Local business news

BitTitan VP; tunnels

Rummans becomes BitTitan VP

BitTitan of Bellevue recently hired industry veteran Tony Rummans as BitTitan’s vice president of global sales. A seasoned veteran in the software industry, Rummans brings more than 20 years of senior sales leadership into this executive role.

“His experience building and leading global sales teams will be especially valuable as we continue to gain market share internationally,” BitTitan CEO Geeman Yip said

Prior to joining BitTitan, Rummans led the global sales team at ProQuest, a cloud-based services company. While at ProQuest, he assisted in driving the strategic information of ProQuest’s integrated go-to-market approach while serving on the sales, marketing and customer experience leadership teams. At ProQuest, he led a sales team of 300 that significantly grew revenues.

Rummans also worked as senior vice president of software and solutions sales for Kofax, which was acquired by Lexmark, and IBM, where he held numerous executive positions. His tenure with IBM included international responsibilities leading worldwide sales teams and geographic sales teams from Latin America, southwestern Europe and South Korea. Rummans was responsible for sales, marketing and services, where he helped clients solve their most complex information management business challenges.

Geers appointed as board president

Bonnie Geers will serve as the 2019 board president of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.

Geers is currently the senior vice president of community development at Quadrant Homes where she leads land acquisition, land development and government affairs. She is a member of the senior management team at Quadrant Homes, and former titles held include vice president of community development and vice president of entitlements. Based out of Bellevue, Quadrant Homes is entering its 50th year.

Geers previously worked as an associate attorney with Oade, Stroud & Kleiman, P.C. in East Lansing, Michigan, practicing land use, real estate and business transactions, and estate planning. She has maintained her membership in the Washington Bar Association since 2000.

A member of MBAKS’ Board of Directors since 2014, Geers also served as the president of the Affordable Housing Council from 2014-2017.

Wongkaew tunneling to success

Mike Wongkaew, Ph.D., PE, SE, PMP, joined HNTB Corporation’s national tunnel group as national tunnel practice lead-Northwest and associate vice president. He is based in Bellevue and oversees all tunneling work on the Sound Transit West Seattle and Ballard Link Extension Project.

Wongkaew also serves as an accomplished resource to the firm’s clients and projects across the nation. In his previous capacity, Wongkaew served as chief tunnel engineer for research and development of an innovative underground transportation system.

Wongkaew’s experience in structural and tunnel engineering and project management includes designing the first single-pass steel fiber reinforced precast concrete segmental tunnel lining in the U.S. for the city of Portland’s East Side CSO Tunnel Project, leading design for 22 route miles of high-speed train tunnel in California through difficult ground conditions, and providing technical oversight for Washington Department of Transportation’s SR99 Bored Tunnel.

He is experienced in project development, from feasibility studies through final design for multiple procurement environments.

Wongkaew’s high-profile, complex underground projects expertise includes Hawthorne Test Tunnel in California, Sound Transit’s East Link Extension, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Regional Connector Transit Corridor Design-Build Project and Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor, California High-Speed Rail, and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Silicon Valley Rapid Transit/BART project in San Jose, Calif..