CEO of Seattle-Northwest Securities to chair Nature Conservancy

John Rose’s dedication to conservation and business savvy praised

Seattle – John Rose, CEO of Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp., the region’s largest underwriter of bonds, was recently elected chairman of the board of trustees for the Nature Conservancy’s Washington state chapter, the organization announced Thursday.

Rose, a councilman for the Town of Beaux Arts Village and King County’s former budget director, has served on the Conservancy’s board for the past five years. David Weekes, director of the Conservancy’s Washington chapter, said Rose’s passion for conservation and strong business sense will enable him to provide leadership and direction at a time when the Conservancy is significantly ramping up its efforts to protect and restore the state’s remarkable natural diversity.

“John cares passionately about this state, its natural beauty and its ecological health. He’s also a highly accomplished businessman,” Weekes said. “That combination is just what we need as we work to elevate our conservation efforts to a new level in the state.”

Rose has worked at Seattle-Northwest Securities since 1982, primarily as an investment banker assisting school districts, cities and other municipal agencies in the issuance of bonds. He became the firm’s chief executive officer in July 1998. He has also chaired King County’s School Impact Mitigation Task Force and the board of trustees of Tolt Congregational Church in Carnation.

“I love Washington. And with more and more people living here, I’m convinced that now is the time to act to make sure our children, and their children, will enjoy the same great quality of life we have today,” Rose said.

“I have tremendous respect for the work of the Conservancy and its mission to safeguard the astonishing diversity of life, in our state and around the world,” he added. “It’s great, life-giving work, and I’m proud to support it.”

About the Conservancy

Over the past 40 years, the Conservancy has collaborated to conserve more than 500,000 acres of irreplaceable natural lands in Washington state, including 50,000 acres owned by the organization. With the completion of a new five-year plan, the Conservancy is poised to take that work to a new level, working with communities and civic leaders around the state to protect and restore tens of thousands of additional acres and the waters that tie them together.

The Conservancy is currently working actively to protect the Skagit River and the forested basin that surrounds it, the coastal rainforests of the Willapa Hills, the imperiled prairies of the South Puget Sound region, and several other signature landscapes. It uses scientific discipline and thoughtful planning to set conservation priorities, then works collaboratively with a wide range of people to bring these priorities to fruition.

The Conservancy has chapters in all 50 states and works around the world. To date, the Conservancy and its nearly one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 12 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 80 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.

About Seattle-Northwest Securities Corporation

Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp. is the region’s premier investment banking firm. With offices throughout the Northwest, SNW is the largest underwriter of bonds in the region and the top adviser to Northwest bond issuers. SNW is also the largest market maker in fixed-income securities in the area. Its expertise reaches from the smallest public finance clients to the largest institutional investors in the country.

On the Web at seattlenorthwest.com.