Know Labs, the publicly-traded material identification technology company, has a new chief business officer.
The company announced that Mike Grabham, a serial entrepreneur and most recently the founder and CEO of startup Package Guard, has joined the company as its CBO. Know Labs technology uses light and sound waves to create a molecular fingerprint of materials that can be used to identify and track them.
The company recently pivoted to apply the technology to biological materials, looking at applications in health and wellness. In an email interview, Grabham said Know Lab’s technology and the new way it is being applied was a draw for him to join the company.
“We are working with technology that, although has been around a long time, it has not been used in the way we are using it,” he said, “so it forces us to think different[ly] and come up with solutions that may not seem mainstream. I am able to use all of my experiences in the solving problems with limited resources and building easy to change processes that help us stay focused.”
Grabham is a longtime staple in Seattle’s startup scene. He founded six companies and is also a prolific startup advisor. He also serves as the chapter director of the Seattle and Bellevue Startup Grind events.
Grabham said that Package Guard, which offers a device to protect against packages being stolen from front porches, is still alive and well despite his new full-time role.
“We are continually updating and improving the PG from real users and will continue to help stop package theft. As the PG gets better and more reliable you will see some partnership announcements to assist in distribution,” he said.
Know Labs changed its name and website in March and hired lighting inventor Phil Bosua as its new CEO in April. At the time of Bosua’s hiring, Grabham listed an operations role at Know Labs on his LinkedIn profile, which remains there as of publishing.
— Kevin Riegelsberger, the former President and COO of tax automation company Avalara, joined the board of directors for Seattle-based scheduling and hourly workforce management provider Shiftboard.
Riegelsberger led Avalara as its president and COO for more than six years before retiring in 2016. He rejoined the company as interim head of engineering and development following two executive departures last year.
“Based on a significant market need and a superior product, Shiftboard has a clear opportunity to build on a solid base of enterprise customers by expanding into more industries and geographies,” said Riegelsberger. “I was attracted to help Shiftboard because of the direct impact their solution can have helping businesses improve their operations, optimize their labor costs, and improve both employee engagement and productivity – features any organizational leader can support in their workforce management.”
Shiftboard’s cloud-based, automated tools help large and medium-sized employers manage and schedule shift work. The company was founded in Seattle in 2002.
— Randy Main, the Chief Financial Officer of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is retiring after more than 30 years in the role. Fred Hutch has not yet announced who will fill the role after his departure. Main’s final day will be June 30.
Main’s impact on the Hutch over the decades has been notable. He successfully changed the laws governing nonprofit spending so the Hutch could build its sprawling campus in South Lake Union, where it remains today. He also guided the organization through the recession of 2009, the first — and only — year the Hutch operated at a loss.
“While we know that we will miss Randy and that we are losing a Fred Hutch icon, we are also cheering him on to a very long and happy retirement,” Fred Hutch President and Director Dr. Gary Gilliland said in a press release.
— Retail giant Nordstrom announced that president of Nordstrom.com, Ken Worzel, has been appointed the company’s first chief digital officer.
It’s the latest move in the company’s transition towards a focus on digital retail. It has increasingly put an emphasis on e-commerce and digital customer experiences. In 2014, it acquired personalized men’s clothing service Trunk Club, a deal which Worzel oversaw in his former role as the company’s EVP of strategy and development.
“As Chief Digital Officer, Ken will be responsible for aligning and leveraging Nordstrom’s capabilities across multiple functions to ensure that we are meeting the evolving needs of our customers,” Erik Nordstrom, co-president of th company, said in a press release. “In addition to leading Nordstrom.com, he has been providing leadership for our enterprise-wide data science, product management, and UX teams. Ken has also been a key leader in defining and delivering our local market strategy where we are focused on bringing our digital capabilities together with our physical assets to better serve customers on their terms.”
— Diverse City, a Seattle-based diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm whose clients include Seattle-area tech companies, announced two new additions. The company added Seattle HR leader Mikaela Kiner as a human relations advisor and ChrisTiana ObeySumner as a consultant.
Kiner is a longtime HR executive with years of experience in Seattle’s tech industry and is also the founder and CEO of uniquelyHR, a startup- and tech-focused human relations consultant. Diverse City CEO and founder Cheryl Ingram joined uniquelyHR as an advisor earlier this month.
ObeySumner is a social equity consultant and advocate and the founder and executive director of The Eleanor Elizabeth Institute for Black Empowerment, which focuses on helping black women experiencing homelessness. She has worked at Seattle area companies including Harborview Medical Center and the Housing Compass Alliance.
— Seattle startup MPIRICA Health, a Yelp-style healthcare ranking that provides qualitative reviews of surgeons, added Niall Brennan to its board of directors.
Brennan is the president and executive director of the nonprofit Healthcare Cost Institute, a national nonprofit that provides information on healthcare costs across the country. He formerly spent six years as the chief data officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the largest government-run health insurance entity in the U.S.
“Quality transparency is one of healthcare’s most intractable problems, and the MPIRICA Quality Score gets it right,” Brennan said in a press release. “By distilling complex quality data into a simple, intuitive figure, decision-makers can make smarter choices in surgical care.”
— San Diego-based network analytics platform PacketSled, who recently appointed longtime Seattle entrepreneur and executive John Keister as CEO, added investor and former YellowPages.com CEO Charles Stubbs to its board of directors.
“The cyber security market continues to grow at a rapid pace, and the opportunities exist for unique teams and technologies to become market leaders in a relatively short time span,” Stubbs, currently a partner at Atlanta-based MSouth Equity Partners, said in a press release. “The team at PacketSled has deep knowledge of the category as well as the experience building multiple startups into large, successful companies. I am looking forward to supporting them and working with them to help PacketSled achieve its full potential.”
— Joydrive, a startup that sells cars online through partner dealerships, added car dealership leader Tom Durant to its dealer advisory board. The addition comes as Joydrive expands to Texas, the home of Durant’s Classic Chevrolet dealership, which is one of the largest Chevrolet dealerships in the country.
“We are selling cars today the same way we sold them 40 years ago, even though many consumers clearly want an alternative,” Durant, also the chairman of the Texas Auto Dealers Association, said in a press release. “I don’t want to be the group that’s left behind, and this is an important step toward embracing a different future.”
Classic Chevrolet and Northwest Motorsport, led by Joydrive advisor Don Fleming, are also joining Joydrive’s network of dealers who sell cars through the online service.
