Mayor Lynne Robinson Keynote

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  Lynne Robinson

  Mayor Lynne Robinson joined the City Council in 2014, and she has a long history of civic involvement. She is a champion for startups and small business, and has encouraged startup and equity crowdfunding workshops at City Hall. Her colleagues voted her deputy mayor in January 2018 and mayor in January 2020 and again in January 2022. Lynne also advocates for the environment, parks and open spaces, human services and affordable housing in Bellevue. She proposed a property tax exemption adopted by the council for multifamily complexes that include affordable housing. She represents the council on the King County Mental Illness and Drug Disability Advisory Committee, the King County Affordable Housing Committee and the Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board. Before her election to the council, Lynne served on and chaired the Bellevue Network on Aging and the Parks & Community Services Board. A physical therapist with her own business, Lynne holds a doctorate in physical therapy from Regis University and a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from Northwestern University Medical School. She also earned a bachelor's degree in community services from California State University Chico. In 2015 Governor Jay Inslee appointed Lynne to a three-year term on the state Board of Physical Therapy. Lynne developed an interest in computer science while in college, and she is on the Washington Technology Industry Association Cascadia Blockchain Council. Lynne and husband Dan Watson live downtown after moving from the Woodridge neighborhood, where they had resided since 1997. Their two children graduated from Bellevue public schools and are successful professionals.

  City of Bellevue

  Mayor

  Lynne Robinson

  Mayor

  City of Bellevue

Why Bellevue and What Are The Plans For The Future?

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  Kemper Freeman

  CEO

  Kemper Development Company

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  Bing Feng

  Mr. Bing Feng is the president and CEO of Create World Real Estates Inc. based in Bellevue, Washington. Prior to present role, he was the CEO of HomeLegend Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, Power Dekor North America Inc. of Montreal, Canada, and EVP of DareGlobal Group Co. of Shanghai, China for more than 10 years. Before his industry engagements, Mr. Feng spent more than 10 years as a consulting/investment practitioner focusing on strategy, operation, business restructuring, investment, and M&A. He was the managing partner of CCAFM, a senior manager of Deloitte Consulting, and a consultant of McKinsey & Company. His clients included JP Morgan, New York Life, Bayer Corp., Merrill Lynch, Security Industry Association, Bridgestone Firestone, Shell, and PetroChina, etc. He has authored and co-authored a few books/articles covering private equity opportunities in upcoming regions. He is the member of Association for Corporate Growth and the executive director of China Mergers and Acquisition Association. Mr. Feng currently splits his time between Seattle and Orange County of Southern California.

  Create World Real Estate

  CEO

  Bing Feng

  CEO

  Create World Real Estate

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  Joe Fain

  Joe Fain is the President and CEO of the Bellevue Chamber. He previously served two terms in the Washington State Senate where he worked extensively on economic development, transportation, and education issues. He was a leading negotiator of Washington’s 2015 statewide transportation package. He also led the negotiations and prime-sponsored Washington’s Paid Family Leave legislation, which passed in 2017. Joe has also worked managing a boutique law and consulting firm in Seattle speciailizing in technology and healthcare; at the University of Washington office of technology transfer and commercialization; as a prosecutor for King County; and as Chief of Staff to a member of the King County Council. Joe was selected in 2012 as one Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 under 40 and was a 2017 Rodel Fellow with the Aspen Institute. He has a Joint JD/MBA from Seattle University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington.

  Bellevue Chamber

  President & CEO

  Joe Fain

  President & CEO

  Bellevue Chamber

• Moderator

  Jon Sigmund

  Project Executive

  MacDonald-Miller

How Key Developments, Enterprise and Infrastructure Are Scaling The Market

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  BJ Kuula

  Benjamin Kuula is the President and Chief Investment Officer at American Capital Group (ACG) and is responsible for their operations and investment strategy throughout major markets on the west coast. He has 15 + years of real estate experience in development, construction, acquisition, property management, asset management and finance. Mr. Kuula has completed over $2.5 billion in real estate transactions, which includes the acquisition of $1.2 billion + in value-add multifamily assets with over 2,000 unit renovations completed. Since 2015 he has raised over $1 Billion in equity. Mr. Kuula received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of San Diego and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington, Foster School of Business. He serves on the Board for the Boys and Girls Club of Bellevue, where he chairs their Revenue Development Committee and sits on the Executive Committee. Mr. Kuula is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). In 2021, he was recognized for his nomination to Globe St.’s Top 50 under 40 in Commercial Real Estate.

  American Capital Group

  President

  BJ Kuula

  President

  American Capital Group

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  Don Billen

  Exec. Director of Planning, Environment, & Proj. Dev

  Sound Transit

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  Ty Bennion

  Managing Director

  Hines

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  Brad Thoreson

  Bradley Thoreson is a Shareholder in Buchalter’s Seattle office and a member of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Brad’s complex commercial litigation practice focuses on commercial real estate for some of the largest owners and developers in the United States. Recently, Brad had the opportunity to represent Unico Properties, Blackstone, EQ Office, Revantage, BRE, Hudson Pacific, MassMutual, LBA Realty, Holland Partner Group, Madison Development Group, and MainStreet Property in substantial real property disputes with most claims exceeding $10,000,000. Brad’s practice also includes “bet the company” litigation. He has successfully tried cases involving large sums including a $97,000,000 jury verdict in Federal Court and a $230,000,000 recovery for the University of Washington Treasury Department adverse to its former custodial bank. Most recently, Brad was able to save a company through litigation with the US Customs and Border Control, and in another, effectively represented the outgoing President/CEO of a large international private company adverse to its Chairman of the Board/majority shareholder in a multi-million buy-out dispute. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Thoreson contributes significant time and effort to civic and charitable causes. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Seattle Pacific University and the Board of Governors for the Washington Athletic Club. Mr. Thoreson is adjunct faculty at Seattle Pacific University, where he is teaching the MBA Graduate Legal Environment of Business class. He was also elected for a two year term to Board of Trustees, for the 101 Club, for 2019-2021, and has completed a two-year term as Board Chair of the Corporate Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County where he continues to be involved in the organization as co-chair of its annual key events.

  Buchalter

  Shareholder

  Moderator

  Brad Thoreson

  Shareholder

  Buchalter

A Word From - LeadingAhead Energy

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  Maxime Charron

  Maxime has an important background in sustainable business and Electric Vehicles. He started his sustainability career as a corporate sustainability consultant for a number of years where he’s been helping many companies developing innovative corporate sustainable strategies. In 2017, Maxime has focused on EV charging infrastructure founding LeadingAhead Energy sitting on various boards of directors over the years. For 3 years, he has assisted the Nordic EV Summit in Oslo, Norway to better understand the EV charging infrastructure trends, data, and ideas in the most advanced countries in respect of the adoption of EVs and EV charging infrastructure. Having an open mind is the key to growth and success where he made finding the best EV solutions for the client a mission for the company. Since then, he and his company have installed multiple level 2 and fast-charging sites. Maxime spoke to many electric vehicles and sustainability conferences over the years. He’s been invited to speak as keynotes and on panels about future-proofing EV charging sites and the importance of sustainability within the industry. As the transportation system is turning a shift toward greener energy, it is important that the focus is not only on vehicles but also the sustainability of the charging infrastructure to support it. On a personal level, Maxime loves to be active whether it’s training for the next triathlon, running, gym, skiing, and being in the mountains. Personal growth and learning are important values making him reach for business management, biography books as well as industry readings.

  LeadingAhead Energy

  President

  Maxime Charron

  President

  LeadingAhead Energy