The Northwest economy thread [Archive] - Page 6

sequoias

Feb 10, 2006, 6:25 AM

Yahoo Inc. to open data center in Wenatchee

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WENATCHEE, Wash. -- Internet giant Yahoo Inc. announced plans Thursday to open a data center in this north-central Washington city.

Yahoo signed a $6.23 million, 10-year contract to rent 45,000 square feet of space in a four-level building called the Confluence Technology Center, which opened in May 2004. Yahoo will occupy the building's remaining vacant space.

"This is great news for north-central Washington - really for the whole state," said Mike Mackey, president of the Port of Chelan County Commission. "This is the breakthrough we've been working toward in our campaign to attract information technology companies to the area. Yahoo is a huge first step and we hope their presence here will attract more investment."

The deal remains contingent on negotiation of utility service agreements.

Kevin Timmons, vice president of operations for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo Inc., said the company was looking forward to becoming an active part of the community.

"We chose north-central Washington for this important facility because of the great quality of life here, the immediate availability of suitable space, the 'can-do' spirit of port and other community leaders we've met, the cost and reliability of electricity, and the access to a world-class fiber optic network," Timmons said. "They've taken all the right steps to create a terrific environment for us."

advertising
The Internet communication company offers a variety of online services, from e-mail and a search engine to news, music and video. It will use about one-quarter of the space for offices, and the rest to store, send and receive information, Timmons said.

Yahoo expects to move into the building near the end of 2006, said Mark Urdahl, Port of Chelan director.

The company did not say how many people would work at the data center, but Urdahl said about 25 employees will work there while the company is setting up operations.

The deal comes less than a month after Microsoft Corp. signed a tentative agreement with the Port of Quincy, on the Columbia River southwest of Wenatchee, to buy 74 acres for a data-storage center that could employ 30 to 40 people.

JiminyCricket II

Feb 10, 2006, 6:42 AM

Wow Wenatchee?! Good job. Eastern Washington is really getting love from the internet giants lately. Amazon's in the tri-cities now, and Wenatchee gets Yahoo!.

Last Chance

Feb 10, 2006, 6:45 AM

Bond, Thanks for the map. You rock!!! :drummer:

mSeattle

Feb 10, 2006, 7:18 AM

^
Well I, too, would probably prefer that they do it otherwise.

But in the grand scheme of things, I'm not complaining. There aren't too many metro areas that have an employer like Microsoft, so if they wanna make their campus a low-rise one, I'm not really gonna complain.

The buildings they're building are now 5 - 8 stories now aren't they? They used to be 1 - 3 levels!!! Too bad they aren't in filling up downtown Bellevue. Either someone or ones high up is/are afraid of tall buildings or urban offices.

James Bond Agent 007

Feb 10, 2006, 7:24 AM

^
There's actually a reason why they don't want to be in Bellevue that has nothing to do with highrises: Bellevue has a business-and-occupations tax that Redmond doesn't.

iirc at one point early in its existence, Microsoft *did* have its offices in Bellevue, but moved to Redmond to avoid paying Bellevue's tax.

James Bond Agent 007

Feb 10, 2006, 8:04 AM

A more detailed article on the MS expansion from the P-I

Friday, February 10, 2006
Helping Microsoft grow
Expansion must be matched by road, transit improvements
By TODD BISHOP
P-I REPORTER

Microsoft Corp. detailed an ambitious plan Thursday to spend $1 billion to expand its Redmond headquarters over the next three years, signaling continued employment growth and causing public officials to become even more urgent in calling for regional transportation improvements.

The plan would boost the size of Microsoft's sprawling campus by one-third -- adding 14 buildings and 3.1 million square feet, with room for a whopping 12,000 people -- in less time than it can take to develop a new version of its flagship Windows PC operating system.

Microsoft's growth, to be accomplished by constructing buildings and buying existing ones, significantly accelerates the campus redevelopment plan approved by the city of Redmond last year.

And the company wasted no time getting started. At the end of a news conference Thursday, Microsoft began demolition of a vacant building where it plans to create a new home for its Microsoft Research unit.

Some of the space to be added over the three-year period will be filled by current employees, relieving overcrowding, the company said. But the new space also will make room for new employees, putting more traffic on the roads and highways leading to the campus, which already are frequently clogged.

Gov. Christine Gregoire and other public officials said the news underscored the need to proceed quickly with improvements slated for the region's primary transportation corridors, including replacing the state Route 520 bridge and improving Interstate 405.

"We have got to commit to Microsoft and other great companies that we're going to provide the basic infrastructure so that, when they grow globally, they will stay here," Gregoire said after Microsoft outlined its accelerated growth plan. "It's about public safety. It's about business infrastructure that allows our economy to grow."

King County Executive Ron Sims, who also discussed the need for transportation improvements, called the scope of Microsoft's new expansion plan "mind-boggling" and "really extraordinary" for the Seattle region.

Microsoft's announcement is "great for the state and great for central Puget Sound, but it is going to require additional transportation infrastructure," said Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "Part of that is roads, and part of that is significant investments in transit."

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith declined to detail the company's expectations for employment growth beyond the projections previously released by the company for the current fiscal year, which ends in June.

"This does give us the capacity, obviously, to continue growing, and even to some degree to accelerate growth over the next three years," Smith said.

Microsoft has said it will add between 4,000 and 5,000 employees in the current fiscal year, about 40 percent of those in the United States, primarily at its Redmond headquarters. More than 30,000 of the company's 63,000 employees are in the state, most in Redmond.

The four-story, 260,000- square-foot Microsoft Research headquarters, to be built at Northeast 36th Street and 148th Avenue Northeast, is set to open in July 2007 with an adjacent parking garage. Several other new buildings and garages are slated to be built during the next three years on nearby blocks.

Additionally, the company plans a new building and parking garage on the east side of state Route 520, near Northeast Bellevue-Redmond Road, near Microsoft's first Redmond buildings.

The buildings to be acquired as part of the plan include a large office campus that Safeco Corp. recently said it was selling to Microsoft for $209.5 million.

Elsewhere in the city, Microsoft has already leased a building at Redmond Town Center formerly occupied by Cingular Wireless, and it is possible that the software company could take additional space there, said Chris Owens, Microsoft's general manager of worldwide real estate and facilities.

The company's campus proposal in Issaquah Highlands, where it owns a large piece of land, remains "a long-term option" even with the accelerated Redmond development, Owens said.

Under the plan approved by Redmond city officials last year, the company said it would add 2.2 million square feet to its campus over 10 to 20 years. By accelerating the plans, Microsoft says, it will now complete about half of that new construction in the next three years.

James Bond Agent 007

Feb 10, 2006, 8:18 AM

And another map of the new buildings:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2006/02/09/2002795820.gif

Another article here:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002796093_microsoft10.html

sequoias

Feb 10, 2006, 10:25 AM

MrVandelay

Feb 10, 2006, 4:24 PM

Too bad Microsoft doesn't want to pay the tax that Bellevue has which Redmond doesn't. Microsoft makes tons of money and avoids paying that tax, wtf? Why is Eddie Bauer moving to downtown from Redmond??! Even Safeco is moving to Seattle from Redmond. Look out, Micro$oft!

Microsoft moved to the overlake technology center from their old location off hwy 520 and I-405 because they needed an area to grow, and Overlake tech area was zoned to have x millions of square feet of office space (sorry I dont remember the exact amount that is allowed to be built in Overlake) and land to establish a college campus feel to their headquarters.

Eddie Bauer is moving from Redmond to Downtown Bellevue for a few different reasons, One reason is that their parent company a few years ago sold the Eddie Bauer headquarter complex in redmond because they were in debt, and Eddie Bauer now needs to be out of the building, I think within the next two years now.

Safeco is moving because they really need to consolidate their two headquarters into a single location. Their two choices were seattle to redmond, or redmond to seattle. They looked at employee preference as well as economics. by moving from redmond to seattle microsoft is out there in redmond willing to pay $200+ million for their complex. In seattle, I think finding a buyer for the safeco building would be a harder sale.

MrVandelay

Feb 10, 2006, 4:42 PM

I forgot to mention one more important aspect about the area, and that is in regards to the Overlake Tech area sq ft office space cap. Microsoft announced over a year ago about the plans to expand, and obtained claim on nearly all the remaining allowed office space in the overlake area. Giving Safeco and now Nintendo not much growing room in the area. I will not be suprised at all if within the next couple years you hear an announcement that Nintendo will move or expand from Overlake to Willows Rd, North Bend, or Issaquah. Sure one would think that it would be an easy sale to a city to raise the cap, but in reality its a long road, with "concerned community" input about the livability of an area because of the increase. There are ALWAYS groups like that around.

JiminyCricket II

Feb 11, 2006, 1:09 AM

EDIT: nm

sequoias

Feb 11, 2006, 1:59 AM

Microsoft moved to the overlake technology center from their old location off hwy 520 and I-405 because they needed an area to grow, and Overlake tech area was zoned to have x millions of square feet of office space (sorry I dont remember the exact amount that is allowed to be built in Overlake) and land to establish a college campus feel to their headquarters.

Eddie Bauer is moving from Redmond to Downtown Bellevue for a few different reasons, One reason is that their parent company a few years ago sold the Eddie Bauer headquarter complex in redmond because they were in debt, and Eddie Bauer now needs to be out of the building, I think within the next two years now.

Safeco is moving because they really need to consolidate their two headquarters into a single location. Their two choices were seattle to redmond, or redmond to seattle. They looked at employee preference as well as economics. by moving from redmond to seattle microsoft is out there in redmond willing to pay $200+ million for their complex. In seattle, I think finding a buyer for the safeco building would be a harder sale.

All right, thanks for the answers that I need. :)

CouvScott

Feb 13, 2006, 2:41 PM

Pleasure cruisers
Steve Wilhelm
Staff Writer
Forget fuel economy. Washington's leading ship builders are designing and launching ever-larger yachts, making a handful of companies here leaders in a global trend toward increasingly extravagant pleasure craft.

The largest of these supersized vessels is now dockside at Delta Marine Industries Inc. in Seattle, being readied for delivery. It is a blue, custom-built yacht named Laurel that is 240 feet long and, according to Delta, the largest yacht built in the United States in 75 years.

Laurel's owners are Americans, although Delta won't disclose their identity.

Around the state, other builders are right behind Delta in production of larger yachts. For instance, Vancouver, Wash.-based Christensen Shipyards Inc. is considering whether to develop a 205-foot yacht, even as it takes orders for its new, 170-foot model.

And in Port Angeles, Westport Shipyard Inc. this week launched a 164-foot superyacht, now the largest of that shipyard's growing line. Northern Marine in Anacortes is currently building a 151-foot yacht.

The largest boats are so enormous as to surpass mere "megayacht" status and pass into the "gigayacht" category, a class occupied only by a few extraordinary vessels, such as Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen's 414-foot Octopus. Allen's vessel was built by Lurssen of Germany, the Mercedes-Benz of yacht builders.

But, at 240 feet, Delta Marine's Laurel is impressive, and local companies are moving toward building even larger yachts, making Western Washington the epicenter of superyacht construction in North American.

"People's appetites for big boats continue to grow," said Jim Gilbert, founder and former editor of Showboats International, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., publication that is a bible to the huge yacht industry. "I don't think it's a conspicuous consumption phenomena. I think it reflects the fact that people want to go further and further on their boats; they want to be independent from land."

The buyers of these vessels live in such a rarefied atmosphere of wealth that fuel economy is hardly an issue, despite the high price of diesel.

The economics of superyachts also turns on its head any assumptions that the big vessels are money pits. Demand for the boats is so high that buyers of megayachts can count on selling their yachts a few years after purchase and making a 10 percent profit, Gilbert said.

A 170-foot yacht built by Christensen Shipyards costs about $36 million, while Allen's Octopus reportedly cost about $250 million.

"The capacity around the world for building them is quite restricted," Gilbert said, adding that when these yachts are sold, "It's common for the yacht owners to make more money than the shipyards that build them."

The hot demand for yachts has driven substantial investments in Washington shipyards, which are expanding to keep up with their order books.

For instance, Christensen just finished adding 55,000 square feet to its Vancouver plant, for a total of 170,000 square feet, enough for a dozen construction bays, each capable of assembling a vessel up to 170 feet long.

The company received orders for three 170-footers in the first few weeks after that model was available, even though the first such vessel won't be ready until 2009. Christensen also has six 157-footers under construction, with orders for three more. The company employs 450, and President Joe Foggia expects to add another 100 workers.

"We're going as fast as we possibly can. We start a new one very four months," Foggia said. The company isn't even pushing for new orders, because back orders are now "so far out it's ridiculous," he said.

Delta last year constructed a 360-foot manufacturing and assembly building where yachts can be built and finished under protection from weather, part of a three-phase expansion that increased Delta's enclosed manufacturing space to 275,000 square feet.

And Westport is building its largest yachts in a 120,000-square-foot facility in Port Angeles that was designed with three mezzanines, so workers can efficiently work on a vessel's three decks. The company will employ more than 850 when vessel construction reaches its expected rate, said Tammi Higgins, vice president of administration.

The increasing strength of Washington yacht builders in the global market is traceable to several factors:

a long tradition of building oceangoing fishing boats here,
the strength of the euro and the decline of European subsidies for their shipyards,
refining of lean manufacturing techniques, and
increasing use of composites in yacht construction, paralleling the materials' use in aerospace.
The region's long experience with aerospace technologies is one of the reasons why the Laurel's superstructure is built of composites even though the hull is steel, said Michelle Jones, marketing manager for Delta Marine.

Meanwhile, competing Chinese yacht makers are starting to appear, even though most observers think it will take Chinese shipyards 10 to 15 years to match the quality standards, and attention to U.S. tastes, now established among Washington shipyards.

MarkDaMan

Feb 13, 2006, 7:38 PM

No welcome, no shipbreaking
Ghost fleet - Gov. Ted Kulongoski says a Virginia firm cannot scrap old ships in Oregon waters, only dry-dock
Friday, February 10, 2006
PETER SLEETH

Gov. Ted Kulongoski is ordering state job recruiters to withdraw the welcome for a Virginia shipbreaking company that wanted to scrap government ships on the Oregon coast or in Portland.

Virginia-based Bay Bridge Enterprises wants to tow mothballed ships from the National Defense Reserve Fleet in California to Oregon. Once the ships were here, the company would pull them into a water-filled slip alongside a scrapping yard, then cut them into pieces at water's edge and on the shore.

Kulongoski said the work would need to be done in a contained dry-dock to address environmental concerns. Portland has the state's only dry-docks, where working is vastly more expensive and rarely done in the shipbreaking industry.

"He's not interested in having this company come if it is (working) in the water," said Anna Richter Taylor, a spokeswoman for the governor. "The federal government is the one who benefits from this. If Bay Bridge wants to work with the federal government to locate a dry-dock in Oregon, then let's talk."

Kulongoski's decision drew immediate flak from his two competitors in the Democratic primary and some confusion from the shipbreaking company.

A spokesman for Bay Bridge said its executives remain open to talks with Kulongoski. "Bay Bridge isn't aware of any changes in the governor's position on ship recycling in Oregon," said spokesman Paul Vogel. "We would welcome the opportunity to meet with him to discuss this essential industry and the most responsible and sustainable way to invest and do this work in Oregon."

The U.S. Maritime Administration is charged by Congress to scrap what is known as the "ghost fleet," and it pays private ship-breakers to take the ships off its hands. Congress has ordered the ships disposed of by Sept. 30, but the Maritime Administration has been unable to get the job done, in part because there is no scrapping yard on the West Coast.

More than 60 aging ships now sit in Suisun Bay in the San Francisco estuary. The ships are mostly old merchant ships, with a smattering of naval ships. One of the key concerns about hauling the ships to Oregon is the possibility that invasive aquatic species -- ranging from sea grasses to sea squirts -- might be on the hulls of the vessels that have sat so long in the bay.

The Oregon Economic and Community Development Department began recruiting Bay Bridge last August, trying to place the company at a number of sites on the coast.

When Yaquina Bay in Newport became the site of choice, opposition swelled from local residents. The state -- both job recruiters and the governor's office -- was caught off-guard by environmental issues and the public uproar. The Port of Newport in January turned down the ship-breakers, prompting the company to explore new sites in Portland and in Washington state.

Mike Salsgiver, acting director of the economic development department, said his agency was looking for high-paying industrial jobs for Oregon. "Suffice to say we are going through a post-mortem process right now to evaluate how we did what we did," he said.

With Oregon's economy recovering, he said, it may be time to "apply different kinds of filters to things."

Kulongoski is up for re-election this year and facing two opponents in the May primary. Both men said the recruitment was ill-advised from the beginning and badly handled by the governor and his staff.

"I think it is a continuing story how Gov. Kulongoski tries to pretend he's interested in the environmental issues in Oregon," said challenger Pete Sorenson, a Lane County commissioner. "What we need is sustainable jobs and not jobs based upon something as environmentally damaging as ship scrapping."

Former state Treasurer Jim Hill, who is also running against the governor in the primary, said the recruitment was botched from the beginning.

"There should be sensitivity to the environment," he said. "You should be working with the community that you want to bring this thing into."

Richter Taylor, Kulongoski's spokeswoman, responded: "The governor has an excellent record of fighting to protect Oregon's environment. Bringing jobs to Oregon is his priority, but not if it jeopardized Oregon's quality of life."

Peter Sleeth: 503-294-4119; petersleeth@news.oregonian.com

MarkDaMan

Feb 14, 2006, 12:02 AM

Greenbrier gets $100M order

The Greenbrier Cos. has received a $100 million order from American Honda Motor Co. Inc. for Auto-Max railcars used for transporting new cars.

It is the largest order ever received by Lake Oswego-based Greenbrier (NYSE: GBX), a supplier of transportation equipment and services to the railroad industry.

Auto-Max is a patented railcar that Greenbrier has recently re-designed to improve operating efficiency and security for shippers of automobiles. In addition to carrying passenger vehicles three high, Auto-Max carries most sport utilities, cross-over vehicles, compact pickups and minivans in a tri-level (three-high) configuration. The decks are can be converted to carry large SUVs and pickup trucks in a two-high configuration.

mSeattle

Feb 15, 2006, 11:00 PM

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/259562_port15.html

Big port changes in works

Plan would move cruise ships to make way for cargo expansion

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

By BRAD WONG AND JENNIFER LANGSTON
P-I REPORTERS

The Port of Seattle gave the initial green light Tuesday to return one terminal to cargo operations, move cruise ships to a new Elliott Bay location and possibly create up to 725 jobs.

The $90 million to $120 million plan -- designed to increase cargo capacity at North America's fastest-growing container port -- still requires commission approval, environmental and traffic reviews and public hearings.
photo

But by a 4-1 vote, the Port Commission authorized $10.8 million for initial design, engineering, traffic and environmental studies. Commissioner Alec Fisken, who wanted more information, voted against the plan.

The draft plan calls for creating a two-berth facility for cruise ships at Terminal 91, which is home to fishing trawlers. Princess Cruises and Seattle-based Holland America Line, both of which operated at Terminal 30 last year, ideally would move there in 2008. Cruise operations based at Pier 66 would remain where they are.

Then, SSA Terminals, a joint venture involving Seattle-based SSA Marine, would expand its cargo operations at Terminal 30 off East Marginal Way.

Port officials have pointed to the growing number of goods coming from Asia as the main reason fueling cargo expansion projects.

For Terminal 30, the plan would mean a return to container cargo use for the facility.

In 2004, after spending about $17 million in renovations, the port opened up Terminal 30 to the cruise business, said port spokesman Mick Shultz.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hurt the global trade of containerized cargo, he said, and as a result, the port had extra terminal space.

But the port is quick to change with the global economy, he added.

Mark Knudsen, seaport deputy managing director, said this expansion plan tells shipping companies that the port "can handle growth requirements into the future."

Jon Hemingway, SSA Marine chief executive, said it is crucial to remain competitive in Puget Sound -- and that his company wants to grow with the port.

Vancouver, B.C., he said, is facing challenges with some inland transportation infrastructure and expanding berth capacity.

"In a way, we have a chance to jump ahead of them here," he said. "We would like to see our market share in this area grow."

SSA Terminals would invest money, likely install new cargo cranes and operate at Terminals 30 and 25, which are adjacent to each other. SSA Terminals, which rents space at Terminal 25 and nearby Terminal 18, would enter into extended leases with the port.

While the option to lease Terminal 30 was not bid out competitively, officials said it made sense for one company to operate the combined facility. The reason: It would have cost up to $200 million for a single company to run just the 37-acre Terminal 30, port officials said.

But in a nod to Seattle voters who want better oversight of the taxpayer-supported port, commissioners approved an amendment in which they will review the lease details before they are formally executed.

"There's fleshing out to do," said Commissioner John Creighton, an attorney. Commissioners pointed out that the lease details take up 80 pages. The commission also has the option to cancel the project if it exceeds $120 million.

The port estimates this expansion project -- for which it still needs to find full funding -- could create 364 new jobs and 361 related positions in the regional economy. Commissioners are expected to take up the question of full construction funding in February 2007.

Herald Ugles, president of Seattle-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 19, said his membership -- which staffs Port of Seattle terminals -- could grow by 100 full-time members under the plan.

His union has 780 full-time members and about 460 "casual" or part-time ones.

The idea of converting Terminal 30 back to cargo use, said Ugles, sends a message to developers who might have eyed the land for condominiums.

"Stay off our property. We are going to use this ... for what this property is for and that's maritime," he said. "Deep-sea berths are a rare asset. You can build a condo, you can build a coffee shop anywhere. But you can't build a deep-sea port anywhere."

Reaction to the plan was mixed Tuesday.

If approved, it would require Holland America Line to shift about 70 sailings from Terminal 30 to Terminal 91, said Chief Executive Stein Kruse.

"We're not opposed to it," he said. "But we haven't taken a strong look at it."

If hotels and retail stores are developed at Terminal 91, he said his cruise customers would benefit.

But the proximity of Terminal 30 to state Route 99, Interstate 5 and Sea-Tac Airport is ideal for transporting customers. Traveling from the airport to Terminal 30 typically takes about 15 minutes by bus.

"You can imagine it's not a straight line," he said, referring to Terminal 91. "It adds some time."

Vic Barry, president of the Magnolia Community Club, said the initiative to move cruise ships to Terminal 91 was not a total surprise, since the port had considered it years ago.

Nearby neighborhoods didn't have strong objections, as long as it was done without too much noise, traffic and lighting, he said. Many considered it less disruptive than putting cargo operations there -- something that Queen Anne and Magnolia residents have fought for years.

But now that the port is also pushing to redevelop the adjacent "North Bay" property into a business hub with thousands of employees, the question of how much additional traffic cruise passengers might add "certainly gets our attention," Barry said.

ON THE WEB

To view details on the Port proposal online, visit: goto.seattlepi.com/r86

P-I reporter Brad Wong can be reached at 206-448-8137 or bradwong@seattlepi.com.

© 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Last Chance

Feb 16, 2006, 6:41 PM

^Great news. It is a bit dissapointing that the Port did not anticipate the additional demand before spending $17 million less than 2 years ago to accomodate the cruise ship business. The growing trade with China and it's effect on Pacific NW Ports has been documented for a while.

Better late than never. Add another item to the State auditors list of missteps by the Port. Now bring on the jobs!!!

mSeattle

Feb 17, 2006, 12:41 AM

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/259649_pooroverview16.html

Surprising face of working poor

Their jobs allow them to barely hang on in city -- and they're all around

Thursday, February 16, 2006

By CAROL SMITH AND PAUL NYHAN
P-I REPORTERS

It shouldn't come as a surprise. In a city that converted the common cup of joe into a high-priced addiction, a city that sports glittering stadiums and gleams with software millionaires, a city that hires celebrity architects for public buildings -- it shouldn't be a surprise that some hard-working people can no longer afford the luxury of living here.

Barely Getting By
- See a PDF that explains how poverty is defined, the percentage of people in King and Snohomish counties living below the federal poverty level and more. (1.14 MB)

But it does come as a surprise -- to many. The region's working poor are largely hidden in plain sight. If this is the Emerald City, then the face behind the curtain -- the one we are supposed to pay no attention to -- is of the men and women who help support the Seattle economy but can barely afford to live here.

This is the face of Seattle's working poor:

It's Narciza Pineda, a janitor at the Space Needle raising three children on about $11 an hour.

It's Savannah Hendrickson, a high school student who worked 40 hours a week at a toothbrush factory because she needed money.

It's Marie Maes, heading back to work at age 74 because it's hard to get by on the little more than $12 a day she has left after she pays her rent.

A yearlong Seattle P-I examination showed there are nearly a half-million people in King and Snohomish counties living at less than twice the federal poverty level, or about $38,000 a year for a family of four. That's one person in every five.

Of those, 61 percent, or nearly 300,000 people, live in families with at least one adult working full time. Contrary to common stereotypes, these working poor are mostly white, often college educated, largely single and primarily U.S. citizens.

It is also true that poverty has a disproportionate effect on immigrant and minority groups here.

Working poor individuals generally don't speak up about what it feels like to survive financially in a place that regularly makes "best of" lists: most livable, fittest, best place to have a baby.

Shame, resignation, denial -- all perpetuate the silence of the working poor.
photo
Zoom Gilbert W. Arias / P-I
Peter Nevin, a crew supervisor with the Washington Conservation Corps, looks for a snack in the home he was able to buy with help from a city housing program.

Talking about money carries its own taboos (unless you have it). Few people want to share their story, and no one wants to be the "poster child" of the working poor.

So myths abound: that poor people bring their circumstances on themselves; if people have jobs, they can't be poor; you're not poor if you can afford a TV.

Myth-busting has moved many in Seattle to think differently about the low-income workers around them -- most especially to notice them. Hundreds wrote to offer help to Narciza Pineda after her story appeared. University officials and foundations offered money and guidance to help a low-income student move from community college to the University of Washington once her story ran in the newspaper. Others raised their voices in Olympia to advocate for better low-income housing and health care.

Despite Seattle's reputation for "niceness" and its heritage as a working-class city, however, some residents expressed frustration with the working poor. Readers suggested they should be living doubled up and out of view, taking the bus in from the outlying areas where they can afford housing so they don't clog our roads, and keeping out of emergency rooms so they don't drive up health care costs for everyone.

One factor contributing to the invisibility of the working poor in this region is that the "relative 'haves' don't tend to interact with the relative 'have-lesses,' " said Steve Williamson of the King County Labor Council. "People don't realize they could be one paycheck away."

The P-I found the reasons people are locked into the ranks of the working poor are diverse and complex. Personal choices and poor planning play roles. So do bad timing, rotten luck and the high cost of living here.

One in eight families in this region has two adults working full time but still qualifies as poor. Many more, however, are one misstep from joining their ranks.

It takes just one lost job, a medical crisis, a few missed payments, and people lose their grip on the lowest rung of the ladder to the middle class.

"A lot of people here are doing fine," said Virginia Baird, 50, a Seattle carpenter's wife who sells Mary Kay Cosmetics and is worried whether her husband's pension will survive. "Until something happens."

Personal bankruptcies in Western Washington are up 81 percent compared with a decade ago. The top three causes of bankruptcy among families with children are income loss, divorce or separation and medical bills.

Poverty gets perpetuated

For those who already find themselves among the ranks of the working poor, it's getting harder to escape.

Workers are getting squeezed -- out of houses, off health care plans and even out of raises as their options shrink and the number of low-wage jobs grows.

Six of the 15 jobs most in demand around King County pay less than $30,000 a year.

Meanwhile, the cost of living here has outpaced growth in wages. And twin standby strategies for getting ahead -- building equity by buying a house or getting a degree to get a better job -- are beyond the reach of many.

The average cost of a residential house in King County, for example, soared 165 percent over the past 13 years, from $181,128 to $479,548.

The P-I found that the percentage of young adults from the poorest families earning bachelor's degrees has nearly stalled over the past three decades, even though those degrees are increasingly critical for getting better jobs.

Despite Seattle's healthy economy, the forces that help keep workers in poverty -- stagnant wages, growth of low-wage service-sector jobs, erosion of benefits, outsourcing and the steady decline of organized labor -- remain firmly in place.

The lives of the working poor also are harder because the safety net is fraying. As workers inch up the pay scale, government and private aid for child care, health care and rent begins to fall away, and they actually can wind up with less money in their pockets than the region's poorest residents, a new University of Washington report found.

"Basically, they are on a financial tightrope more than ever and there is less of (a) safety net when they fall," said Jacob Hacker, author of the upcoming book "The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity -- and What Can Be Done About It."

The Seattle economy may be creating new jobs these days, but the work doesn't pay as well, said Brenda Graden, who lost her $16-an-hour manufacturing job two years ago and now makes $12 an hour as a receptionist.

"I think it sucks because everything is going up and your pay is not going up," Graden added.

Many fear at the rate they are going, they will never be able to retire.

"My mom's getting close to retirement age, and her pension tanked in the '80s," said Sara Young-Buck, who is struggling herself to make ends meet with a disabled husband and a baby on the way. "She works for $9 an hour and she'll probably still be working for $9 an hour until she's too sick to work. Most people my age (29) don't believe they'll be able to retire at age 65."

Progress and failures

Despite the outlook, the working poor are surprisingly resilient. For some low-income workers, their status is temporary. It takes the right intervention at the right time -- the scholarship opportunity, the low-interest loan, the opening in affordable housing or health insurance. It takes better consumer protection from groups that prey on or defraud those who can't fight back.

Local governments are trying new ways to help struggling families. Last year alone, the city of Seattle launched programs to extend free child care to the working poor and to help them buy homes.

But the region's failures are just as obvious.

Lines have grown longer at local food banks, which have added evening hours for workers in recent years. Seattle and King County housing authorities have closed waiting lists to new families seeking rental assistance. And home prices have continued to soar.

As a result, the Seattle area was one of only a few large regions in the nation that saw its poverty rate jump and its median income drop in a 2004 Census survey.

Overall, Seattle gets a C for its treatment of the working poor from Jennifer Romich, a researcher at UW's new West Coast Poverty Center -- not great, but higher than the D she gives the nation.

"Families where every member is working and making $15,000 and $25,000 a year are still functionally poor in this economy because they can't afford housing, or housing close enough to work," Romich said.

"But they don't look poor."

Fewer jobs in the middle

Today, many of the region's older working poor residents are stuck between the old and new economies. They spent decades in solid manufacturing jobs that are now rapidly disappearing at places such as The Boeing Co., which hasn't recovered even 10,000 of the 50,000 jobs it shed since August 1998.

The problem is many of these workers lack the college degrees needed to grab the best jobs of the new U.S. service-based economy. Instead, they risk getting trapped in the expanding pool of low-wage jobs in retail, health care and other service industries.

Their predicament highlights that many working poor families struggle against forces far greater than personal mistakes or bad luck -- namely, an economy that offers more jobs at the top and bottom of the pay scale but fewer in the middle.

These economic shifts are making the lives of working poor families increasingly volatile, as the cost of basics -- housing, child care and health care -- rises and their job security -- in terms of benefits, pensions and tenure -- falls, Hacker argues.

"The people who wash clothes and man cash registers deserve the basic promise of the American dream," Hacker said. "That if you work hard and play by the rules you won't be poor."

P-I SERIES

For the past year, the Seattle P-I's ongoing series "Hard work, hard times: The plight of Puget Sound's working poor" has examined the lives of those who live in poverty even though at least one family member works full time.

To read the stories in this series, go to: www.seattlepi.com/specials/workingpoor

P-I reporter Carol Smith can be reached at 206-448-8070 or carolsmith@seattlepi.com. P-I reporter Paul Nyhan can be reached at 206-448-8145 or paulnyhan@seattlepi.com.

© 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

James Bond Agent 007

Feb 17, 2006, 8:02 AM

This should be an interesting one to watch . . .

Friday, February 17, 2006
Amazon poised to take on iPod
E-tailer may be considering own music device, subscriptions
By KRISTEN MILLARES BOLT
P-I REPORTER

The rumor mills have gone into hyperdrive about Amazon.com facing off with Apple's iPod in the digital music market, now the domain of Apple Inc., Yahoo! and RealNetworks.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that talks between the world's largest e-tailer and music executives are nearing their goal, but the stakes have risen since prior speculation stoked a flurry of similar reports last summer.

This time, Amazon is reported to be contemplating its own portable music-playing device, as well as individual downloads and subscription services. Like cellular plans that include the phone with the purchase of minutes, buying an Amazon plan would include the device.

"It's about time they did something about the threat to a key business," said Edward Weller, the senior retail analyst at ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco. "They sell music already; why not bring it up to speed?"

Amazon declined to comment, as did the music companies mentioned in the report: Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group Corp. and EMI Group PLC.

But whether or not Amazon can make up for lost time in the all-important digital music bazaar, analysts say the company needs to get in.

"By necessity, Amazon needs to participate in that category," said Scott Devitt, senior analyst for Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. "They are uniquely positioned to benefit because of their delivery of physical media" such as CDs.

But they also are positioned uniquely to lose out, if the Web surfers behind the company's more than 55 million customer accounts start clicking toward competitors.

In the last fiscal year, Amazon sold $5.9 billion worth of books, CDs and DVDs, nearly 70 percent of all its sales. Those are heady figures considering that up until 2005, annual U.S. sales of recorded music shrank by more than $2.5 billion since a 1999 peak, according to a JupiterResearch report on the U.S. music market.

That same report found that more digital music buyers prefer a flat-fee subscription service than downloading songs -- something that an executive of the Seattle-based media company RealNetworks thinks may be a habit developed over time.

"Some consumers start with a la carte, then learn about the benefits of subscription and switch," said Dan Sheeran, the vice president of consumer services for RealNetworks, the industry leader in subscription music with 1.4 million paying subscribers. "We believe that many consumers will choose their services based on the device they choose."

There lies a potential glitch in Amazon's reported plans.

"Anybody entering the market now from scratch has a tremendous amount of learning to make the components work flawlessly for the consumer," Sheeran said. Microsoft's software and the Samsung Napster player both stumbled because they didn't meet consumers' expectations.

And although Amazon has been investing in its technology in the past year, hiring more than 3,000 people, Apple has been busy selling the iPod that an Amazon device would have to compete against. In the three months leading up to the holidays, Apple shipped more than 14 million iPods.

Amazon got a cut of some of those sales, since different versions of the iPod took the top three places in Amazon's Electronics division. But that also means that in order to get at Apple's customer base, Amazon is likely to make its music downloads usable on any portable device.

"Amazon would serve itself well by having an open platform because that typically gets you to the sweet spot of the market: the masses," said Sean Badding, senior analyst for the California-based market research firm The Carmel Group. "It is also probably a profitable venture to go into a subscription model, which gives customers more peace of mind to download without looking at how many music titles they are downloading."

Offering a subscription-based service, rather than just individual downloads, fits with the idea behind Amazon Prime, the flat fee shipping service that Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said is making regular customers return to buy from more categories.

Still, Amazon's particular forte -- its personalized recommendation services based on previous purchases -- would seem to work best to sell more individual downloads. The company has already offered free downloads of some songs, as well as some CDs once they are bought.

James Bond Agent 007

Feb 20, 2006, 7:41 AM

This sounds like an interesting company . . . high-tech metals, of a sort:

http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/manufacturing/general/2006/02/20/seattle_story2.html

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
From the February 20, 2006 print edition
Old-world Atlas Castings thrives on new economy
Steve Wilhelm
Staff Writer

Workers at Atlas Castings and Technology in Tacoma last week were completing ultrasound testing on a 5-foot-high, 17,000-pound steel cylinder that will help anchor a floating oil rig off the coast of South Africa.

The massive part is the result of international contracts that have made Atlas one of the leading foundries for producing large, high-quality steel castings for customers worldwide, even as foundries throughout the United States are being decimated by low-cost competition from China.

In fact, Chinese companies are among Atlas' largest customers, buying pressure-containing parts for nuclear reactors and power-generation systems that the Chinese can't make themselves. Oil exploration and development companies are also big buyers of Atlas castings, as higher petroleum prices spur more exploration.

Atlas is so busy that it's running two full shifts and part of a third, and struggling to find skilled metal workers. Atlas now employs 604, up from 289 just two years ago. Another 20 positions need filling.

All of this pushed up Atlas sales 46 percent last year to $84 million, and President and CEO Duane Britschgi expects similar growth this year.

"It's a great position to be in, compared to the last few years," he said.

During a recent visit, Atlas' 50,000-square-foot finishing building was a swarm of activity, with teams of men wielding grinders and torches, trimming imperfections from castings the size of cars.

Teams poured metal in the next building. As a siren wailed, an overhead crane lifted a cauldron of molten metal 20 feet above the floor and carried it to a mold at the other end of the building. There the crew poured the white-hot steel into the mold, the heat palpable 100 feet away. This process is repeated eight to 10 times a day.

"They have one of the strongest technical staffs, and one of the best-maintained, best-equipped foundries in the country, if not the world," said Raymond Monroe, executive vice president of Steel Founders Society of America, an industry organization in Crystal Lake, Ill. "They make the most technically demanding castings that are produced."

Britschgi pointed out projects as he threaded his way through the foundry: 8-foot-diameter steel disks for Trident submarines, 10-ton steel housings for a nuclear aircraft carriers, and 16-ton pumps for a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline.

The 107-year-old company's complex sprawls over 18 acres a mile south of downtown Tacoma and still includes wooden buildings dating back to 1899.

Less than four years ago, Atlas emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization into a sluggish economy. But since then the company has prospered because of the economic rebound, fewer competitors and several strategic investments.

One of Atlas' key strategies has been dividing its sales into two tiers of price and quality. The bottom 10 percent of sales, primarily commodity castings made in large qualities, is produced by several foundries in China that contract with Atlas.

"Atlas, instead of being threatened by Chinese competition, has been active in importing from China," Monroe said.

The remaining 90 percent of Atlas' work is precision-made castings able to contain high-pressure water, steam or combustion for a variety of industrial uses. The precision capabilities were developed by company owners through a string of strategic investments over the past 15 years.

In 1991 they erected the $10 million finishing building that lets the company produce castings of up to 48,000 pounds. Three years later, the company opened a $1 million facility to make patterns from wood and synthetics. And in 2001 Atlas completed a $1 million upgrade to use a urethane fixer for casting sand that results in higher quality castings.

Now the company is just completing its newest investment, a $550,000 oven that will let it double the rate at which it heat-treats finished items.

The pattern shop seems like a jump back in time, where craftsmen, many of them white-haired and bearded, mill massive blocks of glued wood into exact shapes that will be cast. But the process also is state-of-the-art, with the milling machines guided by computers. The company has made so many patterns it uses 300,000 square feet of space just to store them all.

Pouring is only one step. Workers must climb into the tangle of excess metal left after a pour, grinding and torching off hundreds of pounds of leftover metal before they clean and burnish the part.

Workers in the testing department scan the castings for imperfections, using an array of tools, such as ultrasound and X-rays, to make sure the finished items meet specifications.

So tight are the tolerances that a turbine piece weighing more than 5 tons, destined to become part of a nuclear aircraft carrier's propulsion system, is wrapped in plastic to protect it from contamination before government inspectors approve it.

The company is certified to mix 104 different alloys of steel. Atlas starts with tons of steel scrap brought from regional wrecking yards and adds other metals, including manganese, nickel and chromium.

The place where workers test alloys is like a vision of hell, with helmeted men silhouetted against cauldrons of molten metal.

All of this makes Atlas a power-hungry facility, and the company consumes eight megawatts of electricity monthly, Britschgi said.

Competitors for military work are mostly within the United States, but Atlas has rivals in the oil sector from the United Kingdom and Sweden, while competitors for turbine housings come from Japan and Austria, Britschgi said.

One growing product line consists of making pump housings and other parts for nuclear reactors, and Britschgi expects the development of new nuclear plants worldwide will generate business for Atlas.

While the company was owned by Tacoma's Long family for most of its history, Atlas went through several hands from 1975 until 1989, when it was purchased by TIC United Corp. of Dallas. But within several years, TIC was in financial trouble; its owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000.

In 2002 Atlas emerged from Chapter 11 under new ownership, with a 55 percent investor from Houston and 12 management investors, who have operated the company since then.

The economic difficulties of the past few years eliminated about 25 percent of the U.S. casting competition, and Monroe of the Steel Founders Society said prospects are good for survivors like Atlas.

"I suspect we will see a 10- or 15-year investment in capital investments, oil field, mining and lumber," he said. "And because of that, Atlas will prosper greatly."

MarkDaMan

Feb 27, 2006, 8:49 PM

State jobless rate drops
BY ALEX PULASKI
THE OREGONIAN

Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate continues to improve, with a drop to 5.4 percent in January, three-tenths of a percentage point below the December rate of 5.7 percent, the Oregon Employment Department reported Monday.

The state’s jobless rate has tightened by more than 1 percentage point during the last 12 months — from 6.5 percent in January 2005 — and is now at its lowest level since January 2001.

Also, businesses added jobs in January as the Oregon economy continued a two-year trend of rapid growth.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 2,900 jobs last month after seasonal adjustments. Manufacturing and trade-related businesses and government posted gains, while leisure and hospitality companies showed losses.

Recently revised figures for the last two years show annual average employment growth of 2.1 percent in 2004 and 3.1 percent in 2005.

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 1, 2006, 2:23 AM

Whoa! Washington's unemployment rate takes a big dip!

Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Washington's jobless rate lowest in six years
By DAVID AMMONS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington's unemployment rate has dropped to 4.7 percent, the lowest rate in six years, but state economists said the job market is "decidedly mixed."

The jobless rate, covering January, was the lowest since December 1999, and well below the 5.2 percent reported a month ago. Jobless rolls fell to 155,000, down 18,500 from December.

Seasonally adjusted employment grew by 13,600. Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said that despite employment setbacks in a few areas, "Washington's economy continues to be strong."

Lee acknowledged that a number of employers laid off workers during January, but said construction and general merchandise stores were hiring. Later Tuesday, the department released update figures that showed the new hires outnumbered the layoffs by over 13,000.

Modest layoffs were reported in software publishing, accounting and bookkeeping, and a few other lines of employment.

On the plus side, construction companies added 3,800 jobs, retail trade added 2,600 workers, general merchandise stores added 1,900 workers and administrative and support services added 1,400 to their payrolls.

Overall, about 89,500 jobs were added during the past 12 months.

The seasonally adjusted national rate improved a bit, dropping to 4.7 percent from 4.9 percent. A year ago, the national rate was 5.2 percent.

The department will release local unemployment rates next week. Traditionally they have been announced on the same day as the statewide rate, but analysts said they need more time to develop accurate local numbers, particularly the border counties.

MarkDaMan

Mar 1, 2006, 5:51 PM

well I guess these last two posts about Oregon and Washington's unemployment numbers blows a huge hole in the theory that our higher minimum wages causes us to have higher than the national unemployment...suckers!

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 2, 2006, 4:00 AM

^
True, but Oregon's rate is still a good bit higher than the US average. Washington's right now is *at* the US average.

If and when they both go *below* the US average, then we can brag.

MarkDaMan

Mar 9, 2006, 7:17 PM

Oregon: New frontier for energy?
Exploration - As oil, gas prices soar, the state gets its first lease request in years
Thursday, March 09, 2006
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
The Oregonian

It may not be time to rush off to the oil patch yet, but Oregon is seeing its own version of an oil and gas boom.

Industry requests have prompted the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, keeper of the government's mineral wealth, to offer 224,516 acres in Eastern Oregon for oil and gas exploration at an auction today. It's a land area equal to about a quarter of the Mount Hood National Forest and the largest amount put up for sale in Oregon in many years.

The auction, at which bids will start at $2 an acre, comes as energy companies that have largely ignored Oregon look more closely for precious underground reserves. It also comes amid surging energy development in the West and a drive by the Bush administration to cultivate domestic energy reserves.

The Oregon Department of State Lands last week received its first application since 1982 to lease state holdings for oil and gas exploration, said assistant director Steve Purchase. It has been so long since state officials saw one, they are pulling out old files to get up to speed on how to proceed.

Bob Houston, a geologist at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, said he has fielded recent calls from private landowners in Eastern Oregon who have been approached about leasing their property for its oil and gas potential.

Most of the interest appears focused in eastern Malheur County, near Vale and the Idaho border, and in Morrow and Umatilla counties.

"For Oregon's experience at least, it's a boom," Houston said. "In comparison to other states, maybe not."

Just because companies want to lease land in Oregon does not mean they will be sinking wells right away. But it does reflect an escalating search for hidden oil and gas reserves as higher prices increase their likely value and drilling technology makes them easier to reach.

Oregon has been left behind by booms that have turned sections of other western states such as Wyoming and Colorado into bustling gas and oil fields. The rush has generated millions of dollars in royalties for federal and state governments, but has also pushed exploration into sensitive wildlife habitat.

Oregon has seen scattered drilling in the past, but holds just one developed gas field -- the Mist Field in Columbia County, now on the decline. Of the 12 westernmost states, Oregon ranks last for the amount of lands currently producing oil and gas, according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group.

Oil and gas reserves are often found within rock formations left behind by ancient seas. Such formations are present in the Northwest but are commonly covered by thick layers of hard volcanic rock that has proved difficult to drill through, said Eric Hoffman, acting section chief for the BLM's minerals division in Oregon and Washington.

The prices of oil and natural gas have roughly doubled since 2000, though, and that's probably driving the revival of interest.

Also, new technology now gives geologists a better view of what lurks beneath the surface, and improved drilling methods make it more economical to punch through the tough layers of volcanic rock, Hoffman said.

South-central Washington has seen increasing energy exploration in recent years, and that's now spilling over into Oregon, he said.

The BLM is required to put oil and gas leases up for auction every quarter. The leases may be either parcels that industry asks for or, if nobody shows interest in particular land, parcels the BLM selects on its own.

The BLM has often offered parcels in Oregon for auction that went unsold.

"They've been snoozers," said spokesman Chris Strebig.

This time appears different. All 224,516 acres to be auctioned have been sought by companies, although their names will not be released until after the sale. They are in 167 parcels ranging in size from less than 50 acres to more than 2,500 acres, with nearly 90 percent in Malheur County and the rest in Morrow and Umatilla counties.

The auction also includes 55,181 acres in Washington.

The minimum bid price is $2 an acre, with leases running for 10 years but continuing if oil or gas is found. Parcels that do not sell at the auction may still be purchased later.

Companies that suspect the existence of an oil or gas reservoir may try to secure it by leasing rights to surrounding land. Much of the land is known as a "split estate," in which the government owns the mineral rights but someone else owns the surface.

Many of the leases include special conditions designed to protect wildlife, such as seasonal restrictions to avoid disturbing big-game winter range. Some also prohibit development on the surface, which would require drillers to access underlying reserves from a well somewhere else.

Bill Marlett of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, a conservation group in Bend, said he does not see the leasing as a major concern because Oregon is not known for major energy reservoirs.

Further environmental review would be required if oil or gas was discovered and a company proposed a network of wells or pipelines, officials said.

Last week, the state received a request to lease about 4,000 acres in 24 parcels, mostly in Malheur County, for oil and gas exploration. The Department of State Lands will consult with other state agencies and the county government before deciding whether put the leases up for auction, said Purchase, of the state lands department.

The federal and state governments each collect a 12.5 percent royalty on oil and gas from their leases. Half of federal revenues are returned to the state.

Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com On the Web:

www.blm.gov/or/landsrealty/oilandgas.htm

www.oregongeology.com/sub/oil/oilhome.htm
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1141878323216230.xml&coll=7

MrVandelay

Mar 13, 2006, 7:16 PM

Microsoft plans indicate big Quincy project

http://www.king5.com/business/stories/NW_031106BUBmicrosoft_qunicyEL.16073bf1.html

12:53 PM PST on Saturday, March 11, 2006
Associated Press

WENATCHEE, Wash.- An environmental-impact document filed by Microsoft indicates that its plan for a data-storage facility in the Eastern Washington town of Quincy is much bigger than first thought.

The document says the software company plans to build six buildings with 1.5 million square feet on 75 acres in a Quincy industrial park.

The center would house racks of computers to store data, and would include an electrical substation, a diesel back-up generation plant, and a 450-space parking lot.

Microsoft signed a tentative agreement in January to buy the 75 acres for $1million. The company has until the end of the month to close the deal.

Internet giant Yahoo has also signed a tentative agreement to buy as much as 50 acres of port industrial-park land, about a mile from Microsoft's proposed site.

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 20, 2006, 6:08 AM

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/03/13/daily36.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Genentech picks Hillsboro
The Business Journal of Portland - March 17, 2006

Biotechnology giant Genentech has selected Hillsboro for the construction and development of a facility that will fill and package commercial drugs.

The expansion could bring as many as 300 new jobs to the area by 2015.

San Francisco-based Genentech (NYSE: DNA) will locate its new campus on a 100-acre site on Shute Road in Hillsboro. The company expects to break ground on the facility in late 2006, with completion in 2008. The facility is expected to be licensed and operational in 2010.

"Oregon offers an advantageous business environment, and its single-sales factor apportionment tax policy is particularly attractive to growing companies like Genentech. In addition, Oregon meets our needs for a high-quality available labor force and development-ready land with supporting infrastructure," said Genentech's executive vice president for product operations, Patrick Y. Yang.

Genentech uses human genetic information to discover, develop, commercialize and manufacture biotherapies to address medical needs. The company has the largest proportion of Food and Drug Administration-approved manufacturing capacity for the production of biotech medicines in the world. It has existing manufacturing facilities in California and Spain.

[...]

MarkDaMan

Mar 20, 2006, 7:48 PM

Burgerville oil to run vehicles
The Business Journal of Portland - 9:20 AM PST Monday

The Holland Inc. plans to recycle the cooking oil from its Burgerville restaurants into biodiesel, a cleaner-burning blend of diesel fuel.

All 39 Burgerville locations throughout the Pacific Northwest will have their used cooking oil picked up by Portland-based MRP Services and taken to a processing plant where the oil is transformed into methyl esters (biodiesel) and glycerin (a byproduct) through a process called transesterification.

MRP Services, a family-owned plumbing and drain service company, will pick up the used cooking oil on a monthly basis, depending on the amount of oil that each Burgerville location uses.

The Holland Inc. is based in Vancouver, WA.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/03/20/daily2.html

MarkDaMan

Mar 20, 2006, 8:01 PM

Ore. jobless rate up slightly in February
11:13 AM PST on Monday, March 20, 2006
By WILLIAM McCALL, AP Business Writer

The Oregon jobless rate increased slightly in February, but the state economy continued to grow at the pace that has made it the fifth-fastest growing in the nation.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in February, up from 5.3 percent in January, according to Oregon Employment Department figures released Monday.

But nonfarm payroll employment grew by 4,200 jobs in February following a strong start in January that added 8,100 jobs in revised figures for the month.

The unemployment rate and job numbers can rise at the same time, economists say, depending on several factors, including population growth and decisions by workers who had stopped looking for jobs to start filling out applications again.

The February rate was nearly a percentage point below the February 2005 jobless rate of 6.4 percent, keeping the latest month in line with the declining trend in unemployment statewide over the past two years.

Nationally, the jobless rate was 4.8 percent in February, nearly unchanged from 4.7 percent in January. The national rate also has been falling for more than two years.

Oregon has seen steady employment growth since the end of the recession in July 2003, adding 132,300 jobs.

Over the past four months, an average of 6,100 jobs per month have been added -- well ahead of the average monthly gain of 3,800 during the first half of last year.

Job gains in February were led by construction, financial services, and educational and health services. The only major industry group that lost jobs was trade, transportation and utilities.

Construction added 1,200 jobs at a time of year when only 200 are expected based on seasonal trends.

Financial services gained 1,900 jobs in February after a drop of 500 in January. The industry has grown rapidly over the past year, adding 5,900 jobs since February 2005 based partly on increased home sales and strong corporate profit growth.

Educational and health services bounced back from a January dip of 800 jobs to post a gain of 3,500 in February.

Manufacturing added 800 jobs in February, expanding in Oregon at one of the fastest rates in the nation over the past two years. Over the past 12 months manufacturing is up by 7,100 jobs, or 3.6 percent.

Overall in February, there were 122,171 people unemployed in Oregon, down from 137,416 in February 2005.

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 22, 2006, 1:30 AM

^
And as always, the Washington unemployment numbers come out a day after the Oregon ones:

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 · Last updated 12:58 p.m. PT
Washington's jobless rate edges upward despite hiring spree
By DAVID AMMONS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington employers are continuing a hiring spree, adding 24,000 new employees in the past two months, a pace not seen since 10 years ago.

The state unemployment rate edged upward a bit in February, to 4.8 percent, as more people entered the job search. But Tuesday's report from the state Employment Security Department was upbeat, stressing the expansion of the job market.

The department said the higher unemployment rate is actually good news because "the labor market is looking so attractive that people who had been sitting on the sidelines started looking for work. In fact, they came in droves."

The agency said the hiring spree of January added 13,900 new workers and that the trend continued last month with 10,100 additional employees. The two-month gain was the most for consecutive months since January 1996.

Over the past 12 months, payrolls have expanded by 97,300, or 3.5 percent. That percentage was the largest year-over-year gain since April 1998. The comparable national figure is a 1.5 percent expansion.

Employment rolls have expanded every month for the last 18 months, except for last September, when Boeing Co. aerospace workers went on strike.

The department said most sectors expanded their work force.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate, 4.8 percent, was up from 4.6 percent one month ago, the latter described as the lowest unemployment rate in six years.

The state and national rates are now the same. The national rate rose by a tenth of a percentage point from January. Oregon's latest rate is 5.6 percent.

The agency's economists said the job gains continued to be spread broadly across various industries. The increase was led by a surge in hiring by construction trades, up 2,500. Manufacturing added 1,300 jobs, including 500 in aerospace.

Retailers added 700, software 500, engineering services 300, temporary worker agencies 400, health care 1,000, food services 700 and local government 1,300.

Unemployment rates, not seasonally adjusted, in metropolitan areas around the state: Bellingham, 5 percent; Bremerton, 5.4; Longview, 7.1; Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 6.1; Olympia, 5; Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, 4.6; Spokane, 6.1; Tacoma, 5.9; Tri-Cities, 7.5; Wenatchee, 6.7; and Yakima, 9.

These labor market areas also reported: Aberdeen, 7.6 percent; Centralia, 7.9; Ellensburg, 6.8; Moses Lake, 10.1; Oak Harbor, 5.6; Port Angeles, 6.3; Pullman, 4.3; Shelton, 6.2; and Walla Walla, 6.9.

Unemployment rates in these counties were: Adams, 9.2 percent; Asotin, 3.6; Benton, 6.9; Chelan, 6.8; Clark, 6.2; Columbia, 10.8; Douglas, 6.6; Ferry, 12.3; Franklin, 9.1; Garfield, 6.7; Jefferson, 5.4; King, 4.6; Klickitat, 9.7; Lincoln, 6.9; Okanogan, 9.6; Pacific, 7; Pend Oreille, 9.3; San Juan, 4.4; Skamania, 8.2; Snohomish, 4.9; Stevens, 8.8; and Wahkiakum, 6.4.

mSeattle

Mar 24, 2006, 7:56 AM

Friday, March 24, 2006

National Security: Cost is too high
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/264132_passed.asp
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

If you take the Department of Homeland Security's plans seriously, the nation will become markedly safer on Jan. 1, 2008. That's when Americans and foreign nationals, including Canadians, will have to carry passports or other new, secure identification to enter this country.

There is no possible justification for waiting another 21 months to impose the requirement, if the passport rules really are going to make the country more secure. Any security gains will be absolutely minimal.

The costs of mindlessly sticking to the passport rule will be significant. A new Zogby poll confirms the fears about the economic costs. In a survey of U.S. and Canadian residents along the border from Washington state to the East Coast, Zogby found about one-third of those without passports say the new requirements would significantly reduce the chances of their visiting the other country.

The poll was commissioned by a U.S.-Canadian coalition that includes the Seattle and Bellingham chambers of commerce, the Port of Seattle and Tourism Victoria. Most respondents support increased border security, naturally. But the rules, which most Americans doubt will improve security, try to create a permanent fix when visits are generally brief and planned only slightly beforehand. Flexibility and creativity, such as a three-day document that could be obtained before leaving home, are needed.

The new rules will cut travel between two friendly lands. As President Bush has argued in another context, a trend toward isolation makes no contribution to U.S. security.

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 25, 2006, 2:03 AM

Here's an obscure-but-important bit of news for the City of Seattle:

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/03/20/daily26.html

Fitch rates Seattle's $84.5M bonds AA+
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 4:47 PM PST Friday

Fitch Ratings has given its AA+ rating to the city of Seattle's $84.5 million limited general tax obligation bond offering because of the rebounding economy and the city's financial management.

However, those positive trends are partially offset by current and anticipated limitations on tax revenue, Fitch said Friday. The rating is the firm's second highest after AAA.

Seattle's bond rating was buoyed by the economic recovery, the credit rating agency said. Retail trade is strong, assessed values are rising and jobless rates are lower.

Fitch also attributed the favorable credit rating to growth in Seattle's general fund and the city's low debt burden, which is largely a result of its "pay-as-you-go" capital program.

Nonetheless, Seattle will have to contend with "the severe constraints" imposed by Initiative 747, which limits the increase in property tax collections to 1 percent annually. Seattle also could get less revenue from business-and-occupation taxes beginning in 2008, when a statewide change in the allocation of corporate revenue takes effect.

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 28, 2006, 9:28 PM

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002895343_webamgen28.html

Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Amgen slates major growth for Seattle research campus
By Benjamin J. Romano
Seattle Times business reporter

Amgen plans a major expansion of its Helix research campus on Elliott Bay, a company spokeswoman said today.

The company plans to tear down vacant warehouse and office buildings on Pier 89 and build 550,000 square feet of laboratory and office space. The campus currently has 750,000 square feet of labs and offices.

Amgen expects to break ground this fall and complete construction in 2010.

The expansion fulfills larger plans that Immunex, the Seattle biotech company Amgen acquired in 2002, had for the 40-acre campus.

"There was a master plan for the campus that Immunex filed with the city," Amgen spokeswoman Carol Pawlak said. "We're using those guidelines and planning in the same area where that growth was, but we're moving the buildings around a little bit." "The site's very beautiful and functional and we want to create that same mix," she added.

The company will apply for new building permits for the expansion, which is still in the planning stage, Pawlak said.

Amgen plans to hire 150 new workers here in 2006 as part of a worldwide expansion of its research operations. The new space would give it room for approximately 750 more employees, potentially doubling its current employment at the site.

"Our business will drive our hiring," Pawlak said, "but we're building this laboratory space in anticipation of that research growth."

MarkDaMan

Mar 28, 2006, 10:19 PM

So much snow, it's hard to fathom
Oregon leads the West with a snowpack that's too deep to measure firsthand
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
STUART TOMLINSON
The Oregonian

Oregon's snowpack is the best in the West at 136 percent of average. What's more, the snow with the region's highest water content -- the true measure of its value to the water supply -- is on the southern flank of Mount St. Helens.

In fact, there's just too much snow to measure firsthand.

Jon Lea, a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland, said his colleagues had planned to fly a helicopter to the 3,770-foot level on St. Helens today and dig a snow pit.

This kind of "ground-truthing" -- measuring the snow depth and its water content by hand -- was at the request of the National Weather Service, which also wanted a measure of density of the snowpack and its temperature. But Lea's team decided against it. Too much snow.

"We figured it would take too long to dig down 16 feet and do what we had to do," Lea said. "The helicopter would have left without us."

According to data from remote sensors, the snowpack at Swift Creek contains 82.8 inches of snow water equivalent. That means if it were melted down, it would create an equivalent-width reservoir about 7 feet deep.

The end of March has historically been when Oregon's and Washington's snowpacks reach their peak. And while this year's snowpack is not a record (1999 and 2000 were bigger), it's a vast improvement over last year, when Oregon was 38 percent of average, and Washington was 31 percent of average.

As of Monday, Oregon's best-in-West was followed by Nevada at 130 percent of average, California at 126 percent of average and Washington at 122 percent of average.

Lea said hydrologists dug a snow pit last week, but at a lower elevation. They found that the temperature of the snowpack was the same at the bottom and the top.

"That means it's ripe and ready to start its springtime melt," Lea said. "It's just like a big reservoir sitting up there."

From now until October, warming temperatures will gradually melt the snow, sending water into Oregon's streams, rivers and reservoirs.

Lea said such a robust snowpack means more than adequate supplies for agriculture, fish and wildlife, hydroelectric power, industrial and municipal use and recreational needs.

It also recharges the groundwater, Lea said, "like filling an empty bucket."

The snow has meant a banner year for Oregon's ski resorts, which struggled last year through one of the driest winters in 30 years.

At Timberline Ski Area, the Palmer chairlift opened Monday for the first time this season, a sign that the mountain is ready for months of spring, and even summer, skiing.

Dave Tragethon, marketing director for Mt. Hood Meadows, called this "a dream season."

"If I could, I'd put this season in a box and open it every November," Tragethon said. "It's been a great year for quality powder conditions."

So, where did all that snow come from?

Oregon's state climatologist, George Taylor, said La Nina -- an unusual cooling of waters off the coast of South America and warmer than usual waters in the Western Pacific near Indonesia -- was the reason for our abundance of snow this year.

"This is just what we expect during a La Nina," Taylor said. "The Northwest tends to get its wettest and snowiest winters, and the Southwest U.S. is more likely to be dry, with below-average snowpack."

As of Monday, Arizona's snowpack stood at 30 percent of average, Taylor said.

During last year's weak El Nino, Arizona's snowpack was about 150 percent of average. "These effects are seen worldwide, and we tend to see weather extremes all over the globe," Taylor said. "The Pacific Ocean is the single largest source of terrestrial heat for the atmosphere -- that's why it dominates the world's weather."

Stuart Tomlinson: 503-294-5940; stuarttomlinson@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1143518139253210.xml&coll=7

Western snowpack
Monday, March 27, 2006

Oregon 136 percent of average
Nevada 130 percent
California 126 percent
Washington 122 percent

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 28, 2006, 10:23 PM

^
What a change from last year!

James Bond Agent 007

Mar 30, 2006, 2:18 AM

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310AP_Boeing_GE.html

Wednesday, March 29, 2006
GE unit places order for Boeing 737s
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE -- GE Commercial Aviation Services said Wednesday that it had placed a firm order for 30 of Boeing Co.'s narrow body 737 airplanes, with the option to buy 30 more.

The deal for all 60 airplanes would be worth $4 billion at list prices, although aircraft buyers typically get big discounts.

In a statement, Boeing said General Electric Co.'s aircraft leasing and financing unit will buy a mix of 737-800s and 737-900ERs. The 737-800 seats up to 189 passengers in a single-class configuration, while the 737-900ER, due to enter service early next year, will seat up to 215 people.

GE Commercial Aviation Services will take delivery of the 30 airplanes it has firm orders for between 2008 and 2010.

[...]

Last Chance

Mar 30, 2006, 7:15 PM

^ I thought that the production schedule was already filled through 2009?

Is this wishful thinking from GE? Or has there been additional capacity added for production?

I guess they could get all 30 in 2010 and it would still be true, but why tease us with the 2008 figure then...

MarkDaMan

Mar 30, 2006, 10:11 PM

Columbia Sportswear now owns Pacific Trail
The Business Journal of Portland - 9:50 AM PST Thursday

Columbia Sportswear Co.'s winning bid in bancruptcy court on Wedesday gives it ownership of the Pacific Trail group of brands owned by London Fog Group Inc.

The sale giving Portland-based Columbia (NASDAQ: COLM) the assets of Pacific Trail Inc. from New York City-based London Fog for $20.4 million cash plus the assumption of certain liabilities is effective Thursday.

Established in 1945 in Seattle, Pacific Trail manufactures and sells products to retailers nationwide. The Pacific Trail business includes the Pacific Trail outerwear and sportswear brand, the Towne outerwear and rainwear brand, the Pac Tec high-performance outerwear brand, the Black DotClothing surfboard apparel brand and the Moonstone mountain equipment brand.

Founded in 1938 in Portland, Columbia Sportswear Company is a leader in the design, sourcing, marketing and distribution of active outdoor apparel and footwear.

"With the acquisition of Pacific Trail, we continue to strengthen our portfolio of authentic, outdoor brands," said Tim Boyle, president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear. "We are particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to leverage our design and capital strengths to expand the growth opportunities for Pacific Trail products in distribution channels that Columbia has not yet developed."

Grant D. Prentice, vice president of global outerwear integration at Columbia, will be responsible for interim management of the Pacific Trail brands.

Last Chance

Mar 30, 2006, 11:39 PM

One paper or two... Two until at least 2007.

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/03/27/daily20.html?t=printable

Seattle Times, P-I seek arbitration
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 12:45 PM PST Thursday
The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer both said Thursday that they want an arbitrator to settle their disagreements over the newspapers' joint operating agreement (JOA).

In a joint statement, the papers said they will abide by the arbitrator's decision and give up their right to appeal.

The two papers have been joined by a JOA for 23 years. Under that arrangement, the two newspapers share printing and similar operations, but operate separate newsrooms.

The Times says it has lost money for the past six years and wants desperately to get of the arrangement, while the P-I says it needs the JOA to survive.

The arbitrator would be retired King County Superior Court Judge Larry Jordan, who is expected to make a decision by late spring 2007.

In 2003, the P-I's owner, Hearst Corp., filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court to keep the JOA. Judge Greg Canova, who's handling that case, is expected to rule soon on whether the two newspapers can move to arbitration.

James Bond Agent 007

Apr 5, 2006, 1:35 AM

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/04/03/daily13.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Biotech plans $60M plant in Snohomish County
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 1:57 PM PDT Tuesday

Diversified Bio-Medics Inc. said it will build a $60 million pharmaceutical manufacturing plant somewhere in Snohomish County.

Blaine-based Diversified said a final site in the county hasn't been selected yet, but in a statement said that "several viable locations, both within incorporated and unincorporated segments of the county are under careful review."

When the plant is operational in 2008, it will provide 100 jobs, officials said.

Diversified officials said they considered sites for the plant all along the West Coast, including the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego, but said that its site selection committee, which considered factors like cost of living, tax structure, regulatory environment and the real estate market, picked Snohomish County. Tax incentives for biotech manufacturers in Washington also helped, they said.

"Washington's business leaders and government are working together to invest in a strong biotech infrastructure that will foster the development of new biotech companies and thus become one of the best regions to launch and grow new biotechnology companies," Diversified officials said in a statement.

bgwah

Apr 5, 2006, 2:32 AM

AZchristopher

Apr 5, 2006, 12:09 PM

The P-I is a lot better when it comes to sports coverage. Its also more willing to go against the grain instead of always putting in just what the local companies want.

MarkDaMan

Apr 7, 2006, 11:07 PM

OHSU ads launch effort to find 200 new workers
South Waterfront - Most jobs will be technical and professional for a new addition opening in June
Friday, April 07, 2006

With 200 new jobs to fill, Oregon Health & Science University begins an advertising blitz this weekend to attract nurses, pharmacists, therapists, medical technicians, housekeepers and others.

The hires represent the first big wave of jobs to be created by OHSU's ongoing expansion, much of it financed by about $335 million in private donations and a voter-approved $200 million bond issue backed by the state.

OHSU officials expect to fill many of the jobs in time for the June opening of the Peter O. Kohler Pavilion, an 11-story tower that will add eight operating rooms and 120 hospital beds to the medical center's campus. The building also will house expanded centers for women's health and cancer treatment.

Priscilla Andres, OHSU human resources director, said the majority of the new jobs are professional and technical positions. Many of these workers are in short supply, so OHSU is offering bonuses as high as $3,000 for referrals to applicants who are hired. High-demand jobs include pharmacists, physical therapists, and nurses specializing in critical care and other areas.

Recruiting will run through the summer, Andres said, to fill jobs as more inpatient floors are occupied. Not all of the new jobs will be in the Kohler Pavilion.

The university has also started construction to increase the capacity of Doernbecher Children's Hospital. OHSU said its new buildings going up at the South Waterfront campus are expected to add 4,500 jobs during the next 20 years.

-- Joe Rojas-Burke

MarkDaMan

Apr 10, 2006, 6:11 PM

Peggy Fowler rings opening bell of NYSE
The Business Journal of Portland - 9:57 AM PDT Monday

Peggy Fowler, Portland General Electric CEO and president, on Monday morning rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.

Regular trading of Portland General Electric's common stock began Monday, signifying the utility's return to the long list of other publicly traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock opened at $29.45, but in early trading fell to $28.32.

Last week, Portland-based PGE (NYSE: POR) officially became independent from former parent company Enron Corp., which purchased PGE in 1997.

PGE's ownership was transferred from Enron on April 3, when new PGE common stock was issued to Enron creditors and a disputed claims reserve account. The existing common stock was simultaneously canceled. A total of 62.5 million shares of new PGE common stock have been issued. Creditors holding allowed claims received 27,036,445 million shares of stock representing about 43 percent of the 62.5 million total shares. The remaining shares will be held in the disputed claims reserve and released to creditors during the next several years as their claims are resolved.

Celebrating the NYSE listing with Fowler were seven PGE employees who were earlier elected by their peers to join her in New York.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/04/10/daily4.html

Last Chance

Apr 10, 2006, 6:38 PM

^ Normally that's not a good sign when an IPO doesn't gain 10% or more in first day trading, but considering how many Enron creditors probably just wanted to take whatever cash they could get, it's probably OK. I'm sure a lot of the volume came from those creditors finally exiting the energy sector.

James Bond Agent 007

Apr 18, 2006, 1:19 AM

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Schweitzer_Expansion.html

Friday, April 14, 2006
Pullman engineering firm plans to grow
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Inc. has announced plans to build a new manufacturing center and add 300 jobs.

Owner and founder Ed Schweitzer said Thursday the new 100,000-square-foot plant for building and assembling products for its customers likely will be built here.

The company makes power-management and digital relay equipment to monitor and protect transmission lines for utilities and large corporate customers.

The company already has 900 Pullman workers and nine buildings on its 40-acre Pullman campus and employs another 400 elsewhere. It has begun construction on another building that will become a mixed-used project including retail, housing and commercial developments.

Schweitzer said the company has outgrown the original 105,000-square-foot manufacturing building, with sales growing by 20 percent a year.

The 300 new production jobs are in addition to more than 200 other jobs Schweitzer is trying to fill this year, company spokeswoman Susan Fagan said.

Schweitzer said other states have expressed interest in having the new plant, including Idaho. Texas and Florida also are business-friendly, he said.

The ability to automate key processes keeps the company in Pullman and in the United States, he said.

Last Chance

Apr 18, 2006, 6:47 PM

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Wash_Jobless.html

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 · Last updated 11:19 a.m. PT

State economy 'just keeps getting better' as jobless rate dips

By DAVID AMMONS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington's unemployment rate has dipped to 4.6 percent, equaling a six-year low, after employers went wild with hiring, state economists said Tuesday.

The jobless rate for March dropped two-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month and matched January's revised figure, which was the lowest since November 1999.

For the second time this year, the state rate was better than the national average. The latest U.S. rate is 4.7 percent, a slight improvement from last month.

Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said the improvement in Washington was widespread across most major sectors of the economy, including construction.

"The economic news in Washington just keeps getting better," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement released before her scheduled meeting with China's President Hu Jintao to promote two-way trade, tourism and business investment.

"Unemployment is at its lowest point in more than six years and employers continue to add jobs each month. These family wage jobs expand prosperity and enable more Washingtonians to take advantage of opportunities created by the global economy."

The Employment Security Department said many employers continued rapid expansion of their payrolls, adding about 7,900 jobs during March, following up on "a frantic pace" of January's gain of 13,900 and February's expansion by 9,200.

The first quarter's job growth was the strongest since 2000. Over the past 12 months, non-farm payrolls have grown by 94,000, or about 3.4 percent. The comparable national figure is a 1.6 percent expansion.

The latest monthly job growth was led by construction, up 2,100; health care, 800; temp agencies, 700; and food services, 700.

Manufacturing added 500 jobs, including 300 in aerospace.

Retailers added 1,000 new positions, including 400 in building supply stores as the spring fixup season arrived. Wholesalers added 500.

Unemployment rates, not seasonally adjusted, in metropolitan areas around the state: Bellingham, 4.2 percent; Bremerton, 4.6; Longview, 5.9; Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 5; Olympia, 4.3; Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, 4.3; Spokane, 5; Tacoma, 5; Tri-Cities, 6.1; Wenatchee, 5.3; and Yakima, 7.5.

These labor market areas also reported: Aberdeen, 6.7 percent; Centralia, 6.7; Ellensburg, 5.1; Moses Lake, 7.8; Oak Harbor, 4.5; Port Angeles, 5.2; Pullman, 3.4; Shelton, 5.4; and Walla Walla, 5.8.

Unemployment rates in these counties were: Adams, 6.3 percent; Asotin, 2.9; Benton, 5.7; Chelan, 5.4; Clark, 6.2; Columbia, 8.8; Douglas, 5; Ferry, 11.4; Franklin, 7.3; Garfield, 5.2; Jefferson, 4.5; King, 4.2; Klickitat, 8.4; Lincoln, 5.6; Okanogan, 8; Pacific, 6.1; Pend Oreille, 8.3; San Juan, 3.5; Skamania, 7.5; Snohomish, 4.7; Stevens, 7.9; and Wahkiakum, 5.6.

---

MarkDaMan

Apr 20, 2006, 4:24 PM

Oregon in top 20 for high-tech jobs
The Portland Business Journal - 10:46 AM PDT Wednesday

Oregon is in the top 20 for high-tech employment, according to a new report released Wednesday.

Oregon is home to 81,700 high-tech workers, ranking the state at No. 20 among all states, according to the AeA's Cyberstates report.

However, in terms of semiconductor jobs, Oregon ranked third with 26,400 industry employees.

Oregon also ranked ninth nationally in high-tech goods exports with $4.9 billion in 2005.

Oregon ranked 10th in software publishers employment with 6,600 jobs and 10th in computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing employment with 3,600 jobs.

The average Oregon tech worker earns more than $71,200 (13th ranked) annually, 103 percent above the average private-sector wage in the state.

In 2004, high-tech payroll statewide topped $5.8 billion in 2004, ranked 19th nationwide.

Between 2003 and 2004 (the most current statistics available), Oregon added 200 new tech jobs.

Santa Clara-based AeA is a national trade association representing all segments of the high-tech industry.
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/04/17/daily22.html

James Bond Agent 007

Apr 20, 2006, 7:40 PM

Thursday, April 20, 2006
Tampa raises glass to Washington wines
By Melissa Allison
Seattle Times business reporter

The folks in Tampa, Fla., have discovered Washington wine, thanks to a $385,000 ad campaign by the Washington Wine Commission.

It is Washington wine's first campaign outside its own state, and the numbers look good.

Before billboards, radio spots and newspaper ads began appearing in February, sales of Washington wine in Tampa rose by about 9 percent each month. Now they're growing at more than 23 percent a month, according to Ted Baseler, president and chief executive of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in Woodinville.

Mostly, the campaign is about raising people's awareness of Washington wine.

That presents two challenges outside the state, Baseler said Wednesday during a Rotary Club of Seattle luncheon.

"At first, people think you mean Washington D.C.," he said. "When you say Washington state, they say, 'How do you grow grapes up there when it rains so much?' "

Baseler was chairman of the Washington Wine Commission last year, when the out-of-state campaign was hatched. He disclosed the Tampa sales figures after his speech and said that market was chosen partly because it's a strong wine market with low awareness of Washington wines.

Tampa also has supermarkets that sell wine, which helps to track sales.

The campaign goes through early May with ads featuring the tagline "Washington State — the perfect climate for wine." If it continues to go well, the commission plans a push in other out-of-state markets.

There were only 19 wineries in Washington in 1984, when Baseler began working for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, which is the largest wine company in Washington and is owned by the publicly traded UST Inc. in Connecticut.

Now there are more than 400 wineries in Washington, which has become the nation's largest wine producer after California. Washington produced 18 million gallons of wine last year. The industry employs 14,000 people statewide.

James Bond Agent 007

Apr 21, 2006, 2:30 AM

Thursday, April 20, 2006
Southwest Airlines will take another 79 Boeing 737s
The Associated Press

Boeing and Southwest Airlines said today that the airline converted options to order 79 new passenger planes in a deal valued at about $4.5 billion.

The order for next-generation 737-700s brings Southwest's current orders with Boeing to 140 undelivered 737s and brings its total past and future count for all 737-700s ordered from Boeing to 370.

The 79-airplane delivery is scheduled from 2007 through 2012. Southwest still has 116 options for delivery from 2008 to 2012, and purchase rights for 54 airplanes deliverable through the end of 2014.

MarkDaMan

Apr 27, 2006, 8:32 PM

this isn't economic new perse, unless the new OLCC director decides to loosen current restrictions generating more business, but it is funny as hell...

OLCC's director resigns after DUI arrest

11:39 AM PDT on Thursday, April 27, 2006
By kgw.com and AP Staff

The executive director of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission resigned Thursday morning, five days after being arrested on a charge of drunken driving.

Lonn Hoklin, spokesman for Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski, said Teresa L. Kaiser e-mailed her resignation to members of the OLCC board of directors Thursday morning.

She was arrested Saturday night by Portland Police for driving under the influence near the Ross Island Bridge in Portland, said spokesman Detective Paul Dolbey.

Kaiser's blood alcohol level was reportedly .16, twice the amount an adult driver is considered legally drunk in Oregon.

"Due to circumstances that I deeply regret, I am resigning as executive director of the commission," Kaiser wrote in the e-mail.

She said she will return on May 15th to tie up loose ends and say her good byes.

"It's safe to say when you're in a highly visible position, and represent the state liquor laws and enforcement, this is to be expected," said OLCC spokesman Ken Palke of the resignation.

He called "devastating to us who work here that something like this happened. It's a situation that happens all too often."

Although Kaiser had a contract with the commission, she serves as the board's pleasure, Palke said.

Kaiser assumed the post Sept. 15th, 2003, after several years with child support services in Maryland.

She is a graduate of Portland's Lewis and Clark Law School and worked as an attorney for seven years as well as in liquor enforcement in Colorado and Washington. She was an OLCC inspector from 1981-1982.

The OLCC board will hold an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. Friday to appoint an acting director.

"The governor naturally is very concerned about this. But he has total confidence that the commission will handle this and do the right thing," Hoklin said.

Statewide, liquor sales are on track to reach $722 million -- $77 million more than projected a year ago -- for the two-year period ending in June 2007, according to state estimates.

During Kaiser's tenure at the liquor control agency, the OLCC began a two-year pilot program to allow sales of distilled spirits in separate liquor stores within supermarkets instead of in traditional state-run outlets. So far, the pilot program has brought in more revenue than expected, the agency has said. But the pilot program has upset some existing liquor agents, who say it will create unfair competition.

When reached at her Portland home Wednesday night, Kaiser would not comment.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_042706_news_olcc_arrest.77ea5362.html

MarkDaMan

May 2, 2006, 3:23 PM

NW Natural Rises on ''100 Best Corporate Citizens'' List
Portland -

PORTLAND -- Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN), dba NW Natural, said today it has been named one of the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" for the sixth year in a row, coming in at No. 30 on this year's list, up from 47th last year.

The national survey, conducted by Business Ethics magazine, measures companies in eight categories: total return to stockholders, community, governance, diversity, employees, environment, human rights and product. NW Natural is the highest ranked utility on the list.

"Being responsible and ethical, ensuring safety and supporting our communities are not just corporate practices, but our values. They are woven into every part of our business," said Mark Dodson, NW Natural President and CEO. "It's an honor for NW Natural to be recognized again in this way."

The rankings are based on a database maintained by KLD Research & Analytics, a Boston-based social research firm. The Carroll School of Management at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., performed the statistical analysis. All companies listed on the Russell 1000 Index -- the largest 1,000 publicly traded companies in the United States -- are considered.Now in its seventh year, the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list was announced today in New York.

About NW Natural
NW Natural is a 147-year-old natural gas distribution company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. The company serves 617,000 residential, business and industrial customers in Oregon and Southwest Washington. It has grown at about twice the national average for gas utility companies for the past 19 years.
http://portland.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=73608&type_news=latest

MarkDaMan

May 4, 2006, 9:22 PM

Oregon's economy improves
The Portland Business Journal - 9:40 AM PDT Thursday

Rebounding from February's sharp decline, the University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators rose in March, gaining 0.3 percent to 107.7, based on a 1996 benchmark of 100.

Only two indicators -- Oregon residential building permits and The Oregonian help-wanted ads -- deteriorated in March.

One indicator, Oregon initial unemployment claims, was essentially unchanged. The remaining five indicators -- Oregon weight-distance tax, Oregon nonfarm payrolls, U.S. consumer confidence, manufacturing orders and the interest rate spread -- all improved.

Oregon job market data remains on a positive trajectory. Initial unemployment claims are stabilizing around a low level. This suggests steady economic activity -- and confidence in the near-term outlook on the part of firms -- is holding down the number of layoffs, said Tim Duy, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Oregon.

Firms continue to add workers at a rapid pace, Duy said, with nonfarm payrolls climbing by 6,500 in March. During the first quarter, payrolls grew at a 3.5 percent rate compared with the same period last year, more than twice the national average of 1.6 percent.

Compared with six months ago, the UO Index rose 3 percent (annualized), while the six-month diffusion index, a measure of the proportion of components that are rising, stood at 56.3 -- in other words, half the components improved.

As a general rule, a decline in the index of greater than 2 percent over six months (annualized), coupled with a decline in more than half of its components, signals that a recession is likely imminent, Duy said.

Consequently, the index suggests that Oregon's solid pace of economic growth is set to continue for at least the near term, he added.
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/05/01/daily31.html

destroybananas

May 5, 2006, 3:49 AM

Mexican president to visit state
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 9:12 AM PDT Wednesday
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Mexican President Vicente Fox will visit Seattle May 24-25, responding to an invitation from Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Gregoire invited the Mexican president in January to come to the state to meet with executives from The Boeing Co., Microsoft Corp., Starbucks Corp., Alaska Airlines and other state companies.

Mexico is the state's eleventh-largest export market, with Washington shipping about $1 billion in goods last year to the country.

This will be Fox's first visit to the state, according to Gregoire's office.

MarkDaMan

May 10, 2006, 6:07 PM

Ethanol plant to be built in Boardman
The Portland Business Journal - 9:31 AM PDT Tuesday

Pacific Ethanol Inc. said Tuesday it has received all necessary permits to begin construction on a 35-million-gallon-per-year ethanol facility at the Port of Morrow, located on the Columbia River near Boardman.

Fresno, Calif.-based Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) said it expects to begin construction, which should take approximately 12 months, within the next 30 days.

Ethanol is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that is produced from renewable sources such as corn.

The Oregon ethanol facility will provide ethanol for the Pacific Northwest gasoline markets. It is expected that the plant's distillers grains will be sold to the local Oregon and Washington dairy and feed markets.

Neil Koehler, CEO of Pacific Ethanol, said the company plans to build five ethanol production facilities to serve the western United States by the end of 2008.

The design for the Boardman plant, he said, is based on the plant currently under construction in Madera, Calif., which will begin ethanol production in the fourth quarter of this year.

Pacific Ethanol is also working to identify and develop other renewable fuel technologies such as cellulose-based ethanol production and biodiesel.
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/05/08/daily10.html

James Bond Agent 007

May 15, 2006, 5:07 AM

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/05/15/story3.html

Farmers fear worker shortage
Higher crop yield, tougher border controls contribute to crunch
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - May 12, 2006
by Steve Wilhelm
Staff Writer

Washington farmers exultant about ample rains and one of the best growing seasons in years are facing one dark possibility: not enough farm workers to harvest their crops.

While crops are months away from harvest, farmers are worrying that a combination of other work options for migrant workers, tighter border controls against illegal immigration, and even rising fuel costs for workers' cars, may curtail the supply of willing hands.

"We don't know. There's a lot of uncertainty and the trend lines are negative, and we're concerned about having a shortage this year," said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, a Yakima organization representing 500 growers across the state.

Last year a combination of tighter border controls and competitive wages in other industries kept the supply of migrant farmworkers at 10 percent to 15 percent fewer than needed, leading to bleak choices for some fruit farmers, he said.

Some farmers picked their crops so late that the value was substantially lessened, and others left fruit on the trees unpicked. Some farmers brought in non-Hispanic workers from Thailand on short-term H2A visas, causing controversy among local farm-worker organizations.

This year the expected larger harvests, and increasing scrutiny of border crossings, could widen the gap between the number of farmworkers needed and the supply, some observers say.

"It's too early to tell what's going to happen," Gempler said. "The first demand peak will come in mid-June, and we'll have an indication then what this year will look like."

Gempler estimated the state's cherry industry requires about 25,000 pickers, while apple growers need up to 45,000 later in the season. About 30 percent to 50 percent of seasonal farm workers come from outside the state, he said.

Washington's mostly labor-intensive crops -- including apples, cherries, grapes and hops -- together require about 90,000 seasonal workers, said Karen Lee, director of the state Department of Employment Security. Despite perceptions that seasonal agricultural work is all about harvesting, an equal amount of labor goes into a variety of other tasks including pruning before the harvest and sorting and packing afterward.

While tighter security at the Mexican border is making it harder for undocumented workers to get to Washington's agricultural areas, other economic factors also are drawing seasonal farm workers away and into other endeavors, observers say.

One factor is Washington's minimum wage of $7.63 an hour, the highest in the nation. This brings the pay scale of many service or retail jobs close to the $8- or $9-an-hour rates that orchard owners pay for nonharvest jobs such as pruning, said Jim Hazen, executive director of the Washington State Horticultural Association in Wenatchee.

When the minimum wage was in the range of $5 an hour, field work seemed much more desirable to workers, despite the rough conditions and lack of consistency. But now the higher minimum wages are attracting many former farmworkers, who are opting for the steady paycheck instead.

"With the high increase in minimum wage, people take a look at those positions as a viable options. There's greater competition for the labor pool," Hazen said.

A related factor is the aging of farm workers, reflecting the fact that some younger Hispanic people are getting education not accessible to their parents, in order to enter the professional work force and leave farm work entirely. Statistics from the state Department of Employment Security show that between 1994 and 2004, the percentage of Washington farm workers aged 45 to 64 rose from 13 percent to 17 percent of the total, while workers from 25 to 34 dropped from 29 percent to 20 percent of the total.

James Bond Agent 007

May 16, 2006, 8:19 PM

Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Job growth slows in Washington state; unemployment matches national rate
By Drew DeSilver
Seattle Times business reporter

Jobs and unemployment both moved higher in Washington last month, as more people entered the labor market and the pace of job growth slowed.

The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 4.7 percent, matching the national rate, from 4.6 percent in March. A year ago, unemployment was running at 5.1 percent.

About 5,200 nonfarm payroll jobs were added in April, largely in construction, finance, manufacturing, education and professional and business services.

That, however, was the smallest monthly increase since August. So far this year, each month since February has seen fewer jobs added than the month before.

Greg Weeks, director of the state Employment Security Department's labor marker and economic analysis branch, said he still believed jobs are trending upward — particularly given the upward revision of first-quarter data, which added 4,500 jobs to previously reported gains.

Though higher fuel prices and rising interest rates are things to "keep an eye on," Weeks said, "'keeping an eye on', to my mind, is a step below being concerned."

James Bond Agent 007

May 16, 2006, 8:20 PM

About 5,200 nonfarm payroll jobs were added in April, largely in construction, finance, manufacturing, education and professional and business services.
One of those was mine. :D

Last Chance

May 16, 2006, 10:38 PM

I know you just posted the article about the Washington State Unemployment now matching the nation's unemployment rate, but the article in the Puget Sound Business Journal had an interesting statistic about construction jobs, so I'll post it here just for that...

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/05/15/daily17.html?t=printable

Unemployment rate up a bit in April
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 11:51 AM PDT Tuesday
Washington's unemployment rate in April increased a scant 0.1 percentage point to 4.7 percent, but state officials said the economy continues to grow.

Washington employers added 5,200 non-farm jobs last month, and that's good news, according to state officials, even though it was the fewest jobs added to the economy since last August.

"As our economy continues to grow, more Washingtonians should be able to compete in the global economy and move Washington forward," said Gov. Chris Gregoire, in a statement.

The "hot" construction segment of the economy cooled only slightly last month, according to state officials.

"After setting a blistering pace in the first quarter of the year, construction rose by 'only' 1,100 jobs in April. This month was only 'hot,' as opposed to thermonuclear -- a 7 percent annualized growth rate, versus 23 percent for the first quarter," according to an Employment Security statement.

The state's unemployment rate now equals the nation's rate.

James Bond Agent 007

May 18, 2006, 2:44 AM

Anyone in Bellevue need a job?

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/05/15/daily23.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Verizon to add 250 jobs in Bellevue
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 1:06 PM PDT Wednesday

Officials at Verizon Wireless said they're going to add 250 full-time customer service jobs at their call center in Bellevue's Eastgate area.

The jobs will be added over the summer, according to a Verizon spokeswoman.

Bellevue city officials were happy with the announcement.

"The decision represents a significant investment for our community and, more specifically, for the Eastgate area," said Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger, in a statement.

Verizon currently employs 700 employees at the Bellevue call center and 1,800 statewide.

Verizon Wireless, based in Bedminster, N.J., is a joint venture between Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOID).

MarkDaMan

May 18, 2006, 3:06 PM

^let me guess, all those new jobs go to the law department to fend off the NSA privacy violations lawsuits?

Last Chance

May 23, 2006, 7:49 PM

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003012410_bizbriefs23.html

Terminal 18 adds major shipper

The world's second-largest container-ship operator, which recently was slapped with a large pollution fine, will begin calling at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18 next year. Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co. will bring about 221,000 containers a year, and will create jobs, officials said.

MSC in December pleaded guilty to a range of charges and agreed to pay $10.5 million in penalties after dumping oil sludge in Boston Harbor last year. The Justice Department called it "the largest criminal fine paid by a defendant in an environmental case in Massachusetts history."

Bob Watters, vice president at SSA Terminals, which operates Terminal 18, said he didn't foresee problems in Seattle. "We anticipate those guys adhering to all the rules," he said. "MSC is a high-quality outfit."

James Bond Agent 007

May 23, 2006, 7:53 PM

^
An article about that same thing in the P-I noted that this new company would add about 300 jobs to the port. Good news!

Last Chance

May 23, 2006, 8:09 PM

Gotta love the Port! Thanks for the number of jobs that was previously missing.

designpdx

May 24, 2006, 1:38 AM

Only good news if they don't pollute Puget Sound!

James Bond Agent 007

May 24, 2006, 3:35 AM

Hmm, I guess some of these people can get those new jobs at Verizon in the article above:

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/05/22/daily19.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Washington Mutual laying off 850 in Bothell
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 4:07 PM PDT Tuesday

Washington Mutual Inc. will lay off about 850 workers this summer at its regional operations center in Bothell.

The center in Canyon Park handles telephone sales and service for the mortgage and consumer lending units.

"There are 850 employees that were notified (today) that their jobs will be eliminated," said Darcy Wilmot, vice president and manager of Northwest public relations for the Seattle-based thrift (NYSE: WM).

"This goes back to our November announcement about a series of initiatives to reduce administrative costs."

The Bothell jobs will be outsourced to various locations, including a vendor based in the Philippines and Washington Mutual locations in Milwaukee, Wis., and Albion, N.Y.

Employees will get severance pay and assistance finding new jobs. The local layoffs weren't the only ones announced Tuesday by Washington Mutual.

The company also announced that 550 jobs would be cut from a similar center near Jacksonville, Fla.

MrVandelay

May 25, 2006, 8:57 PM

Eddie Bauer says company may be sold
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003018593_webeddiebauer25.html
By Monica Soto Ouchi

Seattle Times staff

Redmond-based Eddie Bauer today said it has retained Goldman, Sachs to explore strategic alternatives for the company, including a possible sale.

Eddie Bauer spokesman Jim Fingeroth said "various parties" outside the company have expressed interest in a sale. He declined to say whether those showing interest are potential buyers, or some of Eddie Bauer's large shareholders.

Although the board has not yet decided to sell the company, "it's the board's responsibility to consider all strategic alternatives that might increase shareholder value and that's what they're doing," he said.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Wall Street analysts have suggested that acquisition-minded VF Corp., whose brands include Wrangler jeans, Vanity Fair bras and North Face outdoor apparel, may be interested in Eddie Bauer.

The outdoor-apparel retailer returned to the Northwest as an independent company last June after more than three decades of ownership by Downers Grove, Ill.-based Spiegel.

Spiegel filed for Chapter 11 in March 2003 and emerged from bankruptcy in June. Under the reorganization plan, it transferred its stake in Eddie Bauer to the newly formed parent company Eddie Bauer Holdings, whose shareholders are Spiegel's former creditors.

Eddie Bauer said in August that it planned to move its headquarters to Bellevue's Lincoln Square, owned by Kemper Development.. The company agreed to occupy 200,000 square feet — roughly 40 percent of the building.

"That does not change," Fingeroth said of the planned move.

Eddie Bauer said it plans to hold a first-quarter conference call with investors, though a date has not been set.

bgwah

May 25, 2006, 10:08 PM

Well hopefully Eddie Bauer will still be locally owned...

MarkDaMan

May 25, 2006, 10:55 PM

Nike running with Apple
The Portland Business Journal - 10:05 AM PDT Tuesday

The new question might be "What's on your Nike?"

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), which is based near Beaverton, and Apple (NASDAQ: APPL), which is based in Cupertino, Calif., on Tuesday announced a partnership to connect an iPod Nano to footwear.

The first product developed through the partnership is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a wireless system that allows Nike+ footwear to "talk" with an iPod Nano to connect a runner with a personal running and workout experience.

Nike CEO Mark Parker and Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled Nike+iPod at an event in New York attended by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe.

The new Nike+ Air Zoom Moire is the first footwear designed to communicate with the iPod. With the Nike+ footwear connected to iPod Nano through the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, information on time, distance, calories burned and pace is stored on iPod and displayed on the screen; real-time audible feedback also is provided through headphones. The kit includes an in-shoe sensor and a receiver that attaches to the iPod. A new Nike Sport Music section is on the iTunes Music Store and there is a new nikeplus.com personal service site.

The Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which works with Macintosh and Window PCs, is expected to be available within 60 days for a suggested retail price of $29 through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores, Apple authorized resellers as well as Nike.com, Niketown, NikeWomen stores and select retail stores in the United States.

MarkDaMan

May 25, 2006, 10:56 PM

this company has been growing fast...

Lucy opening two stores in Chicago area
The Portland Business Journal - 12:51 PM PDT Monday

The Lucy chain of boutique stores selling upscale activewear for women will open two stores in the Chicago area over the Memorial Day weekend.

The new stores will be the third and fourth location in the Windy City for Portland-based Lucy.

Stores will open at Northbrook Court on May 26 and at Oakbrook Center on May 29. The stores carry name-brand clothes as well as Lucy's own line of stylish apparel for women on the go.

"The Chicago area is a great fit for Lucy," said Mike Edwards, chief executive officer. "Women here are active and value stylish, vibrant apparel to take them from the gym to the rest of their busy lives."

Lucy operates 30 stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington D.C., Illinois, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Oregon.

MarkDaMan

May 25, 2006, 10:57 PM

Moonstruck to open cafe in San Francisco
The Portland Business Journal - 12:50 PM PDT Monday

Moonstruck Chocolate Co. will open a cafe in San Francisco's Marina District in September.

Portland-based Moonstruck operates seven cafes in Oregon, Illinois and California.

The Marina District Moonstruck will be the company's second cafe in California. The first is in the Bay Area suburb of Walnut Creek and opened shortly before Christmas.

"We are happy with the way the community has embraced Moonstruck's handmade chocolates, beverages and desserts at our Walnut Creek location," said Del Fuhrman, chief operating officer.

Moonstruck opened its first cafe in 1996 in downtown Portland and has plans to expand its line of cafes across the country. Its products have been included as gifts to presenters at the Academy Awards and the Emmy Awards and have been ranked highly by Consumer Reports magazine. It has been particularly well received in San Francisco, where its chocolate took first place in a 2004 taste test conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle.

James Bond Agent 007

May 25, 2006, 11:00 PM

An iPod on your sneakers, eh?

Now they just have to invent sneakers with ears! :D

MarkDaMan

Jun 5, 2006, 4:41 PM

The clothes lineup
Thanks to Nike, Adidas, Oregon spawns apparel, footwear cluster
The Portland Business Journal - June 2, 2006
by Robin J. Moody
Business Journal staff writer

Tarran Pitschka spent five years at Nike, learning design from the brightest minds in the field.

Today, Pitschka is the proud father of Wicked Quick Industries LLC, a Portland startup apparel company with designs reminiscent of tribal tattoos and rebel bikers. His T-shirts, beanies and jackets have landed shelf space in the trendsetting Los Angeles boutique Pop USA, in Hard Rock Cafés and in motorcycle shops.

Pitschka's story represents what is quickly becoming Portland's sexiest economic development trend.

Giants such as Beaverton-based Nike Inc. and Portland's Adidas America have spawned a homegrown industry cluster centered around an active, outdoor lifestyle. Wicked Quick is one of eight startup companies founded or co-founded by entrepreneurs who cut their teeth at Nike or Adidas.

"All the major athletic brands are located in Portland," said John Shanley, longtime footwear, equipment and sports apparel analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group LLP of in Pennsylvania. "The reason is simple: It's Nike. Nike is a huge component of the overall market."

While Portland has clearly carved out a footwear niche, its new hatch of companies also represent strengths in apparel, equipment and outdoor. The seeds for this burgeoning cluster were sown by industry leaders.

"The major players created an early foundation for job growth. This led to infrastructure that incubated new companies for broader growth," said Ross Regis, founder and president of Search Synergy Inc., a Portland recruiting firm specializing in sporting goods and action sports.

Employment in the footwear and apparel sectors grew 16 percent in the metro area between 2001 and 2004, to upwards of 9,500 workers. The Portland Development Commission has recently identified the sports apparel, equipment and footwear sector as one of five key industries that will help grow the economy.

Growth industries like this one are crucial for the state, which has seen employment shrink in sectors including technology, natural resources industries and food processing -- even as new residents trickle in.

Augmenting the homegrown cluster are two companies that recently moved to town, Keen Footwear and Yakima Products Inc., a maker of car racks. Both companies have populated their teams with workers trained at Nike and other related companies.

Perhaps the most promising local startup is an apparel company called Nau, a Maori word for "welcome." Formerly dubbed UTW, the company was founded on social and environmental principals, and will employ sustainable business practices.

"The city and the company share a common ethos," said Nau spokesman Ian Yolles.

An abundance of industry-related talent and easy access to wilderness settings also played into the decision, Yolles said, echoing the sentiments of other outdoor entrepreneurs.

Nau has assembled an executive team spun out of Nike Inc., Adidas America and Patagonia. Stephen Gomez, Nau board chair and a founding investor, served as global vice president and general manager of Nike apparel. Oregonian Chris Van Dyke, company president and CEO, has executive-level experience at Nike and Patagonia.

The company, which aims to maintain a low profile for the time being, has closed at least two funding rounds and employs about 25 workers. In addition to its own apparel brand, it will have retail stores around the country, Sporting News says.

Other startups include:

* Sparq, founded by ex-Nike executive and track and field legend Rudy Chappa, the Portland company sells a system to test athletic skills, and sells equipment. Another member of the Sparq executive team, Pam Welch, spent years at Nike and Lucy.
* AQX Sports, which makes aquatic training shoes. Its director of development and manufacturing, Bob Taylor, previously led research at Adidas and Reebok.
* Esatto Inc., a Portland hiking-boot company, is led by founder and President David Smith, who previously worked 15 years in sales at Nike.
* Retired Nike executive Greg Cowan bought the U.S. license for the upscale Italian cycling brands Castelli and Sportful. He recently relocated the business to his Portland hometown from Minnesota.
* Tour Golf Group, which, despite financial troubles before its sale last month, had signed an exclusive licensing agreement with publicly traded Callaway Golf to produce the brand's first footwear line. It was founded by Kyle Weiner, former Nike director for running and tennis.
* Q Branch, a line of customized shoes founded by former Nike inventor Rob Lyden.

Founding entrepreneurs at these companies were all already living in the area, and most passed many years at Nike.

"I wasn't going to relocate to Minnesota to take on this company -- it was move it here or nothing," said Cowan. "There is a deep talent in design and development and supporting industries because of Nike and Adidas. It's also where my contacts are."

Also, at least four design studios have also opened here in recent years to serve sports apparel and footwear companies headquartered elsewhere.

"There's a certain design aesthetic that companies are looking to create, and right now urban, athletic design is hot. Portland has a good pool of designers skilled in this area," said Roy Notowitz, a principal at Portland's Generator Group, a recruiting firm specializing in sports apparel, footwear and consumer product recruiting. Notowitz and several other Generator executives previously worked for Nike.

The footwear design center for Japan-based sports apparel and equipment giant Mizumo has been located in Portland for 12 years, because it's where longtime athletic shoe designer Tuan Le wanted to live.

Le later lured basketball shoe company And1 to move its design center to Portland in late 2001; the company said it aimed to build a "nucleus of talent" around Le and a handful of designers hired from Nike and Adidas.

"Portland is a mecca for footwear designers. For us to do what we say we are going to do, to become the No. 1 basketball company in the world, we have to hire top talent. At this point in time that talent is in Portland," And 1 company spokeswoman Errin Cecil-Smith told the Business Journal in 2002.

Le also designs Merrill's footwear, and when Merrill's owner Wolverine World Wide moved to launch a line of apparel, it chose Portland as the location for that function. California-based Holden Outerwear, maker of snowboard apparel, also has a local design studio.

rmoody@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3438
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/06/05/story3.html?t=printable

James Bond Agent 007

Jun 6, 2006, 7:38 PM

Another big Boeing order! :rock:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003043481_webboeing06.html

Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Continental orders 34 Boeing planes
The Associated Press and Seattle Times staff

HOUSTON – Continental Airlines said today that it has ordered 10 more Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets and 24 more Boeing 737s to increase its ability to serve long-haul routes and remove gas-guzzling planes from its fleet.

The 34 planes are valued at $3.2 billion at list prices, though discounts of as much as 30 percent are typically given for large orders.

Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Kellner said the airline, the nation's fifth-largest carrier by revenue, still plans to expand its passenger-carrying capacity 5 percent to 7 percent a year.

With today's move, Houston-based Continental doubled the number of 787s it has ordered and became the largest U.S. buyer of Boeing's latest widebody jet. It will have 213 "next-generation" 737s when all the planes it has ordered are delivered.

Boeing expects all the Continental orders to be firmed up this week. That will boost the running total of 787 firm orders to 363.

Continental has been ordering more fuel-efficient aircraft for the past several years, believing this would give it an advantage over rivals whose planes use more costly jet fuel. The company has also taken steps such as adding upturned winglets, which boost mileage, and improving operating procedures to save fuel.

On Monday, Continental officials said summer bookings were running ahead of last year and flights will be more crowded, especially in the United States. It said average fares would show a "solid" rise.

[...]

MrVandelay

Jun 8, 2006, 2:09 AM

Average state wage rises to $40,385
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003044385_bizbriefs07.html

The average annual wage in Washington state last year rose to $40,385, a 3.5 percent increase over 2004, the state Employment Security Department said Tuesday.

The increase — the biggest annual change since 2000 — means the minimum unemployment benefit also will rise, from $112 to $116 a week, starting July 1. The maximum benefit, which is set by state law, will remain at $496 a week.

Unemployment taxes paid by employers also will rise. Starting Jan. 1, employers will pay tax on the first $31,400 paid in wages to each worker.

Total wages paid to the state's workers rose 6.4 percent last year, to $108.4 million, while the number of covered workers rose 2.8 percent, to nearly 2.7 million workers.

James Bond Agent 007

Jun 8, 2006, 2:44 AM

^
That means I'm still making below the state average. :(

MarkDaMan

Jun 9, 2006, 6:12 PM

Providence medical center turns green
The Portland Business Journal - 1:11 PM PDT Thursday

Providence Health System's new medical center in Newberg will be the first hospital building in the United States to acquire enough renewable electric power to meet all its needs.

Providence has agreed to purchase 183,294 kilowatt hours per month of renewable power from Portland General Electric through PGE's Clean Wind program. By doing this, Providence will offset the need for conventional power generation that would have sent more than three million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere each year. The CO2 emissions avoided will be equivalent to taking 273 cars off the road.

Providence Newberg Medical Center has applied to become a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified building. This LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council would make the structure the first "LEED Gold" hospital in the country. The council makes this award only to those buildings that meet the highest standards of low environmental impact and energy efficiency.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/06/05/daily37.html?jst=b_ln_hl

mhays

Jun 9, 2006, 9:54 PM

James Bond Agent 007

Jun 10, 2006, 2:57 AM

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/273347_container09.html

Friday, June 9, 2006
Tacoma port set to eclipse Seattle's
Neighbor has room to grow
By KRISTEN MILLARES BOLT
P-I REPORTER

Tacoma will unseat Seattle this year as the Northwest's largest container port, if estimates prove correct.

The Port of Seattle's annual container volume traffic is slowing to between 5 and 8 percent growth this year, according to port staff, after two explosive years during which container volumes jumped by 40 percent.

In a report released Thursday, the Port of Seattle said it thinks handling 4 million TEUs a year is the reasonable upper limit for future traffic, which could be reached as early as 2013. A TEU is a standard measure of container volume meaning twenty-foot equivalent units.

That falls well short of the Port of Tacoma's expectation that it could handle nearly 6 million TEUs by 2025. And while Seattle's port growth is expected to decelerate, Tacoma's is revving up, projected in February to reach 16 percent in 2006.

The Port of Seattle seems to be getting used to the idea of becoming No. 2 behind that pesky upstart, the Port of Tacoma.

"It strikes me that Tacoma's growth is a good thing," Port of Seattle Commission President Pat Davis said at a commission meeting Thursday. Davis said it seems untoward to be "provincial" about regional success. "It attracts cargo to the Northwest, and I would rather the Pacific Northwest grow than somewhere else."

Seattle held its edge last year with 2.09 million TEUs, as both ports hovered beneath the 2.1 million mark. But in December, a major shipping client -- the New World Alliance, composed of APL, MOL and Hyundai -- pulled one of its four routes through Seattle.

Meanwhile, the Port of Tacoma opened two new container terminals last year -- Yang Ming Line's Olympic Container Terminal and the Pierce County Terminal for Evergreen Marine, Hatsu Marine and Lloyd Triestino -- and renovated Husky Terminal to accommodate K Line's expansion. Accordingly, K Line and Yang Ming are sending less cargo through Seattle.

Other factors recently affecting port traffic include a Vancouver trucking strike in January 2005 that sent some cargo Seattle's way, as well as increased efficiency at the Los Angeles/Long Beach ports. They have instituted nighttime truck movement and diverted more than 2 million trucks to off-peak hours, allowing them to accept larger vessels and absorb some of the overflow that has bolstered Seattle's performance over the past two years.

Herald Ugles, the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union's Local 19, said longshoremen have seen a slight, but noticeable, drop in work hours needed at the Port of Seattle.

So far this year, container volumes moving through the Port of Seattle are down 3.9 percent, but Charlie Sheldon, the managing director of the port's seaport operations, said he is confident that the holiday season's wave of goods will help the port beat last year's performance by 5 to 8 percent.

He also noted that Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A., the world's second-largest container ship operator, will begin calling at Terminal 18 next year, bringing with it 221,000 TEUs and an expected 300 jobs.

Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton questioned whether the port could be confident in investing in a new container terminal -- the conversion of Terminal 30 from a cruise-ship dock to a container terminal -- given the market conditions.

The one constant of container traffic is flux, port staffers said, and Seattle has a habit of surging and coasting. But, Creighton said, the United States' severe trade imbalances could eventually destabilize the movement of Asian goods through Seattle.

Despite those factors and the Los Angeles/Long Beach ports' gravitational pull, Port of Seattle Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore said he has no doubts about the conversion of Terminal 30. Port staffers said Seattle should receive some of the cargo flowing from rapidly expanding mega-ports such China's Shanghai and South Korea's Busan.

Pointing out that the port signs 30-year tenant leases, Dinsmore said, "I have a strong belief that the U.S. economy and the flow of commerce will hold for 30 years."

The conversion of Terminal 30, which would send the cruise ships up to Terminal 91, received initial design money in February but has yet to be approved by the Port Commission, which could reject it if costs exceed $120 million.

The port has already budgeted for a spending plan that could raise its TEU volume to 3 million within the next three years, if growth holds at 8 percent. That growth plan factors in Burlington Northern Santa Fe's expansion of its Seattle International Gateway yard, as well as a second shift on Terminal 5's intermodal yard. Hours at the port terminal day gates also would need to become continuous.

Port staff, indicating a need for 20 acres of off-dock container storage yards, have asked the commissioners to consider whether they could play a role in authorizing land purchases, which could then be leased back to terminal operators or shipping lines in need of space.

Just two years ago, the port sold two buildings and 16 acres of land to Charlie's Produce for nearly $18.9 million. The produce company flipped the property last year, getting $28.5 million for it in two separate deals for a profit of 51 percent. Critics called the deal a telling reminder of the port's ineptitude in real estate.

The 3 million TEU goal also presumes construction of state Route 519, a connector from Interstate 90 to the waterfront, or some acceptable alternative; a head-butting match between the Port of Seattle and the city of Seattle has stalled that project and there is little indication that the impasse will be broken soon. Indeed, future port construction along the waterfront may have to clear another hurdle: a newly conceived design board for the central waterfront that will subject the port, and every other waterfront developer, to a set of unknown guidelines based on the city's presumption that a tunnel will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Already, the meeting Thursday revealed tensions brewing along the waterfront between the city and the port, which challenged the city to prove that its designs can accommodate cruise-related pedestrian and vehicle traffic, as well as oversized trucks or those carrying flammable materials.

LA Guy

Jun 10, 2006, 4:19 PM

Only good news if they don't pollute Puget Sound!

Yea. Let's be careful.

James Bond Agent 007

Jun 13, 2006, 7:44 PM

Hmmm . . .

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/06/12/daily13.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Unemployment rate jumps to 5.1 percent
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 11:55 AM PDT Tuesday

The state's unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent last month from April's 4.7 percent mark, a "statistically significant rise," according to state officials.

Employment Security Department officials pointed to job losses in the fields of retail trade (down 700 jobs), construction (down 500 jobs) and transportation and warehousing (down 300 jobs). The decline in construction jobs was the first in a year.

Washington state officials said the number of employed workers fell by 21,200. They added that total unemployment increased by 12,900 last month and is at its highest level since December 2005.

"Even though more people are unemployed, employers are continuing to create new jobs, which should make the job search easier," said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee, in a statement. There are about 170,600 unemployed workers in the state, she added.

In King County, May's employment rate was 4.4 percent and Pierce County's was 5.1 percent (both not seasonally adjusted). In the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area, the May unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent from April's 4.1 percent level. In May 2005, the area's unemployment rate was 4.9 percent.

The national unemployment rate fell by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.6 percent in May.

James Bond Agent 007

Jun 13, 2006, 7:47 PM

From yesterday . . .

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/06/12/daily8.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Virgin Blue, Boeing announce $634M 737 purchase
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 4:17 PM PDT Monday

Virgin Blue Airlines has been identified as the buyer of nine Boeing 737-800 airplanes valued at a list price of $634.5 million.

The Australian-based airline, based in Brisbane, Queensland, will receive the planes beginning in 2008, according to The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), which had been listing the order on its Web site to an unidentified customer.

Virgin Blue operates a fleet of 52 737s that operate between Australian cities including Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The 737 is built in Renton.

Last Chance

Jun 13, 2006, 11:10 PM

Employment Security Department officials pointed to job losses in the fields of retail trade (down 700 jobs), construction (down 500 jobs) and transportation and warehousing (down 300 jobs). The decline in construction jobs was the first in a year.

But for Seattle... Retail... good. Construction... good. Transportation and Warehousing... eh, Kent Valley.

With booming activity at both Ports, strong job growth and associated demand for housing, and increasing amounts of retail space being developed all over, I don't see this being consistent with the Puget Sound area.

MarkDaMan

Jun 14, 2006, 3:43 PM

Job growth defies predictions
The construction industry stays hot, keeping Oregon's economy humming
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
GAIL KINSEY HILL
The Oregonian

Oregon's economy continued its robust employment expansion in May, defying the predictions of economists who expected a fall-off in hiring as the year progressed.

Most major industries added jobs to their payrolls, led by the red-hot construction sector, which posted record numbers.

Oregon employers added 4,000 jobs in May, after adjustments for seasonal fluctuations, according to the monthly jobs report released Monday by the Oregon Employment Department.

"We had expected a substantial slowdown," state economist Art Ayre said. "And that hasn't happened."

The unemployment rate remained virtually unchanged at 5.6 percent in May compared with 5.5 percent in April, according to an accompanying report.

Monthly unemployment rates have bounced between 5.3 percent and 5.6 percent since the beginning of the year after tightening considerably last year. The year-ago rate was 6.3 percent.

Total employment, which reached 1.7 million seasonally adjusted jobs in May, has climbed by 3.6 percent since May of last year. That's a growth rate comparable to the boom years of the mid-1990s.

Construction jobs were up a heady 12 percent from a year ago. Employment in the industry, which includes residential and commercial building, exceeded 100,000 workers for the first time.

"This is an industry that has been adding jobs at a very rapid rate," Ayre said.

The most visible signs of the building frenzy can be seen in downtown Portland, where high-rise cranes punctuate the construction sites of condominium towers in the South Waterfront District and South Park Blocks.

Construction employment in May accounted for 5.9 percent of all nonfarm jobs, the highest level since 1990, when comparative record-keeping began. The low point -- at 4.8 percent of all nonfarm jobs -- hit in June 2003, the same time a statewide recession bottomed out.

Home builders in the Portland area describe activity as brisk, but some say they have detected a slight slowdown as interest rates have begun to rise.

"I anticipate it will be a little tamer than last year," said Jim Chapman, president of Legend Homes, one of the largest home builders in the metropolitan area.

Just a few months ago, state economists were predicting a substantial fall-off in construction employment this year -- to 4 percent from 2006's blistering pace of 10 percent.

Recent revisions increased this year's anticipated growth rate for the industry to 9.3 percent.

Tom Potiowsky, the state's chief economist, compiles the forecast, which is updated every three months.

"The strength that we have been surprised about most has been the housing market," he said, which only now is showing signs of a slowdown.

Even so, commercial building, including hospital expansions and industrial construction, have remained strong, he said.

Overall, Potiowsky predicts that jobs will grow by 3.1 percent this year. That's as strong as last year, and the highest rate since the mid-1990s. Three months ago, the forecast called for employment increases of 2.1 percent.

Potiowsky expects the slowdown to begin in the later half of this year and continue through 2007. He's calling for job increases of 1.4 percent next year.

"We're going into a longer term growth trend where big, rapid increases are probably coming to an end," he said.

Higher interest rates and rising energy costs will lie behind the slowdown, he said. He admits, however, that he's still waiting for the pull-back to become apparent in any significant way.

"The needles that will take the air out of the balloon haven't had much impact yet," he said.

Gail Kinsey Hill: 503-221-8590; gailhill@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1150167313118530.xml&coll=7

MrVandelay

Jun 14, 2006, 5:13 PM

Singapore Air to buy Boeing over Airbus
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003061067_websingapore14.html
By Associated Press

Related
EADS shares plunge after Airbus announces delays for A380

SINGAPORE — Singapore Airlines said today it will buy 20 Boeing 787-9 aircraft, with a list price of $4.52 billion, hours after it expressed unhappiness about delays in Airbus' delivery of its A380 superjumbo.

In a statement, the carrier said it has purchase rights for another 20 aircraft from Chicago-based Boeing.

The decision is a stinging blow for Airbus, which hoped Singapore Airlines would be one of the first and biggest customers for another new model, the A350, that would compete directly with Boeing's 787. But airline and leasing company dissatisfaction with the design of the A350 has led Airbus to consider a costly redesign of the plane, delaying its launch for several years.

Boeing shares rose $2.02, or 2.6 percent, in pre-market trading after the news. Shares of Airbus' majority owner, European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co., lost almost 27 percent to 18.52 euros ($23.24) in afternoon trading.

"The decision to purchase the 787-9 is the culmination of an extensive evaluation of the performance characteristics and operating economics promised for the different versions of Boeing's new 787 aircraft," the statement said. According to the statement, the aircraft can carry up to 290 passengers on routes up to 10,000 miles, allowing airlines to reduce the number of stopovers.

It also added that deliveries will be scheduled between early 2011 and mid-2013, and will be for "fleet renewal as well as to cater for growth."

Earlier today, the airline said it may seek compensation from Airbus for yet another delivery snag for its A380 superjumbo, after the European manufacturer announced delays for the jet's rollout.

Singapore Airlines was the first carrier to buy the $300 million superjumbo, ordering 10 of the double-decker jets with an option to purchase another 15.

Airbus had previously said it would deliver two of the jets before the end of 2006. But Airbus on Tuesday said deliveries of its 555-passenger aircraft could be delayed by up to seven months due to production line bottlenecks.

Singapore Airlines plans to deploy the 787-9 aircraft on routes to North Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East