[Snowden352]

[there isn't a thread for Oregon's economy in here, so I thought I'd start one.]


About that recession? It's avoidable, it seems
New and more complete figures of jobs and manufacturing paint a far more optimistic picture of Oregon's economy than projected last week
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
RICHARD READ
The Oregonian

Last week, an Oregon economist said recession appeared imminent. This week, state economists said Oregon is adding jobs, manufacturing is up and a recession seems avoidable.

Oh, and by the way, that October decline in the state's payroll employment they told us about? Never happened. Actually, October's seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment increased.

Plus, November's gain of 7,500 jobs, on a seasonally adjusted basis, was the biggest since December 2005, state labor economists said in a monthly report issued Monday. For the past 12 months, employment in Oregon also has increased 1.4 percent, compared with the nation's 1.1 percent.

"It really changes our view," said David Cooke, an Oregon Employment Department economist. The October-November growth, he said, "indicates that there's been substantial economic strength in those two months in Oregon's economy."

So is recession heading our way, or not? And why can't economists get their numbers straight and agree?

Timothy Duy, the University of Oregon economist who issued last week's recession warning, said the contrasting views result from a state economy that hangs in the balance -- with seasonally adjusted unemployment flat at 5.5 percent in November.

"We're at this inflection point," Duy said. "Maybe in fact we're going to pull out of this soft patch without any problem."

Economists weigh clues differently to make judgments. Whereas the labor economists look back in time, Duy uses an index of indicators to see ahead.

But even forecasters disagree.

Dae Baek, Oregon's acting state economist, sees a more positive picture in the data he uses. Despite recent gloomy headlines, he said, the new numbers confirm that the state is on track for some growth in 2008. October's faulty numbers stemmed from the Employment Department having to submit figures to federal officials before all monthly government-hiring results came in.

"Our economy is fundamentally sound," Baek said. "Consumers in Oregon are alive and well. Manufacturing actually has stabilized, I think in large part due to strong demand from the global economy."

One way of testing these theories is to visit a factory floor at, say, Climax Portable Machine Tools Inc., which makes lathes, hydraulic drills, flange facers and other gear in Newberg. There, Geoff Gilmore, president and chief executive, can't hire machinists fast enough -- for as much as $60,000 a year, plus benefits and overtime -- to fill orders.

"I know our company is not going into recession," Gilmore said. "We have a backlog like you wouldn't believe."

Privately held Climax, with sales from $25 million to $35 million a year, has hired more than 50 people since June 2006, said Joni George, chief cultural officer. With 138 employees, the company has 25 openings for positions ranging from high-school work study to senior machinists.

"If you'd told me five years ago that I'd be hiring machinists from the state of Wyoming and relocating them here," Gilmore said, "that's unbelievable."

One big driver for Climax is exports, which have grown from 10 percent of the company's sales eight years ago to 30 percent today. Gilmore expects foreign sales to near 50 percent in two years as Germany, China and South Korea snap up portable machine tools.

Statewide, booming exports have helped propel a rebound in manufacturing employment, which surged by 3,200 jobs between June and November to reach 203,800 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The weak dollar helps Oregon's sales abroad by reducing prices of U.S. goods in foreign currencies.

Other sectors also gained in November. Trade, transportation and utilities added 7,700 jobs when a gain of 5,000 is the seasonal pattern. Government hiring increased, as did educational and health services.

With November's jump of 7,500 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, payroll employment reached 1,737,900. Instead of dropping by 1,400 in October as originally reported, employment gained 3,200 that month. The main reasons were upward revisions of 2,200 jobs in local government education and 1,000 in state government.

Construction lost jobs but remained above the seasonally adjusted 100,000 that it hasn't undershot since early 2006. In November, 102,379 Oregonians were unemployed, compared with 99,001 in November last year.

"The moderately strong job showing in October, followed by the strong gain in November, put Oregon's payroll employment up by 24,300 over the past 12 months," said Monday's Employment Department report. "This is a gain of 1.4 percent."

Baek, the acting state economist, acknowledged economic damage from the national housing crisis and overall slower growth. "But," he said, "let's stop downtalking our economy."

Richard Read: 503-294-5135; richread@aol.com

[MarkDaMan]

Portland-based company designs Abu Dhabi hotel
Daily Journal of Commerce
POSTED: 06:00 AM PST Thursday, December 20, 2007
BY DJC STAFF

Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Co. has picked Lake Oswego-based architectural firm Otak to lead the design-build process for the $1.6 billion Al Bateen Wharf Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Otak will act as lead architect on the project and work in collaboration with Abu Dhabi-based Belbadi Enterprises. The two firms worked together on Vancouvercenter in Southwest Washington.

Otak will be responsible for all design services, including architecture, structural and civil engineering, landscape architecture and design coordination.

The 177,000-square-foot hotel will include green elements such as solar-screens, fritted glass with integrated solar cells and an ecoroof.

Two towers will make up the hotel, a 15-story, 400-room hotel tower and a 14-story, 200-unit apartment tower. The project will also include a business and conference facility, a public marina, a waterfront market, underground parking and animated fountains, as well as retail and restaurant space.

The hotel is expected to be complete by late 2009.
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2007/12/20/Portlandbased-company-designs-Abu-Dhabi-hotel

[cab]

Its funny even in tower rich Abu Dhabi the Portland firm has designed two very ugly long slab buildings.

[MarkDaMan]

Oregon remains popular
Portland Business Journal

More people are moving into Oregon than moving out.

That is according to a study by Atlas Van Lines Inc. of Evansville, Ind., which found that Oregon recorded 1,239 inbound moves in 2006, compared with 721 outbound moves. That continues a trend since 1997.

In comparison, the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio experienced more departures (more than 55 percent of all moves) than households moving in.

Oregon's neighbors, Washington and Idaho, were two of the more popular destination states, with more than 55 percent of those states' moves into the state. Washington recorded 2,336 inbound moves and 2,170 outbound moves, according to Atlas.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/12/31/daily26.html?t=printable

[zilfondel]

^ at that rate it will take Oregon about 2,000 years to increase its population by 1 million.

oh wait, its just one moving company. :P

[MarkDaMan]

^I did that when I first read the article. I was like, only 1200 in-bound moves, what the hell...

[sopdx]

Actually, Oregon seems to be more popular according to those stats with a greater net gain.

[downtownpdx]

^^ Right, these stats say that Oregon had a net gain of around 500 moves, while Wash. had around 170.

[zilfondel]

I think the net moves for the metro area are closer to 50,000 annually.

[Brandon716]

I added +1 to the Oregon growth in August 2007. :)

[MarkDaMan]

^^^YeAh!!!! I hope you don't regret it...been a wet fall and winter!

[Okstate]

I'll be adding +3 to the Oregon growth in August 2008.

[MarkDaMan]

New fee would repave Portland
Projects - A tax for households and businesses is proposed to upgrade major streets and improve safety
Thursday, January 10, 2008
JAMES MAYER
The Oregonian

Just about everybody who uses Portland streets will notice a change -- safer intersections, new bike boulevards, better traffic signals and fewer potholes -- but city residents and businesses will pay a premium for it.

A new tax headed for city approval will raise $464 million over 15 years for street safety and maintenance projects.

Here's some of what it would buy:

Most of the money, about $340 million, would go for pavement, fixing every major street in Portland.

Commissioner Sam Adams, who developed the plan with the help of an 89-member stakeholder committee, said money for street maintenance has steadily eroded since the state gas tax was last increased in 1993.

The new fee -- if approved by the City Council next week and if it survives a potential referral to voters by opponents -- would also pay for improvements to nearly 30 high-crash intersections, installation of 20 miles of sidewalks and 50 pedestrian islands, creation of 114 miles of walking and biking boulevards, and synchronizing of traffic signals on 26 corridors.

The fee would also allow police traffic enforcement on freeways within the city, which currently aren't patrolled.

Under Adams' proposal, households would pay $4.54 a month, added to their water and sewer bills. Businesses would pay a fee based on the amount of traffic they generate. Officials estimate that most businesses would pay an average of $33 a month, but large companies could pay much more.

As Adams has pushed the street fee, Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler has been working on a county vehicle registration fee that would raise about $164 million over 15 years for county bridges, mostly for the local share of fixing or replacing the Sellwood Bridge, the county's top transportation priority. The proposal isn't ready for county board action yet.

Most people who spoke during a three-hour hearing Wednesday supported the plan.

Dr. Susan Kubota offered emotional testimony about the death this past fall of her niece, 19-year-old cyclist Tracey Sparling, who was crushed by a cement truck on West Burnside Street.

"She was ripped from her family and this world just because she opted to ride her bike instead of driving a car," Kubota said.

Police Chief Rosie Sizer noted the "pathos and the economics" of crashes: In the past decade, 378 people have been killed and 2,600 people seriously injured on city streets, with an estimated cost of $412 million.

Many business interests told City Council members that they supported the fee.

"It's not often that the alliance, or any business organization, backs a fee increase," said Sandra McDonough, president of the Portland Business Alliance, the city's major business lobbying group. "We do not do so lightly in this instance, either."

McDonough said the business community understands the impact of bad roads and congestion, particularly on the movement of freight.

But some business owners don't like the idea. Kathy Leathers from Leathers Fuel said the fee gives service stations just outside the city an unfair competitive advantage. She'll either have to pass the fee on to her customers or absorb the cost.

Paul Romain, lobbyist for the Oregon Petroleum Association, said his group would support an increase in the state's 24-cents-per-gallon gas tax but not the city's new street fee. Romain said the city wouldn't be in so much trouble if it had spent its money wisely over the past 15 years.

"You have a $34 million surplus right now. Why aren't you talking about that for road maintenance?" he asked.

Romain said his group would decide after the council vote next week whether to seek the 18,000 signatures needed to put the fee ordinance on the May ballot.

Kevin Spellman served on a committee that reviewed the city's transportation finances to verify the accuracy of the dire road picture presented by Adams and other officials.

"We looked behind the curtain to see if we were being told the facts. Sadly, we were," Spellman said. "The backlog is real. The backlog is growing."

James Mayer: 503-294-5988; jimmayer@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1199940913276360.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

For Portland’s big builders, gravy train is a school bus
As condo work slows, Portland’s largest commercial contractors hop on to K-12 school construction with voters passing a record $1.3 billion in bonds
Daily Journal of Commerce
POSTED: 06:00 AM PST Tuesday, January 15, 2008
BY LIBBY TUCKER

Public school construction is the hottest new market for commercial builders in 2008, Portland’s largest contractors say.

Little more than a year after Oregon voters passed a record $1.3 billion worth of bonds, school districts have had time to review project plans and buy land. And the building frenzy is about to begin.

The size of the contracts and volume of work are so big, Portland contractors that normally wouldn’t sneeze at school projects are now vying for their chunk of the bond dollars. As the housing market dries up and a credit crunch makes office and retail projects harder to pencil out, companies that for the past few years were busy building office towers and condos now see K-12 construction as an opportunity.

“It represents a very important part of construction work over the next couple of years,” Matthew Braun, a project manager for Howard S. Wright, said. “This is ... a new market for us.”

The 2007 Legislature also granted school districts permission to adopt a host of new construction excise taxes for capital projects. Portland Public Schools and the Parkrose, Riverdale, Beaverton and David Douglas school districts have all adopted fees of up to $1 per square foot, effective this month.

Combined, bond measures and tax proceeds have created a sizeable list of school projects extending into 2010. North Clackamas, Beaverton, Medford, Hillsboro, Bend-LaPine and Sherwood school districts lead the pack, accounting for 75 percent of bond dollars issued in 2006.

And school work isn’t about to dry up soon. For the 18 measures that passed in 2006, measures in 23 other districts failed, signaling a large, unmet need for more space and improvements statewide.

North Clackamas, Beaverton biggest builders

Voters in 12 counties passed bond measures in the November 2006 election, racking up more than a billion dollars for K-12 school construction, renovation and maintenance in 18 school districts. And Reedsport School District passed a $10.3 million bond measure last November.

School districts last summer broke ground on some of the first projects paid for by 2006 bond measures. But a large chunk of the work will start this year, with the next round of new school projects starting as early as March.

North Clackamas School District holds the biggest of the 2006 bond measures, with $229.6 million of work over the next three years. With so much work to do, the district jumped to line up contractors for its construction management/general contractor (CMGC) agreements.

“There’s a great deal of school work, and we always are concerned about competition, and that’s why we got on early with our CMGC projects,” Garry Kryszak, capital projects manager for the school district, said. “Although, at the moment, the bidding competition is good.”

Emerick Construction last June started work on the district’s largest project, a new elementary and middle school in Happy Valley. Skanska USA is on board for a major remodel of Bilquist Elementary School, and P&C Construction in May will begin building Ardenwald Elementary School.

And the district this spring will lock in contracts to build two more elementary schools and one new middle school, as well as a major remodel of Linwood Elementary School.

Beaverton School District comes in second with $195 million in projects. Skanska last summer broke ground on the district’s $22.3 million Bonny Slope Elementary School, which the company is expected to complete by September 2008. A new K-8 school in North Bethany is under design, with construction of the $26.7 million building expected to start this summer.

And the district has hundreds of other projects going, from renovations and additions to building repair and maintenance.

“We were amongst the fastest-growing districts in the state,” Maureen Wheeler, spokeswoman for Beaverton School District, said. “We’ve never been able to totally keep up (with construction). Most of our schools have been pretty close to capacity, and we anticipate we’ll continue to see this pace of growth.”

Contractors benefit

With so much work in the pipeline or already under way, builders that weren’t previously in K-12 construction now have their eyes on the market. And builders that have long worked for the region’s school districts find themselves with more work than usual.

Howard S. Wright last week advertised for subcontractors on its first K-12 school project, Hillsboro’s new 153,000-square-foot South Meadows Middle School. The general contractor, which last year finished work on the 24,500-square foot Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center and has worked on the state’s three largest university campuses, is entering the K-12 market with the flagship project of the district’s $169 million bond measure.

“We’re excited to bring all the expertise on all the other projects we’ve done to bear with vendor and client relationships and effective construction methods in the educational market,” Braun, of Howard S. Wright, said.

LCG Pence Construction has lined up $130 million in school district projects for 2008, including a replacement of Silverton High School in the Silver Falls School District and several renovation projects in the Beaverton School District, said Jay Olson, the company’s business relations manager.

P&C Construction has seven different school projects in various stages of construction: two projects in Beaverton, two in McMinnville, two in Hillsboro and one in North Clackamas. Work on Brown Middle School and Evergreen Middle School in Hillsboro and Barnes Elementary School in Beaverton is already under way. The remaining four projects are in the pre-construction phase.

“We’ve got more going now than is typical, but that’s a sign of a times,” Les Jacobson, chief estimator for P&C Construction, said. “There’s so much out (that) it’s just a good time to be in the school building business.”
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2008/01/15/For-Portlands-big-builders-gravy-train-is-a-school-bus-As-condo-work-slows-Portlands-largest-commerc

[MarkDaMan]

Renewal of enteprise zone expected to create new jobs
Portland Business Journal - by Wendy Culverwell Business Journal staff writer

One of Portland's best tools for industrial development should return to action this summer after a one-year hiatus.

The city and its development arm let the enterprise zone in North and Northeast Portland expire last year after rules governing the tax incentive program became overly complicated.

The city and the Portland Development Commission asked the state this week to renew an improved edition of the enterprise zone, which already is responsible for supporting roughly 4,300 manufacturing jobs.

The state Legislature created the enterprise zone program in 1985 to encourage industrial investment. Businesses in enterprise zones that invest in new plants or equipment qualify for tax abatements on the investment, an incentive that can be worth millions, especially to capital-intensive operations, such as manufacturers.

The city operated the North Portland enterprise zone for two 10-year terms, but let it expire in 2007 so it could streamline its rules and regulations, which had become overly burdensome, according to Seth Hudson, senior economic development manager for the PDC and manager of the zone.

The PDC and the Port of Portland have both signed off on re-upping Portland's enterprise zone program. The final decision rests with the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, which administers the state program. The agency should make a decision by July 1.

According to Hudson, 35 companies invested $437 million in new buildings and equipment in the zone before it expired last June. That translates to 4,300 new or retained jobs. The businesses saved a collective $26 million in taxes.

"It is the biggest tool in our toolbox," said Erin Flynn, economic development manager for the PDC.

Presuming the state grants Portland the new zone designation, the improved edition will better connect the fees businesses in the zone pay with their work force needs. For example, if a metals manufacturer needs a dozen workers, the Portland Development Commission would devise a system to recruit and if need be, train, the workers.

Training would take place through the nonprofit Worksystems Inc.

The Portland zone will also have an advisory committee to recommend ways to improve its operation. Hudson promised annual progress reports.

The city didn't lose much by letting the enterprise zone expire for a year, Hudson said. Existing businesses did not lose their benefits and those that wanted to invest did so before last June. Another dozen businesses have expressed interest in operating in the zone, which would take effect July 1.

Service Steel Inc. is one of the businesses already using it.

Ed Westerdahl, president, told the PDC he relocated his business to the zone from Swan Island last year. The company invested about $2 million in equipment and received a tax break.

The payoff has been huge, Westerdahl said.

The company typically does about $20 million a year in steel processing. With the new equipment, Westerdahl predicts the work to rise fivefold to $100 million in 2008. U.S. Barge and Oregon Steel are among Service Steel's leading customers.

Art Fish, who manages the enterprise zone program for the state, endorsed Portland's decision to sit out a year while it retooled local rules for the zone.

Still, he expects a competitive crop of applications from would-be enterprise zone operators this year. Cities, counties, ports and even tribes can apply. The Legislature allows only 59 to exist. When the Portland zone expired in 2007, the state awarded it to Fairview-Troutdale.

Eleven zones are up for renewal this year and there are three vacancies. If the state receives more than 14 applications, someone could be left out.

"We may have to make a hard choice," he said.

Hudson and Fish said it's unlikely Portland will be left out since it has an active zone with significant business investment.

Statewide, the enterprise zone program spurred $540 million in investment in 2007, according to a 2007 report on the state of enterprise zones. The 53 new projects resulted in 1,772 new full-time jobs.

Looking beyond 2007, the roster of enterprise zone projects statewide is expected to swell to $3 billion, involving 110 projects yielding more than 3,000 additional jobs.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/03/10/story7.html?t=printable

[MarkDaMan]

Hillsboro seeks more enterprise zones
Oregon officials are expected to approve the industry-attracting areas soon
Thursday, March 20, 2008
ELIZABETH SUH
The Oregonian

HILLSBORO -- The city is seeking to attract more solar and bioscience companies by adding about 1,000 acres as enterprise zones.

In an application the city expects the state to approve as soon as this week, Hillsboro asks to double the area of its enterprise zones to boost growth in developing industries.

Enterprise zones are meant to encourage large investments by exempting eligible companies from property taxes on new assets -- buildings and equipment -- for three to five years. In return, companies must meet requirements including minimum levels of jobs, wages and benefits.

One of the areas proposed for an enterprise zone is north of U.S. 26, east of Northwest Helvetia Road. The other two areas are just south of U.S. 26 -- with one parcel north of Northwest Evergreen Road and the other east of Northwest Shute Road.

Larry Pederson, Hillsboro's economic development director, said the areas are attractive to solar companies because much of the property is undeveloped, industrial land by U.S. 26 that was added to the urban growth boundary north of Hillsboro in recent years.

Hillsboro's existing high-tech work force also has expertise in the silicon technology used in solar panels, Pederson said.

SolarWorld, a German solar technology company, and Genentech, a biotechnology company, already are building plants in north Hillsboro, receiving benefits in an existing enterprise zone.

Pederson said other companies looking to make big investments -- such as one $40 million project and another at $2 billion -- have expressed interest in the area.

Hillsboro stepped up the idea of expanding the zones after Schott Solar, a German solar-technology company, passed up Hillsboro in the fall in favor of a site in New Mexico because of state incentives there, he said.

An enterprise zone "gives us more tools to work with industries that we want to attract . . . industries that are highly competitive globally," he said.

The city's three existing enterprise zones total about 900 acres -- the northern area including the Genentech and SolarWorld sites, which stretches between U.S. 26 and the Hillsboro Airport; and two areas including the downtown business district and industrial land southwest of it.

While much of the land in the proposed new enterprise zones is outside Hillsboro limits, the city has designated it for industrial use upon annexation.

Four companies have enterprise zone agreements in Hillsboro -- SolarWorld, Genentech, TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. and Clio Technologies Inc., an Ohio company planning a small manufacturing site.

Those projects are conservatively projected to invest $207 million and employ 650 people, Pederson said.

Because most of them have not been completed, the city has only exempted $42,900 in property taxes so far, he said.

Companies receive an initial tax break in enterprise zones, but the city benefits in the long run through the creation of high-quality jobs and future revenue, Pederson said.

"Once companies get in and get established, they continue to grow, continue to be a contributing community member," Pederson said.

Elizabeth Suh: 503-294-5956; elizabethsuh@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1205978106192950.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

Boeing to hire 500 at Gresham plant
Airplane maker could invest $100M locally
Portland Business Journal - by Wendy Culverwell Business Journal staff writer

Boeing is quietly ramping up the workforce at its state-of-the-art parts plant in Gresham.

With more than 500 new positions advertised in 2007 and more to come, Chicago-based The Boeing Co. is poised to expand its local workforce by as much as 50 percent, bringing its local payroll to an estimated 1,800 workers.

That's big news for the local economy and the 300 or more Oregon companies that provide goods and services to the aircraft maker.

Boeing spent nearly $175 million with its Oregon vendors in 2006, the most current figures available, said Don Schmidt, a Boeing spokesman responsible for Oregon. The same year, Boeing and its employees contributed more than $431,000 to local charities.

"We have a number of businesses that will benefit from Boeing's growth," said Grant Watkinson, president of Coastwide Laboratories, a Wilsonville manufacturer of green janitorial supplies.

Coastwide has supplied Boeing plants around the country for eight years.

"A big firm like that is very important to any local vendor," Watkinson said.

Boeing's business partners also include heavyweights such as Precision Castparts, Oregon Iron Works and Esco.

The aircraft maker is the "quiet giant" of Oregon manufacturing, said Norm Eder, a partner at Conkling Fiskum & McCormick and executive director of the Manufacturing 21 Coalition.

Eder has watched as Boeing transformed Gresham into a world class center for machining, packing its 1.3 million square foot plant with specialized equipment operated by skilled employees.

"It's a major East (Multnomah) County employer," he said. "They're going to drive innovation, especially in the use of titanium in the aerospace world, which is the centerpiece of what they do here."

Manufacturing accounted for 18.3 percent of Portland's $95.6 billion gross domestic product in 2005, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a higher percentage than manufacturing hotbeds such as Detroit.

"It's the secret part of our economy," Eder said.

Scott Dawson, dean of the School of Business Administration at Portland State University, considers Boeing critical to the local economy. He projects the company will employ as many as 1,800 in the near future, up from 1,200 about 18 months ago.

The company employs 1,600 locally, which represents a tiny fraction of the aircraft giant's 161,500 total employees, according to Schmidt.

Boeing doesn't release payroll figures, but the National Association of Manufacturers reports that Oregon's average manufacturing job pays $49,706 annually, more than $10,000 higher than the average for all jobs.

"Those are highly skilled jobs," Dawson said. "The machinery they have out there is something else."

Although Boeing lost the coveted $35 billion U.S. Air Force Contract for the KC-45A tanker program to rival Northrop Grumman Corp. and its partner, the parent company of Airbus, the controversial decision shouldn't affect the company's Oregon-based work.

"Supporting the tanker program is a very small percentage of Boeing Portland's work," Schmidt said.

In fact, Boeing is poised to continue investing in facilities and equipment in Gresham, to the tune of $80 million to $100 million.

The Gresham City Council approved Boeing's plan to invest in its new enterprise zone in August. By investing in the Gresham zone, Boeing is rewarded with property tax breaks for creating at least 140 new jobs.

City officials said the company has already spent $31 million and filled 142 jobs.

The city and its fellow taxing jurisdictions will waive property taxes on the new facilities and equipment for five years. The deal is worth $4.7 million to Boeing.

Art Fish, who coordinates the enterprise zone program for the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department, said that at $80 million to $100 million, Boeing is making one of the state's larger enterprise zone investments.

He called Boeing a great enterprise zone success. The program promotes economic development with an emphasis on traded sector manufacturing businesses that pay well.

"It's a classic expansion," he said.

There is one significant crimp in Boeing's local plans. The company has not been able to fill its open positions with local talent, Schmidt said. To that end, Boeing is founding member and active supporter of Eder's Manufacturing 21 Coalition.

Eder said the workforce issue is a major challenge facing not just Boeing but most manufacturers regardless of whether they are growing.

"In manufacturing, companies are losing many of their most experienced people to retirement," he said. "The pipeline leading to those skills is largely empty even though they are very well paying jobs."

Boeing reported 2007 revenues of $66.39 billion, with a 6.14 percent profit margin. The company remains a significant presence in the Seattle area, where nearly half its employees are based.

Boeing built its presence in Gresham in the early days of World War II, when the plant was producing parts for the company's B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. In 1974, the company acquired the plant.

Inside the Gresham facility, workers make parts for almost everything in the Boeing catalog, from its commercial airplanes to its defense lineup.

Gresham-made parts are in everything from the workhorse 737 to the new 787 Dreamliner widebody plane.

wculverwell@bizjournals | 503-219-3415

[OutrageousJ]

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/120770977617030.xml&coll=7&thispage=1

In the past two years, dozens of software companies have taken root or expanded in downtown. Some have kept adding space in the district even amid worries of a broad economic slowdown. The trend has gradually given downtown a burgeoning tract of the tech scene, traditionally concentrated in Portland's western suburbs.

[MarkDaMan]

Channel dig nears finish
$170.8M project could be done by 2010
Portland Business Journal - by Erik Siemers Business Journal staff writer
Cathy Cheney | Portland Business Journal

A nearly 20-year project to deepen the Columbia River channel and open it to larger volumes of trade could near its end in two years.

The only thing standing in its way is the federal bureaucracy.

President Bush in February included $36 million in his proposed fiscal year 2009 budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Columbia River Channel Improvement Project. Officials with the Army Corps and the Port of Portland say that money would complete most of the work to deepen much of the navigation channel between Astoria and Portland from 40 feet to 43 feet by 2010.

"It would allow us to complete the dredging and I believe all the environmental work," said Dianne Perry, senior project manager for all of the Oregon and Washington-based ports involved in the project. "It's fabulous news -- if in fact we can get that."

That "if" remains an open question as representatives from the Corps and local ports lobby Congress to approve the money. They acknowledge it could be a challenge, particularly during a time when the nation sits on the precipice of a recession.

"I'm sure we're going to have to work hard with the appropriations committees and all of the congressional members from the Pacific Northwest to make a case," said Rick Finn, federal affairs manager for the Port of Portland. "It's impossible for me to predict what the outcome may be."

Further delays could continue to raise the price tag of the project, officials said. As of 1999, the project's estimated cost was $150 million. It has since risen to $170.8 million due to inflation, said Laura Hicks, the project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The stakes for the project, advocates say, are high -- for both the regional and national economy.

Dave Hunt is executive director of the Columbia River Channel Coalition, a group founded 11 years ago with a mission to bring together the disparate interests of the ports, area businesses, labor unions, farmers and anyone else with a stake in the channel's future.

"The only thing that has changed in the last 11 years is international trade has increased more than people have projected," Hunt said. "Freight volumes have increased more than projected. Frankly, the ports on other West Coast cities have become more congested than people projected."

Completing the deepening project is an opportunity to capture an estimated $18.8 million a year in transportation cost savings for businesses and farmers shipping product through the Columbia River, Hunt said.

Deepening the channel to 43 feet would allow a grain ship to carry an additional 6,000 tons of grain, Hunt said. A container ship would have the added capacity for 300 fully-loaded containers.

"It's a massive economy of scale," Hunt said.

Planning for the project began in 1989, but actual dredging didn't begin until 2005, when a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by Portland-based Northwest Environmental Advocates that claimed, in part, the work could harm the river's estuary and threaten already-endangered salmon species, as well as unearth toxic sediment during the dredging process.

By Oct. 1, the Army Corps will have completed about 70 percent of the project, which includes the addition of various ecosystem restoration features, Hicks said. Both Hicks and Perry said only about half of the 103-mile navigation channel is being deepened.

The $36 million included in the president's budget proposal would complete all but one mile of the project. Hicks said a rock outcropping at river mile 88 near St. Helens must still be removed, but the Army Corps has yet to determine whether it can be extracted mechanically or if it will need drilling and blasting work.

"It could be the most expensive mile in the whole project," she said, "or it could come out with mechanical means and be complete."

Finn, of the Port of Portland, said it's likely the money wouldn't be approved in time for the start of the federal fiscal year Oct. 1. He said it's possible Congress could delay enacting appropriations for federal agencies until early 2009, until a new president is inaugurated.

Hunt, of the Channel Coalition, is also a state representative and the House majority leader from Clackamas County. He believes it's a positive that the deepening money was included in the president's budget; Congress, he said, has had a recent history of approving Bush-pledged money for the project.

It also helps that U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, chairs the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee. He also said every member of Congress from Oregon, Washington, Montana and Idaho has submitted the project as part of their requests to House and Senate appropriations committees.

"It's going to be a challenge and it's going to take the longshoremen whose jobs are at stake, the farmers whose businesses are at stake, and the business owners whose economic security is at stake to be in dialogue with the Congressional delegation," Hunt said. "The only real rub is the really tough overall fiscal climate in D.C. right now."

esiemers@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3418

[IHEARTPDX]

I had no idea that Le Coq Sportif had offices in Portland...and I am surprised that Nau shut down operations here...aren't they opening up a store on NW 23rd?
And um yeah...nice choice of words Oregonian Le Coq + pulls out...subtle.
From The Oregonian...

Le Coq Sportif pulls out of U.S. market

The sun has set on the rooster in Portland.

Le Coq Sportif, the French sportswear brand with a rooster crowing in its logo, is closing its Portland-based North American subsidiary less than a year after leasing offices here and only three months after relaunching to U.S. consumers, a company official confirmed today.

Tim McCool, chief executive of Le Coq Sportif North America, said that despite success this spring in the U.S., the company has decided to pull back to focus on unexpectedly strong demand for its products in Europe. McCool declined to detail the privately held company's revenues, but said sales grew 95 percent in 2007 and so far have exceeded its target 70 percent growth target this year.

Le Coq relaunched the once-popular brand to U.S. consumers in February with a line of clothing and lifestyle and technical footwear. It targeted fashion boutiques, tennis clubs, private athletic clubs and resorts. The company also signed flamboyant Chicago Bulls rookie Joakim Noah, son of French tennis legend and longtime Le Coq athlete Yannik Noah, to an endorsement contract.

Le Coq, which employed seven in offices on Northwest First Avenue in Portland, becomes the third apparel brand to curtail operations or close shop in Portland in the past two months. Adidas AG's North American unit, Adidas America Inc., laid off dozens in April, and sustainable apparel startup Nau Inc. shut down earlier this month, laying off more than 60.

Learn more in tomorrow's editions of The Oregonian.

--Brent Hunsberger;
brenthunsberger@news.oregonian.com

[bvpcvm]

^ the building that nau was going to open in (now half-remodeled) has a for rent sign on it now. i understood that the company is no longer operating and it looks like there will be no new store.

[360Rich]

Greenlight Greater Portland predicts job growth
Portland Business Journal

Greenlight Greater Portland announced Wednesday that the Portland region will add 100,000 jobs in the next five years.

The group's "2008 Greater Portland Prosperity Index" also paints an optimistic picture of the region's potential in a range of business, demographic and quality of life metrics compared to nine other metro areas across the western United States.

For instance:

*In the next five years, Portland's gross regional product is predicted to grow 29.1 percent to $144.1 billion, behind only that of Austin, Texas.

* The Portland region boasts the second-lowest average price for industrial space among the nine regions, at $6.34 per square foot. Only Denver's is lower. The price in several California cities is more than double that of Portland.

* Average Class A office price per square foot is $25.30, lower than all other cities except Albuquerque and Austin.

The index, done in conjunction with Philadelphia-based forecasting firm Global Insight, compares the region to nine other metro areas: Seattle, Denver, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Albuquerque and Austin.

The study identified several local growth sectors, including professional, financial and information services and construction and natural resources. Portland's professional and business services sector will grow 23 percent to more than 170,000 workers by 2013.

It also emphasized Portland's affordability and size:

* Overall cost of living is cheaper than in Seattle and the five California cities surveyed.
* Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $875, third-lowest, behind only Denver and Albuquerque.
* Median housing price, at $295,300, is fourth-lowest.
* The population in the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton area is predicted to increase 8 percent to nearly 2.4 million people in the next five years.

The study also measured quality of life. Portland leads all 10 study cities in number of bookstores per million residents (135), wineries per million residents (69) and brewpubs per million residents (23).

More information can be found on the Greenlight Greater Portland Web site, greenlightgreaterportland.com.

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/06/02/daily20.html?jst=b_ln_hl

[tworivers]

Office market continues to slide
With investors’ confidence waning and economy struggling, second-quarter numbers reflect drop

POSTED: 04:00 AM PDT Wednesday, July 16, 2008
BY TYLER GRAF (DJC)

The office market continued its slow slide in the second quarter of 2008 due to weakening investor confidence and a lagging national economy, according to a market trends report released Monday.

Patricia Raicht, the principal author of the report and a vice president at Grubb & Ellis, said deals are now taking longer than they did a year ago, and some businesses that would otherwise be looking for space may withdraw from the market altogether.

Penny pinching within most commercial subsectors has caused a reluctance to make real estate moves, according to Raicht. Nonetheless, office availability within the urban core has remained at a consistent 11.3 percent.

The average Class A office space lease price within the urban core climbed slightly to $25.94 per square foot.

“If tenants are not busting at the seams to expand, then they won’t, even though they would have a year ago,” Raicht said, adding that closed deals for commercial properties are down by 50 percent from where they were at this time in 2007.

And one concern is that the suburban markets will continue to be sucked into an office-space vacuum. In the second quarter, available space within the suburban markets increased from 460,000 to 660,000 square feet. If this continues, then landlords will be competing for tenants against sublease space in their own buildings, according to the report.

Still, brokers remain confident that the Portland market can ride out the storm, amid concerns that the national economy is entering a recession.

David Hill, a broker for Grubb & Ellis, said investment opportunities exist; however, the culture has shifted away from long-term investments, since the market is expected to continue its slide into 2009.

“There’s money out there, but we’re in a time of risk aversion,” Hill said.

Investors have moved away from speculation, he added, and have shifted their focus to the “here and now.” A more utilitarian real estate investment agenda has replaced the bullish buy-now-for-future-gains policies of less than a year ago.

Another problem is that the Portland office market is simply “not a large pond to go fishing in,” said Bob Stutte, president of Norris & Stevens. Because the market is small, if certain sectors underperform, then the entire market can take a hit.

He sees the retail subsector taking the largest hit downtown.

“It’s hard to link what’s happening to the retail market downtown to the economy, though,” Stutte said, “because downtown has been torn up for so many years.”

Downtown construction might be the cause of the problems, he said. Still, unemployment in Portland has jumped from 4.8 percent to 5.3 percent in the last quarter.

The sector that has seen the best growth has been health care, which is up 3.3 percent from the previous year. The report attributes this to an aging baby boomer population and increasing retirement numbers.

Positive claims are also attached to the performance of Class B office space.

The penny-pinching, investment-confidence-lacking marketplace has placed Class B office space higher than the more expensive Class A space.

“Tenants that might traditionally be looking at Class A space are looking more closely at Class B space because it will save them a lot of money,” Raicht said. “There are a lot of tenants looking for a bargain and adjusting their business needs.”

[Snowden352]

From the Oregonian:

Oregon solar industry approaching solstice
No one's talking, but potential deals could bring thousands of $50,000-a-year positions

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

RICHARD READ
The Oregonian Staff
At least three big solar companies are considering Oregon for manufacturing plants that, along with the unannounced expansion of an existing project, could provide thousands of family-wage jobs.

Government and business brokers of the potential deals -- including Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who recently hinted at imminent news -- refuse to name companies. But The Oregonian has uncovered expansion plans and potential plants that would build the state into something of a Solar Forest, capitalizing on Oregon's expertise in silicon, an ingredient of both solar cells and semiconductors.

Recruiters use cloak-and-dagger terms in discussing the solar manufacturers eyeing Oregon: Project Ark. Project Harvester. And an especially big one, Project Tahoe.

They know that all could slip through their fingers. Oregon narrowly missed another deal, dubbed Project Apricus, that could have brought the world's largest solar complex, with 3,000 jobs, to Hillsboro.

SpectraWatt, an Intel spin-off about to break ground for a plant to make solar cells in Hillsboro, initially announced it would employ 135. Now, the company reveals a second phase -- there, or outside Oregon, depending partly on tax incentives -- that would boost its work force to about 1,000.

Out-of-state companies are considering Oregon for factories half again as big as the largest U.S. solar plant, which SolarWorld is completing in Hillsboro. A solar company -- clues point to a division of Japan's Sanyo Electric Group -- is also negotiating to build a plant in Salem, according to sources close to the project.

Economic development officials won't discuss any of the potential projects, citing confidentiality agreements and the possibility that publicity would scare off the companies.

"I'm not talking," said Bruce Laird, a state investment recruiter. "But if we can keep this thing rolling, I think in two years people are going to be quite amazed."

State officials face stiff competition from other regions and countries. Yet as the state's economy teeters on recession, they hope to build Oregon into a hub for companies attracted by experienced silicon workers, relatively cheap power, green values and substantial tax breaks.

Toward that end last week, officials and corporate representatives collaborating to recruit solar companies donned blue shirts emblazoned with Oregon sunbursts to buttonhole executives at a San Francisco trade show. Team members will head to Valencia, Spain, in September to make more contacts. Many of the big solar players are based in Europe and Asia.

Team member Larry Pederson, Hillsboro economic development director, said Monday that "more than one" company is considering Oregon for a plant of about 750,000 square feet. That's substantially larger than the 480,000-square-foot, $400 million plant that Germany's SolarWorld is converting from a Hillsboro semiconductor plant that never opened. SolarWorld plans to hire 350 workers initially, expanding to about 2,000.

Pederson and other officials would not comment on projects Tahoe and Harvester. But Pederson said Project Ark referred to a solar-cell manufacturer.

"It is a name everyone will recognize," Pederson said. "And then I'm not going to tell you any more."

Project Ark was the code name for the solar division of Sanyo when the company considered Millersburg earlier this year for a manufacturing site, said John Pascone, president of the Albany-Millersburg Economic Development Corp. Sanyo was considering building a plant of between 25,000 and 39,000 square feet to employ perhaps 30 to 50 people, said Pascone, who believes Sanyo passed up his area for Salem.

An unidentified solar company is negotiating with the city of Salem and with Sedcor, an economic development organization for Marion and Polk counties, over the so-called Gaffin Road site off Oregon 22 east of central Salem, said Alex Rhoten, a Sedcor board member and commercial broker.

"I know Salem and Sedcor have worked very hard to land them in terms of concessions and opportunities," Rhoten said.

Salem Mayor Janet Taylor said she had heard of Sanyo Solar but would neither confirm nor deny that it was the company negotiating with the city. But Ray Burstedt, Sedcor president, said he'd never heard of Sanyo and had "no idea" what Project Ark meant.

Nathan Buehler, Oregon Economic and Community Development Department marketing manager, urged The Oregonian to withhold company names, saying publication could prompt firms to back out.

Asked whether Sanyo was considering an Oregon site, company spokesman Aaron Fowles in Tokyo said: "Sanyo is always looking at opportunities to expand. Nothing has been officially decided at this time."

In Japan, Sanyo executives take pride in a 1,000-foot-wide ark-shaped array of solar panels, called Solar Ark.

Kulongoski met with Sanyo Clean Energy Co. executives in Tokyo in June 2006. Shortly before then, a Sedcor official said at the time, Sanyo had backed out of an "offer of interest" on a former semiconductor wafer plant in Salem.

Anna Richter Taylor, a spokeswoman for the governor, declined comment Monday on companies considering the state.

"The governor talks to a lot of companies and has an aggressive effort to recruit solar-manufacturing and other renewable-energy companies to Oregon," Taylor said. "Not only is the (solar) product beneficial to the state, but there are thousands of good family-wage jobs in a sustainable industry, too."

A solar-factory line worker can earn in the mid or upper $40,000-$50,000 range, plus benefits, Buehler estimated. A 2006 study placed the average renewable-energy-sector salary at $59,149, when construction workers and professional and technical employees were included, he said.

Oregon already has a cluster of solar manufacturing companies, ranging from Millersburg's Peak Sun Silicon Corp., which will make ingredients for cells, to XsunX Inc., which will make solar panels in Wood Village.

Andrew Wilson, SpectraWatt's chief executive, said the startup, which will break ground shortly for a 65,000-square-foot plant, plans to build a second factory within two or three years that will be five to eight times larger. The expansion would increase SpectraWatt's work force from 135 to around 1,000 within eight years as the company aims to supply about 5 percent of the world's solar cells, Wilson said.

"We have the land here in Oregon to do it," said Wilson, noting the first plant will occupy about 6 acres of a 21-acre site. But SpectraWatt could decide to site its second plant elsewhere, he said, depending on tax incentives and other factors.

Oregon offers state tax credits to renewable-energy companies in a program that legislators recently expanded. So far, solar companies have received preliminary certification for credits totaling almost $39 million over five years, according to the Oregon Department of Energy.

Oregon offered another tax-incentive package during the 1990s to attract semiconductor plants. Critics of tax-break development point out that some of those operators have since moved elsewhere.

The incentives aren't always enough. Hillsboro's Pederson disclosed Monday that he and others scrambled about a year ago to attract Norway's Renewable Energy Corp. in an effort code-named Project Apricus.

"It was a huge project," Pederson said, "like 300 acres."

Pederson believes REC, which makes solar polysilicon in Moses Lake, Wash., eliminated all U.S. sites, except Hillsboro. In October, REC announced Singapore as the location for the complex, which will make wafers, cells and panels.

REC's likely total investment there within five years: more than $4.7 billion, creating about 3,000 jobs.

Richard Read: 503-294-5135; richread@aol.com.



©2008 Oregonian

[Snowden352]

And from the Portland Business Journal:

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - 9:47 AM PDT
Precision Castparts has record Q1
Portland Business Journal

Precision Castparts Corp. on Tuesday reported record-high first-quarter sales and earnings figures driven by strong demand from the energy and aerospace industries for the company's metal products.

Even so, Wall Street didn't react favorably -- the company's stock price dropped nearly 5 percent in mid-day trading, to $98.77 per share. It closed Monday at $103.53 per share.

The Portland-based metals company (NYSE: PCP) recorded sales of $1.83 billion for its fiscal first quarter of 2009, an 11.2 percent increase over the same period a year ago.

The company's continuing operations earned $274.9 million, or $1.95 per share, representing a 21.1 percent increase over a year earlier. It also beat the $1.93 per share projected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Including discontinued operations, Precision Castparts' first quarter earnings would rise to $275.8 million, or $1.96 per share.

The biggest growth came from within the company's investment cast products division, where the $597.7 million in sales were a 17.3 percent improvement over a year earlier.

The forged products division recorded $816.5 million in sales, a 5.6 percent jump from a year earlier, and fastener products went up 14.5 percent to $420.7 million in sales.

The company, which makes a litany of metal components for jumbo jets, should see continued growth as production of the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380 ramps up, said Mark Donegan, CEO of Precision Castparts.

The company is also expanding a manufacturing site near Portland and building a new plant in Ohio as it tries to keep up with demand for its parts from industrial gas turbine manufacturers.

"Overall, we see solid demand from our core customers for the rest of the year," Donegan said in a news release.

[MarkDaMan]

Precision Castparts' first quarter earnings would rise to $275.8 million, or $1.96 per share.

enought to build a gorgeous new downtown tower!

:)

[IanofCascadia]

From The Oregonian:

Monday July 21, 2008, 10:37 AM
Icebreaker leases Pearl District space for U.S. headquarters
by Brent Hunsberger
The Oregonian

Icebreaker, the outdoor apparel maker, said Monday it has leased space in Portland's Pearl District where it plans to expand its U.S. headquarters by next spring.

The New Zealand-based company leased 16,500 square feet of space in the 14 Square building, 1330 N.W. 14th St., from Overton Pearl #2. It will renovate the space to U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification standards, spokesman Lee Weinstein said, and locate its U.S. design, sales and marketing sales staff.

The offices are part of a half-block parcel at 14th Avenue and Overton Street that Portland developer Mark Madden is turning into a five-story, 61,000 square foot office building with ground floor retail, according to the Portland Business Alliance.

Over the past year, Icebreaker moved its U.S. headquarters from Ketchum, Idaho to Portland. It currently employs 40 at two offices in the Pearl and at its store on Northwest 11th Avenue and West Burnside Street. The 14-year-old maker of merino wool under layers, shirts, coats and accessories expects to expand employment to 70 within the next two years.

[zilfondel]

We're looking at ~2,200 layoffs in Portland, thanks to Daimler. There are about 1,300 jobs at the Canadian plant; 3,500 - 1,300 = 2,200.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/business/15truck.html?ref=business


Truck Maker Plans to Cut 3,500 Jobs in U.S. and Canada

By IAN AUSTEN
Published: October 14, 2008

OTTAWA — Daimler, the world’s largest maker of heavy vehicles, announced plans on Tuesday to eliminate its Sterling truck brand and shift production from the United States to Mexico, moves that will cut about 3,500 jobs in Canada and the United States.

The head of Daimler Trucks, Andreas Renschler, said that about 88,000 heavy trucks had been idled in the United States since January, a clear indication that the industry was undergoing a significant and perhaps permanent change.

“It would be bad leadership to ignore today’s economic realities,” Mr. Renschler told a conference call for analysts and reporters. “It’s a whole new game now.”

About 1,300 layoffs will come in March when Daimler closes a Sterling factory in St. Thomas, Ontario, according to the Canadian Auto Workers, which represents those employees. About 720 workers at that plant have already been told that they will be laid off next month, when a shift is scheduled to be eliminated.

The announcement came just as Canadians began voting in a federal election. The loss of factory jobs in southern Ontario, where St. Thomas is located, has been a significant issue in the campaign.

Ken Lewenza, the auto workers’ union president, said that Daimler did not notify the union in advance and that most of his members learned about the closing through the news media. He said that the union would press the company to reconsider at a meeting scheduled for next week.

“This is another log on the fire,” Mr. Lewenza said. “Ontario is going through a crisis in manufacturing.”

Sterling, which makes medium-duty trucks used for deliveries by utilities as well as heavy-duty models, was created after Daimler purchased several truck operations from the Ford Motor Company in 1997. The unit accounts for about 15 percent of Daimler’s truck volume in North America, although analysts have generally viewed it as a laggard compared to Freightliner, the company’s flagship brand on the continent.

Daimler will also move production of most Western Star brand trucks from Portland, Ore., to Santiago, Mexico, in June 2010. Military vehicles now made in that factory will be shifted to a Daimler factory in North or South Carolina, although the company has not yet identified it.

Western Star was a Canadian manufacturer best known as a supplier of specialized trucks to the lumber and the oil and gas industries when it was purchased by Daimler in 2000.

In addition to the factory layoffs, Daimler will cut about 1,200 salaried jobs, about half of those at Sterling.

The closing and layoffs will cost Daimler about $550 million, with $350 million of that amount coming in the fourth quarter. When the reorganization is complete in 2011, Daimler expects to bolster its gross earnings by $900 million a year.

Between all of its brands, Daimler sold about 16,000 trucks in North America last year. But sales for the first eight months are down by 18 percent.

Mr. Renschler cited several obvious factors for the downturn, including increased fuel prices and, more recently, the general economic turmoil. But he also cited price increases related to new environmental standards for trucks as a factor.



Also, the Oregonian is too stupid to count:

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/10/freighliner_closing_portland_m.html

Freightliner shedding 1,000 Portland jobs

Daimler Trucks North America, formerly known as Freightliner, announced today that it is closing its 39-year-old Portland manufacturing plant in June 2010, eliminating about 1,000 jobs.

"It's a punch to our economic gut," said Portland Mayor-elect Sam Adams.

The announcement came as part of a wholesale revamping of the organization that was unveiled in Stuttgart, Germany, by the truckmakers parent, Daimler AG.

A Freightliner executive told Adams that the cost of getting parts and components, then shipping them out, was prohibitive.

"It put them economically underwater," Adams said.

The move also comes nearly a year after Daimler Trucks North America announced it was moving hundreds of white-collar jobs out of Portland headquarters to new offices in South Carolina.

Daimler is closing the Portland plant when the current labor contracts expire. Production of the Western Star truck will be assigned to the company's Santiago, Mexico, plant, while production of Freightliner-branded military vehicles will take place at one of the company's manufacturing facilities in the Carolinas by mid-2010.

The end of production at the Portland manufacturing plant will not affect the location or operation of the company's headquarters on Swan Island, where about 2,200 people work.

Start of production at the new Saltillo, Mexico, manufacturing plant will occur as planned in February 2009. The plant will produce Freightliner's new flagship Cascadia model.




Here are some of the largest layoffs in Oregon this decade:
Hynix Semiconductor, Eugene, 2008: 1,400 

Intel, Hillsboro, 2006: 1,100 

Freightliner LLC, Portland, 2001: 1,085 

Consolidated Freightways Corp., Vancouver and Portland, 2002: 970 

Epson America Inc., Hillsboro, 2001: 820 

AgriFrozen Foods Inc., Woodburn, 2001: 851 

Freightliner LLC, Portland, 2000: 770 

Roseburg Forest Products Co., Dillard and Green, 2003: 675 

Fujitsu Microelectronics, Gresham, 2001: 670 

J.R. Simplot Co., Hermiston, 2004: 635 

Sumco (The Sumitomo Mitsubishi Silicon Group), Salem, 2003: 630 

Boeing, Portland, 2001-2002: 560 

Reynolds Metals Co., Troutdale, 2000: 530 

Meier & Frank, Portland, 2002: 500 

Total: over 11,000 layoffs in 8 years - not including this latest bout.

[PacificNW]

Maybe the outfit that wants to build streetcars in Portland (for systems throughout the U.S.) will take a look at this facility and assembly line personnel.....lemons to lemonade...

[bvpcvm]

how ironic that freightliner's "new flagship model" will be called "cascadia".

[brandonpdx]

This is why NAFTA is no good. The blue colar middle classs jobs go away to Mexico. Sure, the white colar executive jobs stay in the US but while they're geting richer the middle class are disappearing.

[Snowden352]

Wait... are you saying that white collar jobs are only executive jobs? Or just that the only jobs staying are white collar executive jobs? Or that only blue-collar jobs are middle-class jobs?

Just curious.

[JordanL]

My father works at the plant... talked to him today... seemed pretty distraught.

[RoseCtyRoks]

This is all across the board unfortunately, blue collar, white collar & anything in between. Plants, warehouses, architect firms. My brother was just let go from a highly respected firm that has many projects throughout Portland. He was an associate and had 9 years in.....hardest working guy you can find anywhere. This is going to take a while for this economy to really bounce back, where Big Bosses don't fear losing THEIR shirts.....whatever color they may be.

[zilfondel]

^ My father works at the HQ, and he was pretty distraught too. He said they are planning cuts much deeper than the 900 now claimed on the Oregonian's website, as my earlier post indicated.

EDIT - here they are:

Another 1,200 white-collar employees in Daimler's North America operations also will lose their jobs. Roger Nielsen, chief operating officer of Daimler Trucks North America, said Tuesday that the company expects a "predominant" number of those losses will be at the Portland headquarters.


Outsourcing is kind of beginning to piss me off, honestly. I used to be in favor of free trade years ago.. until China was given 'most favored nation' trading status.

[brandonpdx]

I was making a generalization as to why NAFTA sucks.

[downtownpdx]

Interesting economic / housing forecasts for Portland, other West Coast metros by IHS Global Insight:

blog.oregonlive.com/frontporch

The economy may suck right now, but we're looking pretty good over the next 5 years, at least by these forecasts.

[PacificNW]

↑ This might help the navigation process:


http://blog.oregonlive.com/frontporch/

Interesting...thanks for the heads up downtownpdx......

[JordanL]

I was making a generalization as to why NAFTA sucks.

They used to build the Military trucks at the Portland plant... it was the only plant in the US fitted to do so.

Frieghtliner tried to manufacture an order in Mexico... the DoD refused to pay them as the contract specifically stated it had to be manufactured in the US. They ended up having to make them again here in the US.

But they fitted an east coast plant to handle military trucks, which was the last thing keep Portland open...

Our economy is BAD right now...

[urbanlife]

anyone looking to buy? It looks like the Encore has a few units to sell.
http://agent503.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/pearl-new-construction-update_20081022.jpg

A great site I just stumbled across while doing some homework.
http://agent503.com/

[JordanL]

anyone looking to buy? It looks like the Encore has a few units to sell.
http://agent503.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/pearl-new-construction-update_20081022.jpg

A great site I just stumbled across while doing some homework.
http://agent503.com/

They were selling to investors and flippers, thinking there was people to fill them... :rolleyes:

There's way too much inventory right now...

[Leo]

anyone looking to buy? It looks like the Encore has a few units to sell.
http://agent503.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/pearl-new-construction-update_20081022.jpg

A great site I just stumbled across while doing some homework.
http://agent503.com/

Personally, I think Hoyt Street Properties took a big gamble in not converting Encore to rentals while they still had a chance. Possibly, they still felt like they got burnt when they tried to bring The Lexis online as a rental during the height of the housing bubble. But now that owners are actually moving into the Encore, they're probably too far along to convert that building into rentals.

The Encore is quite possibly my least favorite HSP building. Generally, I like the way the HSP has "staggered" their buildings in the neighborhood. The way that the tower portions of the Metropolitan and Park Place are aligned with respect to each other is probably the best example of this. In contrast the Encore just seems to be randomly plopped next to the Pinnnacle with no attempt at any kind of integration (kind of like the Asa and the Wyatt). And it's still expensive, even after a price cut, compared to its competition...

[2oh1]

They were selling to investors and flippers, thinking there was people to fill them... :rolleyes:

There's way too much inventory right now...

Yep. And there's way too much inventory at prices that are too high regardless of so-called slashed prices. Even during the boom, I was wondering why everyone was building $400,000+ condos when it seemed to me like the hole in the market was for condos in the 100s and low 200s. And when affordable condos would hit the market, they were usually in a bad location with microscopic floorplans (Empress, I'm pointing at YOU!)

[JordanL]

Yep. And there's way too much inventory at prices that are too high regardless of so-called slashed prices. Even during the boom, I was wondering why everyone was building $400,000+ condos when it seemed to me like the hole in the market was for condos in the 100s and low 200s. And when affordable condos would hit the market, they were usually in a bad location with microscopic floorplans (Empress, I'm pointing at YOU!)

Right.

I think it's a mistake to think that this is a temporary abberation in real estate prices... the market had way more money in it than it should have.

[JordanL]

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/pretti/2009/images/0227_clip_image004.jpg

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/pretti/2009/images/0227_clip_image002.jpg

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/pretti/2009/images/0227_clip_image012.jpg

This doesn't look like it's going to heal any time soon.

The housing market is facing a huge further decline. There's simply less money chasing houses, even if there's more people chasing them...

[pdxman]

K' Line pulls up Portland anchor
by Richard Read, The Oregonian
Thursday March 05, 2009, 9:31 PM

A container handler moves one of "K" Line's 40-foot-long steel boxes Thursday at the Port of Portland's Terminal 6. The Japanese steamship company will stop calling on Portland in April, eliminating one of the port's three international marine cargo routes.

Portland will lose crucial container service to Japan in April when a Tokyo steamship company scraps a shipping route that spans the globe.
A local manager for "K" Line, which launched the 14-city pendulum-shaped route when times were better only seven months ago, confirmed Thursday that its vessels would stop calling on Portland. The port will lose one of its two Asian shipping links, retaining a European and South American service provided by another cargo carrier.
As many as 90 Portland longshoremen who service a "K" Line vessel each week will lose that work, along with significant numbers of truck drivers, warehouse workers and freight forwarders. Exporters who ship everything from peas to compressed hay could lose sales.

"This is very difficult news at a very difficult time, but it's also not the end of the world," said Bill Wyatt, Port of Portland executive director. "This departure will leave additional cargo available for other carriers when overall market conditions improve."

Conditions are so bad in the global shipping industry that hundreds of idle vessels sit anchored off Singapore. Wyatt returned Wednesday from a conference in Los Angeles where U.S. port officials compared notes on sinking bottom lines.

"The global drop in container volumes has been stunning," Wyatt said.

Globally, Portland is a tail wagging a big dog, given the port's location up a river at the far end of a vast, 13-vessel shipping route looping through the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. As such, Portland apparently could exert little or no influence on "K" Line's decision to cut back.

The decision could mean that Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., as "K" Line is officially known, will end service between Japan and Europe. That move would make headlines in Tokyo.

"K" Line returned to Portland with fanfare in July after a hiatus of nearly four years. The carrier restored the port's only direct link at the time to Japan, Oregon's third largest foreign customer after China and Canada.

Agricultural exporters rejoiced. No longer would they have to spend an extra couple of hundred dollars per container trucking goods to Tacoma.

"K" Line, a behemoth with 488 ships, strung together its complex multi-ocean pendulum route to shore up revenues as West Coast business declined and Asian-European trade persisted. Since then, European business has collapsed. Competitors speculate that "K" Line will revert to a streamlined Pacific route.

Ken Koenig, a "K" Line America Inc. manager in Portland, confirmed Thursday that the company would pull out but provided no details. Portland freight forwarders said they heard the last ship would call in late April.

The departure will clobber some Northwest exporters.

"Oh, jeez," said Shaun Harris, export manager for S.L. Follen Co. and its subsidiary, Oregon Hay Products. "It's going to be really tough."

Oregon Hay exports about 2,000 containers of compressed hay a year, about 70 percent of it to Japan for dairy cattle. "K" Line's service helped make the company competitive abroad. "It's such a thin margin," Harris said. "You basically sell at your cost and make a few bucks."

The departure of "K" Line, which will continue to share some space on shipping-alliance members' vessels calling on Portland, won't entirely eliminate service to Japan. Hanjin-Cosco ships that reach Portland began calling on Yokohama, Japan, a couple of months ago, Wyatt said.

The Hanjin-Cosco route will remain, as will service by Hapag-Lloyd, a German steamship giant that links Portland to Europe and South America.

Freight forwarders, the travel agents of the cargo world, say "K" Line's withdrawal from Portland will complicate an already difficult export business.

A shipment that now takes 10 to 14 days to reach Japan will probably take 13 to 19 days, said Brenda Barnes, customer services director for Allports Forwarding Inc., in Portland.

Containers might go to Kwangyang, South Korea, to be trucked to Pusan, South Korea, for shipment to Japan, Barnes said. Even now, exporters face a shortage of vessel space, she said.

"It's still a battle to get people's product to market," Barnes said. "There's still such a lack of equipment even though the volume of exports has been up."

"K" Line's withdrawal comes as workers near completion of a mammoth project to deepen the 40-foot Columbia River shipping channel by 3 feet. The deepening will allow in ships that can hold about 2,000 more containers than existing vessels. Heavily laden ships will also be able to come to Portland first, instead of calling initially on Tacoma and Vancouver, B.C.

Hanjin Shipping, the South Korean steamship line that teams up in Portland with China's Cosco Group, has no plan to boost service as "K" Line leaves.

"Right now, most carriers are reducing capacity because of diminished demand, so additional vessels and deployment are very expensive and take time," said Jeff McEwen, Hanjin Portland manager. "The market's a big place, and Portland's one piece of that."

-- Richard Read; richread@aol.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/k_line_pulls_up_portland_ancho.html

[JordanL]

The German shipping company is the primary customer of the grain elevators from what I've seen.

[MarkDaMan]

SolarWorld planning more space in Hillsboro
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Oregonian

SolarWorld, the German company making solar cells in Hillsboro, plans to expand its plant with a 210,000-square-foot logistics and production building.

The largest solar factory in North America opened last fall, with 480,000 square feet of space.

"We are running out of space here in the existing building," said Anne Schneider, SolarWorld spokeswoman in Hillsboro.

The $440 million plant employs about 350 workers as hiring continues.

As many as 200 construction workers will work on the expansion at its peak. Completion is scheduled for November.

-- Richard Read
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1237433105323020.xml&coll=7

[Snowden352]

I think Oregon's investment through tax-breaks, etc. for green tech. is going to really pay off in the next couple of years. It won't be enough to compensate for the loss in other industries, but once the rebound comes, Oregon'll be in a pretty good shape with its fingers in industries as diverse as transport, high-tech, green-tech, traditional manufacturing, and so on.

[MarkDaMan]

Friday, March 20, 2009
Energy company chooses Portland as its North American headquarters
Portland Business Journal - by Erik Siemers Business Journal staff writer

A new company backed by some of the biggest names in global renewable energy development has chosen Portland as its North American headquarters, further solidifying the city’s place as a clean energy capital.

Element Power focuses on utility-scale solar and wind energy projects across North America.

The company last week signed the lease on nearly 10,000 square feet of office space within the Commonwealth Building downtown, 421 S.W. Sixth Ave., where the company hopes to employ a payroll of up to $8 million and 50 workers.

But more than anything, Element is notable for its concentration of high-profile talent.

The company is the product of Hudson Clean Energy, a Teaneck, N.J.-based private equity fund created in 2007 by the team that ran Goldman Sachs’ clean energy investment group and turned Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy into the third-largest renewable energy company in the U.S.

Its principals also include John Cavalier, the former vice president of investment banking at Credit Suisse who created the firm’s renewable energy banking practice.

The private equity fund is in the middle of trying to raise $1 billion from institutional investors by July. And according to at least one report, it may surpass that goal.

Company officials declined to confirm a report Tuesday by Private Equity News, a division of Dow Jones, that said Hudson could reach $1.5 billion when it closes its first institutional fund this summer.

Element operates from offices in Madrid, London and Portland and is led by former executives from two of the world’s top renewable energy companies: Iberdrola S.A. and EDP Renováveis S.A., both based in Spain.

In Portland, the effort is led by CEO Ty Daul, President and Chief Operating Officer Raimund Grube and Chief Development Officer Chris Taylor.

Daul led North American project development for Portland-based PPM Energy, which later was acquired by Iberdrola and became that company’s North American headquarters.

Grube led Iberdrola’s development efforts in both the midwest and western territories, while Taylor managed renewable energy development in the Pacific Northwest for Horizon Wind Energy while that company was privately owned and through its acquisition by Goldman Sachs and eventually EDP.

“We took the guys that created the value at those two companies (Iberdrola and EDP) and put them together in Element Power,” said Joe Slamm, the Hudson partner who oversees utility-scale renewable energy investment. “Most of these guys have done this for 10 or 15 years.”

Element chose Portland as its headquarters largely because Grube, Daul and Taylor already live here. But the city, Grube said, also has the right base of talent and business environment.

Besides Iberdrola, Horizon Wind Energy also hosts a major presence in Portland. Denmark-based Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s leading manufacturer of wind turbines, has plans to expand its North American headquarters in Portland. And German solar panel manufacturer SolarWorld AG hosts North America’s largest solar energy manufacturing plant in Hillsboro.

The growing proliferation of renewable energy companies converging upon Portland helps promote the city’s reputation as the nation’s leader in clean energy development.

“Once you get an anchor tenant or two here then it attracts other people. They like being in a community that has other people like them,” said Rachel Shimshak, director of the Portland-based Renewable Northwest Project, a 15-year-old advocacy group for renewable energy development in the region. “I think it makes Portland the place to be.”

While most of the large-scale renewable energy projects to emerge in recent years have revolved around wind energy, Element said it hopes to also push utility-scale solar to the forefront.

“(Solar’s) time is really now and over the next few years where it will have a measurable impact on the energy mix in the U.S.,” Grube said.

The company will work to develop projects based upon the needs of its electric utility customers. In other words, Element is advertising itself as being flexible: it could develop a project to sell the energy to a utility, develop a project that would be wholly-owned by the utility, or one that is owned jointly between the company and the utility.

“We’ll have a willingness to entertain those business structures to help utilities meet their needs,” Grube said.

Grube declined to release projections for either revenue or installed megawatts. While the company is working on some projects across North America, he declined to identify them until the deals are finalized.

esiemers@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3418

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/03/23/story1.html?t=printable

[MarkDaMan]

Friday, April 3, 2009
Oregon vies for green dollars
Portland Business Journal - by Erik Siemers Business Journal staff writer

Of all the “pots of money” in the $787 billion American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, perhaps none has more potential for Oregon than the one dedicated to clean energy.

There’s about $71 billion for investments in clean energy and energy efficiency within the massive federal stimulus bill. Climate Solutions, a nonprofit based in Olympia, Wash., estimates the Pacific Northwest could snag as much as $9.2 billion of that money.

While the federal government is funneling some of the money directly to states — $114 million is earmarked for Oregon for various energy programs — as much as 75 percent is up for grabs.

Oregon’s take could get as high as $2.8 billion, Climate Solutions estimates, split between $1.7 billion in direct spending through grants and loans and another $285 million from tax provisions.

Here’s a peek at a few projects that will determine how much cash ends up here.
A bioenergy park

Economic development officials in Lane County are scouting locations for a so-called “Bioenergy Park.” The project would host a collection of companies that make energy from common waste streams.

“You’re looking at the model of taking waste out of the waste stream and processing it locally to create jobs and using that energy locally,” said Mike McKenzie-Bahr, community and economic development coordinator for Lane County.

But, as with most startups, money remains a hurdle. The estimated $20 million cost of the project is about $5 million short.

The stimulus bill could help.

“We’re kinda hopeful that this is going to be looked upon as one of those top projects that agencies look at,” said Chris Beatty, president of Corvallis-based Trillium FiberFuels Inc.

Trillium, which hopes to develop a plant that will turn grass straw or other agricultural reside into fuel-grade ethanol, is one of three parts of the bioenergy park.

A second is Eugene-based Essential Consulting of Oregon, or ECOregon. The company wants to build a 1 megawatt electric generation plant fueled by biomethane created from organic materials.

The bioenergy park is also expected to include an undetermined biopellet operation to produce pellets made from a mix of wood and agricultural waste for use in wood stoves, fire places or industrial boilers.

Much of the money in the federal stimulus bill will subsidize new ideas, like the bioenergy park.
Alternative-fuel vehicles

Portland has big plans to carve out a reputation as an aggressive adopter of plug-in electric vehicles.

Seemingly lost in the fray, however, has been Porteon Electric Vehicles Inc., a Northwest Portland company trying to raise funds to kick-start production of a line of $10,000 all-electric cars that go 35 mph.

Porteon President Brad Hippert hopes the federal stimulus bill will help grease the wheels, so to speak.

Whether the federal government will be willing to give money to a yet-to-be established car-maker, however, remains to be seen.

“You can’t count on it,” Hippert said. “It certainly would be fantastic if it happened, but it’s going to be a competitive process.”

Porteon — now in the middle of a $15 million round of financing — is going to try anyway, he said.

Oregon, perhaps more than other states, stands a strong chance on capitalizing on the $21 billion in direct spending and $2.5 billion in tax incentives in the federal stimulus for alternative vehicles.

About $300 million is for federal purchases of vehicles and another $2 billion will go toward battery research grants and loans.

The state and utilities like Portland General Electric Co. have already forged partnerships with major manufacturers Nissan and Toyota that include adding electric vehicles to their fleets. Chinese auto-maker BYD Auto has also cast an eye toward Portland as a test market.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski and PGE Chief Executive Jim Piro will test drive a prototype Nissan plug-in electric vehicle at a media event on Monday.

But perhaps the most immediate stimulus boost will come within the $400 million earmarked for projects for electric vehicle infrastructure investment.

Oregon on Wednesday became the first state in the nation to solicit bids from manufacturers for electric vehicle charging stations.

Hippert just hopes they’ll be driving Porteon vehicles to those stations.
Energy efficiency

The year didn’t start well at Newberg’s EnergyGuard Window & Door Replacement.

Darren Mankin’s 27-year-old window and door company began serving the Portland metro area about five years ago. Sales peaked at $1.5 million last year.

When the economy tanked, however, consumers stopped remodeling, pushing Mankin’s 2009 sales downward. Demand dropped to the point that Mankin dropped one of his two four-man installation crews.

Mankin said it would be much worse, if not for the federal stimulus bill.

Tax credits in the bill provide for 30 percent of the cost of installing windows that meet energy efficiency standards.

The tax credits, joined with manufacturer’s rebate programs and existing incentives from the Oregon Energy Trust, make it an opportunity some consumers have found difficult to pass up.

“It’s like wham, wham, wham, wham all the way through multiple incentives to buy,” Mankin said.

The federal stimulus has brought increased emphasis on investments in energy efficiency. The cash includes money for state government programs that aim to help homeowners invest in weatherizing their homes.

The U.S. Department of Energy last week announced Oregon would receive $33.5 million in energy efficiency grants

That money is on top of the March 12 announcement that the state would get $80.7 million in federal stimulus money for home weatherization upgrades and investments in other energy saving improvements.

esiemers@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3418

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/04/06/story3.html?t=printable

[holladay]

The company last week signed the lease on nearly 10,000 square feet of office space within the Commonwealth Building downtown, 421 S.W. Sixth Ave., where the company hopes to employ a payroll of up to $8 million and 50 workers.



I wonder if they are going to lease the ground-floor space that used to be home to Sienna...

[downtownpdx]

Shocking but not surprising these days. 12.1% Oregon unemployment for March.

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/04/13/daily6.html

[MightyAlweg]

Oregon's unemployment rate surged to 12.1% in March '09, jumping by a historic 1.4% in just one month!

That's going to hurt.

[MarkDaMan]

yowza, that's a nasty number. lots of people hurting out there.