New Principals & New Officers Announced

Join us in celebrating Jamisen (Jami) Hirota and Zachary (Zach) Yarbrough as our newest shareholders.

They were announced at Coffman’s annual shareholder meeting which was held virtually on March 26th and 27th. Typically held in-person, the shareholder meeting was reorganized to accommodate “stay-at-home” orders for participants located across the country.

Jami Hirota, PE manages the civil engineering department in the Honolulu office. She has more than 20 years of experience with site development that spans many markets including private development, state and local government, and the federal government. Before joining the company, Jami spent 22 years in a family-owned engineering company. It afforded her the opportunity to learn the consulting business from the ground up. Jami’s primary focus as a leader is cultivating client relationships and focusing on the development of the next generation of engineers.

Zach Yarbrough, PE manages the electrical engineering department in the Spokane office together with principal Kurt Niven. Zach has more than 16 years of experience with a diverse background in power, lighting, communications, and photovoltaic design, along with construction management. Since joining Coffman in 2003, he has gained experience in an array of markets across the Pacific Northwest. Zach enjoys the collaborative nature of engineering and receives the most fulfillment from the lasting relationships that are built between clients and coworkers after completing a successful project.

New officers Announced.

The board also announced new officers Lilay Gebreigziabher, CPA, as Chief Financial Officer; Wes Peper, MCP as Chief Information Officer, Vice President; and Jonathan Wirthlin, SE, as Vice President.

Lilay was previously Coffman’s comptroller for the past three years and assumes the role of CFO following Greg Rathvon, CPA. Wes has been with Coffman for 24 years leading the IT department. His leadership has been evidenced by the company’s seamless recent transition to working remotely from home. Jonathan is the general manager of Coffman’s LA and Orange County offices, following the transition from general manager, Paul Van Benschoten​, SE, in 2019.

“We believe it is critical to continually strengthen the Coffman team with new ownership and leadership. We are very pleased to welcome Jami and Zach as new shareholders and Lilay, Wes, and Jon as officers.  We look forward to their influence in the execution of our business. Together we are committed to navigating the right path forward for the company and our clients,” said Will Veelman, Chair of the Board.

Complete bios for the new shareholders and officers are linked.