development, from pro bono services to volunteer endeavors, most business enterprises have a beneficial impact on their communities. To recognize such vital influence, Seattle Business solicited nominations for its new Community Impact Awards. To say the inaugural class is impressive is like saying the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl triumph was…
Executive Q&A: Brian Langstraat, CEO, Parametric
As a 24-year employee of Parametric, Brian Langstraat has helped build a firm with $125 billion in assets under management on the iconoclastic notion that investment managers can do better for their clients by cutting the cost of investing in equities than by trying to ferret out the next great stock. EARLY YEARS: My father…
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…
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Lifetime Achievement — Martha Choe
Martha Choe, CAO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Lifetime Achievement award recipient Martha Choe believes leadership is about finding, encouraging and nurturing the right people. Or, as she puts it: Giving them wings to fly and doing what you need to do to support them. Choe, who celebrates her 10th anniversary with the Bill &…
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: J. Shan Mullin
J. Shan Mullin, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP As a young associate at the law firm Perkins Coie, Shan Mullin eagerly started working with the board of United Way, ultimately helping the Seattle branchs charitable campaign become one of the largest in the country. That first endeavor led to 56 more years of community involvement. When…
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Debra Music
Debra Music, Cofounder and Vice President Sales and Marketing, Theo Chocolate Most marketing executives struggle to boost their companys message, but Debra Music finds the public tours of Theo Chocolates factory in Fremont make it easy. When you have a captive audience and youre feeding them chocolate, she notes, theyre going to be listening to…
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Leonard Garfield
Leonard Garfield, Executive Director, Museum of History and Industry For a man who runs a resource dedicated to Seattles past achievements, Leonard Garfield thinks a lot about the citys future. Some of that future is about his own Museum of History and Industry, or MOHAI. Garfield oversaw the recent move from the museums longtime home…
The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Shelley Rotondo
Shelley Rotondo, CEO, Northwest Harvest Shelley Rotondo has had a remarkably focused career, fighting hunger in the state of Washington for 23 years. I guess Im pretty lucky, she says about trying to make a difference, because thats been a thread throughout my whole life. As the CEO of Northwest Harvest since 2001, she has…