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Business Leadership Awards / Summer 2021
Celebrated July 29, 5:00pm at the University of Washington Tacoma Y (UWY)
Business Leader of the Year
Evie Lynn, Careage Corporation
Bio:
Evie Lynn’s father emigrated from Sweden and raised his family on a farm in Puyallup, instilling belief in teamwork, long hours and individual responsibility. Graduating from the UW in 1961, Evie began her career as a high school
Entrepreneur of the Year
Gordon Naccarato, Pacific Grill
Bio:
Following graduation from the UW in 1977, Gordon Naccarato moved to Los Angeles to pursue a law degree, but soon discovered his passions lay not in the courthouse but in the culinary arts.
Lifetime Achievements - Non-Profit
Brad Cheney, Ben B. Cheney Foundation
Bio:
A member of the Executive Council for a Greater Tacoma, Brad Cheney is president of the Ben B. Cheney Foundation and has led the foundation as executive director since 2002.
English teacher, later adding several counseling credentials to her bona fides— first a master’s in counseling psychology from the University of Puget Sound and later a second master’s degree, in family therapy, from Pacific Lutheran University. Her success as a therapist and founder of Lakewood Professional Counseling Center, which grew to include nine associates, required her to become familiar with real-estate leasing and management. During 18 years as a clinician, she began developing office buildings in the area and in Gig Harbor, ultimately making real estate development and management her full-time job. Meanwhile her late husband Gene was developing, building and operating senior-living facilities as well as home healthcare facilities under the company name, "Careage.” Evie now serves as chairman of the board for Careage, a private real estate development and management company specializing in housing and healthcare needs of seniors. The firm has developed and built over 400 hospitals, nursing homes and senior living communities in 26 states. It also manages healthcare facilities and service agencies in Washington and California. Evie and the rest of the Careage team work across all segments of the senior housing spectrum and describe ther work as a calling and a privilege.
Now a partner in the Naccarato Restaurant Group, he is executive chef and vice president of the company, where he oversees all food operations, as well as the hiring, training and management of kitchen staff at Pacific Grill. Over a career of more than 30 years as chef and restaurateur, he has worked with some of the most talented chefs across the country, in restaurants—both famous and infamous—in Los Angeles, Aspen, Miami and New York City. His co-owned Aspen restaurant, Gordon’s, was so popular with the jet set that it was often booked a year in advance. Its New Year’s Eve party was so filled with celebrities they had to black out windows to prevent paparazzi from taking pictures of stars inside. Gordon has cooked for sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices, Hollywood stars and titans of business and publishing. His restaurants and menus have garnered critical praise in the pages of Gourmet Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine and the New York Times. Gordon’s recipes have appeared in countless books and magazines from around the world. He has appeared in the PBS series, “Great Chefs of the West,” and been called a genius in the kitchen.
He also heads Cheney Capital Investments, a real estate development company. He is a trustee of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, trustee emeritus for the University of Puget Sound (his alma mater), and a board member of the Baseball Club of Tacoma. He has served as co-chair of the coalition to build a behavioral health hospital in Tacoma; treasurer for the Foundation for Tacoma Students; president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Commission; board member and finance committee member of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation; founding board member and past president of the Job Carr Cabin Museum and vice president of operations for Philanthropy Northwest. He has also served on the UW Tacoma Advisory Board and been a board member for Charles Wright Academy, the Western Forest Industries Museum and the Shanaman Sports Museum. Brad is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum and served a five-year term as chair for the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound’s One Campaign. Before establishing Cheney Capital Investments, he was head baseball coach for the University of Puget Sound. Brad and his wife, Carolyn, live in Gig Harbor and have two sons, Andrew and Henry. Brad’s hobbies include sports, kids and boating
Non-Profit Business Leader of the Year
Kathi Littmann, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
Bio:
A public, private and nonprofit leader with more than two decades of executive experience, Kathi Littman joined the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation in 2015 as president and CEO. She has held prominent positions across a variety of fields, ranging from public education leadership to commercial construction management.
Sustainable Business Leader of the Year
Jim Milgard, Jr., Continental Floral Greens
Bio:
Jim Milgard Jr. is owner and CEO of Continental Floral Greens, which merged with Pacific Mountain Products in 2015.
Lifetime Achievements – For Profit
Bill Weyerhaeuser, Columbia Bank
Bio:
Bill Weyerhaeuser grew up in Tacoma and received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University. He earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary’s Graduate School of Psychology, in Pasadena, Calif., and maintained a private counseling practice in Tacoma from 1975 to 1998.
Throughout her career, Kathi has worked to build deep community involvement to create opportunities for people to live healthy, happy and productive lives. Whether she was building innovative, teacher-centered professional learning systems for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a senior program officer, launching learning initiatives on U.S. military-base campuses around the world or managing multibillion-dollar construction programs, Kathi worked to empower teams of diverse stakeholders to collaborate toward a shared impact. She has been recognized for her team’s work to launch 175 new schools and additions across Los Angeles (for which she received the Engineering News Record’s Award of Excellence) and was a 2005 Broad Urban Superintendents Academy fellow. Kathi began her career as a middle school English teacher and holds an Ed. D. in educational leadership for social justice from Loyola and a master of education from Marymount University. Current work at Greater Tacoma Community Foundation includes the Pierce County Connected: COVID-19 Emergency Response project, the Tacoma Whole Child Partnership and grant disbursement of state funds related to Census 2020 outreach She loves exploring the Pacific Northwest outdoors with her two rescue pups.
Working together as farmers, global distributors, manufacturers and sellers, the company, with operations in California, Florida and Washington, has set out to bring an unparalleled new level of quality and breadth of product to its customers. The company supports fundraising in its communities by partnering with schools, sports teams, nonprofits and other groups, providing fresh, fragrant wreaths and other holiday greens to help these groups raise vital resources. The company’s Watsonville, Calif. farm uses recycled water, helping to conserve local resources and slow seawater intrusion. The plants also benefit from nutrients in the recycled water, so the company can use fewer commercial fertilizers. Continental Floral Greens, focusing on innovation and excellence, holds the highest rating in its industry for the sustainability and low environmental impact of all its Pacific Northwest greens. In addition to leading Continental Floral Greens, Jim who has an associate’s degree from Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, is managing partner and founder of Lake Creek Capital LLC and managing partner of Great Day Group, in Ketchum, Idaho. He was a plant manager at Milgard Windows & Doors for 12 years. With his wife, Jennifer, he has two daughters: Madison, a 2019 graduate of the UW in political science, and Molly, who is studying business at Southern Methodist University.
Mr. Weyerhaeuser has served on many civic boards, including that of LeMay - America’s Car Museum, and has been board president of the Tacoma Art Museum, Seattle Opera and Pacific Harbor Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He has been a director of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and a member of the Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital board. He was elected trustee of the University of Puget Sound in 1978 and served as UPS board of trustees chairman from 1994 until 2003. He was honored nationally by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges for his visionary leadership on behalf of UPS and is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum. In addition, He has served as a director on several public company boards including those of Clearwater Paper Corp.; Columbia Bank, where he was board chair from 2001 to 2018; and Potlatch Corp., where he served as vice-chairman. He was the owner and chairman of Comerco Inc., the parent company of Yelm Telephone Co., from 1984 to 2000. He and his wife, Gail, reside in Gig Harbor. They have two sons.
The Milgard School of Business at the University of Washington Tacoma and The Tacoma News Tribune are proud to present the 19th Annual Business Leadership Awards program recognizing outstanding business leaders in the South Sound Region.
The Business Leadership Awards was to be held on May 27, 2020 (It was CANCELED based on the COVID-19 crisis) at the Tacoma Convention Center. It was then POSTPONED to Summer 2021.
Discover previous honorees and video highlights below
