[James Bond Agent 007]

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/03/19/daily15.html?jst=b_ln_hl

State keeps adding manufacturing jobs
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 1:35 PM PDT Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The state of Washington added 10,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector last year, according to a trade group study.

The number of manufacturing jobs increased 3.5 percent from February 2006 to February 2007, the third year in a row the manufacturing sector has grown in Washington, according to a study by Manufacturers' News Inc. of Evanston, Ill.

The group's research indicates the state ranks No. 23 in the United States by the number of jobs in manufacturing, and No. 19 in the number of plants. The state has 7,065 manufacturers, and the industry employs 306,757 people.

Redmond employs the most people in the manufacturing sector, at 38,337, followed by Seattle with 36,174. The aircraft and related parts and equipment sector of manufacturing employs the most people -- 33,174.

"Washington's gains were among the largest seen in the U.S. over the past few years," said Howard Dubin, chairman of Manufacturers' News, in a statement.

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http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/03/19/daily14.html?jst=b_ln_hl

State unemployment rate drops to 4.8 percent
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 11:25 AM PDT Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The state unemployment rate dropped to 4.8 percent last month from 5.1 percent in January, and state officials are calling Washington's economy "healthy."

Washington added 4,100 jobs in February, which was fewer than the 9,900 jobs that were added in January. Nonetheless, the governor said she was pleased.

"Numbers like these show that Washington is a strong economic leader -- we are still seeing a healthy increase in the number of jobs and that benefits everyone in the state," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement.

Nationally, the unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent in January.

In the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area, the unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent from January's 4.5 percent, according to figures compiled by the Employment Security Department.

[MarkDaMan]

Integra borrows big to grow even bigger
Telecoms - The Oregon company is taking on $1.2 billion in debt to buy a rival for $710 million
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian

Integra Telecom Inc. vaulted into the upper echelon of Oregon business Tuesday with the $710 million purchase of Minnesota-based rival Eschelon Telecom Inc.

The deal, among the largest acquisitions by an Oregon company, will produce a combined enterprise with sales forecast to exceed $700 million this year.

If the sale closes as planned this summer, Integra will be among the state's biggest privately held companies and one of just a handful of large businesses with headquarters in Portland.

To finance the deal, Integra will borrow $1.2 billion, nearly tripling its debt load. With additional cash flows from Eschelon, though, the Portland company said it is confident of covering its loans.

Both Integra and Eschelon provide phone and Internet service, primarily to small and mid-size businesses in 11 Western states altogether. Most of their business customers employ fewer than 100 people.

The combined company will take Integra's name and retain its headquarters in a Lloyd District high-rise, with additional operations at Eschelon's Minneapolis offices.

Together the two businesses employ 2,500 people, including Integra's Portland staff of nearly 500. The companies serve many of the same markets, though, and Integra forecast an unspecified number of jobs will be eliminated when the purchase is complete.

Integra will pay $30 a share for Eschelon, whose stock closed Monday at $25.59. After the companies announced the deal Tuesday, Eschelon shares shot up $3.25, or 12.7 percent, to close at $28.84.

Tuesday's deal is the second major acquisition by Integra in just over a year. In February 2006, the Portland company announced it would pay $247 million to buy Vancouver-based Electric Lightwave Inc., a deal that doubled Integra's annual revenue to around $300 million. It also gave Integra ownership of ELI's regional fiber-optic network, which spans the West Coast.

By combining with Eschelon, Integra will be able to bring the benefits of its network to Eschelon's customers, offering faster Internet connections and other services, said Dudley Slater, Integra's chief executive.

"That allows us to bring more products to our customer base, and it gives us the momentum of a growing and successful organization with significant market share," said Slater, who will be CEO of the combined company.

Eschelon has been growing as well, with acquisitions that include the $20 million purchase of Salem-based Oregon Telecom last year. Eschelon said Tuesday that it had been trying to buy Integra for "several years" but ended up selling out instead when Integra offered an appealing price.

Eschelon's sales have increased from $158 million in 2004 to just shy of $275 million last year. However, the Minnesota company has lost money in each of the past two years, including a $2.8 million loss last year. Profitable operations

As a privately held company, Integra does not have to report financial results but said its operations are profitable. Integra is owned by three private investment firms: Banc of America Capital Investors, Boston Ventures and Nautic Partners.

Integra and Eschelon both compete for business against major regional carriers such as Qwest Communications International Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. Small, competitive phone companies proliferated in the Portland-Vancouver area and elsewhere during the late 1990s, but some spent profligately and went bankrupt during a telecom crash that coincided with the dot-com bust.

Survivors such as Integra and Eschelon are consolidating now, pooling their efforts and investing in customer service rather than trying to outspend each other on expansive telecom networks.

"I'd say they're doing more bootstrapping," said David Hold, who follows Eschelon and other companies for the telecom research firm Current Analysts. "Rather than grow fast, they're growing slowly, rationally."

Still, Hold said that the $1.2 billion in debt Integra is taking on is an eye-popping figure.

"When your debt is higher than your annual revenues, that's an awful lot of debt," he said.

Both Integra and Eschelon generate enough cash to cover their operations and debt payments, said Integra's Slater. And as part of the deal, Integra will retire its existing $450 million in borrowing on favorable terms.

"This transaction is going to significantly lower our cost of debt," Slater said.

Northwest telecom pioneer John Warta, who helped start ELI and other telcos in the metro area, said Integra and Eschelon fit well together because both compete in Qwest's Western service territory and because of Eschelon's recent acquisitions in Oregon and elsewhere.

"This is great news for Oregon," Warta said, "because it moves the Eschelon operations back under control of an Oregon company."

Mike Rogoway: 503-294-7699; mikerogoway@news.oregonian.com; blog.oregonlive.com/siliconforest

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1174447516172321.xml&coll=7

[MrVandelay]

Census says King biggest, Franklin fastest-growing Wash. county
By The Associated Press
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003631272_webgrowth22m.html

SPOKANE — The Pasco area was the fastest-growing part of Washington state in the past year, with Franklin County growing an estimated 5.7 percent in 2006 from the year before, according to the latest county population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Franklin County added an estimated 3,598 people during the year, growing to 66,570 total residents, the bureau said. The county has a strong farm economy and is also near the Hanford nuclear reservation and its many jobs.

Statewide, Washington grew 1.7 percent, adding 103,899 residents for a total of 6,395,789, making it the second most-populous state in the West after California.

King County, which includes Seattle, remained by far the largest county in the state, growing 1.5 percent over the year to 1,826,732 residents. King also added the greatest number of residents, 27,613.

The rest of the top 10 counties by population in the state remained in the same order, except for Thurston and Yakima counties, which switched places.

Thurston County, including Olympia, grew 2.5 percent to 234,670 people, become the seventh-largest county in the state. Yakima County grew just under 1 percent, to 233,105 people, falling from seventh to eighth place.

The only counties in Washington to lose population were Garfield, home of Pomeroy and the state's smallest county, down 3.1 percent to 2,223 people; Columbia, home of Dayton, down 1.3 percent to 4,087 residents; Whitman, home of Pullman, down 0.7 percent to 39,838 people; and Kitsap, home of Bremerton, down 0.4 percent to 240,604 people.

Other big gainers by percentage were Wahkiakum County, up 3.6 percent to 4,026; Mason County, up 3.3 percent to 55,951 and Cowlitz County, up 2.8 percent to 99,905 people.

Washington has enjoyed steady growth since the 2000 census, when the state had 5.9 million residents.

The Top 10 counties in population estimates as of July 1, 2006, were:

— King, 1.8 million, up 27,613 residents.

— Pierce, 766,878, up 13,669.

— Snohomish, 669,887, up 14,323.

— Spokane, 446,706, up 6,272.

— Clark, 412,938, up 8,872.

— Kitsap, 240,604, down 921.

— Thurston, 234,670, up 5,789.

— Yakima, 233,105, up 2,168.

— Whatcom, 185,953, up 2,590.

— Benton, 159,463, up 1,543.

For King County, the population trend represents a change from recent years. In 2006, more people moved to King County from elsewhere than left for another county, reversing a trend going back at least to 2000.

The Census Bureau estimates annual county population totals as of July 1, using local records of births and deaths, Internal Revenue Service records of people moving within the United States and statistics on immigrants.

Among the bureau's findings nationally:

— Of the five U.S. counties that lost the most people from 2005 to 2006, four were hit by Hurricane Katrina. The biggest decrease was in Orleans Parish, where the population dropped by nearly 229,000, to about 223,400.

— Maricopa County, Ariz., home to Phoenix, added the most people from 2005 to 2006: nearly 130,000, to about 3.8 million.

— Chattahoochee County, Ga., had the highest percentage growth from 2005 to 2006, at 13.2 percent, to just over 14,000 people.

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/03/19/story1.html?b=1174276800^1432593

Canadian oil spurt brings Seattle orders
Alberta gold
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - March 16, 2007
by Steve Wilhelm
Staff Writer

Burgeoning oil production in Western Canada is rippling into Washington's oil-supply industry, and could provide big dollars for a decade or more.

Spending related to the recovery of oil from shale hit $69 billion last year, and is expected to peak at more than $128 billion during 2008, according to the Edmonton Economic Development Corp., in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta.

Machine shops, fabricators, metal benders and other heavy industrial firms, many located in the Duwamish area of Seattle, are maneuvering to get in on the action, which is going on just a 10-hour drive north of Spokane.

"People have equated it to the gold rush era," said Janet Bauermeister, director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Spokane. "It's going to be a huge growth potential for the oil sands sector."

So far, only a few Seattle companies actually are in on the boom, partly because Washington's economy is on an upswing, making companies less inclined to search far afield for work. Also, investment has been returning to Alaska's North Slope as oil companies work to boost production from older oil fields there, and some local companies have been supporting that work.

But Alberta's oil output is expected to triple to 3 million barrels a day by 2020, nearly four times the output at Alaska's North Slope, where extraction is becoming more difficult and expensive.

"If it continues, it has the potential to be very significant to this state, because of our geographic proximity," said Dave Gering, executive director of the Manufacturing Industrial Council of Seattle.

Regional companies outside the oil, gas, and mining industries also could benefit, he said, by supplying ancillary and support businesses.

The boom has already hit B&G Machine Inc. On Wednesday morning, a lathe at its Duwamish factory was milling a 6-ton crankshaft that will be used in a pump to drain a lake in Alberta. Much of the oil sands used in the oil production are reached through opening open pit mines.

Company Sales Manager David Bianchi said he expected the company's Alberta work to grow, because B&G is one of the few regional companies capable of making crankshafts that size and assembling them into complete engines.

"The potential is off the charts," Bianchi said. "It's definitely a target area, far larger than the North Slope for the business we do ... serious high-horsepower big-engine kind of stuff."

Also in south Seattle is Capital Industries Inc., which has for three decades produced large plate-steel structures for the Alaska pipeline, won two contracts for making parts for the Alberta oil sands fields.

"We're just kind of scratching the surface in Alberta. I know there's not a lot of suppliers up there, and we have expertise from the North Slope," said Ron Taylor, Capital Industries president.

Taylor said his company plans to more actively seek work in Alberta, adding that the jobs that it has done so far came inadvertently through a connection. He said the growth expected in Alberta should yield more work for companies here.

"When there's a scarcity of suppliers up there, and that scarcity grows, it might allow folks down here to be more competitive. Maybe offset some of transportation issues," he said.

Exporting products to Canadian buyers is relatively easy and tariff free, due to the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement, observers say. Trying to move skilled workers from Washington to Alberta is far more difficult due to Canadian immigration restrictions, despite an Alberta labor shortage that is generating pay levels of $102,000 a year for trained trades people.

"Welders, in particular, are a tough commodity to come by. Conditions are difficult, but wages are high," Taylor said.

And there are opportunities for a wide range of industries. Puget Sound-region interest is high enough that the economic potential of the Alberta oil sands, coupled with the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia, will be featured during Washington State Trade Week, March 19 through 28.

Kent McMullin, director of business attraction and marketing for Edmonton Economic Development Corp., plans to invite participation from Washington as part of a presentation he will make at the International Export Symposium in Bellevue on March 20. This is part of the trade week.

McMullin says the oil sands projects will need $513 million in instruments and control systems each year, $683 million in boilers and pressure vessels, and $940 million for steel pipe and related products.

"We're not able to manufacture the products we need to supply the oil sands. We're in need of joint venture opportunities with companies from Washington state," he said.

Diane Mooney, director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Seattle, said that developing Western Washington's business potential with the Alberta oil sands region will be one of her top priorities this year.

"I am convinced there are big opportunities," she said. "This is a big focus for my office this year. It will bring in every single person in our office, because it touches in on every single industry."

[MarkDaMan]

New solar cell plant in Hillsboro may usher in better times
German SolarWorld's plant may help bring recovery after a high-tech slump
Sunday, March 25, 2007
RICHARD READ
The Oregonian

Oregonians have faced an alarming question since the peak of the local semiconductor-manufacturing industry in 2001: Where will the state's growing ranks of young people find good new jobs?

This month, a ray of hope shone from the solar sector, an industry growing at 35 percent a year as the world confronts rising energy and environmental concerns. In Oregon's biggest industrial announcement since the tech bust, a German company, SolarWorld Group, said it will hire as many as 1,000 people to make wafers and cells in an unused Hillsboro chip-sector plant. Separately, a solar-panel company is eyeing the Salem area for a sizable factory.

It turns out state officials have secretly courted solar companies for years. Oregon, after all, has engineers, line workers and suppliers who know silicon, the main ingredient of microchips and solar panels. The state boasts relatively cheap power, attractive tax breaks, a green image and a prime location next to California -- the world's largest solar market behind Germany and Japan.

Could Oregon -- famous for rain -- become a world solar capital, creating family-wage jobs from now until billions of roofs worldwide sprout silicon panels?

It could, industry experts say. Last year, Oregon nearly landed a $500 million factory from Japan to make raw material for panels. Economic-development officials say a "large number" of renewable-energy companies are considering Oregon.

But states are competing furiously. In California and Pennsylvania, governors wine and dine solar executives from as far as China. To succeed, state officials say, Oregon has to move as boldly as it did to attract multibillion-dollar chip factories in the 1990s and Japanese high-tech plants in the '80s.

"This is a huge business opportunity, and Oregon is uniquely positioned to be a real player in North America," says Bruce Laird, a 19-year state economic-development official who handled the deal with SolarWorld, which will invest $440 million. "This whole clean-tech thing is the biggest economic opportunity I've ever seen."

If Laird is right, Oregon could hitch its economy to an industry primed to explode as the world switches from fossil fuels to alternative energies. Oregon could see new factories, higher research funding and more solar-installation jobs as well as other retired chip plants going solar.

If Laird is wrong, or if Oregon misses the solar train, laid-off chip workers might struggle to replace family-wage jobs. And the state could be left trying to prop up a service economy built on a rickety 1970s platform of timber, farms and fisheries.

Washington solar

To visualize a solar boom, look no further than Moses Lake, an eastern Washington town billed as "the sunshine city."

There, construction cranes rise from potato fields, launching a $600 million addition to a plant owned by REC Group. The Norwegian company, the world's largest maker of polysilicon for solar panels, has made the crystalline substance in Moses Lake since 2002.

Leo Cortez, a 31-year-old father of two boys, operates computerized controls of the former semiconductor-silicon factory, which employs more than 250. The plant was once owned by Komatsu, the same Japanese company that spent $500 million on the Hillsboro factory, which SolarWorld is buying for $40 million. Because of declining chip sales forecasts in the late 1990s, Komatsu never opened that plant.

The Moses Lake factory, built by Union Carbide Corp. in 1984, stretches three football fields. It contains 67 reactors, many named for U.S. states. Last week, operators in smocks, face masks and hairnets opened the reactor named Oregon and removed 21st-century gold: 99.999999999-percent-pure polysilicon.

The workers wore Kevlar wrist guards, breaking up rods of the dull gray material into sharp, glinting chunks. They packed them in 132-pound boxes for shipment to companies similar to SolarWorld. REC's customers grow ingots from the silicon just as chip companies do, slicing the ingots into wafers to make cells for panels that convert sunshine into electricity.

Goran Bye, REC's chipper chief executive from Norway, maintains a wry sense of humor while landlocked in sagebrush country far from fjords. Lutefisk, the Nordic fish delicacy, is hard to come by. But cheap hydro power abounds. Bye predicts several more plant expansions during the next 10 years.

"Now, everyone and their dog would like to make polysilicon," Bye says. "We are sold out for years to come."

Oregon solar

Technology experts at the Portland branch of CH2M Hill, a company that designs chip plants and other complex buildings worldwide, saw a solar future for Oregon six years ago.

"There is no other state better suited to advance solar power research and manufacturing than Oregon," they wrote in an internal 2001 paper.

CH2M Hill, which has designed solar plants, noted the technology's similarities to semiconductors. Both use silicon to make wafers. Both require affordable power, water and industrial land. Chip workers and researchers have the specialized skills for solar.

Best of all, the two industries operate on independent cycles.

"In the event of a microelectronics downturn," the paper said, "Oregon workers would have a greater likelihood of being reabsorbed by a solar-products employer, rather than needing to leave the state to find a quality replacement job."

Oregon semiconductor manufacturing jobs peaked at 34,600 the year the report came out, dropping by 3,200 in 2002. It stood at 30,600 last year.

SolarWorld's plans in Hillsboro caused excitement in nearby Intel plants, where workers fret about ongoing layoffs. Earlier this month, Intel executive Bruce Sohn, who oversaw big wafer factories, became president of First Solar Inc., a Phoenix, Ariz., panel maker.

Solar jobs ultimately could rival chip employment worldwide, and potentially in Oregon, says Allen Alley, the former Pixelworks Inc. chief executive who advises Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Workers here have not only silicon skills, Alley says, but also a passion for sustainable development that sparks "inspired performance" in clean industries.

Global demand is soaring for photovoltaics, products that convert sunlight into electricity. Sales increased by 35 percent in each of the five years ending in 2006, when they exceeded $15 billion. The market will quadruple in 10 years, the Clean Edge Inc. research firm predicts.

Oregon's solar industry is small so far, with between 250 and 400 workers and $50 million in annual sales. It includes panel installers and a Bend company called PV Powered Inc. The four-year-old firm, with almost 40 workers, makes inverters that turn solar-panel energy into current suitable for homes and power grids.

Gregg Patterson, PV's new chief executive, comes from Hewlett-Packard Co.'s printer business in Vancouver. Oregon politicians get the idea of solar, he says.

"We're starting to see some real vision and leadership," Patterson says, "from Governor Kulongoski on down."

Competition grows

But other states -- and governors -- also have solar fever.

On March 6, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell dispatched a limousine from Harrisburg, Pa., to Baltimore, an 80-mile drive. The Lincoln Continental picked up Roger Efird, president of Maryland-based solar firm Suntech America Inc., and his boss from the Chinese parent company.

Rendell hosted dinner in the governor's mansion, urging the executives to put a $200 million solar-panel factory in his state, Efird says. Weeks before, Rendell phoned China to talk with Zhengrong Shi, Suntech Power Holdings Co. chief executive.

"The kind of package they offered us to put a factory there is a world beater," Efird says. The incentives would offset savings from low-cost Chinese labor.

Next stop for the Suntech execs: California, to meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Oregon -- facing competition from Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico -- is wooing solar companies, too.

An undisclosed panel maker is considering the Salem area for a plant that would be "a large opportunity," says Ray Burstedt, president of Sedcor, an economic development agency for Marion and Polk counties. Japanese panel maker Sanyo backed out of a Salem property purchase last year.

Oregon legislators are considering expanding tax credits to attract renewable-energy firms. State officials aim to attract players in all three sections of the industry: raw-material production, such as the REC plant; wafer and cell making, as in SolarWorld's factory; and panel making, a la Suntech. Last year, Japan's Tokuyama Corp., which makes polysilicon, considered building a factory near Coos Bay but decided to expand at home.

Suntech's Efird says his company began importing panels from China last June. The busy firm has only four U.S. salespeople, including one in Hood River, but has signed $150 million in contracts since Jan. 1.

"We don't even have the manpower right now to get out and make sales calls," Efird says.

Richard Read: 503-294-5135; richread@aol.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1174631106288630.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

Wishing on a surplus, Portland City Council dreams big
City leaders have $90 million worth of ideas for a $35 million budget surplus
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
ANNA GRIFFIN
The Oregonian

Thanks to the rebounding economy, Portland government may soon expand to cover a range of new services the city's founding fathers could never have imagined.

Yes, city workers will still police the streets, fight fires, mow park lawns, provide clean water and make dirty water clean.

But if City Council members and bureau managers get their way in ongoing budget talks, taxpayers also may find themselves training birth coaches for low-income women, building a day center for homeless people, paying for parenting classes for African American moms and dads, and offering career counseling to prostitutes trying to get off the street.

Those are just a few of the nearly $90 million in ideas city leaders have for spending Portland's budget surplus. One problem: The surplus itself amounts to only about $35 million. So Mayor Tom Potter and his colleagues must make some difficult decisions about the role of city government.

"It sounds funny, but honestly sometimes it's harder when you have money to spend," city Commissioner Randy Leonard said. "When you're cutting, you pretty much know what the priorities are. When you have money, you have to ask completely different questions."

Among the questions City Council members are asking themselves these days: Does the city have a responsibility to fill in gaps in the county's fraying social services network? Would taxpayers rather see their money go to maintain existing facilities or buy new ones? During economic boom times, should the priority be spending money on worthwhile new programs or socking away spare change for when the economy turns south again?

No one on the City Council is talking about saving the surplus; Potter suggested creation of a rainy day fund last fall, but his colleagues rejected the idea. Portland has about $44 million set aside for emergencies. State law says cities must keep savings accounts worth 10 percent of their general funds for natural or economic disasters, which means Portland has almost exactly what's required.

Council members aren't talking about giving some of the surplus back to taxpayers, and not just because it's more fun to spend. City financial analysts say Potter and company could reduce property tax rates for a year. But they fear other jurisdictions, including Multnomah County, would likely gobble up any refund for their own budgets before taxpayers saw a benefit.

Spending can be just as tough as saving. City Council members begin confronting the pleasant problem of too much cash today at a work session in which they'll debate $13 million in what's known as "special appropriations," basically requests city commissioners make on behalf of bureaus other than the ones they control.

The wish list includes Commissioner Dan Saltzman's plan to hire two new detectives to fight Internet child abuse; Commissioner Sam Adams' request to help send the Oregon Ballet Theatre to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and Leonard's suggestion that taxpayers help train doulas.

That item already has raised eyebrows around City Hall and prompted the same response from three of Leonard's colleagues on the all-male council: Um, what's a doula?

For the record, a doula is essentially a coach or counselor who helps guide women through pregnancy. Leonard wants to assist the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, a North Portland nonprofit that offers support and counseling for low-income women, particularly African Americans.

The group asked for $120,000; Leonard wants to give them half that.

"Our mayor talks a lot about health care and children, and this feels like it's right in line with that," he said. "This is about giving children a healthy start so we save money later."

Doulas aside, the list of budget wants includes plenty of more traditional city services: Fire Chief Dave Sprando, for example, wants money to hire 38 people, including firefighters and fire investigators. Police Chief Rosie Sizer seeks four new detectives to investigate crimes against senior citizens. Parks Bureau managers say they need cash for improvements at several dozen city facilities, including Westmoreland Stadium, Pier Park, the St. Johns Racquet Club and the Springwater Trail.

Still, many of the requests council members will consider in coming weeks represent an expansion of city government to pay for more social services programs -- the kind that are traditionally the responsibility of the private sector and the county.

The mayor, for example, is seeking $25,000 to help churches pay to keep the gymnasiums, libraries and social halls open after school and on Friday and Saturday nights. He's also asking for $100,000 to help train African American parents to get more involved in their children's schools and hire tutors and mentors for African American students and their families.

Those, city leaders say, are the kinds of choices they can afford to make with the economy back on track.

Anna Griffin: 503-294-5988; annagriffin@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/117505052881130.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

golfers on the forum?

Bandon has best golf courses
Portland Business Journal - 9:39 AM PDT Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes, part of the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, are the best golf courses in the country, according to Zagat Survey LLC.

Zagat Survey of New York released its "2007/08 Guide to America's Top Golf Courses,"


covering 1,075 courses in the United Sates, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, on Wednesday.

Based on the experiences of more than 6,250 avid golfers who played 560,000 rounds of golf in the last 12 months, on average, each course in the guide was visited by at least one surveyor every day of the year.

The top 10 courses are: Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes; Kiawah Island, in Charleston, S.C.; Arcadia Bluffs in Traverse City, Mich.; Pebble Beach in Monterey Peninsula, Calif.; Bethpage, Black in Long Island, N.Y.; Kapalua's Plantation course in Maui, Hawaii and Cascata in Las Vegas, tied; and Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.

The golf courses in Bandon also came out on top in the categories of good conditions and scenery and expense account of more than $200.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/03/26/daily16.html?f=et75&hbx=e_du

[JiminyCricket II]

^i'm not surprised. i'm lucky enough to have a great family friend that is a member at Pacific Dunes and I got on free and got to tour Bandon. Those two courses are beyond anything I have ever stepped on. Not only the natural dunes, but the fairways and greens are natural and absolutely perfectly cut. Amazing courses:

http://www.ohwy.com/or/b/banddune.jpg
http://www.bandondunesgolf.com/images/BD1-THIS-IS_01.gif
http://www.bandondunesgolf.com/images/GOLF_AsWas.jpg
http://www.travelgolf.com/images/editorials/pacific-dunes.jpg

[MarkDaMan]

^beautiful...I was actually surprised nothing from AZ made the list. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to keep greens, green in windswept sandy areas.

[MarkDaMan]

The green's in the bag
New Portland company says it's well-positioned to fill new product slot
Portland Business Journal - March 30, 2007by Matthew KishBusiness Journal

A city ordinance that seems guaranteed to pass in San Francisco could be a jackpot for a new Portland company. The law, which will ban large grocery stores from using traditional plastic bags, passed San Francisco's Board of Supervisors early this week and awaits review by a supportive mayor.

When signed, the ordinance will require all stores in San Francisco with more than $2 million in annual sales to use biodegradable plastic bags made from corn and starches instead of petroleum.

Only a handful of companies make such bags, but one of them is in Southeast Portland.

"We've got a tiger by the tail," said Chad Biasi, vice president of Trellis Earth Products Inc. "We've stumbled into something that's taken on a life of its own and we're just trying to hang on. It's blowing our minds the way this is all happening."

San Francisco will likely be the first U.S. city to pass such legislation, but some say others will quickly follow suit.

No such proposal exists in Oregon, although the state requires paper bags to be offered wherever plastic bags are an option.

Environmentalists love the idea, saying it reduces consumption of fossil fuels and steers more trash away from landfills, which produce methane gas.

Wall Street is also warming up to it.

In its initial public offering, Cambridge, Mass.-based Metabolix Inc., raised nearly $100 million last year. The company manufactures biodegradable plastic for use in various products including bags and cups and is building a plant that will produce 110 million pounds of the material annually.

"We exceeded our hopes," said Bob Findlen, the company's vice president of sales and marketing. "The interest was definitely there from the investment community."

Trellis is also generating buzz.

It was started in January with $200,000 in seed money from a handful of investors. Biasi expects to bank another $250,000 from investors in the near future. The company's also putting the finishing touches on a credit facility that will enable it to buy more inventory from its Chinese factory.

Chief Executive Bill Collins believes in the business so much he took a second mortgage on his house to buy a stake. Biasi joined the company at the risk of defaulting on a $50,000 loan he received from the Portland Development Commission to start a telecommunications business in 2003.

It's a safe play, Biasi said. He calls the potential for growth in the market "astronomical."

Only a dozen or so companies make biodegradable plastic bags that meet the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials Standards, the gatekeeper for such certification. Trellis does not have the certification, but plans to seek it in the near future.

Best of all, Biasi said, none of them have cornered the market, putting Trellis in a position to be Portland's next gazelle.

"The bum rush is on to be the source," he said.

As many as 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year, according to Chicago-based ReusableBags.com. If more ordinances pass outlawing them, revenue at places like Trellis could explode like a cannon blast because of the enormous demand.

In its prospectus, Trellis predicts its revenue in 2007 will exceed $3 million.

This week, Biasi planned to hop in a truck loaded with 250,000 bags and drive to San Francisco. He already has a lead with one grocery wholesaler.

He sees the market for Trellis products going beyond grocery bags. The company's factory can make products ranging from plates to soup containers. Biasi predicts the wave of support for bioplastic will spill into products as varied as takeout containers and eating utensils, opening up markets for Trellis in a variety of outlets such as schools and takeout restaurants.

Yet while the ordinance in San Francisco passed by an 10-to-1 margin, many grocers oppose the idea because of the price of bioplastic. Traditional plastic bags cost roughly 1 cent, while biodegradable bags cost around 6 cents.

Despite the cost, some local grocers have already made the switch.

"We're always looking to do what is right for our business, but for the environment, too," said Mike Zupan, owner of Portland-based Zupan's Markets, which started offering biodegradable plastic bags last year.

mkish@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3414


http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/04/02/story1.html?t=printable

[MarkDaMan]

Hybrid sales zip into the fast lane
Portland boasts more of the gas-savers per household than any other U.S. city, and their numbers grew by 70 percent in Oregon last year
Sunday, April 01, 2007
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
The Oregonian

The hybrid car capital of the nation just got more hybridized.

A few months ago, if you wanted one of the status symbols of green efficiency, you had to put your name on a waiting list and pay sticker price or more.

But today, you can take your pick, even get your color choice and a discount as hybrids rev from an eco-friendly niche market into the mainstream.

Portland already boasts more hybrids per household than any other city in the country. And though the cars cost more than comparable gas-burners, they've become a more competitive choice for the everyday buyer.

That's because manufacturers are churning out more of them and because their fuel-sipping nature looks better and better as gas prices rise toward $3 a gallon.

"The whole market is shifting, and people are looking for solutions," said Bradley Berman, editor of HybridCars.com. "We're living in an Al Gore era, and there's a lot of people who want fuel-efficient cars."

The Toyota Prius, the most popular hybrid by far, is also one of the nation's top cars period, finishing No. 9 on the best-seller list in February.

People are clamoring for hybrids: Seventy-one percent of Americans say they would consider buying a hybrid, up 5 percent from last year, according to a new survey by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy.

More than nine of every 10 people in the national survey said the auto industry should be required to make cars that get better gas mileage.

Although hybrids still make up fewer than 1 percent of all passenger cars in Oregon, their numbers grew about 70 percent in the state last year -- most of them in the Willamette Valley, according to state tax records.

The Portland metro area is the U.S. capital of hybrids, according to HybridCars.com, which tracks hybrid ownership nationwide. Los Angeles, with its vast population, has the most hybrids overall, but Portland has about twice as many per household, based on 2006 registrations.

After Portland, two other Oregon cities are in the top 10 nationwide for the number of hybrids per household: Bend is sixth and Eugene is 10th. Only California has more hybrid-crazy cities than Oregon, with five in the top 10.

Jeff Abbate of Beaverton bought a Toyota Prius in December, only after he was convinced they weren't a fad.

He saw them a few years ago "as more of a science fair project," but now they come with the same creature comforts as other solid, economical sedans, he said.

They also make good financial sense, said Abbate, who works at Intel. "It's not about erasing environmental guilt for me," he said.

He was driving a 1991 Celica that ran fine but was "getting a little long in the tooth." He considered the federal and state tax incentives, counted the number of cars on dealer lots, studied Internet forums and considered the gas he could save with a car that gets about 45 miles per gallon overall.

The sticker price (which Abbate didn't pay) for a well-equipped Prius is $22,175, according to Toyota -- more than a comparable nonhybrid. The fuel-saving benefits "were a little bit of icing on the cake for me," he said.

"I pay a little more, but I'm getting something more for it," he said.

But he was frustrated to learn that because he pays the alternative minimum tax -- a special tax now affecting more families -- he can't receive the federal tax credit for buying his hybrid because the tax restricts people from taking credits and deductions. Even if he had gotten the credit, it has shrunk for Toyotas because Congress set up the credit so it would begin phasing out after manufacturers sell 60,000 of their particular hybrids.

Oregon tax credit

Oregon's state tax credit of $1,500 for most hybrid cars remains in place.

Toyota sold nearly twice as many Priuses nationally last month as in February a year ago, and sales shot up the Northwest. "It's really moving into the general population now," said Rick Kociemba, sales manager at Royal Moore Toyota in Hillsboro.

Dealers are willing to part with hybrids for lower prices because they can make up for it by selling more cars -- now that they have the cars to sell.

"People can get the color they want, and they don't have to pay the dealer a premium," said Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong. "They're paying sticker or below. These are mainstream consumers, who are saying, 'You know what, I'm concerned about dependence on foreign oil, I'm concerned about global warming, and gasoline is around $3 a gallon now.' "

Ricky Connelley, leading salesman at Broadway Toyota, said the dealership sold 70 Priuses last month -- a record. It also was the first time Broadway had 70 of the signature hybrids to sell.

He sums it up simply: "Green state. Green car."

The newest hot eco-car isn't a hybrid at all, but the Honda Fit, a small hatchback that gets good gas mileage (though about 15 mpg less than a hybrid) but costs less upfront. The Fit sticker price ranges from about $14,000 to $16,000 depending on the model and how it's equipped.

It's been available abroad for several years, but this is the first year it's been sold in the United States.

The Fit proves that SUV-loving U.S. car buyers are hungry for small, sporty cars. It's so hot that buyers show up almost as cars roll off the delivery truck to make sure they're the first to drive them, said Josh Jindrich, a sales manager at Gresham Honda.

Its attractions are the affordable price, and, like hybrids, its economical nature.

"We have a lot of people trading in low-gas-mileage vehicles to get a Fit or a hybrid," Jindrich said.

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

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/117530072312090.xml&coll=7

[James Bond Agent 007]

^
Why doesn't that surprise me? lol

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/310106_deltamarine04.html

Last updated April 3, 2007 2:04 p.m. PT
Yacht maker plans to build boatlift on Duwamish
By ANDREA JAMES
P-I REPORTER

Seattle yacht maker Delta Marine plans to construct new buildings and a large boatlift on the Duwamish River in Seattle with the help of a $10 million tax-exempt bond issue approved by the state.

The $18 million construction project will allow the company to hire 168 people to handle the increase in business. Delta Marine employs 290 people now, according to the state.

"Good employers like Delta Marine are vital to generate job opportunities for Washingtonians," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a release. "This project is an example of Washington's commitment to help small businesses succeed."

Delta Marine will issue $18 million in bonds overall, of which $8 million will be taxable.

When governments or companies don't have enough cash on hand to pay for a new project, they often borrow money by selling bonds to the public. In turn, bond buyers get a way to invest money that is considered safer than the stock market but more rewarding than a bank savings account.

When a bond is tax exempt, it means that the buyers don't have to pay federal taxes on the yield. In return, bond buyers get a lower interest rate than they can expect on taxable bonds, and the municipality gets to borrow money on the cheap.

The majority of tax-exempt bonds are reserved for public entities. But Washington can allow some private businesses to issue tax-exempt bonds, too, with the understanding that the bonds will finance a project that enhances the public good. Each year, the state is allowed to approve up to $543 million in tax-exempt private activity bonds.

Delta was founded in the 1960s to make charter and fishing boats. Today, the company makes luxury yachts.

[MarkDaMan]

Coos Bay port hopes to land big shipping hub
APM Terminals North America could spend $700 million to build a facility for megacontainers, Oregon lawmakers say
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
RICHARD READ
The Oregonian

Despite its cosmopolitan name, the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay primarily sends wood chips to Japan, loading bulk vessels instead of the container ships that shuttle fancier products worldwide. A single train track completed in 1916 connects the small port to Eugene, 120 miles away.

So it may come as a surprise that the U.S. arm of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk Group is considering Coos Bay for a terminal that would handle a new generation of megacontainer ships. APM Terminals North America Inc. could ultimately spend about $700 million building a modern shipping hub on the bay's North Spit, Oregon legislators say.

Company representatives declined to comment, and Coos Bay officials won't confirm the reports, citing a confidentiality agreement. But the officials say the general concept, which would include upgrading the rail line, could turn into something handsome.

"This is a frog, and we continue to keep kissing this frog in hopes that it'll be something better than a frog," says Martin Callery, the Coos Bay port's director of communications and freight mobility. "We'd like to see it turn into a prince, but we have to be realistic about it."

Steamship companies are scouring North America's West Coast for port locations because Asia's exploding exports threaten to overwhelm existing cargo hubs. Asia-Pacific container traffic is expected to increase by 50 percent before 2020, and to double by 2035. Already ports from Los Angeles to Vancouver, B.C. -- and their shipping lanes and rail lines -- are backing up, necessitating expansions until they run out of land and transport links.

So the Coos Bay port commissioned a study this year outlining a terminal that could initially handle more than twice the Port of Portland's current container volume. The terminal, which would open in about 2014, would eventually handle enough freight to fill a million tractor-trailer trucks a year. The study predicted terminal operations at their peak would create almost 2,500 jobs at an average $52,000 annual wage.

Those numbers excite residents of Coos County, which has struggled to develop its resource-based economy.

But the plan faces various obstacles. The rail line would require tens of millions of dollars in improvements, Callery says, and steamship companies tend to avoid ports that lack competing railroad companies.

Ocean carriers also tend to invest in larger cities that offer markets for goods, instead of unloading containers that must mainly be transported thousands of miles inland. And the new jumbo ships require deep water -- more than 50 feet deep, compared with Coos Bay's authorized 37-foot draught.

Yet international port experts such as Ogden Beeman, a Portland-based maritime consultant, say Coos Bay could actually surmount those obstacles given industry growth projections. "If they can overcome the rail situation and the channel-depth situation," Beeman says, "maybe it's viable."

Oregon Sen. Joanne Verger, D.-Coos Bay, is co-sponsoring legislation that would appropriate $5 million for permits and environmental assessment of dredging. Senate Bill 21 would authorize $55 million more for dredging, if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the go-ahead with matching federal money.

Rep. Arnie Roblan, a fellow Coos Bay Democrat also sponsoring the measure, says APM Terminals managers described the port as their No. 1 choice six weeks ago, during a meeting with legislators in Salem. A decision could come within four to six months, Roblan says. A rival site in Mexico also remains in the running, Verger says.

Port of Portland managers, who might be expected to see the terminal as competition, said Tuesday that they would welcome it. A dredging project is expected by 2009 to deepen the 40-foot Columbia River shipping channel to 43 feet. That's far short of the jumbo ships' required depth, meaning that Portland and Coos Bay would occupy different business niches, says Sam Ruda, Port of Portland director of marine and industrial development.

Astoria, which could be seen as another candidate port, can only look on in envy. The port at the mouth of the Columbia lacks the land area for a giant terminal, let alone the necessary water depth and rail and road access, says Ron Larsen, Port of Astoria acting director.

But Larsen says of APM Terminals executives: "I would certainly love them to come and talk about it."

Richard Read: 503-294-5135; richread@aol.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1175657137232970.xml&coll=7

[seaskyfan]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/310344_msftexpand05.html

Microsoft to reveal plans for Bellevue expansion
By TODD BISHOP
P-I REPORTER

Microsoft Corp. appears poised to significantly increase its presence in Bellevue.

The company has scheduled a news conference this morning to show plans for a future Bellevue expansion.

It declined to provide details in advance.

But based on space available and developments under way, real estate brokers pointed to two Schnitzer Northwest LLC projects as possible candidates to house Microsoft operations.

One of them is Advanta Office Commons, a three-building, 600,000-square-foot project under development on the Interstate 90 corridor.

The other is Bravern Office Commons, with two office buildings totaling 745,000 square feet slated for the larger Bravern mixed-use project under way next to Meydenbauer Convention Center.

Dan Ivanoff, Schnitzer Northwest's managing investment partner, declined to comment Wednesday, as did Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman.

It's not clear how much total space Microsoft would occupy, or in how many buildings.

But the expansion would add to what already promised to be a sizable presence in the city.



The company last year leased 15 floors of the Lincoln Square office tower, currently under construction.
That's in addition to a major expansion already under way on the company's main Redmond campus.

But the company has plenty of need for expansion space: Microsoft added a net total of more than 10,000 worldwide employees last fiscal year, the largest annual increase in its history, taking its total employment above 71,000 as of June 30.

More than 3,900 of the additions were in the Seattle region.

So full are the company's existing buildings that it has been offering free valet parking to ease the space crunch in lots.

Microsoft once planned a major expansion in Issaquah, but later put those plans on hold.

P-I reporter Todd Bishop can be reached at 206-448-8221 or toddbishop@seattlepi.com.

[James Bond Agent 007]

^
Oh goody goody, I can't wait!

[MarkDaMan]

Building boom a boon for Oregon factories
Between bridges and condos, newly retooled metal fabricators have hit the mother lode
Friday, April 06, 2007
JONATHAN BRINCKMAN
The Oregonian

Oregon's metal-fabrication factories -- where welders and machinists make steel structures for bridges and metal components for the condominiums changing Portland's skyline -- are approaching the record employment levels of the late 1990s.

"It's wonderful," Drew Park, president of Columbia Wire & Iron Works in Portland, said of the sustained boom. "Things are the most backlogged we've ever seen."

The number of Oregonians employed by metal fabrication plants rose almost 9 percent over the past 12 months, from 16,400 to 17,800, according to preliminary state estimates. Compare that with the more dismal numbers for all manufacturing, which includes metal fabrication. Manufacturing employment is down 2 percent in the last 12 months -- a loss of 3,600 jobs. That's 15 percent below a 1998 high.

"Within manufacturing, metal fabrication is one of the bright spots," said Art Ayre, the state's employment economist. "But it's not enough to make up for dark spots in other areas."

Talk to owners and workers in the metal-fabrication industry, and you wouldn't guess that the state is nearly 10 years into a manufacturing decline. Some are giddy.

"It's been a lot of fun," said Ron Davis Jr., chief executive of Davis Tool, a Hillsboro metal fabricator that increased its work force from 180 last spring year to 214 today. "We're struggling to keep up with demand." The company's Web site lists 52 open positions.

Some of the forces driving the fabrication industry's boom are obvious: increased business brought by Oregon's $1.3 billion bridge-renovation program, construction of condominium towers in Portland, and a boom in the aerospace industry. But such factors don't explain everything.

Norm Eder, executive director of the Manufacturing 21 Coalition, believes the sector is booming because companies that survived the shakeout of 2001-02 have become very effective manufacturers. The organization was created in 2004 to increase the skilled work force in Oregon and to support innovation.

"There has been a revolution in high-performance manufacturing," Eder said. "An old-line industry has modernized itself to compete globally."

Davis Tool is an example of a company that has become more efficient. Ron Davis said average production time has been shortened from 45 days two years ago to 25 days now. "We're doing everything nearly twice as fast," he said.

Marks Metal Technology in Clackamas was once focused almost entirely on products for the construction industry. It now makes such things as steel chambers for a Pennsylvania medical company and concrete forms used to rebuild Portland's sewage system.

The company has 56 employees now, more than double the 23 it had when last year began. The current head count beats the company's previous record, 42 in the year 2000.

Ron Schoenheit, president of Cascade Coil Drapery Inc. in Portland, thinks steady population growth has fueled demand for the wire-mesh fabrics his company makes. The mesh is used for everything from zoo aviaries to fireplace screens.

Most fabricators say the majority of their jobs are in Oregon. Others, though, are getting work elsewhere in the West, including in Boise and in Alaska.

Another factor boosting the fabrication industry in Oregon is the "cluster effect," said Park of Columbia Wire & Iron, who is also director of the Pacific Northwest Steel Fabricators Association. The abundance of fabricators in Oregon and the Northwest means companies can easily subcontract out for specialized work, such as galvanizing finished parts. Transportation costs for supplies are also lower. "When you have groups (of similar companies) you have efficiencies," Park said.

But the large amount of traditional fabrication-industry work is an undeniably powerful reason for the boom. The average condominium tower uses about $1.5 million in fabricated steel for such things as emergency stairways, railings and rooftop infrastructure. And bridgework is fundamental.

American Bridge Corp. of Reedsport, for example, expects to ramp up to 65 employees by the end of the year, up from 52 now. That number would tie the company's previous employment record, said Fred Jacquot, the plant manager.

"We appreciate this year," he said. "It's very good."

Jonathan Brinckman: 503-221-8190; jbrinckman@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1175831707209140.xml&coll=7

[tworivers]

Two Portland-based utilities make U.S. green energy rankings
Posted by The Oregonian April 04, 2007 16:57PM

Oregon's two largest electric utilities, Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, again have found themselves near the top of the U.S. Department of Energy's annual ranking of leading green-power programs.

Ranked by renewable energy sales, Austin (Texas) Energy came in first in the nation, PGE came in second, Florida Power & Light third and PacifiCorp fourth.

Ranked by number of customers, Minnesota's Xcel Energy came in first, followed by PGE and PacifiCorp.

And ranked by participation rates, City of Palo Alto Utilities topped the list with 16.9 percent participation. Lenox (Iowa) Municipal Utilities came in second, at 16.6 percent and PGE and Montezuma (Iowa) Municipal Light & Power tied for third at 6.5 percent.

Under utilities' green power programs, consumers can choose to help support additional electricity production from renewable resources such as solar, wind and geothermal. More than 600 utilities across the county offer these programs.

[tworivers]

Economists predict moderate growth for Oregon
Posted by Gail Kinsey Hill April 05, 2007 10:35AM

Oregon's economy will continue to grow at a slow to moderate rate, according to an index prepared by the University of Oregon economists.

The latest sign of the condition of the state's economy showed up in the university's Index of Economic Indicators, a monthly gage of economic activity, which declined 0.4 percent in February.

Four indicators - initial jobless claims, the weight-distance tax, U.S. consumer confidence and inflation-adjusted new manufacturing orders - deteriorated.

The remaining four variables -residential building permits, The Oregonian help-wanted advertising, nonfarm payrolls and the interest rate spread - improved.

A standout on the plus side was the count for residential building permits. Permits were at their highest level since May, and have shown gains in three of the last four months. The trend contrasts sharply with national trends, suggesting that the housing downturn may be less severe and shorter in duration in Oregon than the rest of the country.

[zilfondel]

When I was shopping in Europe at the grocery store, it cost more money (like 50 cents or a euro, forgot exactly) for each bag that I wanted. If I didn't pay, I didn't get any!

I thought it was a great idea. Good thing I had my backpack with me!

[MarkDaMan]

^huh?

[PacificNW]

↑ How much are San Francisco merchants going to charge for their plastic bags? I think the time is coming that there will be a charge for all bags regardless if they have be made from recycled materials. Isn't Portland considering a charge for plastic bags?

[James Bond Agent 007]

State wages rank 10th nationally
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 2:05 PM PDT Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Washington employees earned an average of $823 per week in the third quarter of 2006, ranking the state No. 10 nationally, according to state figures.

That's better than the national average of $784 per week, according to the state Employment Security Department.

The highest-paying jobs were in the category called "information," which pays an average of $2,299 per week. The accommodation and food-service sector paid the least, at $302 per week.

Across the state, employees in King County were the highest paid, with an average wage of $1,043 per week. Okanogan County workers were the lowest paid, at an average of $425 per week.

"Washington boasts one of the strongest job markets in the country and is competing relatively well for wages with some of the largest states in the nation," said Karen Lee, commissioner for the Employment Security Department, in a statement.

Nationally, employees earned the most in the District of Columbia, followed by Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California, Maryland, Delaware and Illinois.

[Black Box]

^That's a chipper report, but I still wonder how that would be factored into a cost of living study.

[MarkDaMan]

Oregon ranks in top 10 in nation for plugging into wind power
Megawatts - The state showing is "pretty respectable" as momentum builds in the gorge
Thursday, April 12, 2007
GAIL KINSEY HILL
The Oregonian

Oregon ranks eighth in the country for wind-energy development, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Wind Energy Association.

The association compiles the list each year, measuring states by megawatts of installed capacity. One megawatt provides enough energy to power roughly 200 to 250 homes annually.

Texas, with 2,768 megawatts of capacity, holds the top spot, having recently surpassed California. Washington comes in fifth with 818 megawatts, followed by Oklahoma, New Mexico and Oregon.

"That's pretty respectable," said Rachel Shimshak, director of Renewable Northwest Project, a coalition formed to promote the region's renewable resources. "It's just about where we should be."

The Columbia River Gorge has proved a hot spot for wind-farm development, with turbines rising along both sides of the river in Oregon and Washington. The rankings by the wind energy association take into account facilities in operation as of Dec. 31, 2006.

Oregon's standing could move up in the next year or two. Several large projects are under construction, including Portland-based PPM Energy's 221-megawatt Klondike III and Portland General Electric's 125-megawatt Biglow Canyon, both in Sherman County.

Also, Horizon Wind Energy, which Portuguese power provider Energias de Portugal recently agreed to buy from Goldman Sachs for $2.15 billion, has a 101-megawatt project in the works in Union County.

The state's newest player is Massachusetts-based UPC Wind, which has 35 wind projects under development in North America.

UPC Wind on Wednesday applied with the state to build an $80 million, 60-megawatt wind farm about five miles west of The Dalles in Wasco County. The Cascade Wind Project would involve 40 turbines stretching six miles along an exposed ridgeline.

It would be UPC Wind's first project in the Northwest.

Gail Kinsey Hill: 503-221-8590, gailhill@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1176344733259450.xml&coll=7

[James Bond Agent 007]

Washington's jobless rate hits a low
By Drew DeSilver
Seattle Times business reporter

Unemployment in Washington hit its lowest level in more than 30 years last month, as the state's continued strong economy drew thousands more people into the workforce.

With the state jobless rate falling to 4.6 percent in March, "this is the best time to be looking for work," said Evelina Tainer, the state's chief labor economist. "Overall, the economy is doing great."

But the pace of job growth continued to slacken in March, raising questions about how much longer the good times will last.

Nonfarm payroll jobs grew 2.2 percent between March 2006 and March 2007, adjusted for seasonal variations. That's about the same as the three prior months but down from the nearly 3 percent year-over-year rates typical in 2005 and 2006.

The leading jobs gainers in March were something of a mixed bag.

Aerospace added 600 jobs in the month, as did the retail sector; bars and restaurants added an additional 400 jobs. Employment services, a category that includes temporary-help agencies and employee-leasing firms, grew by 800 jobs, possibly a consequence of marginal workers using those businesses as re-entry points into the active workforce.

The construction sector gained 200 jobs, but all were in heavy and civil engineering rather than the building of homes and office buildings. Unofficial figures from the state Employment Security Department show nonresidential construction holding up somewhat better than residential — not unexpected, given the slowdown in the housing market.

The state's 4.6 percent unemployment rate for March was slightly above the 4.4 percent rate posted for the nation as a whole, but well below the 5.2 percent rate that Oregon reported on Monday. A year ago, unemployment in Washington stood at 4.8 percent.

[MarkDaMan]

Port preps to develop 114 industrial acres
Daily Journal of Commerce
by Kennedy Smith
04/18/2007


On the heels of making plans to develop a new headquarters and parking structure at Portland International Airport, the Port of Portland is moving forward on developing a 573,000-square-foot industrial facility at Rivergate Industrial District, with more to come in the future.

The port will go ahead with development on almost 114 acres of the 2,800-acre Rivergate district, which has been designated “project ready” by the state, meaning construction can begin in six months or less.

Trammell Crow Co. will develop the property in three phases. The first phase will encompass 27.3 acres and be home to the first industrial facility, Steve Wells, regional manager of Trammell Crow Co., said. Phase II will cover 42.7 acres to be developed by 2010; Phase III, 43.9 acres, will be completed by 2013.

The development is funded by MEPT Rivergate III LLC, a Delaware company owned by New Tower Trust Co., a property trust. The Port of Portland owns the land.

“This will be one of the biggest facilities in Rivergate,” Joe Mollusky, real estate marketing manager for the port, said. “We’ve got the opportunity to market the property for build-to-suit facilities with the goal of attracting users that will use our marine import services through Terminal 6.”

The first facility’s size and location, near Lombard Street, a rail line and the port’s marine terminals, will be a boost to the port’s marine strategy of making Portland an import base for the West Coast, Mollusky said.

“Portland competes with others along the West Coast,” Mollusky said. “The bulk of imports are still coming through Long Beach, but we’re seeing a shift in the market and feel the timing is right for us to be an alternate gateway.”

Congestion at other ports, he said, has made Portland more attractive to importers, two of which – Taiwan-based Yang Ming Lines and Zim Integrated Shipping – signed deals with the port last year.

Now it’s time, he said, to build the facilities.

Because of its size, Rivergate has been a hotspot for industrial development, said Trammell Crow’s Wells. Capstone Partners LLC built on 21.3 acres in 2005, around the time the industrial market was barely strong enough to support more new buildings, he said.

“The industrial market has certainly tightened up over the last year because the economy has been improving,” Howard Larson, a broker with commercial real estate firm Colliers International, said. “We’ve seen more companies coming into Portland for a while and an overabundance of product for lease. That space is rapidly being taken up, especially the larger, 20,000- to 50,000-square-foot buildings.”

The rental rate for new product is about 40 cents per square foot for a shell and an additional 70 cents per square foot on improvements. That means if a company were to lease 9,000 square feet of warehouse and 1,000 square feet of office space, the monthly rent would be $4,000 for the shell and an additional $2,800 for the office.

Another industrial hot spot, Larson said, is Tualatin, where larger buildings in excess of 200,000 square feet are in the works.

“For the last few years, there were a lot more empty buildings standing around,” he said. “That’s all been snatched up, and now there’s build-to-suit action.”

The Portland metropolitan area, he said, can expect to see new industrial construction for at least the next 12 to 18 months.

The Port of Portland is the largest developer of industrial and business parks in the metropolitan area. It has about 10,000 acres of property holdings and oversees six business and industrial parks, including Rivergate, Portland International Center, Brookwood Corporate Park, Swan Island Industrial Park and Troutdale Industrial Park.

[NW Mike]

Design Perspectives: Private capital seeks federal investment for long-term relationship in U.S. cities.
American cites are the economic powerhouses of the world. Fourteen of them rank among the top 50 global economies. Seattle is 49th — right behind Thailand and ahead of Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale.
Article in DJC.com

[Snowden352]

This is interesting...

Washington Mutual announces $2B program to help subprime borrowers
Portland Business Journal - 10:33 AM PDT Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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Washington Mutual Inc. said Wednesday it is starting a $2 billion program aimed to help subprime loan borrowers avoid mortgage foreclosures.

On Tuesday, when announcing first-quarter earnings, company officials said they were going to rein in subprime lending. Steve Rotella, Washington Mutual's president and chief operating officer, said there was "turmoil in the subprime sector," and told shareholders that Washington Mutual's subprime segment lost $164 million in the first quarter.



In the $2 billion program, the Seattle-based bank (NYSE: WM), which has 105 branches in Oregon, said subprime borrowers who are current with their existing loans but face payment increases may apply for "new discounted fixed-rate loans or other mortgage products," such as a 30-year fixed-rate subprime loan with the interest rate discounted by 50 basis points.

Washington Mutual also said it will offer "prime mortgage product options for borrowers who qualify."

I think it's a wise move. By altering the rate of interest, Washington Mutual is assuring that it gets its loans back (even if it takes a smaller profit). Ben Bernanke-you paying attention?

[James Bond Agent 007]

Here's a nifty article about a Spokane company getting in on the commodities boom:
http://www.spokanejournal.com/spokane_id=article&sub=3138

http://www.spokanejournal.com/photos/rahco.jpg

RAHCO sold to Danish concern
Conglomerate buys materials-handling operation; Richard Hanson keeps industrial fabrication plant
By Paul Read

A unit of Danish industrial-equipment manufacturer FLSmidth & Co. A/S has bought the materials-handling business and name of RAHCO International Inc., a longtime Spokane concern, in a transaction the buyer says likely will lead to employment growth here.

The acquisition, which was completed early this month and was valued by FLSmidth at $19.5 million, included RAHCO’s assets related to the engineering and sale of big conveyors, stackers, and other equipment used in the mining industry, as well as canal construction equipment and potash and salt harvesters. It also included a RAHCO sales unit in Chile. The operation will continue to be based in Spokane and now is doing business under the name FLSmidth RAHCO Inc., says Darrell White, its president and CEO.

Longtime RAHCO owner Richard Hanson, meanwhile, has retained RAHCO’s fabrication operation, located along east Magnesium Road in North Spokane, as well as its business lines that manufacture and sell heavy-duty forklifts and road graders and side-hill harvesting technologies for agricultural combines. Hanson says those operations will go forward under the name The Factory Company International Inc.

Both parties say The Factory likely will be a key contract manufacturer for FLSmidth RAHCO.

At the time of the sale, RAHCO International employed about 185 people. Of those, about 75 have moved over to FLSmidth RAHCO, and the other 110 now work for The Factory.

FLSmidth RAHCO is part of a group of companies under the umbrella of a Bethlehem, Pa.-based unit of FLSmidth called FFE Minerals. FLSmidth, which is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a 125-year-old, publicly traded conglomerate that focuses on manufacturing industrial equipment primarily for the cement and minerals industries. It employs about 5,850 people and expects 2007 sales of roughly $3 billion.

White says FLSmidth RAHCO expects within the next six months to move from the former RAHCO complex on Magnesium to an office setting elsewhere in the Spokane area, since its operations now will focus on engineering and sales. He says the company will look for office space that’s large enough to accommodate about 100 employees, because he expects the operation to grow.

“We have a lot of work right now, and we’re looking for people,” he says. “We foresee, being now part of a broader, global operation, that we’ll see some trickle down” of business from the parent organization.

He adds, “They have high expectations for growth, and they expect RAHCO to help fuel that growth.”

FLSmidth said in its announcement of the acquisition that it expects the Spokane unit to do more than $20 million in sales this year.

White, who previously served as vice president for business development at RAHCO, says the Danish company is committed to keeping the operation in Spokane. “They like to sprinkle their operations around the world,” he says.

Both White and Hanson say the marriage between the two companies is a good one. They were not competitors, and FFE Minerals saw RAHCO as having the expertise it needed to be able to sell complete materials-handling systems to its mining customers. While FFE Minerals is well known for making equipment to crush and process materials, RAHCO is known for making equipment that can move those materials to and from such equipment.

Also, says White, FFE Minerals is more of a traditional manufacturer that makes and sells established lines of equipment, while RAHCO has been known for designing sometimes unique equipment from scratch to meet a customer’s needs. “We bring that ‘outside the box’ thinking, which has been our hallmark,” he says of the Spokane operation.

Says Hanson of FFE and FLSmidth, “Their business is going to benefit because they’ll be able to offer technology they couldn’t before, and RAHCO will benefit because they have far more presence in the world market.”

Hanson says he had “for some time” engaged a business broker to look for possible buyers for RAHCO because he believed the company would be difficult to sell, given its untraditional product lines, but says in this case, FLSmidth called him with the idea of making the acquisition.

He says he also was considering selling the business to two other possible buyers, but chose FLSmidth because the Danish company wanted to keep the operation in Spokane and keep its management and engineering team in place.

“It looked like it would be the smoothest and most seamless transition for our employees,” he says.

The Factory

Hanson says the sale of RAHCO’s materials-handling segment will allow him to reduce the hours he spends in the office, because he says running a fabrication plant takes far less ingenuity and creativity than developing new equipment for customers. Still, he expects The Factory to be a going enterprise that should consistently employ more than 100 people here.

Though he calls it a steel-fabrication business, The Factory’s capabilities will go well beyond cutting and welding steel, Hanson says. The company will continue to employ people who can build electrical, hydraulic, and other systems, and “will be able to put together a complete machine,” he says.

From now on, though, most of what The Factory will make will carry the name of its customers.

“We expect to do a lot of work for FLSmidth, as well as work for others that need a factory,” Hanson says, adding that heavy-equipment makers increasingly are looking to contract manufacturers for some or all of their production.

The Factory also will have engineers who can develop or modify products for customers not in markets RAHCO traditionally had served.

The Factory currently is building natural gas and oil drilling rigs for a Canadian company that is using the rigs in Texas, Hanson says, declining to name the customer. RAHCO had begun doing that work about 18 months ago, and Hanson retained that business after the recent asset sale.

He says RAHCO got into oil-rig construction, which it hadn’t done in the past, when “business was a little slow and we were fishing for work.” He heard about demand for new oil rigs and a lack of factory capacity to produce them, and pitched the Canadian company on RAHCO doing the work.

RAHCO shipped its second such rig in February, and The Factory has orders for five more. Each rig takes six to nine months to build and requires 18 long-haul trucks for delivery. Hanson estimates such rigs sell for roughly $4 million.

He says he hopes to broaden further The Factory’s scope and customer base, perhaps doing more in the construction, marine, and energy industries.

The company will continue to make and sell the heavy-duty fork trucks RAHCO introduced last year, which are targeted for use at such places as seaports, steelyards, and concrete plants.

It also will continue building specialty road graders, and will make and install the self-leveling components necessary to enable agricultural combines to harvest grain efficiently on steep side hills. Hanson’s father, Raymond Hanson, invented the self-leveling device in the 1940s, while working on the family farm in the Palouse, and founded R.A. Hanson Co., the predecessor to RAHCO International, in 1946.

Richard Hanson bought the company from his father in 1995, after having led it for a year. Over the years, the company has done everything from hiding MX missiles underground for the Pentagon, to building big aqueducts in California, to developing remote-controlled vehicles to haul radiation-contaminated debris.

FLSmidth RAHCO

It’s the big, mining-site conveyors and stackers, however, that have accounted for much of RAHCO’s business in recent years, and that’s the expertise FLSmidth wanted when its FFE Minerals arm bought RAHCO’s materials-handling business, says White.

In its most recent annual report, FLSmidth, which is best known for its concrete plants and related equipment, said that it intends for its minerals division to provide a greater share of the company’s overall earnings in the future. In addition to buying the RAHCO assets, FFE Minerals also recently bought a minerals-equipment company in Germany called KOCH Transporttechnik GmbH, and already owned another such German company called MVT Materials Handling GmbH.

White says MVT has experience with stacking materials at seaports and with loading ships, while KOCH is known for what’s known as “pipe conveyors,” in which a belt is in the form of a pipe, so the materials are fully enclosed while being moved. “We each bring something to the party,” he says.

He says the Spokane operation now will work closely with those sister companies and other FFE Minerals operations in marketing efforts that will enable the group to offer complete mining-site systems.

FLSmidth RAHCO currently has contracts with a host of customers around the world, including in Latin America, the Middle East, Australia, and Canada. Most of its contracts prohibit the company from identifying the customer’s name or details about the work, White says. The equipment, though, is similar to what RAHCO has built in the past, including 2,300-foot-long conveyor systems that can move up to 10,000 metric tons of material an hour, and equipment that can harvest potash from lake beds for use in fertilizers.

White says the global reach of FLSmidth should help the Spokane operation reach further into markets in which it has had spotty success, including China.

Separating from the RAHCO International “family,” though, will be difficult, he says. Though the two companies will work closely together in the future, there are longtime co-workers who now work for different companies, and that will be hard for a while, he says.

He adds, “We owe everything to Richard. This company is still here because he believed in its employees.”

[MarkDaMan]

A wide swath in the knife trade
The Portland area is a worldwide manufacturing hub for sporting and utility knives
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
JENNIFER D. MEACHAM
The Oregonian

Portland is relatively well-known as a business hub for footwear and open-source software. Largely under the radar, though, is another industry for which the metropolitan area has become a center of gravity: the making and marketing of knives.

"Portland has become the knife capital of the world," says Jeff Goddard, director of sales and marketing for Tualatin-based Kershaw Knives. "It used to be Seki City, Japan, or Solingen, Germany -- which are still centers for cutlery -- but Portland has really become the industry hub for sporting and utility knives."

More than one in four pocketknife companies nationwide -- nine of 35 -- call the Portland area home. The knives they produce range from tactical blades for emergency and military use, to artisan knives for collectors, to multi-tools with pliers and bottle openers for the everyday consumer.

The multi-tool portion of the industry is dominated by Portland companies. A study commissioned by Coast Cutlery and conducted by Chicago-based Sales Reach Market Research found that Leatherman Tools, Gerber Legendary Blades and Coast Cutlery -- all based locally -- produce almost 80 percent of the multi-purpose tools sold nationwide and account for $256 million in retail sales annually.

More than 1,200 people in the Portland area draw paychecks from local knife companies, and Portland will host an industry trade show in September. The knife cluster can't compete with Nike, Adidas and Columbia Sportswear in terms of size or impact, but it's welcome in a region that tends to be dominated by small businesses.

The question is: Why Portland?

Coast Cutlery the first

In 1919, as Portland's trademark Craftsman style homes were transitioning to Tudor, Coast Cutlery opened in downtown Portland.

"We were the first," says David Brands, president of Coast Cutlery since 1986. "And then the others spun off of us and spun off of each other."

Coast Cutlery started as a distributor for knives, but now manufactures its own brand plus private-label pocketknives for Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. and Columbia Sportswear Co.

Gerber Legendary Blades was next, opening in 1939. From there, Oregon entrepreneurs forged four more knife companies over 63 years, three directly from Gerber's ranks and one from Gerber spin-off Kershaw Knives.

Meanwhile, Portland ad man Tim Leatherman started production on a new invention of his own: the Pocket Survival Tool. The tool revolutionized the utility knife industry and launched Leatherman Tool Group in 1983.

Knife-part suppliers and machining companies sprouted up to feed the growing demand for local vendors.

"Now that a lot of knife manufacturing vendors are here, it's actually attracted other companies to move here," says Jeff Goddard, director of sales and marketing for Tualatin-based Kershaw Knives. "We use the same companies to anodize our blades or coat our products, supply our screws and springs, heat-treat our blades -- and even wholesale our products."

Two move from California

Enter two more companies, both from Oregon's southern neighbor.

"I looked at a variety of areas, on the East Coast, Colorado, Idaho and here, before deciding to come here in 1990 from Los Angeles," says Les deAsis, founder of Benchmade Knife Co. "It has all the required services, terrific quality of life and a very capable vendor base. It's also a great place to learn to deal with global competition."

Benchmade, now a household name, was then a small startup, which had its own limitations before coming to Portland.

"In L.A., we had to rely on large venders -- the heat-treating facilities, grinding companies and machining companies we needed. But when they got a big order from their larger aerospace and military defense customers, we had unintentional delays due to our company being small," deAsis recalls. "Here, with all the other vendors, they took notice."

The Portland area is also home to artisans able to hand make high-end knife add-ons, from mother-of-pearl handles, inlaid wood and stone, to sterling silver bales. Assisted by a move from California to McMinnville, William Henry Knives' designer Matt Conable says he's now sending work to craftspeople in Clackamas, Aurora, McMinnville and Yamhill.

Power of the port

Portland also boasts another advantage for this industry. "It's a port city, so there's value in that also," says Rod Bremer, president of Wilsonville-based Columbia River Knife and Tool. "The port's not a make-or-break deal as far as staying in Portland, but it's meaningful since we import all of our products."

From there, the supply chain snakes on. Companies in Portland say it's easier to break into big-name, but locally based, retailers such as Joe's and REI.

B.G. Eilertson, merchandise manager for Joe's, agrees.

"A lot of business is interpersonal," Eilertson says. "These people are almost like neighbors now. We've seen them grow, and we have good relationships with them. That's a plus for us."

It doesn't hurt that there's a strong consumer base for knives in the Northwest. Portland-based military surplus and outdoor store Andy & Bax sees a steady stream of rafters, hunters, anglers, campers, hikers and military, medical and law enforcement personnel come through its doors, many searching for the perfect utility knife.

Knives take up just a smidgen of floor space, but make up "probably 5 percent" of its sales, says Tom Lageson, a knife buyer for Andy & Bax. Most of the knives it stocks are from Portland-area companies.

"It's nice when someone buys a knife to know that if they ever have an issue with the warranty, they can get in a car and drive on out there," Lageson says. "It's a nice selling point."

Sporting and utility knives certainly aren't the only outdoor-related products that call Portland home. But they represent an ever-increasing portion of the area's business profits.

"If you look at other companies related to this industry, like Columbia Sportswear and Norm Thompson, there's also a lot of passion for where we use our products," says Juli Warner, corporate communications specialist for Leatherman.

"Whether you're going hunting or skiing or biking or climbing, it's all right here," she says. "I think that's why we're able to draw a lot of excellent people to work here and people who have enthusiasm about the product. Because here is where they work and play."
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1177383303127830.xml&coll=7

[Dougall5505]

Portland firm wins Freedom Tower bid
New York - Benson Industries' Gresham factory will build the glass skin for the landmark replacing the World Trade Center
Saturday, April 28, 2007
JONATHAN BRINCKMAN
Portland's Benson Industries will build and install the windows in New York City's Freedom Tower, a 103-floor building rising on the site of the World Trade Center buildings destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The bomb- and fire-resistant windows will be made in Benson's Gresham factory, adding an undetermined number of jobs. The $160.65 million contract with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- the biggest in Benson's 81-year history -- is worth more than half of Benson's 2006 revenue of $250 million.

But the project's importance extends beyond the bottom line for a company that installs glass exteriors on buildings throughout the world, said John Beaulieu, a Benson manager.

"Personally, I think this is the most important building in the world," Beaulieu said. "Our national pride is wrapped around this building in a lot of ways. When the nation sees this building completed, and lit up at night, it will mean a lot."

Freedom Tower a coup for company
Design - Architects say Benson Industries is in a class by itself on creating high-rise exteriors
Saturday, April 28, 2007
JONATHAN BRINCKMAN and RANDY GRAGG
The announcement Friday by Benson Industries -- of a $160.65 million contract to build and install the windows of New York City's Freedom Tower -- comes after a long and convoluted journey for the company.

The deal was worth the wait. The job, on what will become one of the world's most prominent buildings, will be a showcase for a company already known in development circles for its skilled glass work.

Benson submitted its first proposal for the job in August 2004, just shy of three years after terrorists destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Then, after a cornerstone was laid in 2004, the proposed tower was relocated.

The first tower design looked great, soaring with a dramatic twist. But it didn't include enough square feet to make it affordable.

At 1,776 feet, the redesigned Freedom Tower, including an antenna, will be the tallest building in North America. Its 103 floors are fewer than the 110 in Chicago's Sears Tower. But that building is 1,450 feet tall, 1,725 to the top of its tallest antenna.

Then came a new financial problem: New York developer Larry Silverstein had the right to build five office towers at the destroyed World Trade Center complex. But Silverstein couldn't afford to build all the replacement buildings quickly enough to satisfy The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the land.

The authority and Silverstein struck a deal about a year ago that made the public agency the developer. Benson submitted a revised bid last fall, and the authority's commissioners granted the contract on Wednesday.

"It's been thorough and extensive process," Lou Niles, Benson's president and majority owner, said Friday.

Benson, which has done the exteriors for high-rise buildings around the globe, is ready for this job, said Robert Thompson of TVA Architects, who has worked with the company on projects in Portland.

"Benson operates in their own world. They are unparalleled by any other glazing contractor. From the standpoint of innovation -- look, the feel, the ideas -- they understand how to put a system together," he said.

"They bring such solid research to every project," said John Meadows of Boora Architects who worked with Benson in the Pearl District. "Portland is incredibly fortunate to have their knowledge base here.

"The upside of the Freedom Tower contract is that it (Benson) will be even more amazing. The downside is that not every project can afford them."

Benson's job will be to install about a million square feet of exterior glass that is specially designed to minimize the impact of a terrorist attack, said John Beaulieu, the company's estimating manager.

"The building is designed to withstand any type of attack so we don't have a repeat of what happened," Beaulieu said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jonathan Brinckman: 503-221-8190; jbrinckman@news.oregonian.com

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/04/30/daily34.html?b=1177905600^1457254

Greenbrier receives large order, changes management
Portland Business Journal - 9:56 AM PDT Thursday, May 3, 2007
by Matthew Kish
Business Journal staff writer

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. has received an order to build 1,700 new railcars, which will result in 50 new hires.

Lake Oswego-based Greenbrier (NYSE: GBX) builds railcars at manufacturing plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It also builds marine barges at its U.S. facility and repairs railcars at 33 locations across North America.

The company will build the new railcars in Portland at its Gunderson subsidiary, which employs 1,100. Gunderson plans to hire 50 more factory employees. Deliveries will take place in the second half of the year.

Shares were up 2 percent in morning trading to $23.60. The company has a $378 million market cap.

In related news, Greenbrier announced it would narrow the focus of its European operations to logistics. It also announced several leadership changes.

The president of the company's manufacturing operations, L. Clark Wood, has retired. He will continue to provide consulting services. Alejandro Centurion has been promoted to president of Greenbrier's North American manufacturing operations. Bob Hickey has been promoted to senior vice president of North American manufacturing.

Several other changes were announced, including the resignation of John Nussrallah, who resigned as president of Greenbrier Europe because of family medical issues. On the corporate side, William Glenn joined Greenbrier as vice president of corporate development and staff. He will be responsible for corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions.

[MarkDaMan]

City windfall spares bike, tree projects
Portland - An extra $2 million in tax revenue will fund more items on the council's to-do list
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
RYAN FRANK
The Oregonian

Portland City Hall got another cash influx Monday with news that business tax bills landed heavier than anticipated, providing another $2 million for the City Council's favorite projects.

The new money is a small bump in the context of the city's nearly $3 billion total spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1.

But it's a more significant political bump for Mayor Tom Potter and the council.

Potter's original spending plan announced last month left out some popular projects. Two that attracted phone calls from bikers and environmental groups were a citywide bike plan and updated tree protections.

With this extra cash, Potter has enough to sprinkle into most of the council's priorities, including bikes. The tree project also will get its money.

Plus, that means Commissioner Randy Leonard will get his $60,000 for doulas for mostly low-income, single women. (In case you're wondering, a doula is a coach who helps guide a woman through pregnancy.)

Commissioner Sam Adams gets $100,000 for that new bike plan, $500,000 for plans to fix Burnside Street and $100,000 for art.

Commissioner Erik Sten will get $100,000 for the Wordstock festival, $70,000 for round-the-clock computer help for firefighters and $30,000 to help recruit more families into the city's public schools.

That leaves about $1 million unspent that Potter wants to put in the bank.

He wants to hold onto it until the fall when the council may need it to pay for other things on its to-do list. Chief among Potter's goals are a new city archives center, visioning and an emergency operations center.

The new $2 million gives the city a total $39 million surplus next year and provides yet another sign of the city's surging economy. Buoyed by the retail and construction industry, businesses last week reported higher-than-expected tax payments based on higher-than-expected profits.

The economic turnaround has left the city -- dependent largely on property, business, utility and hotel taxes -- in a far better financial position than two years ago.

The big question left unanswered Monday is: How will Potter handle Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler's request for millions in city cash to take over some county services? Wheeler wants the city to take over neighborhood prosecutors, animal control and a sobering center for people drunk in public.

Potter and Wheeler met Monday but made no final decisions. The deals must be done by June 7, when the county board votes on the budget.

To read Potter's memo, visit The Oregonian's City Hall blog at blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/. Ryan Frank: 503-221-8564; ryanfrank@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/117858933192380.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

Report: Port traffic driving industrial absorption
Daily Journal of Commerce
by Kennedy Smith
05/11/2007


Increased trade at the Port of Portland will continue to support tenant and investor demand for area industrial sites, according to a new report by national commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.

With total tonnage increasing at the port compared to last year, industrial supply could tighten, raising rental rates and spurring new construction, especially in the Columbia Corridor in Northeast Portland, Patricia Raicht, a spokeswoman for commercial real estate firm Grubb & Ellis, said.

The port gaining more contracts is “generally going to be positive for the industrial market,” she said, “because the increased activity means there needs to be facilities where containers come off the ships and get distributed onto rail lines or trucks.”

Asking rents for industrial space average 38 to 40 cents per square foot.

“Rates are finally starting to go up to justify new construction,” she said.

The Portland industrial market ranks 11th out of 22 markets based on forward-looking supply and demand indicators, Marcus & Millichap’s report states.

Already in the Rivergate Industrial District, a 2,800-acre site owned by the Port of Portland, there is speculative development of 2.5 million square feet of distribution space.

The Port of Portland has seen a 29.9 percent increase in inbound and outbound marine terminal tonnage from March 2006. Total tonnage for containers and automobiles were up 33.7 percent and 30.6 percent, respectively, in 2006 from 2005. The Port of Portland’s leading trade partners are Japan, which imports $5.8 billion in cargo annually; South Korea, which imports $1.3 billion worth of cargo; China, at $864 million; and Mexico, at $279 million.

For Class A industrial space, vacancy in the first quarter stood at 7.8 percent, down from 10.2 percent from the same time last year. The north/northeast market sector hit 6.8 percent vacancy in the first quarter, Tom Lawwill, director of the Portland office of commercial real estate firm Colliers International, said.

“This market is going to stay strong through ’07 and into ’08,” he said. “What we anticipate is additional product at higher rental rates for two reasons. One is that the market is stable enough to sustain them and two because the cost of construction keeps rising.”

Industrial market at a glance

• Rank: Portland remains just outside the top 10 with forecasts for low construction and strong rent growth.

• Employment: Growth should top out at 1.9 percent, or 19,400 new jobs, by year’s end.

• Construction: Industrial development will reach about 1.7 million square feet, down from 2.8 million square feet in 2006.

• Vacancy: Absorption of industrial space will outpace deliveries for the fourth consecutive year, resulting in an average vacancy rate across all classes of about 9.1 percent. The rate in 2003 was 16 percent.

• Rent: Tightening vacancy will allow owners to raise rents.

• Investment: Strong net operating income could push prices higher. Transaction activity may come from out-of-state buyers.

Source: Marcus & Millichap

http://www.djc-or.com/viewStory.cfm?recid=29415&userID=1

[MarkDaMan]

Oregon's unemployment rate falls
Portland Business Journal - 12:21 PM PDT Monday, May 14, 2007

Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in April compared with 5.2 percent in March.

The April unemployment rate was the lowest since December 2000, when the rate was also 5.1 percent. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in April and 4.4 percent in March.

In April, Oregon's seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 5,600, following a gain of 2,300 in March.

Seasonally adjusted payroll employment rose for the third consecutive month. In April, construction and several of the service-providing sectors boosted employment above their normal amounts for the time of year. In contrast, manufacturing posted a seasonally adjusted decline of 1,300 jobs largely due to layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing.

In April, 100,003 Oregonians were unemployed, compared with 102,977 in April 2006.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/05/14/daily6.html?f=et75&hbx=e_du

[uwhuskies]

By DAN RICHMAN
P-I REPORTER

Washington's unemployment rate in April again hit a record low, dropping to 4.4 percent, according to numbers released Tuesday morning by the state's Employment Security Department.

April's rate is the lowest since the state's Employment Security Department began keeping comparable records, in 1976. March unemployment also hit a record low of 4.6 percent.

Employers added 2,900 seasonally adjusted jobs in April. Industry sectors with the largest employment growth last month were professional and business services, with 2,100 new jobs; construction, up 900; and "other services," such as membership organizations, up 500 new jobs.

Sectors posting declines in April were manufacturing, down 900; financial activities, down 100; and government, down 100.

Seasonally adjusted numbers account for normal seasonal patterns that occur year after year, such as strong seasonal hiring in retail trade around the holidays. Smoothing out the large, regular fluctuations makes it possible to see unusual changes in employment levels. :banana:

Dan Richman can be reached at 206-448-8032 or danrichman@seattlepi.com.

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2003717685_econed23.html

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Page updated at 02:00 AM
Editorial
Seattle's boom of '07

Too seldom do the organs of opinion stop and smell the sawdust of people at work. And they are working: The unemployment rate in Washington, 4.4 percent at last measure, is the lowest in more than a quarter-century. Work is in surplus.

Many decisions were made to get here. Most important was the decision made at Boeing several years ago to postpone work on an exciting but uncertain thing called the Sonic Cruiser, and focus instead on a fuel-stingy medium-sized jet for point-to-point travel. Already that looks like the right decision. In a little more than a month, the first Boeing 787 will roll out, and a delicious number have been sold. A few years ago, people argued about whether it was worth it to cut Boeing's taxes in order to keep the 787 assembly here. Now we know.

As private and public investors, people here have made other economic bets: on international trade, ports and airports, computer software, biotechnology, medical devices, Class 8 diesel trucks, Internet retailing, discount retailing, specialty food processing, coffee, wine and other specialty drinks. A remarkable number of these bets have been winners.

Economist John Mitchell, who covers the Pacific Northwest for U.S. Bank in Portland, says Washington's economy is growing faster than Oregon's. "You have the right mix of industries," he says.

Construction is the flame that flickers highest in a boom. Right now, construction jobs as a percentage of all non-farm wage jobs are the highest in several decades, says Evelina Tainer, chief economist for Employment Security. Across South Lake Union, a pea patch of cranes rises over new office buildings, biological laboratories, a retirement home, condos and urban retail.

This boom feels more substantial than the last one, which was dominated by the dot-coms. Amazon endured, but too many went poof. Their implosion shook Seattle, which did not start digging out of the job downturn until 2004. The dig-out is done; and the employment totals in the Seattle-Everett area are now new records. Some 90 percent of the job growth in the state now comes from four counties: King, Snohomish, Pierce and Spokane, with King in the commanding position.

This boom should have a good deal of life in it. Though the statewide net rate of job creation peaked a year ago at 3.3 percent, it continues around 2.3 percent. Ultimately, it will stop, but the brake is not yet visible. Interest rates are relatively stable. Oil is pricy, but Americans are living with it.

Business buzzes on. As always there are problems, which at the moment tend to be the problems of fullness.

[Black Box]

I hope Seattle does not shake too much when this cycle comes to a halt.

[MarkDaMan]

Draft rekindles Blazers fans' passion for basketball team
Blazermania - About 2,000 season tickets are scooped up in what team officials call the best day in franchise history
Thursday, May 24, 2007
JOE FREEMAN
The Oregonian

As Kevin Pritchard, the Portland Trail Blazers general manager, stood glowing outside the Rose Garden on Wednesday, the Blazers' ticket office was buzzing.

Beyond the glass doors of Suite 100 and just past a banner reading "MONUMENTAL, HISTORICAL, EPIC: Portland Lands the No. 1 Pick," a sales staff of more than 20 was securing season tickets and sponsorships for the 2007-08 season during what one Blazers executive called the biggest single day in the history of the franchise.

The Tuesday surprise revealing that the Blazers had won the NBA draft lottery and the first pick in the June 28 player draft has injected a sense of optimism and hope to the Blazers and their fans that has the Rose City talking positively about professional basketball again.

"It's a great time to be a Blazers fan," said Steve Sather of Portland, standing outside the Rose Garden after purchasing season tickets for the first time. "Blazermania is back."

The franchise that mockingly has been called the "Jail Blazers" for most of the 21st century may have ditched its negative reputation, thanks to one lucky night.

The Blazers said they generated $1 million in ticket revenue Tuesday night alone, and in the 23 hours that followed the lottery, they netted $2.5 million -- the largest revenue-producing day in franchise history.

The NBA said only two teams sold 3,000 new season tickets during all of last year. But league sources said Wednesday afternoon that the Blazers had sold nearly 2,000 since the lottery. One Blazers spokesperson said the franchise already had sold 25 percent more season tickets than all of last year.

"It's a rush that we've never seen," said Mike Golub, the Blazers' executive vice president for business operations. "(Tuesday) was an incredible gift to the franchise. We felt we were doing the right thing and heading in the right direction, but this is sort of a turbocharge that was never expected.

"It was the biggest single day in the history of the franchise. Period. Just a huge boom."

About 50 Blazers employees began taking ticket requests moments after the franchise learned it had landed the top pick at 5:54 p.m. Tuesday and continued until the last phone call came in around 2 a.m. Wednesday. Some members of the sales staff worked past 3 a.m.

Golub said the team's Web site, trailblazers.com, drew more than 100,000 unique visitors and more than 300,000 page views Tuesday night -- its highest daily total ever. It was so much activity that the site crashed at least twice.

Meanwhile, a thirsty fan base rejoiced across Portland. Minutes after the Blazers scored the top pick, the news was announced at a high school baseball game at Westmoreland Park as more than 100 spectators cheered. The buzz continued Wednesday.

Standing on Third Avenue in downtown Portland, Jeff Glanville wore a Blazers polo shirt -- "I had to capture the karma," he said -- and talked with friends, gloating about his favorite team's good fortune. He said he envisions a star-studded Blazers lineup that immediately will compete for the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

"You have this core that you can build a championship contender around and they're all under 23," said Glanville, a season-ticket holder since 1997. "You can contend for a decade."

Across town at a bus stop outside the Rose Garden, fans already were debating what figures to be a hot topic until the draft takes place: Which highly coveted player should the Blazers select? Bulky freshman center Greg Oden of Ohio State or versatile freshman forward Kevin Durant of the University of Texas?

"Kevin Durant is good, but we have to take Oden," Lonzo West of Gresham said. "You have to take the big man. If (the Blazers) do that, I will be coming to Blazer games."

Before West could elaborate, his friend, Adrean Williams, interjected: "You've got to take Kevin Durant because he's more versatile, and he could do more things on the floor. I know it's hard to pass up on a good center, but you have to do it."

Rip City -- a term coined by former announcer Bill Schonely to reflect Portland's love of the Blazers -- may be back.

"It's unbelievable. I mean, un-be-lievable," Pritchard said of the response from fans. "Our ticket sales, our sponsorships, my phone. My phone broke. I landed in Portland (at the airport Wednesday), and I had so many things going on with my cell phone, it broke. This is what we've always been waiting for. We've caught a break and now we have to make the best decision."

Joe Freeman: 503-294-5183; joefreeman@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1179977118310910.xml&coll=7

[James Bond Agent 007]

I can think of a great spot for this: 5th Avenue and (I think) 31st Street. It's an empty lot just south of the prime 5th Avenue retail district, and it's just waiting for a Nordy's. I saw it when I went to Manhattan over Christmas and thought to myself, "Damn, that would be a great spot for Nordy's." We'll see if I'm right.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003728220_webnordstrom30.html

Nordstrom hires consultant to find store location in Manhattan
By Monica Soto Ouchi
Seattle Times retail reporter

Upscale retailer Nordstrom said today that it hired Madison Retail Group to find a location in the highly competitive and costly Manhattan market.

Nordstrom has long sought to open a store in Manhattan, but its largest barriers have been finding enough space (it needs at least 200,000-square feet), and at a price per square foot that enables it to turn a profit.

In a prior interview, President Blake Nordstrom said the company won't go into the market blindly, "because it's so expensive to do business there. But if the right opportunity availed itself, it's our No. 1 priority. We think it's important on a lot of fronts to be in Manhattan."

Manhattan will remain the last major U.S. market where the company doesn't have a presence, when Nordstrom opens a Boston area store this fall.

The company also plans to open new full-time stores this year in Novi, Mich., Denver, Colo., and a new Nordstrom Rack at Southcenter Square in Tukwila.

Madison Retail Group provides lease and tenant services for retail tenants, landlords and developers throughout the country.

Nordstrom's stock closed today at $51.27, up 19 cents.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Well I've just been informed that the vacant lot I was thinking of is at 39th and 5th, not 31st and 5th, and that there's a tower proposed for that site.

Oh well. :shrug:

[Dougall5505]

IKEA Portland to open July 25
Posted by The Oregonian May 30, 2007 13:25PM
Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA announced today its first Oregon store will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday July 25.

The 280,000 square foot store, on 19 acres, will anchor Cascade Station, a 120-acre mixed-use development planned to include office, hotel and retail near Portland International Airport. The store is under construction at the southwest corner of Interstate 205 and Airport Way.

Like many of its more than 250 stores worldwide, IKEA's Portland store will offer 50 different room settings, three model homes, supervised children's play areas and a 250-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties.

A MAX light rail stop is located near the front of the store, which will include about 1,200 parking spaces and 75 bicycle racks.

-- Dylan Rivera
dylanrivera@news.oregonian.com

[65MAX]

IKEA Portland to open July 25

:banana:

[der Reisender]

that's two for the Portland area then...

Precision joins S&P 500
Portland Business Journal - 1:37 PM PDT Thursday, May 31, 2007

Precision Castparts Corp. is the newest member of the S&P 500 index, Standard & Poor's announced late yesterday.

The Portland-based metals manufacturer replaced Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune Inc., which is being acquired by the Swedish company AstraZeneca Plc.

Some consider the S&P 500 the best indicator of the health of the nation's economy. It's a collection of large-cap stocks that roughly mirrors the performance of the market.

Most companies get a bump in share price when added to the S&P 500 because hundreds of mutual funds hold the same stock allocation as the index in order to track the market.

The company's shares climbed more than 3 percent today, setting a new 52-week high of more than $120. Heavy trading continued after the markets closed.

Precision is expected to post $6.5 billion in revenue this fiscal year.

[James Bond Agent 007]

The Columbia Basin natural gas thread seems to have gone kaput so I'll put this here instead.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=1196D5B682676AE0&p_docnum=1

PUBLISHED ON May 27, 2007
Basin draws hunters of natural gas
By LEAH BETH WARD YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

When longtime state lands geologist Bill Lingley traded job security for the risky world of prospecting for natural gas, heads turned.

Lingley, 59, quit the Department of Natural Resources in December after 21 years to become vice president of exploration for Exxel Energy Corp., a startup based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The low-key geologist had spent much of his career studying the stubborn basalt of the Columbia River Basin, long believed to be a potentially prolific, deep sea of natural gas.

After Exxel announced Lingley's move, some investors reasoned he knew something they didn't. Financial message boards buzzed with speculation.

"This is big news for the CRB," said one anonymous posting. CRB is the shorthand used for the Columbia River Basin, which cuts a swath of Central Washington from Kittitas County south into north- central Oregon.

Wall Street analyst Eric Hagen of First Albany Capital calls the basin "the highest potential natural gas resource play being evaluated in North America."

As a state employee, Lingley always erred on the side of caution when talking about the basin's production potential. His job, he says, was to provide scientific information to help policymakers.

But now he's free to express the excitement of a treasure hunter: "Obviously I'm wildly enthusiastic about the basin or I wouldn't have taken this job."

Exxel has the third-largest position in the basin behind two other companies and plans to drill its first exploratory well sometime this year.

Department lawyers cleared Lingley's move, and his superiors tried unsuccessfully to keep him with a counteroffer. According to state Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland, Lingley wasn't involved in the Exxel leases, nor was he privy to any drilling data that weren't already public.

Sutherland's take on Lingley's move is simple: "He strikes me as an old dog looking for a new bone and he's really excited about it."

So is there a bounty of natural gas in the Columbia River Basin? And if so, is the state ready for a boom?

Most experts agree there is gas in the sands below 14,000 feet, though more shallow reservoirs are also thought to exist.

Shell and Arco drilled two wells in the mid-1980s that displayed promising initial results but were subsequently capped and abandoned because drilling costs became prohibitive.

Technically the wells could be reopened, but drilling technology has advanced so much that it makes sense to start fresh. An exploratory well can cost up to $25 million.

But a few years ago, Shell got back into the game, paying an undisclosed amount for an interest in exploratory wells being drilled by EnCana.

EnCana, based in Calgary, Alberta, with U.S. headquarters in Denver, is the largest natural gas producer in North America, specializing in hard-to-find reserves.

Lingley isn't privy to Shell and EnCana's drilling intelligence, but he believes it's significant that Shell likely spent millions to get a share of what it once owned in full.

"I think that shows you the sincerity of their interest," he said.

Typically, one company leases the mineral rights on public and private lands, and then invites other investors to take a working interest in order to spread around the financial risk.

Getting information on what kind of results EnCana has met with so far on two completed wells - one near Sunnyside, the other near Mattawa - is an investor's stock-in-trade, but a difficult one.

The company has promised updates but has backed off earlier statements that it would have something to report in the first quarter of 2007.

Investors have been tantalized. In November 2006, EnCana said the region could hold a whopping 450 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas.

Put another way, the basin has a potential of producing seven to eight times more in natural gas in a day than Alaska's Prudhoe Bay yields in oil.

In 2002, the United States used about 22.8 Tcf of natural gas. A trillion cubic feet of natural gas can heat 15 million homes for one year.

As its source for the 450 Tcf estimate, EnCana cited Ross Smith Energy Group, an independent energy research firm based in Calgary. Ross Smith officials didn't return calls requesting comment.

EnCana - which is drilling its third exploratory well near Beverly in Grant County- has since removed the eye-popping figure from its Web site.

Ron Teissere, the DNR's state geologist and oil and gas supervisor, said he thinks the information was taken down because the company is discouraged about its Columbia Basin prospects.

But a spokeswoman for EnCana said the company routinely "refreshes" its Web site and that the removal of the presentation to investors has no significance.

"They are just periodically taken off and something else is put on," said Wendy Wiedenbeck, spokeswoman for EnCana in Denver.

According to reports by Wall Street analysts who follow the company, EnCana executives last summer called the results "better in some ways than anticipated."

But Wiedenbeck said the company has no updates: "There is no new information to share," she said.

Companies must file drilling data with the state - regardless of whether it's on public or private land - but the information, by law, is confidential for one year.

Investors aren't the only ones guessing what lies below the basalt. Environmentalists, too, are in the dark.

Environmental groups were invited to participate in an Oil and Gas Work Group that met last year at the direction of the Legislature. Lawmakers had noticed the increase in exploratory drilling and wanted a review of existing laws.

But the Sierra Club, Washington Environmental Council and Audubon Society declined, citing a heavy workload that keeps them busy on the health of the Puget Sound and climate change, among other issues.

"We just don't have the bandwidth to deal with everything," said Nina Carter, executive director of the Audubon Society of Washington.

But she said her counterparts in Wyoming, a natural gas-producing state, have made her aware of the environmental risks once a discovery is made.

"When these things take off, it's full-blown development. It's roads, waste and water," she said.

WashPIRG, the Washington State Public Interest Research Group, has kept a distant eye on the industry's activities in the region.

"The difficulty has been determining whether the industry is just sort of poking around or whether they really do have a good hunch," said Bill LaBorde, executive director.

Active participants in the work group included private industry, DNR, the Department of Ecology and legislative staffers for House and Senate energy and natural resource committees.

Despite the increase in drilling, the work group concluded that the state doesn't need a new regulatory apparatus to oversee the industry.

For example, the group recommended against re- establishing the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission because of "the current lack of production in the state and the limited production likely to come online in the state in the foreseeable future."

Oil- and natural gas- producing states like Texas, New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado all have conservation commissions to oversee the industry's activities. The quasi-judicial bodies are charged with preventing wasteful production, ensuring that all owners of oil or gas in a pool are getting their fair share and protecting underground freshwater.

The Legislature abolished Washington state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 1994 because the burst of exploratory drilling in the 1980s ended without a discovery.

The industry subsequently left the state and the three-member commission was seen as an unnecessary bureaucracy. Its duties were transferred to the Division of Geology and Earth Resources in DNR.

The division, however, has no funding or staff, "making the oversight of oil and gas activity limited at best," according to the final report of the work group. Drilling activity meantime has increased from one or two wells statewide a year to 14 pending drilling applications as of the first of the year.

But the answer to limited oversight isn't to reconstitute the conservation commission, some say.

"You don't need an Oil and Gas Conservation Commission unless you're Texas and we ain't going to be Texas anytime soon," said Teissere, whose division handles well permitting.

Taking a different position is Yakima's Hiram White, a former member of the now-defunct commission. He also served on the work group.

He said a conservation commission would provide a needed counterbalance to power now lodged in DNR's geology division.

"I'm not comfortable with government authority coming from one fountainhead," White said.

It's difficult for the Legislature to prepare for a major find until it happens, said Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, chairman of the House Technology, Energy & Communications Committee.

"You don't want to create a bureaucracy, but I don't think we have enough of a system in place," said Morris, who kept abreast of the work group's deliberations.

Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D- Seattle, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean and Recreation Committee, has gone so far as to call for a state production tax on fossil fuels. Known as a severance tax on minerals "severed" from the ground, such taxes have created giant permanent trust funds in big energy states.

Jacobsen thinks the Legislature should act sooner rather than later to avoid giving the industry the upper hand.

"It's easier to get something in place before a discovery because afterward you get the industry lobby in here and it will be much more difficult," he said.

For his part, Lingley's informed hunch is that there will eventually be a discovery, even if it takes a whole lot of dry wells first.

"The Shell wells (from the '80s) were so encouraging that it strikes me as exceedingly unlikely there won't be a discovery," he said.

His advice? Stay tuned.

[Fiat Lux]

The top 5 appreciating house markets are Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660225790,00.html

http://deseretnews.com/photos/4195447.jpg

[MarkDaMan]

Cargo pours through port
New shipping lines, auto imports spur rapid growth
Portland Business Journal - June 1, 2007
by Matt Kish
Business Journal staff writer

The Port of Portland is on pace for the best year of any major West Coast cargo port.

The port moved the equivalent of 80,000 20-foot cargo containers in the first four months of 2007, a 58 percent increase from last year.

"We're forecasting increases across the board in every category," said Josh Thomas, a port spokesman. "We're seeing sustained growth."

The growth comes at a time when cargo traffic has slowed in most of California and Washington. Ports in Seattle, Tacoma, Oakland and Long Beach have endured small decreases in the number of containers moved in the first four months of the year.

Traffic in Tacoma dropped 4 percent. Seattle and Oakland each had more than 2 percent decreases. Long Beach dockworkers moved 1 percent fewer boxes.

The Port of Los Angeles is the only other major West Coast port to have an increase in cargo traffic this calendar year, booking an 8 percent increase through April. Industry sources attribute the growth in Los Angeles to the resolution of problems stemming from a 2002 labor strike at West Coast ports.

In October 2002, a 10-day strike by longshoremen left a backlog of hundreds of thousands of cargo containers on the West Coast. After the strike ended, cargo dispersed up and down the coast in order to quickly relieve the congestion. Some of those shippers are finally returning to Southern California.

Several factors contributed to the Port of Portland's early success this year, most notably the addition of two new shipping lines last year. Zim American Integrated Shipping Services Co. and Yang Ming Lines began service in mid-2006 and replaced "K" Line and Hyundai, which pulled out in 2005.

The port also set a record for auto imports last year, unloading more than 460,000 new cars. It expects to set another record this year as Toyota and Honda -- the two biggest auto importers in Portland -- continue doing well. Toyota surpassed General Motors in car and truck sales in the first three months of 2007 for the first time. Honda sales also continue climbing.

"The partners we're doing business with are thriving," Thomas said.

The port has also made several recent investments in Terminal 6, its largest cargo terminal, to make it more attractive to international shippers. Last September, the port began a $6 million project to improve rail service to the terminal.

The port also added a third Post-Panamax container crane to T-6 last year. The phrase "Post-Panamax" refers to ships that are too wide to fit through the Panama Canal. Such ships are increasingly popular among transpacific shippers. Post-Panamax cranes are big enough to unload such a ship without having to reposition it, saving shippers critical unloading time.

In October, the Port of Portland placed a $7.8 million order for a fourth crane, which will arrive in early 2008.

Ample dock space has also been a benefit. Toyota broke ground in April on a 30,000-square-foot addition to its existing distribution center at Terminal 4. Toyota leased an additional 15 acres from the port in September, bringing its total local acreage to 110. It also has its eyes on a 5-acre parcel adjacent to its property.

Cargo traffic has hit a plateau at other West Coast ports as some volume is returning to Southern California.

"Our volumes have leveled off," said Mike Wasem, spokesman for the Port of Tacoma. "Although we're still operating at record volumes."

In 2006, the Port of Tacoma moved 2.1 million 20-foot container equivalents, also known as TEUs, or cargo containers. It expects to move roughly the same number in 2007.

"Then we'll begin experiencing some rather pronounced growth," Wasem said.

The Tacoma port expects to exceed 3 million cargo containers by 2010 and in excess of 10 million by 2020.

The Port of Portland is planning to accommodate as many as 777,000 TEUs by 2020.

mkish@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3414
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/06/04/story1.html?t=printable

[James Bond Agent 007]

State says average wage rose 5.4 percent last year
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 12:38 PM PDT Friday, June 8, 2007

The average annual wage in Washington increased by 5.4 percent last year to $42,584, according to state officials.

It's the largest percentage increase since 1999, according to the Employment Security Department.

The increase is important because the average wage is used to compute unemployment insurance benefits. That means the minimum weekly benefit will rise to $122 from $116. The maximum benefit will rise to $515 from $496. Employment Security officials say about 22 percent of those collecting unemployment benefits receive the maximum amount and 5 percent receive the minimum amount.

The average wage increase also hits employers in the pocketbook because it's used to compute employers' unemployment taxes: Starting Jan. 1, employers will pay unemployment taxes on the first $34,000 paid to each employee; up from $31,400 this year.

"The wage growth is yet another sign of how strong our economy is, and the increase in unemployment benefits further reflects that strength," said Karen Lee, commissioner of the Employment Security Department, in a statement.

[SEA-TOWN]

The Tacoma port expects to exceed 3 million cargo containers by 2010 and in excess of 10 million by 2020.

10 million!? I'll believe it when I see it.

[James Bond Agent 007]

June 12, 2007 11:36 a.m. PT
WA jobless rate stays low at 4.6 percent
By DAVID AMMONS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington's unemployment rate edged upward to 4.6 percent last month, but remains at historic lows, the state Employment Security Department said Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted rate for May inched up from the previous month's record low of 4.4 percent. State economists said the change was not considered statistically significant. Anything lower than 5 percent is typically viewed as full employment.

The department said the state is in the "mature stage of an expansion," whereas the 2005 and 2006 job growth largely reflected the state's recovery from recession.

The latest rate was down 0.5 percentage points from a year ago. The national rate, 4.5 percent, was unchanged from last month, but down 0.1 percentage points from one year ago.

Since May 2006, payroll employment is up 2.1 percent. Nationally, employment rose 1.4 percent.

Department labor analysts said Washington employers added 6,400 nonfarm jobs last month, but that the jobless rate actually rose because more unemployed people began looking for work.

About 145,000 were actively looking for jobs.

Both Gov. Chris Gregoire and Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee urged jobless people to visit a local WorkSource office to get job listings and advice on interviewing, resumes, and searching for work. The agency has a Web site, http://www.go2worksource.com.

Most sectors of the economy reported employment gains, led by professional and business services with 1,900 new jobs. Construction was up 1,200, wholesale trade up 800 and education and health services up 800.

Aerospace added 500, manufacturing companies 300, retailers 700 and leisure and hospitality 400.

Some sectors were down, including information services, down 400.

Unemployment rates, not seasonally adjusted, in metropolitan areas around the state: Bellingham, 3.8 percent; Bremerton, 4.1; Longview, 5.7; Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 4.4; Olympia, 4; Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, 3.9; Spokane, 4; Tacoma, 4.4; Tri-Cities, 4.4; Wenatchee, 4.8; and Yakima, 5.7.

These labor market areas also reported: Aberdeen, 6.1 percent; Centralia, 6.1; Ellensburg, 4; Moses Lake, 5.1; Oak Harbor, 4.5; Port Angeles, 4.9; Pullman, 3.4; Shelton, 5.2; and Walla Walla, 4.5.

Unemployment rates in these counties were: Adams, 4.8 percent; Asotin, 4.4; Benton, 4.2; Chelan, 5; Clark, 5.1; Columbia, 6.1; Douglas, 4.5; Ferry, 7.5; Franklin, 5; Garfield, 4.4; Jefferson, 4.2; King, 3.9; Klickitat, 6; Lincoln, 4.5; Okanogan, 5.9; Pacific, 5.8; Pend Oreille, 6; San Juan, 3.2; Skamania, 5.2; Snohomish, 4.2; Stevens, 6; and Wahkiakum, 5.6.

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003745381_bizbriefs13.html

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Solar firm plans Portland factory

A California company says it is opening a Portland factory to make silicon wafers for the photovoltaic industry.

Solaicx of Santa Clara, Calif., said Tuesday it has leased a 136,000-square-foot building in a Port of Portland industrial district.

The company said in a news release that it expects to create 100 jobs by the end of the year. At full capacity, Solaicx said, the facility will produce 142 megawatts' worth of solar ingots and wafers a year.

The company cited Oregon's efforts to nurture renewable sources of energy.

[MarkDaMan]

^^^^big news!

Solar developer plans Rivergate wafer plant
Industry - California-based Solaicx intends to employ 100 people by year's end, making products for solar cells
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
GAIL KINSEY HILL
The Oregonian

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Solaicx on Tuesday announced plans for a silicon wafer-making plant in Portland, handing Oregon public officials another win in efforts to make the state a hotbed of clean tech development.

Solaicx is the second solar energy company this year to commit to a major manufacturing facility in Oregon. In March, SolarWorld Group in Germany announced it would convert an idle semiconductor plant in Hillsboro into a solar cell facility that, when fully operational, would be the largest of its kind in the country.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who has made renewable energy a centerpiece of his legislative agenda, said the double-barreled announcements bolster arguments that clean technologies can power an economic surge.

Solaicx's expansion plans confirm the state "is on track to become the national leader in renewable energy," Kulongoski said Tuesday in a statement.

Solaicx has leased a 136,000-square-foot facility in Portland's Rivergate district for the manufacture of silicon ingots and wafers. The products are used to make solar cells, which go into the photovoltaic panels that are popping up on business and residential rooftops as a national green-energy movement gains momentum.

Company officials said they plan to invest $52 million in the Portland plant and employ 100 people by year's end. Production capacity could double by the end of 2008 and eventually triple, said John Sedgwick, Solaicx co-founder and vice president of sales and marketing.

"We've been working on this for a long time," Sedgwick said. "We're ecstatic."

Sedgwick said the area's work force, with experience in the semiconductor industry and silicon making, attracted Solaicx to the area.

"The ready availability of skilled people was far and away the main reason for choosing Portland," he said.

Generous income tax breaks, relatively low-cost power and the metropolitan area's reputation as a green energy hub also drew the company to Portland, he said. Oregon allows renewable energy businesses, such as solar cell makers and wind farm developers, to take a 35 percent tax credit, spread over five years, on eligible projects costing up to $10 million.

A bill making its way through the Legislature ups the credit to 50 percent and the project cost to as much as $20 million.

"We love the incentives," Sedgwick said. The expanded credit would be "icing on the cake."

Solaicx is a five-year-old company, with headquarters, research and development and a pilot manufacturing plant in Santa Clara. It will consolidate its manufacturing operation in Portland, using technologies that allow for the production of low-cost, high-efficiency silicon wafers, Sedgwick said.

A shortage of silicon and burgeoning demand has pushed up prices for solar panels. Solaicx intends to benefit from these conditions, tapping markets that are growing by 30 percent annually.

Solaicx plans to sell its wafers internationally. California beckons with a huge market for solar arrays as do global solar leaders Japan and Germany.

Sarah Garrison, a business development officer with Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, said the state is well-positioned to take advantage of the growth in solar technologies.

"It feels like the 1980s boom in semiconductor investment," she said. "We're really going from strength in the Silicon Forest with wafer fabrication plants to this as an emerging industry."

Gail Kinsey Hill: 503-221-8590; gailhill@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1181705156214360.xml&coll=7

[James Bond Agent 007]

I liked the front page of today's Seattle Times. :cool:

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9292/seattletimes061307oi0.jpg

[MarkDaMan]

^^^
Boeing sees strong demand amid hints of a 50-jet order
Portland Business Journal - 9:56 AM PDT Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Officials at The Boeing Co. said in the next 20 years the commercial airplane market will add more than 28,000 new planes worth $2.8 trillion.

And Chicago-based Boeing's (NYSE: BA) future looks brighter, with International Lease Finance Corp. of Los Angeles, which leases planes to airlines all over the world, expected to announce a massive order -- 50 Boeing 787s -- valued at between $5 billion and $10 billion.

The order is reported to be officially announced next week at the Paris Air Show.

Boeing said its $2.8 trillion market projection is based on a 5 percent annual increase in passenger traffic and a 6.1 percent annual increase in air cargo traffic.

Regionally, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to order 36 percent of those new planes, with North America expected to order 26 percent and the Europe-Russia region expected to order 25 percent.

Boeing said it expects the market in the next 20 years to order 17,650 single-aisle planes, 6,290 twin-aisle planes, 960 jumbo planes of 747 size or larger and 3,700 regional jets with less than 90 seats.

"The single-aisle segment will continue to have the greatest demand in terms of units," said Randy Tinseth, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president, in a statement.

Boeing of Portland in Gresham builds parts for the 787.
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/06/11/daily32.html?t=printable

[James Bond Agent 007]

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

WA revenues surge; reserves back over $1 billion
By DAVID AMMONS
AP POLITICAL WRITER

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington's strong economy is eventually expected to cool off, but the good times are still rolling and will produce another tax windfall of nearly $484 million, state revenue officials said Thursday.

The surge drives the state's projected reserves back over the $1 billion mark, even after the heavy spending of the Democratic Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire this year. Minority Republicans, heavily outgunned in the last session, had warned that Democrats were spending too much and saving too little.

The new projection, unanimously approved by the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, was unexpectedly strong and eases concerns of a deficit in two to four years.

"For the foreseeable future, the red ink is gone," said Rep. Jim McIntire, D-Seattle, an economist who heads the bipartisan council of administration officials and lawmakers.

"This forecast is a good sign that our economy is still strong," Gregoire said in a statement released by her budget office.

Still, chief economist ChangMook Sohn continued to warn that a slowdown remains on the horizon and that the torrid economy is expected to slow somewhat in the next two years. No recession is forecast and the state continues to outpace the national economy with job growth of at least 2 percent a year, he said.

Sohn said the new forecast marks the 15th quarterly expansion since the state pulled out of recession. The good news reflects stronger construction activity and growth in personal income than the council projected in March, he said.

Aerospace, software and construction all remain quite vibrant and the Puget Sound metro area's broad strength boosts the state numbers significantly, Sohn said. The economy is generating about 60,000 new jobs each year, he said.

"Consumer and business spending in Washington remains strong," he said.

Sohn said he expects $195.1 million in new revenue to roll in by June 30, the end of this two-year budget cycle, and a $288.5 million increase for the new biennium that begins July 1.

He said the $484 million increase is a huge number, but is only "minor fine-tuning" in the context of a $30 billion budget.

The new projected surplus now tops $1.2 billion, even after lawmakers adopted a state operating budget that spent heavily into the previous reserves.

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, who wrote the Senate's version of the operating budget, said lawmakers shouldn't lust after the new money. He and McIntire said a big share of the windfall will go into reserves and be kept for a future downturn.

"It's steady as she goes," Pridemore said.

Gregoire said the new forecast "strengthens my conviction that we made the right investments in education, health care and jobs" in recent budgets.

"But we are very much aware that high fuel prices and weaknesses in the U.S. real estate market can affect Washington in the future," she said. "We must continue to be fiscally responsible."

State budget chief Victor Moore added: "This forecast provides fresh evidence that our economy is continuing to move forward. This allows us to increase our reserves, which includes the proposed rainy day fund, so we can protect our important investments in education, health care and economic development against potential economic downturns."

The forecast will give the state more than $360 million for a rainy day account. The Legislature is asking voters to approve a mandatory savings account that will require the state to automatically contribute 1 percent of the state general revenue into a hard-to-tap fund.

Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, the Senate Republicans' budget leader, objected when Democrats on the panel talked about projected deficits being erased.

"We didn't make up the numbers," which showed a potential shortfall of over $1 billion in four years, he said. Zarelli conceded, "At this point things are well. This is good news," but said if lawmakers continue to spend more than they take in, a big deficit remains quite possible.

The Washington State Budget & Policy Center, a private nonprofit think tank, said the forecast shouldn't be used as ammunition for a tax cut.

"The improved outlook is not sufficient to close the gap between the cost of even maintaining current commitments ... over the next six years," the group said.

[65MAX]

^^^^
That's what happens when Democrats are in charge.

[pdxman]

Amen to that ^^^ The oregon legislature couldn't find their way out of a plastic bag. Probably one of the worst in the country when it comes to getting MEANINGFUL things done

[MarkDaMan]

^let the stigma go...for the first time Oregon has a rainy day fund, substantial investment in higher ed, schools with an adequate budget, renewable energy tax breaks and future quotas, civil unions for gay couples as well as an anti-discrimination law. All in all I give this legislature a lot of credit for what they have done, despite the GOP undermining the process again and again in the house. When the dem majority strengthens in '08, the '09 legislature should be able to pass some more contentious issues, like tax reform.

[Snowden352]

from Forbes.com
Market Scan
AMD Outsourcing Leads To Intel Upgrade
Joshua Lipton, 06.15.07, 11:30 AM ET

AMD will be moving to a mostly outsourced manufacturing model in 2008 and, while the Street has zeroed-in on how this effort will benefit AMD, the real winner could be the company's rival, Intel.

On Friday morning, James Covello, analyst at Goldman Sachs, upgraded Intelto "buy" from "neutral" and raised his 12-month price target by $6 to $28. Covello told clients he upgraded his rating because AMD's likely move to an outsourced business model will create significant benefits for Intel over the longer term.

Specifically, Covello thinks AMD's decision to outsource manufacturing will translate into a sustainable advantage for Intel. The reason is because it will be harder for AMD to maintain any technology advantage while manufacturing its products on outsourced, foundry technology while Intel manufactures its products in-house.

Also, with Intel the only company still building factories now, the company can be more judicious about when to add capacity, Covello said.

In morning trading on Friday, shares of Intel jumped 3.4%, or 80 cents, to $24.03. Shares of AMD increased 0.7%, or 9 cents, to $13.87.

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

NW top 100 companies

http://texis.seattletimes.nwsource.com/nw100/
You can find more about the top 5 and the rest of them in the link above^^^^
Buyouts reshape region's business
By Drew DeSilver

Seattle Times business reporter



A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TOP 5

No. 1: PW Eagle

No. 2: City Bank

No. 3: aQuantive

No. 4: Concur Technologies

No. 5: Pope Resources


Where are they now?
Want to buy stock in PW Eagle, the Eugene, Ore., pipe maker that just topped The Seattle Times' Northwest 100 ranking of the best-performing public companies for the second year in a row? Better hurry up — in a few weeks it'll be off the market.

How about aQuantive, the hot online-advertising company that came in third in the Northwest 100 derby? Sorry — Microsoft beat you to it.

Maybe a nice, stable utility stock such as Cascade Natural Gas? Nope — it's being bought by a North Dakota utility, in a deal expected to close later this year.

Those three are among 20 Northwest public companies that have been acquired, taken private, or are in the process of being bought since the beginning of 2006. It's the regional reflection of a national and international buyout wave that is reshaping the landscape of American business.

The buyouts can have broad impacts on communities. New owners often cut payrolls or move jobs — particularly headquarters jobs — out of the area. Fewer home offices can mean fewer experienced executives to lead nonprofit groups and fewer corporate sponsors for symphonies and softball teams.

Move along



Lots of turnover in the Northwest 100. Of last year's top 20 companies, only 11 were ranked among that elite group this year.
And while investors can get a big one-time payday, they miss out on the opportunity to participate in a successful company's future growth. Many Icos investors, for instance, who had bought into the Bothell-based biotech when it was young and struggling, bitterly opposed management's decision to sell the company to Eli Lilly just as it stood to reap the rewards from its impotence drug Cialis.

class="body"Record corporate profits have made it easier for companies to snap up competitors, as J-M Manufacturing is doing with PW Eagle for $400 million, or buy their way into new business lines, as Microsoft is doing with aQuantive for $6 billion.

Often they're competing with private-equity firms that, bulging with billions in investors' cash, have stormed through corporate America like Christmas shoppers at Pacific Place.

State tops in Top 10



Seven of this year's Top 10 companies are based in Washington state, one more than last year; Oregon had two and Idaho one. Two years ago, Oregon companies grabbed six of the top 10 spots.
In April, the family that had run Longview Fibre since it was founded 80 years ago sold it to a Canadian asset-management firm. Last year, Francisco Partners and Vector Capital teamed up to buy Seattle's WatchGuard Technologies.

All told, about one of every eight publicly traded companies in the Northwest has been sucked up by the wave of deals since the beginning of 2006. Ten were bought or merged in 2006, six more have been bought out so far this year, and four more deals are pending.

Nonpublic companies are being swept up, too. Among the dozens of locally based private companies bought last year were biotech Corus Pharma ($365 million) and billing-software developer Qpass ($275 million); earlier this year, high-speed Internet company Speakeasy sold out to Best Buy for $97 million.

Staying power



The Northwest 100 isn't big on repeat performances. In the 16 years we've been ranking companies, only four companies have placed in the top 10 more than three times:
• Microsoft, the all-time champion with nine entries, most recently in 2000.
• Expeditors International, with seven appearances, most recently in 2003.
• Nike, five times, most recently in 1997.
• Monaco Coach, four times, most recently in 2002.
Last year there were 12,553 deals involving U.S. companies, a 15 percent increase from 2005, according to data compiled by Thomson Financial. Last year's deals were worth more than $1.7 trillion, up 34.5 percent from 2005.

And the pace is picking up. Through May, according to Thomson, there have been 5,341 deals worth nearly $1.1 trillion this year.

What's fueling all the buyout activity? Money, and lots of it.

"Companies seem to be really flush with cash right now," said Peter Brous, a finance professor at Seattle University's Albers School of Business. Many companies are holding 40 percent or more of their assets in cash, he said.

But cash hoards also can make companies attractive takeover targets, Brous said — perhaps giving them an extra incentive to spend on acquisitions.

Private-equity firms and hedge funds also have big war chests, which have helped them become major players in the buyout market.

Where've you been?



The longest gap between appearances in the Top 10 was nine years, shared by Sterling Financial (1995 and 2004) and Barrett Business Services (1996 and 2005).
"There is just a huge supply of private equity out there," said Brad Gevurtz, head of investment banking for D.A. Davidson in Lake Oswego, Ore. "If you've been successful in the past, there's no shortage of capital wanting to invest with you."

Bank interest rates remain low by historical standards, Gevurtz noted, and cheap credit has fueled much of the recent buyout wave.

"A private equity firm with $1 billion of capital can borrow enough money to buy companies worth much more than $1 billion," he said. "If a firm can buy a company with a 25 to 30 percent annual return on investment, they have no problem borrowing money at 8 percent or slightly higher."

The last time deal activity reached current levels was during the go-go years of the late 1990s and early 2000s. But there are some important differences this time around.

During the technology-led boom, Brous said, many more deals were funded with stock than with cash: "The stock market had gone up so much that there was a sense that you were playing with Monopoly money."

In 2000, according to Thomson Financial, 36.4 percent of all U.S. mergers and buyouts were done with stock alone; 18.5 percent were funded by stock and cash, while just 21 percent were cash-only. Last year, by contrast, more than half of deals were all-cash.

Up and down the rankings



Idaho's Hecla Mining won the "most improved" title, rising 76 places in the ranking to land at 48th this year. On the way it passed Portland's Paulson Capital, which was heading in the opposite direction. Paulson plunged 92 spots, falling from 14th place last year to 106th this year. Four companies — including two of the top five, PW Eagle and Pope Resources — held their places two years in a row. The others were Idaho's Coldwater Creek (36th) and Bothell-based Nastech Pharmaceutical (80th).
In the previous boom, many deals were for companies that had no real profits, evanescent sales and business plans that in retrospect seem laughable.

In contrast, Gevurtz said, private-equity firms typically shop for established companies with strong, reliable cash flows, or at least the prospect of them. The idea is to cut their expenses and restructure them as needed, tap the cash flow to service the debt, then resell them — to investors in an initial public offering, to a competitor or, increasingly, to another private-equity firm.

Then there are the "activist" hedge funds and other aggressive institutions, which typically buy big chunks of target companies and then prod management to "maximize shareholder value" — usually code for putting the company on the block.

That's what happened to PW Eagle, which put itself up for sale after coming under pressure from Pirate Capital, a Connecticut hedge fund that owns 22 percent of its outstanding stock.

Pirate also owned a 12.6 percent stake in Cutter & Buck, before the Seattle sportswear company sold itself to New Wave Group earlier this month for $156.5 million.

The surge of deals and rumors of deals has been one factor behind the recent rise in stock prices, Gevurtz said. Some traders are simply looking for the next big jackpot; others, who want to invest for the long term, have fewer publicly traded shares to pick from.

To absent friends



No Puget Sound-based company has topped the Northwest 100 rankings since 2000, when Redmond-based ADIC did. This despite our region having the highest concentration of public companies in the Northwest.
But just as the last merger wave ended with a rash of overpriced, misbegotten deals — the awkward pairing of America Online and Time Warner, the doomed marriage of Kirkland's HomeGrocer.com and online grocer Webvan — some voices are warning of a similar fate.

Even as buyout funds chase bigger and bigger targets, rising bond yields are undercutting the cheap-debt assumptions that have helped fuel the boom.

"We are close to a time when we'll look back and say we did some stupid things," Ken Lewis, chief executive of Bank of America, told an audience in Zurich last month. "We need a little more sanity in a period when everyone feels invincible and thinks this [credit cycle] is different."

[James Bond Agent 007]

Holy mother of Gawd. :eek:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118221513862839877.html

Delta May Be a Big Boeing 787 Buyer
By Paulo Prada

Delta Air Lines Inc., in a sign of its resurgent financial strength and willingness to spend heavily as it expands outside the U.S., is likely to order as many as 125 of Boeing Co.'s new 787 jetliners by the end of this year, its operating chief said.

The order, still being negotiated as Delta mulls potential seat configurations for the planes and how much they could cost to operate and maintain, would be valued at an estimated $20 billion at list prices, although such orders normally carry steep discounts. The 125 would likely include options to buy planes as well ...

[Snowden352]

There was an earlier story (about three months ago) on this: it looks confirmed now.

COOS BAY SHIPPING
Port possibilities afloat
A container terminal is considered for the South Coast
By Winston Ross
The Register-Guard
Published: Thursday, July 5, 2007

COOS BAY - Port officials aren't allowed even to speak the company's name, at least not in public. The company hasn't said publicly that Coos Bay is its preferred destination. The railway hasn't committed to the $150 million in needed improvements to make the project work. The federal government is years away from signing off on any number of obstacles to the biggest single industrial development the South Coast has ever seen.

Building a $500 million to $700 million facility for large shipping containers in a port in this remote locale requires a certain amount of faith.

But if the pieces keep falling into place, this project could transform the local economy in ways not seen since the raging demand for timber products after World War II.

Port officials are negotiating with APM Terminals North America, the U.S. arm of the world's largest shipping company, Dutch-based A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, to bring as many as 2 million shipping containers to Coos Bay's North Spit each year - five times as many as the Port of Portland.

The project would provide as many as 2,500 permanent local jobs and pump almost $130 million in wages into the state economy. Average wages for those jobs are expected to be $52,000, according to a port-commissioned economic development study. The study also projected that indirect effects could mean 10,000 new jobs statewide, many of them in Eugene - the containers' first stop after being taken off ships and loaded onto trains.

The containers carry products such as electronics, clothing and other goods to the United States from abroad.

"The more rail transportation we get in this area (the more it) will help not only with the specific jobs created, but in beefing up the rail access we already have," said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, the county's leading economic development agency. "We can get more shipments, the timing is better. ... Rail access is one of the things a lot of companies are now looking for in terms of location decisions, because trucking is not as competitive with high gas prices."

APM Terminals operates container terminals in 45 ports, according to the company's Web site, and handled more than 28 million containers in 2006 - a growth of more than 18 percent in a year.

"This is huge," said State Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay. "It's as big as anything the state of Oregon has had happen for a long time."

Last week the Legislature sent to Gov. Ted Kulongoski a bill that sets aside $60 million in lottery funding to deepen the shipping channel in Coos Bay from 37 to 51 feet. It is a mammoth task and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is being asked to match that money with $60 million in federal funds, and sign off on the environmental impacts of a dig that would make Coos Bay's channel deeper than the Columbia River.

Verger is confident that the Corps will play ball, but even if it doesn't, she said, APM has agreed to put up the $60 million itself. The company also has agreed to reimburse the state every penny of its investment if the facility isn't built by 2019.

"I'm getting more confident," Verger said, now that the Legislature has acted. "This was a huge hurdle. They had to have dredging."

Verger's confidence is shared by port officials and other experts watching in awe as demand for imports from Asia continues to climb. International trade between Asia and North America is expected to grow by 50 percent in the next eight years, said Martin Callery, director of communications and freight mobility for the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay. By 2025, the numbers are projected to double.

At the same time, existing West Coast ports are running out of room, Callery said. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California are already handling 18 million to 19 million "20-foot equivalent units," or TEUs, each year, compared with about 3.5 million in Oakland, Calif., 3 million in Seattle, 3.2 million in Tacoma and up to 400,000 in Portland. By 2015, experts predict a shortfall in capacity of 20 million containers, Callery said.

Plans to relieve that crunch include widening the Panama Canal, said Ogden Beeman, a Portland-based maritime consultant. But it will be 2015 by the time that project is finished.

In the past, having a shipping container facility come to a remote place such as Coos Bay wouldn't have made sense. With such a small population base in the area, the vast majority of the containers would have to be moved out of the region. A port such as Los Angeles can distribute most of the television sets, stereos, sneakers and furniture Americans are buying from Asia to a local market.

But there's so much demand for imports now that shipping companies are willing to consider "intermodal-only" terminals, Beeman said, meaning terminals where the goods are offloaded from ships and taken to their destination by train or truck. Competing with Coos Bay for this facility were Baja, Mexico, and Prince Rupert, Canada - neither of which is home to a major population center.

"You can't repeat L.A.-Long Beach," Beeman said. But, he added, "There's enough feeling that we're reaching capacity that people are building or planning to build in ports where there is no population. The conventional wisdom is world trade is here to stay." There are many more challenges to overcome, however. One of the biggest questions is whether the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad will agree to the $150 million estimated cost of upgrading its aging single track line from Coquille to Eugene, and whether the APM, with only one option for moving its containers, will be able to negotiate a fair rate with a company that has a monopoly on regional rail transit.

"Your rail is your lifeline," Beeman said. "The ideal situation is if I've got two rail carriers I can play off of each other. If you can't do that ... you work out a deal."

That's another prospect that doesn't worry Verger. The railroad will get $1 billion back for its $150 million investment, Verger said. "(APM) ships 90-plus percent of its product on rail. They'll be shipping eight cars a day out."

Permitting is also a burdensome process, less so if the Corps decides to match funds for dredging the channel. In that case, the Corps becomes the applicant, meaning "the Corps is asking itself for a permit," Beeman said. "That's not to say it's easy, but it's more so than the Port of Coos Bay asking for a permit."

Area environmentalists will ask tough questions about the project's impact on the area's livability and ability to continue to attract retirees fleeing urban areas for more rural surroundings.

Retired Bureau of Land Management forester Ron Sadler said the rail work and dredging work that need to be done will have a big impact on Coos Bay's character.

"The rail line is in very poor shape. It traverses across old wooden trestles, across Tahkenitch and Siltcoos Lake; there's a tunnel that needs to be reworked," Sadler said. As for dredging, "sequestered in those sediments out there are significant loadings of PCBs and various types of organic pollutants. By stirring that stuff up, you cycle through the food chains and ecosystem. It could have significant impacts on clams and oysters."

But Sadler's skepticism may be drowned out by a flood of positive thinking. State Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, who co-sponsored the dredging legislation, said a container facility in Coos Bay could bring a tremendous influx of family-wage jobs to the area, with all kinds of spinoffs in other industries.

"If this comes to pass, it will be the single largest positive impact on the South Coast since I've been here, in 30 years," Roblan said.

Winston Ross can be reached at (541) 902-9030 or rgcoast@oregonfast.net.

WHAT'S NEXT?


• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is being asked to match the Legislature's $60 million with federal funds, and to sign off on the project's environmental impact. If the Corps does not match the money, APM Terminals North America has said it will.

• An estimated $150 million is needed to upgrade the track line from Coquille to Eugene.

• The project must receive the necessary permits.

[JiminyCricket II]

Holy mother of Gawd. :eek:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118221513862839877.html

Delta May Be a Big Boeing 787 Buyer
By Paulo Prada

Delta Air Lines Inc., in a sign of its resurgent financial strength and willingness to spend heavily as it expands outside the U.S., is likely to order as many as 125 of Boeing Co.'s new 787 jetliners by the end of this year, its operating chief said.

The order, still being negotiated as Delta mulls potential seat configurations for the planes and how much they could cost to operate and maintain, would be valued at an estimated $20 billion at list prices, although such orders normally carry steep discounts. The 125 would likely include options to buy planes as well ...

i reported that in the Boeing Boom thread a couple weeks ago... but that was "credible rumor" stuff in the P-I, now looks more and more likely. Also, according to that rumor piece in the P-I, it said that American Airlines was closing in on a "100 plus" order. And United was talking to Boeing about a large order as well. Pretty good times!

[JiminyCricket II]

dp

[destroybananas]

Who's No. 1? Bellevue's the big deal
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - July 6, 2007by Jeanne Lang JonesStaff Writer

Like a kid sister hitting her teens, Bellevue has suddenly become a lot more alluring.

Splashy office and condo deals have surprised property brokers nationally and even in neighboring Seattle, which now faces intense competition from its former bedroom satellite.

[destroybananas]

Seattle schools step up in S&P's bond ratings
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - July 6, 2007by Clay HoltzmanStaff Writer

Seattle Public Schools will have more money to spend on improving buildings, thanks to a higher bond rating issued in June.

The upgrade to AA from AA- by Standard & Poor's was largely based on the district's $61 million in financial reserves, a significant turnaround from financial crisis a few years ago.

[SEA-TOWN]

At the same time, existing West Coast ports are running out of room, Callery said. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California are already handling 18 million to 19 million "20-foot equivalent units," or TEUs, each year, compared with about 3.5 million in Oakland, Calif., 3 million in Seattle, 3.2 million in Tacoma and up to 400,000 in Portland. By 2015, experts predict a shortfall in capacity of 20 million containers, Callery said.

Where do they pull these numbers from? LA/Long Beach handle about 14 million TEU's, Oakland handles about 2.3 million TEU's, and Tacoma/Seattle each handle about 2 million TEU's.

[SEA-TOWN]

Dreamliner chief confident of on-time delivery
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE

The Associated Press

SEATTLE — None of the early problems Boeing encountered with suppliers for its new 787 Dreamliner jet has shaken its confidence that it will smooth out production kinks and deliver the plane on schedule, the head of the program said today.

"We've had challenges. You always have challenges when you have a program this complicated going together in what is really kind of record time," Mike Bair told reporters at a briefing two days before the first 787 was scheduled to be unveiled.

"It's stuff we know what to do with," Bair said. "We are expediting a lot of parts right now, and we're going to make sure we get the production system running the way it needs to run."

The 787 that will be displayed on Sunday still has about 1,000 temporary fasteners that must be replaced with permanent ones, and machinists will have to spend several more weeks installing and testing electrical wiring and other systems before the plane is ready to fly, Bair said.

Flight testing on the midsize, long-haul plane is expected to begin in late August or September, he said.

"We don't schedule first flights," Bair said. "The airplane flies when it's ready. To put a firm date on the calendar might make you do something you don't want to do."

The 787, Boeing's first all-new plane since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995, is scheduled to enter commercial service next May, when Japan's All Nippon Airways takes delivery of the first of 50 Dreamliners it has ordered.

To date, Boeing has won 642 orders for the 787, selling out delivery positions through at least 2013, the year rival Airbus expects to roll out its competing A350 XWB.

It will be the world's first commercial jetliner made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter and sturdier than aluminum. Boeing has said that and other technological advances will make the 787 more fuel-efficient and cheaper to maintain.

Bair said Boeing isn't worried it will run into the types of delays that have plagued Airbus's A380 superjumbo because it comes down to wiring.

He estimated that the A380 has some 350 miles of wiring — the main source of production problems that forced about two years of delays, slashing billions off its profit forecast for the coming years.

"We're not going to have that problem," Bair said, noting that the 787 has about 60 miles of wiring. The A380 is scheduled to enter commercial service in October.


Boeing has said it will deliver 112 787s during its first two years of production, with an ultimate goal of having each plane spend just three days in final assembly, compared to 10-14 days for the larger 777, which like Boeing's older jets is made mostly of aluminum.

Because demand for the 787 has exceeded the company's expectations, it is looking at ways to boost production rates, but is not ready to say how much faster those rates will be or when the increase will happen.

"What we're trying to avoid is making a premature decision on rates that would cause a lot of people to build a lot of facilities they might not need," Bair said.

Though it anticipated the problem, an industrywide shortage of airplane fasteners has proved to be one of the stickiest production snags Boeing has encountered so far.

Bair said it will probably take another month or two before the first 787 gets fully fitted with permanent fasteners, and he expects the shortage to remain a problem for six to nine more months.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

[James Bond Agent 007]

i reported that in the Boeing Boom thread a couple weeks ago... but that was "credible rumor" stuff in the P-I, now looks more and more likely. Also, according to that rumor piece in the P-I, it said that American Airlines was closing in on a "100 plus" order. And United was talking to Boeing about a large order as well. Pretty good times!
I actually reported that before you in the Boeing Boom thread. It was on the previous page to your post.

[Snowden352]

While this isn't BIG news, it's kind of cool to see businesses investing in Portland...

Calypte Begins U.S. Initiative
Monday July 9, 8:30 am ET
Company Secures Manufacturing/Headquarters Facility in Portland Oregon


LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Calypte Biomedical Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: CBMC - News), medical diagnostic tests manufacturer for the rapid detection of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) announced today that it has leased an 11,000+ square foot site located in Portland, Oregon. The site permits the consolidation of its research laboratory and administrative functions under one roof and will become the Company's new headquarters location. The site also provides manufacturing space which the Company plans to utilize to build pilot lots for clinical trials in the U.S. The Company expects these studies to be a prelude for submitting a formal application for approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA").
ADVERTISEMENT


"This facility is our first step in reestablishing our presence in the U.S. diagnostic test market and moving toward approval of our Aware(TM) HIV- 1/2 oral test in the U.S. We plan to start by commencing the process of filing for FDA approval of an oral fluid test for professional use," stated Roger Gale, Calypte's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "One of the uses of funds from the recently-completed PIPE is to advance our efforts to market our oral fluid tests in the U.S. market. Calypte has invested over $3 million to acquire technology and equipment to take advantage of this opportunity."

"While multiple outcomes are possible, our objective for beginning the FDA regulatory process is to ultimately receive approval for manufacturing and distribution of an over-the-counter ("OTC") oral fluid HIV diagnostic test in the U.S.", Mr. Gale concluded.

Calypte plans to occupy its new facility in September 2007.

[snip]

[MarkDaMan]

Almost famous: Oregon biofuels industry gains rock star status
Daily Journal of Commerce
by Libby Tucker
07/10/2007
libby.tucker@djcOregon.com


SALEM – Willie Nelson lent his star power to the Oregon biofuels industry Friday, tossing dirt at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new 5 million gallon biodiesel production plant in Salem.

But the real celebrity at the event – a who’s who in alternative fuels – was Sequential Pacific Biodiesel, the company leading the state’s biofuels revolution.

“For someone into energy policy and technology, working with SeQuential is like touring with Nirvana in high school,” Mark Fitz, operations manager of Star Oil Co., said.

Friday’s groundbreaking was a victory celebration for the industry that’s gained a foothold in its competition with Big Oil.

“We’ve demonstrated a successful case study for what the future holds for the (oil) industry,” Tyson Keever, manager of SeQuential Pacific Biofuels, said.

SeQuential’s Salem production facility supplies 1.5 million gallons each year of biodiesel made from used cooking grease and Oregon-grown canola crops. When the new plant opens, that number will rise to 5 million gallons a year, or up to 16,000 gallons daily.

SeQuential Pacific has worked alongside industry partners and environmental advocates for years lobbying the Oregon Legislature and local governments for statewide support of alternative fuels.

Their efforts paid off this year with the passage of House Bill 2210, which Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed July 3 at SeQuential Pacific’s fueling station in Eugene. The law provides tax incentives for biofuels production and requires all diesel sold in the state to contain at least 2 percent biodiesel and all gasoline to contain at least 10 percent ethanol, once certain in-state production requirements are met.

Also a significant boost to the industry is the city of Portland’s biofuels mandate, which requires all fueling stations in the city to sell 5 percent biodiesel and 10 percent ethanol. Approved by City Council last year, the ordinance went into effect July 1 for distributors, and kicks in for all fueling stations on Aug. 15.

In addition, the city in March awarded $450,000 in grants to biofuels development projects to help ensure a local fuel supply to meet the mandate.

Biofuels industry

a rising star

SeQuential may be the biodiesel rock star, but many more companies will soon rise to fame as the laws and policies put in place this year further spur the biofuels industry.

“This is going to be a huge boost; there’ll be a surge of projects going forward,” Robert Grott, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Business Council, said.

Developers of biofuels production facilities who had been waiting for the legislation to pass will now proceed with their building plans, Grott said. Companies can soon take advantage of new production incentives, granted by the Legislature, as well as the larger demand ensured by the Portland fuel mandate.

As many as 21 biodiesel plants and 10 ethanol plants are being planned for Oregon, according to a March survey conducted by the NEBC. If all are completed, that translates to 315 million gallons of biodiesel and 400 million gallons of ethanol made in Oregon each year, according to the survey.

“We’re actively negotiating to bring biodiesel production to Portland as we speak,” Randy Leonard, Portland city commissioner, said Friday. And, he said, “we’ll continue to give grants until (the industry) takes off.”

Biodiesel headliners

Biodiesel production plants are in the works across the state, fueled by a state renewable fuel standard and local mandates passed within the last year. Some 21 in-state facilities in various stages of development were identified in a March survey by the Northwest Environmental Business Council. Among them:

Existing plants:

SeQuential Pacific, Salem

Madison Farms, Umatilla County

Green Fuels, Klamath Falls

Under-construction plants:

American Biodiesel, Clackamas

Imerjent, Wilsonville

Pendleton Grain Growers, Pendleton

Plants in development:

Renewable Energy Group

Terra Grain Fuels

http://www.djc-or.com/viewStory.cfm?recid=29724&userID=1

[MarkDaMan]

:(

[pdxman]

Zim to Port of Portland: So long

Import, export - Effective Sept. 2, the company's container ships will no longer call in Oregon

Wednesday, July 11, 2007
ALEX PULASKI
The Oregonian Staff
Fourteen months ago, the same week the first Zim container vessel tied up in Portland, a company executive called opportunities in the River City "pretty much endless."

On Tuesday, Port of Portland managers found out that the end had come a lot sooner than Zim, and they, had expected.

Israel-based Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. formally notified the Port that its container ships would no longer call in Portland, effective Sept. 2.

Port executives had hoped Zim's entry into Oregon in May 2006 would lead to a resurgence in container volumes. Import and export of the metal boxes -- vital to overseas movement of consumer goods, from electronics to furniture to sporting goods -- spur job growth for longshoremen, truck drivers and others. Shipping in and out of Portland also provides cost efficiency for retailers, manufacturers and farmers here.

The Port had languished with only two container carriers, Hanjin Shipping and Hapag Lloyd Container Line, for all of 2005. Two carriers had pulled out late in 2004, and container volumes plummeted.

But Zim and Taiwan's Yang Ming Transport Corp. began calling in Portland in 2006. Container volumes have risen more than 40 percent since.

Sam Ruda, the Port's marine director, said Zim was unable to capture as much of the growth as had been expected. Earlier this year, after Yang Ming more than doubled the size of ships on its Portland calls, Zim slipped from second, behind Hanjin, to third in container volume through Portland.

Port officials had earlier projected that Zim would carry about 20 percent of all of Portland's container volume in 2007-2008.

Zim officials in the United States could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon at their Virginia offices. But in a cordial letter sent Tuesday to Ruda, Zim Senior Vice President Chaim Shacham wrote "the current situation for ocean carriers is very harsh. . . . this is the best course of action at this time to protect Zim interests."

Unlike a year ago, when Zim left Seattle to add the Portland stop, Ruda said the line is not adding another U.S. call. He said he had been told that Zim, which transports goods from the Mediterranean and Asia, plans to make Vancouver, B.C., its only North American call.

Ruda said the Port was disappointed by the decision, particularly after wooing Zim for months. But he said container shipping is always volatile.

"I am confident we will recover from this," Ruda said.

Portland is particularly susceptible to the vagaries of container ship deployment because carrier lines do not have dedicated terminals here and hold short-term contracts with the Port. At huge West Coast ports such as Long Beach, Calif., and Tacoma, ports have built multimillion-dollar terminals for lines in exchange for long-term leases.

Alex Pulaski, 503-221-8516; alexpulaski@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1184122528209690.xml&coll=7

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/07/09/daily22.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Washington moves up on 'best state for business' list
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 10:52 AM PDT Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Washington is the fifth-best state in the country for business, according to the latest ranking by Forbes magazine.

Washington moved up seven places on this year's list, tying with Tennessee for the biggest leap of all states. Virginia topped the magazine's rankings, followed by Utah, North Carolina and Texas.

Washington was the only state to score in the top five in the categories of labor (educational attainment, net migration and projected population growth), regulatory environment (regulatory and tort climate, incentives, transportation and bond ratings), and growth (projected job, income and gross state product growth, as well as business openings/closings and venture capital investments).

Not surprisingly, state officials were touting the rankings in a statement issued today.

"Our top five ranking in the Forbes survey confirms that Washington is moving in the right direction and that our state is a great place to do business, work and raise a family," said Gov.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Last updated July 11, 2007 7:54 p.m. PT
Ask.com to open Moses Lake plant
Data center to rely on cheap power
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSES LAKE -- Internet search engine Ask.com plans to open a data center in this central Washington city, the latest high-tech company lured east of the Cascades by cheap hydropower.

"Moses Lake is an ideal location due to its cooperative business environment, access to low-cost, renewable power and superior network connectivity," Chuck Geiger, chief technology officer of Ask.com, said in a statement Wednesday. "With these inherent benefits, Eastern Washington is the right choice for Ask.com as we expand our computing infrastructure."

Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and Intuit Inc., maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks, have opened or plan to open data centers in Quincy, about 30 miles northwest of Moses Lake in Grant County.

"Ask.com's presence in Moses Lake will positively impact our community in a variety of ways, and we are pleased to have them as an integral part of the area," Mayor Ron Covey said. "We look forward to Ask.com's contributions and their ongoing support for the city's economic development."

The company said the new data server would enable Ask.com to support its growing query volume and provide additional computing power for processor-intensive search services, including Ask 3D.

[MarkDaMan]

Distribution center planned for NE Portland
Industry - A Nevada developer has begun construction on the 262,640-square-foot multiuse facility
Thursday, July 12, 2007
DYLAN RIVERA
The Oregonian

In a vote of confidence that regional job growth will remain robust, a large national industrial developer has started construction of a $16 million Northeast Portland distribution center -- without advance commitments from tenants.

Today, DP Partners of Reno will announce plans for LogistiCourt at Portal Way. The 262,640-square-foot facility is DP's first investment in the Portland area, and the company says it's already shopping around for other sites and redevelopment opportunities.

Local companies with industrial or distribution needs should be happy to hear of a new developer competing to house their growth, said Mike Merino, a broker with NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson, which was not part of the deal.

"It gives industrial users one more option. It gives them alternatives," Merino said. "It tells you the Portland industrial market is healthy."

Last month, DP Partners bought 13.5 acres for the project from the Portland Development Commission. The firm agreed to start construction on the center by the fall and to make a good- faith effort to meet city construction contracting standards, among other requirements, said Kirk Olsen, northwestern area manager for DP Partners.

The building could be used for everything from warehouse operations to heavy manufacturing, Olsen said. "That's one thing the city liked about our plan," he said.

The project faces competition from Opus Northwest, which last month started to build Cascade Distribution Center, which will offer 303,000 square feet of industrial space at Northeast 201st Avenue and Sandy Boulevard in Gresham.

The Grubb & Ellis brokerage represented the PDC in the sale to DP Partners, which was represented by CB Richard Ellis.

Dylan Rivera: 503-221-8532; dylanrivera@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1184207154108820.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

Soda shakes up sales
Thomas Kemper plans to modify its recipes and sell its beverages nationwide
Friday, July 06, 2007
JONATHAN BRINCKMAN
The Oregonian

T homas Kemper Soda, which had been a Seattle-based brand until earlier this year, said this week that it plans to tweak its recipes and use its new Portland base of operations to expand from regional to national distribution.

The company's timing couldn't be better. Sales of all carbonated drinks fell 1.5 percent from 2004 to 2006, while sales of "premium" carbonated beverages -- a category that includes Kemper -- rose 58 percent.

"These specialty drinks are capturing the attention of consumers who are looking for something beyond Coke and Pepsi," said Marcia Mogelonsky, who researches the beverage industry for Chicago-based Mintel International.

Tal Johnson, former chief executive of Tazo Tea, now runs the investment firm that bought Kemper from Pyramid Breweries Inc. last year for $3.1 million. He couldn't be happier.

"This is a wonderful Northwest brand that has brand appeal beyond the Northwest," said Johnson, managing partner of Portland-based Adventure Funds. "I don't think things like this come along every day."

In interviews this week, Johnson and Kemper's Chief Executive Bill Germano said the company will reformulate its recipe to remove all artificial ingredients -- further differentiating itself from regular sodas -- and expand its distribution into new regions. As part of Pyramid, Kemper has been sold only in Oregon, Washington and California.

After working temporarily out of offices at the Pyramid Brewery in Northwest Portland, where it brews its high-end sodas, Kemper is negotiating a lease for a new headquarters complex it hopes to move into soon.

As part of its restructuring and rebranding effort, Kemper is in the final stages of changing its formula to replace high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar, Germano said. Kemper also plans to eliminate the use of all artificial flavors by mid-September. The company will continue to use honey as a sweetener and flavoring agent.

"What we are looking to do is make a product that tastes better than any other in the market," said Germano, who has a minority ownership stake in the company.

Also by this fall, Kemper will introduce a low calorie version of its sodas. Those sodas will have natural sweeteners but less of them, with calories reduced from 140 to about 25, Germano said.

New distribution with Safeway and Seattle's Best Coffee will make Kemper available across the country, he said.

One thing that won't change is the company's strategy of outsourcing everything it can.

Kemper has seven employees. In addition to manufacturing, it also contracts out for human resource and financial management.

"It's a very outsourced business model." Johnson said. "We control the points that matter, formulation, ingredients, brand. We don't need to have all the overhead for the other areas."

Johnson said Adventure Funds hopes to eventually sell Kemper, either to another investment fund or to a large corporation.

"We won't hold onto (Kemper) forever," Johnson said. "But we have a lot of time to build the business."

Jonathan Brinckman: 503-221-8190; jbrinckman@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1183694109267780.xml&coll=7

[Fiat Lux]

http://www.theolympian.com/business/story/156033.html

Tacoma full; Olympia gets cars

Nearly 4,000 Kia vehicles diverted because of lack of room

Jim Szymanski
The Olympian

OLYMPIA — An expected Sunday delivery of nearly 4,000 automobiles on the Olympia waterfront comes as port officials are scrambling to turn around a poor financial year.

On Friday, they announced the expected shipment of Kia vehicles coming from South Korea on a 660-foot ship. Olympia got the business because the normal destination at the Port of Tacoma was out of room to park the cars.

Port of Olympia business has been in steep decline for three years. That period includes court challenges that have delayed the arrival of a Weyerhaeuser log-export business recruited from Tacoma since last summer.

A conservative port projection of $620,000 in marine terminal revenue this year would put income down 82 percent from a peak of $3.5 million three years ago. The business drop has been worsened by the loss this year of Russian aluminum shipments once bound for Olympia to the Port of Everett.

“This is good news for the port,” Kari Qvigstad, Olympia’s marketing and business development director, said Friday about the shipment of 3,924 Kia vehicles.

Qvigstad on Friday said she was unsure how much revenue the auto shipment would bring. It would include the cost to park the vehicles on 23 acres reserved for Weyerhaeuser’s eventual use.

Qvigstad estimated that revenues from the Kia shipment could be roughly equal to two aluminum shipments.

Kia customer-satisfaction ratings have been rising, said Greg Stubberfield, manager for a company that normally oversees Kia shipments to Tacoma. As a result, Stubberfield said, Kia has increased production to meet expected increases in sales.

“They’re hoping that sales from the higher ratings will be there,” Stubberfield said about the car company.

Olympia port officials have begun a strategy to accept overflow cargoes from Tacoma.

“Olympia was a good choice because Olympia and Tacoma are trying to work together,” Stubberfield said.

Olympia could get more auto shipments, but Qvigstad said she was unsure of that Friday. She expects the cars to remain on the Olympia cargo yard for at least a couple of months before delivery to Tacoma and eventually to dealers. Kia models including the Rio, Sedona, Spectra, Optima, Amanti, Sportage, Rondo and Sorento are expected in the shipment.

[zilfondel]

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1184383546265840.xml&coll=7

ADVENTURE, POSEIDON-STYLE
The aquatic lodge, which could cost guests $15,000 a week, may be built in Portland
Saturday, July 14, 2007
ALEX PULASKI
The Oregonian

Plans for a South Pacific undersea resort reminiscent of a Jules Verne novel are slowly taking shape in the Portland area, 5,700 miles away.

Borrowing from Verne, the Poseidon Undersea Resort's Web site (www.poseidonresorts.com) promises, as Capt. Nemo once did: "You are going to visit the land of marvels."

Mysteries abound, such as how many vacationers would pay $15,000 for a week at the world's first such underwater luxury hotel. Another unfathomable: the precise location of the Fiji island home for the $100 million-plus project. Still another: How much might a recent Fijian coup delay the project?

The man behind it, Idaho entrepreneur L. Bruce Jones, founder and owner of U.S. Submarines Inc. (www.ussubs.com), has spent more than a decade building private submarines for the ultrarich. Jones started sketching ideas for submarines and underwater habitats at Culver Military Academy in Indiana more than three decades back but began chasing his dream of an undersea resort in 2000.

His fantastic voyage began in the Bahamas, but after negotiations for a site there collapsed he has spent the past year focusing on Fiji.

That's when Portland entered the picture.

As home to the West Coast's largest ship-repair facility, on Swan Island, Portland has the huge dry-dock, industrial facilities and trained workers to manufacture and assemble the hotel.

When finished, it would be massive: 440 feet long by 80 feet wide, weighing 7,600 tons.

Jones' plans call for the structure to be submerged and water-tested inside the dry-dock, then transported to Fiji on a semi-submersible heavy-lift ship. The resort's opening, which has been delayed multiple times, is now slated for late 2009.

Jones said Friday that he has leased about 25,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Portland. In the next two months, he hopes to begin a crucial step there: forming 222 windows from sheets of 5-inch-thick acrylic imported from Germany.

Jones has been in discussions with Oregon Iron Works Inc. about constructing and assembling the resort's modules at Oregon Iron Works' Clackamas and Vancouver sites. No contracts have been signed.

"We're still working on prices," said Chandra Brown, an Oregon Iron Works vice president. "If this comes together, we believe we will be the builder."

Less certain are executives at Vigor Industrial, which operates the ship-repair yard at Swan Island. Alan Sprott, a Vigor vice president, said his company hadn't spoken with Jones' employees for months.

"We're interested," Sprott said, "but we haven't heard from them in a while."

The interiors of the resort's modules are expected to be imported from Dubai.

The race for the world's first undersea accommodations was won in 1986, when Jules' Undersea Lodge opened in Key Largo, Fla. But the two-bedroom, one-bath retreat is available only to certified divers.

Freelance journalist Michael Behar, who wrote about Jones' project for Popular Science magazine, said the Key Largo retreat is more like "a small underwater trailer."

"If we can put people in space, we can put a big hotel underwater," Behar said. "But it's expensive, and you've got to make that money back."

Poseidon, like an even more grandiose underwater hotel called Hydropolis planned in Dubai, aims to be a first-class resort.

Jones said Poseidon's location is under wraps for marketing reasons -- the destination is being billed as Poseidon Mystery Island.

For $15,000, guests would receive two nights' lodging under 40 feet of water in one of 24 rooms, two nights in rooms built over the water, and two nights in beachfront accommodations. Meals and air transportation from Fiji's international airport in Nadi would be included.

Jones said "thousands" of people have signed up online to be notified when the resort starts taking reservations. He expects two types of guests: wealthy ones who "want to tell friends they've been to the coolest new resort in the world," and diving enthusiasts who would save up for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I know I'll be able to keep my resort full," he said, "even at the very high price of $15,000 per person per week."

Travel professionals are intrigued but unsure about the long-term prospects.

"When you are doing something new and different, there are people who will pay anything," said Patou Franger, owner of Scuba Voyages Dive Travel Service in Corona, Calif. "But you have to continue to have clientele willing to pay that.

"Would I pay $15,000? I don't know. It sounds interesting, but there's nothing out there to compare it to."

Alex Pulaski, 503-221-8516; alexpulaski@news.oregonian.com

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003792946_webjobs17.html

Tuesday, July 17, 2007
More jobs in June, but state's growth pace keeps slowing
By Drew DeSilver
Seattle Times business reporter

More Washingtonians found work in June, though the pace at which new jobs are being created continued to slow, according to the state Employment Security Department's monthly jobs report.

Nonfarm payroll employment grew by 3,300 jobs in June, adjusted for seasonal variations, following an upwardly revised gain of 6,900 jobs in May.

"We are seeing a little bit of a slowdown in general," said Evelina Tainer, the state's chief labor economist. But overall, she added, "it's another good month for Washington employment."

The state unemployment rate edged down to 4.5 percent last month versus 4.6 percent in May; matching the national jobless rate. The state's jobless rate remains close to the 31-year low of 4.4 percent set in April.

In the Seattle metro area, defined as King and Snohomish counties, nonfarm employment grew by 3,700 jobs; the June jobless rate held steady at 4 percent.

The information industries were the state's single strongest sector, adding 1,400 jobs last month. Construction added 600 jobs in June; the construction sector is up 3.7 percent over the past 12 months.

"I am surprised construction is so strong," Tainer said. "I would have expected to see a little bit of a drop."

The 12-month rate of job growth, however, has slowed for both residential and nonresidential construction, though the housing market's slowdown has weighed on residential payrolls more.

Other leading job-creation sectors included social assistance, which added 800 jobs; bars and restaurants, which hired 600 more people; and fruit and vegetable packing, up 500 jobs.

Though the state's aerospace sector added 400 jobs last month, overall the manufacturing sector lost 200 jobs, mainly due to declines in paper and printing. Local governments shed 300 jobs in June; wholesalers of nondurable goods fell by 700 jobs.

[MarkDaMan]

Stable jobs data paint rosy picture
Oregon economy - Numbers indicate how much the state has diversified its jobs, an expert says
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
RICHARD READ
The Oregonian

Manufacturing employment keeps sliding, but a state economist expects Oregon will continue to thrive, barring a serious downturn in the shaky national housing market.

Employment in the durable-goods manufacturing industry, which normally increases by 1,000 workers in June, added only 400 jobs, Oregon Employment Department officials said in their monthly report. On a seasonally adjusted basis, manufacturing was down 1,700 jobs, for a total of 199,400, continuing a decline from last August's total of 209,200.

But the leisure and hospitality industry snapped up workers, as did educational and health services. The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged, at a low 5.1 percent in June compared with 5.0 percent in May.

"There isn't anything looming on the horizon," said Art Ayre, the state employment economist, "other than the possibility that the housing situation nationwide will get worse than it has already."

The numbers add up to a strong Oregon economy, buoyed by near-record construction employment, which has hit a plateau as local building continues apace. They also demonstrate the extent to which the state has diversified, diminishing a heavy reliance on manufacturing, Ayre said.

Still, the factory figures concern economists. The sector is down 2,900 jobs in wood products, year-over-year, mainly because of the national housing woes. Manufacturing of transportation equipment is down 2,500 jobs amid cutbacks by big companies such as Freightliner and smaller firms such as Seaswirl Boats Inc., a Culver company leaving the state.

High-tech manufacturing is also down by 1,300 jobs over the past year, virtually all in semiconductors and electronic components, as Intel retrenches. Hiring by SolarWorld AG to open a Hillsboro plant should help offset that, Ayre said, as should a weaker U.S. dollar which makes Oregon products cheaper for foreign buyers.

Oregon's economy also benefits from continued immigration of people with money, with about 40 percent of the new arrivals coming from California. Total nonfarm payroll employment in Oregon exceeded 1.74 million last month, up 20,200 from June 2006.

The tourism industry is another major bright spot -- despite, or possibly because of, higher gasoline prices.

Ayre theorizes that gas prices could encourage Oregonians to stay in the state for shorter road trips, also traveling less abroad, again because of the weak dollar. The exchange rate is attractive, however, for foreigners such as Canadians, whose recreational vehicles are heading south.

Travel spending in Oregon has grown about 6 percent annually for the past three years, said Michelle Godfrey, Travel Oregon public relations manager. "We haven't necessarily seen a decline," Godfrey said, "as a result of gas prices."

That translates to leisure-and-hospitality jobs -- 7,500 more of them since June 2006.

Richard Read: 503-294-5135; richread@aol.com.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1184644511327640.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

Wind power gains force in Portland
Alternative energy developers home in on our region, with one saying, "It's the smart place to be"
Sunday, July 15, 2007
GAIL KINSEY HILL
The Oregonian

A growing number of wind-energy companies are establishing themselves in downtown Portland, drawn by a rapidly expanding market for renewable power, a skilled labor pool and the city's green welcome mat.

The influx of wind-energy investment and white-collar professionals is realizing the burgeoning hopes of state economic leaders who see alternative energy development as a new leg of a state economy in transition. Many firms boast international connections, ample financial resources and a nose for opportunity.

Portland isn't the only U.S. gathering place for wind-energy developers. Austin and Houston -- Texas boasts more wind power than any other state -- are hubs for the industry, and Chicago's an up-and-comer, according to those in the wind-energy industry.

Still, these observers said, Portland, increasingly, can credibly lay claim to a top spot.

The largest and oldest of the Portland wind-firm crowd is PPM Energy, which got its start at electric utility PacifiCorp and is now owned by Spain's energy powerhouse, Iberdrola. Other, newer entrants include India's Suzlon Wind Energy Corp., Britain's Renewable Energy Systems (RES) and Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems.

"Portland's become a bit of a hub for wind energy in the United States," said Michelle Montague, a spokeswoman for Suzlon. "It's the smart place to be."

Montague keeps a list of the wind-energy-related companies in Portland, including wind-farm developers, turbine makers and consultants. The unofficial tally exceeds 30, with, Montague estimated, about a half-dozen setting up shop in the past six months to a year.

Many companies employ just a handful of people in Portland. Suzlon, RES and French-owned Horizon Wind Energy, for example, maintain their North American headquarters in other U.S. cities and small satellite offices here. But their presence speaks to the city's ability to attract an industry that is fast-growing, high-tech and well-paying.

The trend has its seeds in the 1980s, when an initial round of wind development began in the West. It stalled amid flawed technologies and governmental policies, then ramped up again in the Northwest in the early 1990s with the Stateline wind project along the banks of the Columbia River in eastern Washington and Oregon.

But this new surge in Portland, just a couple of years old and building, may be unprecedented, fueled by national and local policies accommodating to renewable energy development, consumer demand and the windy resources of the Columbia River Gorge.

The companies, along with others involved in renewable energy, are "creating a cadre of like-minded people," said Joseph Cortright, a Portland-based economist and consultant.

The wind entrepreneurs are involved in everything from marketing turbines to developing projects to providing consulting and legal services. They're linked by a common focus on renewable sources of energy and together promise considerable economic clout. Yet questions about high costs and market demand abound.

"The economic impact? It's too soon to tell," Cortright said.

Commercial real estate brokers have noted the trend.

"They've started to be the new faces around town," said Sean Turley, a broker with Norris, Beggs & Simpson.

Chicago-headquartered Invenergy is about to become the newest kid on the block. It's poised to sign a lease for a couple of thousand square feet of downtown office space, said Michael Logsdon, Invenergy's director of business development.

"We should be moved in by the end of July," he said.

Invenergy chose Portland for its Northwest office for a variety of reasons, Logsdon said. Two of the region's largest electric utilities, PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric, are in Portland, as is federal energy marketer Bonneville Power Administration, which plays a key role in delivering the electricity from windy rural locations in the Columbia River Gorge to urban centers such as Portland and Seattle.

Invenergy has targeted the gorge for future wind farms, including one in Oregon's Gilliam and Morrow counties.

Portland's "environmentally friendly culture" was another plus, Logsdon said.

Other wind-farm developers cite similar reasons. RES came to Portland in 2001 as projects in the gorge began to ramp up. The company is about to move into bigger digs in the historical United Carriage Building on Southwest Pine Street.

"We want to take advantage of the increased opportunity" for projects in the Gorge, said Scott Piscitello, vice president of development for RES.

The company, with U.S. headquarters in Austin, Texas, has developed two wind farms in Washington state. It's considering additional projects in the region, Piscitello said.

The United States is experiencing a wind-farm boom, in part because rising energy prices have made the renewable commodity more affordable. Federal tax credits make the projects even more enticing for developers.

In addition, individual states, such as Oregon, Washington and California have passed laws that require utilities to rely more heavily on alternative sources of power, such as wind and solar.

These government policies aren't lost on companies in Asia and Europe, where wind energy is far more common. The international set sees the United States as a place with huge potential, and it's eagerly moving in, often by buying up their American counterparts.

Iberdrola bought Glasgow, Scotland-based ScottishPower earlier this year in large part because it wanted subsidiary PPM Energy, one of the largest wind-farm developers in the United States.

PPM Energy is considered the granddaddy of Portland's wind-energy community, although it's just six years old. Spun off from PacifiCorp in 2001, it occupied about 16,000 square feet of office space in the Lloyd Center district and employed 12 people.

It now takes up more than 55,000 square feet in the Pearl District's Brewery Blocks and boasts a work force of 500.

Don Furman, a senior vice president with PPM, said the city's skilled labor pool is another big draw.

"We've always been an energy town," he said.

The collapse of Kenetech Windpower in the mid-1990s and Enron in 2001 left an excess of talent that the new entrants are now scooping up, he said.

Furman sees good times ahead for the industry.

"This will be a growth business for a long time," he said. "Portland, more than any other city, is in the center of the wind business right now."

Gail Kinsey Hill: 503-221-8590, gailhill@news.oregonian.com


http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1184369150166970.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

Crater Lake takes its shot at cracking soda market
Even a small market share is worth a substantial chunk
Portland Business Journal - July 20, 2007
by Matthew Kish
Business Journal staff writer

A new local soda company is on the fast track to becoming Portland's next regional, if not national, brand. Crater Lake Soda began selling bottles of root beer and vanilla cream soda two weeks ago and already has distribution deals lined up in Portland, Bend, Vancouver and Boise.

Similar deals could be finalized across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska by the end of the month.

Company officials say the quality of the product separates it from competitors and has grocers eager to get it on shelves. Unlike most sodas, it's made with pure cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup, making for a sweeter and more natural taste. It's also made with the "cleanest water you can find," which gets run through a reverse osmosis filter to make it even cleaner. With half the carbonation of regular soda, the drink's also more flavorful than its big-name peers.

"We've tried to separate ourselves from other companies by having truly gourmet product," said Curt Gouverneur, who created the recipes and works as the company's beverage sales manager.

The company predicts sales of 30,000 cases this year, 60,000 in year two and 150,000 in year three. At around $6 per six-pack, that's retail sales of $3.6 million within three years.

Despite the fast start, some say the company faces an uphill battle.

"Most people view Coke and Pepsi and Dr. Pepper as such terrific brands there hasn't been a real consumer need for something else," said John Sicher, editor of New York-based Beverage Digest magazine. "If you were having the Queen of England to your house for dinner, you'd be perfectly correct serving Coke or Pepsi or Dr. Pepper."

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes -- which makes Dr. Pepper and 7-Up -- account for nearly 90 percent of the $16.3 billion carbonated beverage industry, according to the Chicago-based market research firm Mintel International.

Not to mention, a look at one of Crater Lake Soda's rivals shows building market share is a difficult task for even the best gourmet soda companies. Seattle-based Pyramid Breweries Inc. made and shipped 47,000 barrels of Thomas Kemper Soda products in 2002, but faced declining shipments in subsequent years. The company ultimately sold its Thomas Kemper assets to an investment firm for $3.1 million this year.

Others, however, say the titans of the industry are on weak legs as gourmet food trends push more consumers to craft sodas.

Industry data shows people are drinking fewer carbonated beverages and opting for more high-end products. Overall, carbonated beverage sales are expected to decline 1 percent by 2011, according to Mintel.

And even a sliver of a $16.3 billion industry can still make a strong business. Just ask any of the hundreds of local microbreweries.

Even Sicher conceded Crater Lake has one huge advantage over other nascent craft soda companies. It has an owner with deep pockets and decades of business expertise.

The Portland-based Yoshida Group bought the business last year when it purchased the Crater Lake Soda recipes from Gouverneur. It also bought some assets, including a bottling machine, from the now-defunct Oregon Beverage Works. Crater Lake Soda is technically now a brand of Ocean Mist Sales & Marketing, a subsidiary of the Yoshida Group.

The Yoshida Group is run by local businessman Junki Yoshida, who turned a family recipe for teriyaki marinade into a conglomerate with $195 million in annual revenue. The name gives the company a strong reputation for quality and reliability.

"We have a reputation for standing behind what we do and making it work," said Matt Guthrie, president of Yoshida Group.

Guthrie realizes the soda business isn't an easy play.

That's why the company built a buffer around Crater Lake, investing $1 million in bottling equipment that can be used to package products for other soda companies while Crater Lake builds market share.

Yoshida Group's 70,000-square-foot plant near Portland International Airport, can now produce more than 1 million cases of soda annually.

Next year, the contract manufacturing facility will get another $2 million or $3 million upgrade to bring capacity up to as many as 6 million cases annually.

The company is taking a guerilla marketing approach.

"Right now getting people tasting is our No. 1 priority," Guthrie said.

This Saturday it'll be at Market of Choice in West Linn serving root beer floats as part of National Ice Cream Month. Next weekend it'll sponsor a Crater Lake Soda garden at the Oregon Brewers Festival in Portland offering free root beer floats to designated drivers.

Local grocers predict success.

"If I was a betting person, I would say it's going to be well received because the root beer is so good," said Lyn Ryse, advertising manager for Eugene-based Market of Choice.

The product can be found locally on the shelves of select Zupan's, Lamb's, Bales, Thriftway and Market of Choice locations. Deals with bigger grocers, like Fred Meyer, are in the works.

An informal newsroom tasting panel gave all four Crater Lake flavors -- lemon lime bitter, orange cream, root beer and vanilla cream -- a thumbs up. Root beer and lemon lime drinkers asked for the most refills.

mkish@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3414
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/07/23/story6.html?t=printable

[James Bond Agent 007]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070724/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_amazon;_ylt=At.FNM6oK8VpGmU5Tnlknums0NUE

Amazon.com 2Q profit more than triples
By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Business Writer

SEATTLE - Amazon.com Inc.'s second-quarter profit more than tripled, boosted by strong sales of books, music and electronics worldwide. The Web retailer's stock soared 11.3 percent in after-hours trading.

Earnings for the three months ended June 30 climbed to $78 million, or 19 cents per share, from $22 million, or 5 cents per share during the same period last year, the company said Tuesday.

Results topped Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a profit of 16 cents per share.

Revenue rose 35 percent to $2.88 billion from $2.14 billion in the year-ago quarter, beating analysts' expectations for $2.81 billion in sales.

Prior to the announcement, shares of Amazon sank $2.49, or 3.5 percent, to close at $69.25. They gained $8.72 to $77.07, in after-hours trading.

Sales in the U.S. and Canada rose 38 percent to $1.6 billion. In the company's U.K., German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites, revenue increased 31 percent to $1.28 billion. Amazon said a weaker dollar helped improve sales slightly.

Worldwide, sales of books, music and other media-category products grew 27 percent to $1.83 billion. Revenue from electronics and general merchandise improved 55 percent to $970 million.

In a conference call, Chief Financial Officer Tom Szkutak said items sold by third-party merchants increased to 30 percent of total unit sales on the site, up slightly from a year ago.

Amazon's spending to help third parties sell items on its site, storage and computing power for software programmers and other items rose 10 percent to $201 million, but slowed considerably from the year-ago quarter.

The retailer also said the number of subscribers to its $79-per-year unlimited shipping membership program increased, but did not disclose a total. Free shipping eats into Amazon's results, and the company said net shipping costs totaled $75 million.

For the current third quarter, Amazon said it expects revenue from $3 billion to $3.18 billion. For the full fiscal year, Amazon raised its forecast to $13.80 billion to $14.30 billion, up from its earlier outlook for $13.4 billion to $14 billion.

Wall Street is currently looking for third-quarter revenue to reach $3 billion, and for full-year sales of $13.84 billion.

[CouvScott]

BY JESSICA SWANSON VBJ Managing Editor
July 24th, 2007

A much awaited tenant may soon be housed at Columbia Gateway. The Port of Vancouver USA commissioners approved signing a letter of intent with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Americas LLC, a major international auto shipper. The port would be the company’s Northwest hub, and a half million autos would come through the port, ramping up as soon as early 2011.Oslo-based WWL, along with the port, plan to develop and construct an integrated marine terminal and vehicle processing and distribution center at Columbia Gateway Parcel 3, adjacent to the deep water channel.

The port estimates total annual economic activity in excess of $453 million and an annual increase to state and local taxes at $28 million. Revenues to the port are estimated in excess of $300 million over an initial 20-year term due to land use, dockage and wharfage fees, and rail revenues.

The port could see an increase of as many as 1,193 direct jobs at an estimated annual payroll of $62 million and 3,400 indirect jobs, according to a report compiled for the port by consultant John A. Martin and Assoc.

“Family wage jobs are harder to come by as everything goes overseas,” said Cager Clabaugh, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 4. “But here we are capturing it as it comes back.”

Clabaugh estimated that by adding 22 car-carriers a month to the port’s current two at full build-out, work from the new tenant could “double the Local,” bringing it from 201 registered members to 400. He said if the proposed Industrial Development District levy passes, and with other projects “on the hook” at the port, membership could increase to 600 in the next five years.

“People will move here for these jobs,” he said.

Port of Vancouver USA Senior Director of Marketing and Operations Alastair Smith said WWL is known for their environmental stewardship. Indeed the Sweden-based company has won several awards for its environmental investments, most recently the 2007 Thor Heyerdahl International Maritime Environmental Award.

The port will fulfill the permit requirements and prepare the more than 300-acre site for construction, while WWL will construct the facility. The port will also provide infrastructure to the site, including a “neutral rail lead” and construct the marine docking facilities.

The lion’s share of cars shipped to the port by WWL – 85 percent – will be transported out by rail, and according to the port, the company was attracted, in part, to Vancouver because of the port’s convenient access to rail, including the West Vancouver Freight Access Project.

“WWL has been looking for growths opportunities on the west coast,” said Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Director of Corporate Affairs for Region Americas. Various conversations in Vancouver identified lots of potential.

“Rail is a critical element to be able to move vehicles inland.”

Smith expects the port to be able to turn over the property to WWL by the first quarter of 2010 and that construction would be completed 12 months from that time. At the final phase the project will require a site of up to 334 acres with rail, two floating docks and the ability to accommodate 900-foot vessels.

After two years of developing the deal and nearly two decades of waiting for development to come to Columbia Gateway, the port commissioners didn’t hold up the last-minute signing for a moment.

“I’m so excited,” said Commissioner Nancy Baker.

“Commissioner (Bob) Mosier and I wondered if we would ever see it developed,” said Commission President Arch Miller, who is up for re-election. “I always said I wouldn’t leave until it was done.”

WWL annual carries more than 2 million vehicles by sea and 1.5 million by road. The company serves 19 trade routes to five continents. The other three Region Americas hubs are in Baltimore, Brunswick, Ga., and Port Hueneme, Calif.

[MarkDaMan]

C'mon Precision, Portland's soon to be Fortune 500 company.

Precision Castparts reports
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Oregonian

quarterly earnings doubled Precision Castparts Corp. said Tuesday its first-quarter earnings doubled on new business purchases and a continued robust market for its jet-engine and industrial gas turbine parts.

The company's stock reached an all-time high of $141.50 in early morning trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, but it closed at $132 a share, down $3.35, amid a marketwide downturn.

The Portland-based industrial parts manufacturer reported net earnings of $226.4 million, or $1.62 a diluted share, on sales of $1.66 billion during the quarter ended July 1. That compares with net income of $115.1 million, or 84 cents a diluted share, on sales of $1.11 billion during the same period a year ago.

The results include earnings of recent acquisitions Special Metals Corp., GSC Foundries, Inc., Cherry Aerospace and most of the first-quarter results of McWilliams Forge Co. Inc., which was acquired April 3.

Analysts on average had predicted earnings of $1.43 a share, according to a poll by Thomson Financial Network. D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst JB Groh raised his target share price for Precision from $133 to $160.

-- Brent Hunsberger
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1185324948192510.xml&coll=7

[360Rich]

BY JESSICA SWANSON VBJ Managing Editor
July 24th, 2007

The port could see an increase of as many as 1,193 direct jobs at an estimated annual payroll of $62 million and 3,400 indirect jobs, according to a report compiled for the port by consultant John A. Martin and Assoc.

“Family wage jobs are harder to come by as everything goes overseas,” said Cager Clabaugh, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 4. “But here we are capturing it as it comes back.”



This is absolutely huge for Portland / Vancouver if the numbers are realistic (a big if, I know). Nearly 1200 jobs at an average of $52,000/year.

Yet another reason to bring light rail to the 'Couv.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Last updated July 30, 2007 7:56 p.m. PT
Boeing increases its forecast for plane demand from India
$86 billion in jets seen over 20 years
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW DELHI -- India likely will need 911 new passenger jets over the next 20 years to meet the growing demand for air travel, The Boeing Co. said Monday, announcing an upward revision to its earlier forecast.

India's demand for new planes over the next 20 years could result in orders worth $86 billion at current list prices, making it one of the world's largest markets for new jets, Boeing said in its latest market outlook for India.

India's rapid economic expansion in recent years, coupled with policies to break the monopoly of state-run companies in the airline sector, has driven demand for air travel and new planes.

In 2003, India had a fleet of only 121 planes, which has since increased to 257 with 387 firm orders for new planes by Indian companies.

In the past two years, Boeing has won orders for 144 jets worth $21 billion, said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of sales. The success of private airlines and the surge in air travel has encouraged companies such as Boeing to revise their forecasts repeatedly, Keskar said.

Last year, Boeing said India likely will buy 856 jets worth $72 billion by 2025. On Monday, it revised the projection to 911 jets.

Single-aisle planes -- such as Boeing's 737 series or the Airbus A320 that can carry up to 200 passengers -- will account for nearly three-quarters of the new demand, according to Boeing's forecasts.

Airlines will try to accommodate growth in domestic air travel by increasing flight frequencies and adding more point-to-point non-stop flights. A similar strategy on international and long-distance routes would make them rely more on twin-aisle planes, such as Boeing's 777 and 787 Dreamliner series or the A340 and A350 from Airbus.

"I don't see the need for large planes like the 747s or the Airbus A380 in this country," Keskar said.

Only one Indian airline has so far ordered the A380, Kingfisher Airlines, which has placed an order for five jets.

No airlines have orders pending for Boeing's 747.

[MarkDaMan]

Dealership stakes out no-guzzle zone
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Edward Hershey
The Oregonian

A new car dealership plans to go green -- in product and profits.

Ecomotion, set to open Aug. 20, will be Portland's first dealership devoted to vehicles that don't guzzle gas or spew (relatively, anyway) a lot of pollution. And founders say they aim to make sense and cents.

"This is not an altruistic endeavor," says CEO Richard Snyder. "We intend to turn a profit."

Ecomotion, at Northeast Sandy Boulevard and 17th Avenue, will offer new electric vehicles -- such as ZAP and Myers Motors models -- and used cars that meet federal environmental standards. The site will include an educational exhibit and, this being Portland, a coffee shop.

"It's pretty simple," says Don Morissette, an Oregon home builder who is financing the operation. "I just want to use less oil."

Both goals suit Kevin Considine, the Oregon Environmental Council's program director for sustainable economy.

"I like the fact that these guys are trying to do something nobody has done before," Considine says. "It's really innovative, and I hope they are successful because nothing says that you've got a long-term commitment more than the ability to make a profit."

Ecomotion will feature three makes of electrics -- models from ZAP (for "zero air pollution"), such as $3,900 scooters, $9,900 three-wheel sedans and $10,900 minitrucks; Myers Motors sedans; and Dymac utility vehicles and vans.

A lime-green Myers NmG (for "no more gas") will be the first model on a turntable that took Corvettes for a spin when the place belonged to Lyman Slack Motors.

The 40,000-square-foot showroom may still hold a Chevy or two, as well, because Ecomotion will carry an assortment of used cars with a "SmartWay" designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cars qualify by scoring high enough on scales measuring fuel efficiency and particulate emissions.

Morissette says adding used cars was an economic necessity. "We wanted to create a business model to show you can make money selling energy-efficient alternative vehicles, and we realized that electric cars aren't able to make it on their own."

The electric vehicles, because they top out at 40 mph and have batteries that need to be recharged after 25 to 40 miles, have limited appeal. Still, Chris Bakken, Ecomotion's business development director, says, "The advantages are obvious. They run for a penny and a half a mile. They can be the ideal city car, especially for a city like Portland, where you can go from point A to point B without touching a freeway."

Ty Kovatch, chief of staff for City Commissioner Randy Leonard, a big backer of fuel-efficient alternatives, says the city will be watching.

Innovations such as biodiesel will probably have a bigger long-term impact, Kovatch says, "but to the extent commuters can make the electric car work for them and reduce emissions, that's wonderful."

There's at least one thing Ecomotion will share with other dealerships, though: haggling.

"I think we will be competitive on our used cars," says sales manager Rich Pariseau. General manager Steve Sharer chimes in, "You bet we'll be competitive -- nothing but!"

Portland News: 503-221-8199; portland@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/1186104330140150.xml&coll=7

[MarkDaMan]

Exports from Oregon to China skyrocketing
Trade - Despite Rep. David Wu's criticisms of the nation, his district's sales leap 575 percent in six years
Thursday, August 09, 2007
RICHARD READ
The Oregonian

U.S. Rep. David Wu., D-Ore., consistently criticizes Beijing for human rights abuses and other issues, but his congressional district's exports to China have shot up faster than any other in Oregon.

Managers of international corporations in Wu's district, such as Nike Inc., object to his stance, which some see as ironic being that he promotes himself as the U.S. House of Representatives' first Chinese American member. Now the dichotomy is highlighted in a national report. It shows that sales to China from businesses in Wu's 1st Congressional District, which encompasses Washington County's Silicon Forest, jumped 575 percent between 2000 and 2006.

The study by the U.S.-China Business Council, which breaks out exports by congressional district, reveals that Oregon's four other districts recorded 300 percent jumps.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization of corporations doing business with China released the figures last week in hopes that Congress would go easy on the country whose economic and political practices are a constant source of controversy.

The numbers may not change politicians' minds -- Wu has no plans to temper his criticism -- but they come as Americans focus more closely on China during the yearlong run-up to the Beijing Olympics. Product recalls, the trade deficit, currency issues, commercial piracy and environmental debacles are all prompting bills in Congress, causing jitters at Nike and other firms.

"When Congress starts putting sledgehammers down, I think it's counterproductive," said Brad Figel, Nike global director for government and public affairs. "Everybody who imports and exports could be impacted."

U.S. Senate committees are considering bills that would encourage sanctions on China for currency manipulation. Supporters from both parties argue that an undervalued yuan gives China an unfair trade advantage. The White House, reluctant to antagonize Beijing and spark a trade war, has threatened vetoes.

The whopping increases in Oregon exports to China come as no surprise. The state's sales to China soared 73 percent last year, making the Asian powerhouse Oregon's second-biggest foreign customer behind Canada.

Wu's district, stretching from Portland's western suburbs to the north Oregon coast, includes big exporters such as Tektronix and Intel, which sends wafers to China and elsewhere for test and assembly. The Chinese export boom spans the state, ranging from machinery manufactured in Democrat Earl Blumenauer's east Portland-Multnomah County district to agricultural goods produced by Republican Greg Walden's eastern Oregon constituents.

China and the United States, Rep. Blumenauer told Northwest China Council members during a Portland talk on Wednesday, have the world's "single most important relationship between two countries."

Like Wu, Blumenauer has frustrations with China, and he faults the Bush administration for not filing World Trade Organization complaints. But he favors a measured approach, saying, "I have seen very little evidence that pressuring the Chinese government yields positive results."

For all its differences with the United States, China finances U.S. borrowing, suppresses U.S. inflation and increases U.S. purchasing power by serving as the world's low-cost factory floor. Yet it also angers Americans with its trade subsidies, corruption and support of repressive regimes in Sudan and Myanmar.

Erin Ennis, U.S.-China Business Council vice president, said the organization tallied exports for each of the 435 House districts to emphasize the importance of trade. "We would hope," Ennis said, "that the information would provide -- for every member of Congress, including Congressman Wu -- a little perspective on those industries that are benefiting from trade with China."

Wu, 52, born in Taiwan of parents who left mainland China, did not sound impressed.

"The 1st Congressional District has been doing a heroic job to increase exports to China," said Wu, noting the jump from $115 million to $779 million in six years. But during the same period, he noted, the U.S. trade deficit with China ballooned from $83 billion to $230 billion.

"We need to do a better job in managing our trade with China so that we can all benefit," Wu said, "so that consumers can benefit and workers, not just multinational shareholders."

Richard Read: 503-294-5135; richread@aol.com.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/118662990961110.xml&coll=7

[Snowden352]

Oregon Gateway Project at a glance

*Dredge the Coos Bay channel from 37 feet to 51 feet.
*Widen the channel from 300 feet to 500 feet.
*The channel work will cost $120 million, paid for through state and federal dollars.
*A cargo container company would invest up to $700 million to create a terminal on the North Spit across from North Bend airport.
*The Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad would spend up to $140 million to improve tunnels and rail lines to Eugene.
*Proposed completion date: 2014

Estimated economic benefits once terminal is fully operational

*Employment in Coos County: 1,639
*Employment in Oregon: 4,258
*Economic output in Coos County: $243 million
*Economic output in Oregon: $574 million

Source: BST Associates of Washington

Economic benefits to Jackson County from projects at Coos Bay by 2030

*Total number of jobs from Oregon Gateway Project, natural gas facility and pipeline: 280
*Economic impact to county from the three projects: $39 million

Source: Remi Northwest, affiliated with Craig Stone and Associates of Medford

The Big IF
The numbers of the Oregon Gateway Project are staggering in terms of cost, completion time, and potential economic benefits. Still, until they see it, some folks call the plan unbelievable ... literally.

By Damian Mann
Mail Tribune
August 12, 2007
For decades the Coos Bay area has seen its fortunes rise and fall with the port.

After the decline of the timber industry almost two decades ago, the number of large ships entering the bay trickled to 50 a year from a high of 300.

All that could change under a plan that has attracted the attention of the Oregon Legislature and Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who signed House Bill 5036 Friday that will provide the seed money that could turn this once vibrant mill town into the biggest cargo port between San Francisco and Tacoma, Wash.

The Oregon Gateway Project, which could cost up to $1 billion, would generate 1,639 new jobs in Coos County and 4,528 throughout the state, pumping $574 million into Oregon's economy, according to a report prepared by BST Associates of Washington.

Most of the cargo entering the bay from Asia would be destined for the East Coast, but the project could have far-reaching impacts in Oregon, potentially spurring the development of warehouse distribution centers along Interstate 5 and in the Rogue Valley.

Some residents around Coos Bay scoff at the terminal idea, saying this is the latest of many schemes that have failed over the years.

"We've seen plan after plan after plan," said retired longshoreman Harry Stamper. "It's all pie in the sky."

Port of Coos Bay officials counter that Oregon has committed $60 million over the next six years to dredge the channel for large container ships.

John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army's Civil Works, sent a letter to the port on June 11 that offered to speed up the lengthy bureaucratic process to clear the way for dredging, cutting the time from the usual 15 to seven years.

"The assistant secretary of the Army does not authorize pipe dreams," said Michael Gaul, deputy executive director for the port.

The plan is to dredge almost eight miles of channel from its current average depth of 37 feet to 51 feet at a cost of $120 million from state and federal money. The channel in the middle of the bay would be widened from 300 feet to 500 feet.

At present, the port handles large ships of about 650 feet long that are used to transport wood chips. If the cargo terminal is built on the North Spit across the bay from the North Bend airport, ships that are 1,300 feet long — many too big even for the Panama Canal — could navigate the channel. The Port of Coos Bay expects about 200 large ships annually if the terminal is built, off-loading the equivalent of 2 million 20-foot long cargo containers onto railroad cars.

Local officials say there are many hurdles to clear before the project takes off.

"We don't think we're over the hump on the probability of this happening," said Jeff Bishop, executive director of the Port.

He said he realizes there is also a lot of skepticism about the idea.

Bishop cited the recent success of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in attracting China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) to build a cargo terminal in the harbor.

"That was pretty much regarded as a pipe dream," said Bishop.

The state is committing $5 million in this biennial budget to prepare environmental and engineering studies even as the project has already been criticized by some residents and environmental groups for the potential damage it might cause to the bay's ecology.

Before any more money is spent by the state, House Bill 5036 requires a firm agreement with a container company.

The Port of Coos Bay has a non-disclosure agreement with a shipping company that wants to build a $400 million to $700 million cargo terminal along the harbor. The shipping company, as reported recently in the Oregonian, is the Dutch-based A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.

Another key component of the new terminal is the proposed improvement of the rail line that connects the bay's North Spit to Eugene.

An additional $120 million to $140 million would be needed to enlarge tunnels and improve lines to handle rail cars loaded with two cargo containers stacked on top of each other.

If Jackson County is going to receive the maximum economic benefit from the terminal, the rail lines from Winston to just north of Central Point would also have to be improved.

Jackson County Commissioner Dave Gilmour said he's hoping that a portion of the $100 million in the second installment of the ConnectOregon transportation fund is earmarked to improve the rail connection, which he says has small tunnels and tight turns.



Gilmour has backed a plan to create a high-tech center and light industrial area around Tolo Road on property that is mostly on the north side of Interstate 5 near the Seven Oaks interchange, north of Central Point.

Ron Fox, executive director for Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc., said that if only 10 percent of the containers entering Coos Bay are destined for the West Coast, that would be a lot of cargo that would be moving through Oregon.

Over time, that quantity could increase as shippers get used to the Coos Bay port, he said.

Fox doesn't think the Coos Bay terminal is a pipe dream because a port is needed somewhere on the West Coast to handle the increasing quantities of goods imported from Asia.

"It's a very big idea," he said, adding that there's a lot that has to happen for it all to come together.

The port could also stimulate interest in building distribution centers in Southern Oregon, even though the Medford area is typically seen as being a long distance from some of the major markets. "The logistics for business are constantly changing," he said.

Fox said Lowe's wanted to build a distribution center near Portland, but finally decided to locate it farther south in Lebanon. "It's so big it can be easily seen with satellite pictures," he said.

Some residents in the Coos Bay and North Bend area believe port officials are touting the cargo terminal idea, when they are really working to build a controversial liquefied natural gas facility also on the North Spit. The pipeline for this project might be built across Jackson County.

"You tell me they are not connected," said Dana Gabb, a 57-year-old woodworker. "Of course they are."

Holly Stamper, former port commissioner, said there's no doubt in her mind that the cargo terminal will never happen because it will be too difficult to surmount environmental problems and the expense of building it in the U.S.

"It'll go to Mexico," she said. "Who wants to hire longshoremen?"

Her husband, Harry Stamper, even recorded a satirical music CD, titled "Noel NG," with tunes such as "Kill-Zone Xmas" that refer to the potential for disaster from liquefied natural gas.

Chris Claflin, business development officer for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, said the views held by some residents are false.

"Some people make the assumption that the channel deepening is related to the LNG terminal," he said. "It is not."

He said the current depth of the channel is sufficient for ships carrying LNG. The only reason to deepen and widen the channel is to accommodate the large container ships, said Claflin.

Port officials say that improving the bar leading to the Pacific Ocean will make it safer for all vessels.

The Port of Coos Bay has an option to buy 1,300 acres on the North Spit where the cargo terminal would be located.

There are six ports on the West Coast that can handle the cargo being shipped in from Asia, but many of these ports will reach capacity in the next decade.

"Shippers have a problem, and Coos Bay could be the fortunate solution to that problem," said Claflin.

In Jackson County, local legislators support the terminal project and the economic benefits to the state.

"It becomes a Mecca for the whole West Coast," said Medford Rep. Sal Esquivel. "It's good for Oregon and not just for Medford."

Ashland Rep. Peter Buckley, who supports improving the rail system throughout Oregon, said, "If Coos County did this, it will be a step that will help the overall health of the region."

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - Page updated at 02:26 PM
State's jobless rate rises as more people look for work
By DAVID AMMONS
The Associated Press

Washington's unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in July as more jobless workers resumed their search for employment, but it remains at near-record lows.

The state's latest figure compares with 4.5 percent a month earlier. The modern record for low unemployment, 4.4 percent, was set in April. The state's rate was 5 percent one year ago.

The national unemployment rate is 4.6 percent.

State employers added 7,800 jobs during July, seasonally adjusted, on top of 6,000 new hires in June. But the unemployment rate nonetheless rose because the overall size of the labor market grew as more people were looking for work.

About 168,000 people are out of work, counting those who have re-entered the job market. That's up from about 152,000 the previous month.

The Employment Security Department characterized it as a slight increase in the unemployment rate, and said the state still is enjoying near-historic lows in the jobless rate.

"Washington's economy is still going strong and that is reflected in the number of people who want to join the work force and in the number of new jobs being created," said Gov. Christine Gregoire. "We are seeing all parts of the state benefit from this continued growth."

Agency Director Karen Lee noted that Washington employers added about 7,800 net new workers last month, bringing the 12-month total to more than 89,000.

"The higher unemployment rate during these strong economic times shows that more people are getting out there and looking for jobs," she said in a statement released with the data.

Industries with the largest gains in July were government, with 2,600 new jobs; professional and business services, 1,500; and manufacturing, 1,000.

Construction companies hired an additional 500 workers. Payrolls haven't declined here since July 2006, despite a national slowdown in construction since February.

Layoffs were reported in leisure and hospitality, down 700 jobs; retail trade, down 200; and education and health services, down 100.

In the past year, nonagricultural job growth has risen by 3.1 percent, compared with a national increase of 1.4 percent. Over the past 12 months, 50,800 net new nonfarm jobs were created in Washington.

Unemployment rates, not seasonally adjusted, in metropolitan areas around the state: Bellingham, 4.6 percent; Bremerton, 5; Longview, 6.6; Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 5.1; Olympia, 4.8; Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, 3.8; Spokane, 5.1; Tacoma, 5.3; Tri-Cities, 5.6; Wenatchee, 4; and Yakima, 5.7.

These labor market areas also reported: Aberdeen, 6.9 percent; Centralia, 7; Ellensburg, 5.3; Moses Lake, 5.3; Oak Harbor, 5.4; Port Angeles, 6.2; Pullman, 5.4; Shelton, 6.1; and Walla Walla, 5.1.

Unemployment rates, by county: Adams, 5 percent; Asotin, 4.3; Benton, 5.3; Chelan, 4; Clark, 5.7; Columbia, 6.6; Douglas, 4; Ferry, 7.5; Franklin, 6.4; Garfield, 4.5; Jefferson, 4.9; King, 3.7; Klickitat, 6.2; Lincoln, 5.3; Okanogan, 4.7; Pacific, 6.2; Pend Oreille, 6.6; San Juan, 3.3; Skamania, 5.5; Snohomish, 4; Stevens, 6.8; and Wahkiakum, 6.7.

[PacificNW]

Oregon's Precision Castparts primed to join Fortune 500


07:08 AM PDT on Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Associated Press

The number of Oregon companies among the Fortune 500 could double next year, from one to two.


Precision Castparts Corp., a Portland-based company that makes parts for jet engines and gas turbines, has seen sales almost triple in the past four fiscal years and is now poised to join Nike on the prestigious list.


Oregon last had two members of the Fortune 500 in 2002, when Washington-based Weyerhaeuser Co. bought Willamette Industries Inc., based in Portland. Ten states have no Fortune 500 headquarters.


If Precision's revenue from the 2006 calendar year were ranked alongside the tallies listed for other Fortune 500 companies, Precision's sales of $4.78 billion would rank 467th. But when Fortune ranks the 500 largest U.S. companies by sales, it uses each company's fiscal year to determine annual totals.


Precision's fiscal year ends in March, meaning Fortune excluded most of last year's growth from the 2006 rankings.


For fiscal 2006, Precision's annual sales totaled $3.6 billion, leaving the company 568th.


"We'd much rather concentrate on rewarding our employees and customers and shareholders with profitable growth as opposed to being in some ranking system," Dwight Weber, Precision's communications director, told The Oregonian newspaper.


To earn a spot on next year's Fortune 500 list, Precision's growth will have to continue outpacing corporations of similar size. And it will have to overcome that March handicap.


State officials say they hope Oregon gets another company on the Fortune 500 list, if only for the sake of appearances.


"Economically, given the state's performance and its basic economic structure, it probably doesn't matter that much," said Mike Salsgiver, deputy director of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. "I do believe it matters with respect to self-perception and brand image."


Other than Precision Castparts, Oregon has no companies on the verge of joining Fortune's list. Lithia Motors Inc. is next at No. 615.

[JiminyCricket II]

^Cool! That will be two northwest companies to join the F500 this year. Expeditors International (of Seattle) joined the 2007 list and is climbing really fast, it could become the biggest logistics company in the nation(it's currently second) in the near future if it keeps growing like it is.

And with the commercial airplane boom going on I see no reason that Precision can't really establish themselves deep in the list.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Well, farming *is* part of the NW economy. ;)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003837628_webwheatboom15.html

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Wheat boom gives small Eastern Washington towns a lift
By The Spokesman-Review

DAVENPORT, Lincoln County — In Washington's wheat country, when farmers do well, everyone does well.

So with wheat selling at higher prices than it has in decades, there's an upbeat atmosphere on Main Street all across the state's wheat-growing region.

Resilient small towns that weathered tough years of a down-and-out farm economy are poised to end 2007 on a high note.

The last time the price of soft white wheat was this high was in the aftermath of wheat deals with the Soviet Union in the early 1970s, when the price of Northwest wheat peaked at $6.35 a bushel in February 1974. Prices being paid in Portland today were around $6.92 a bushel.

"Though it's not anywhere near the bonanza it was in the 1970s, farmers should be healing up this year," Odessa accountant Todd King said. "Things are finally going in the right direction. For small towns, too."

The state's wheat harvest last year was valued at $456.3 million, placing the cereal grain fifth among more than 200 crops grown here. The harvest could easily exceed that this year.

That's good news for "wheat rats" Taylor Warwick and Cody Johnston.

The two 20-somethings empty grain trucks as "dump bay hosts" at the Davenport Union Warehouse. Dust from wheat chaff sticks to their skin and hair in the August heat, but it's good money for work that lasts only as long as the harvest.

Within weeks, this year's banner harvest across Lincoln County will be completed.

The strong prices mean the 300-member farmer's cooperative will be a $25 million business in Davenport, a town of 1,800 people about 30 miles west of Spokane.

"In the farming communities, this sort of price affects everyone," warehouse manager Ed Stoner said. "When farmers are doing well, everyone is doing well."

Davenport exists on a diet of wheat and tourism. It is a gateway for boat and camping traffic headed to the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area behind Grand Coulee Dam.

It is also far enough away from Spokane to be self-sustaining.

Main Street is populated with banks, car dealerships, hardware stores and other shops and services.

Wheat is grown on 2.2 million acres in Eastern Washington, and the annual harvest helps fill the coffers of small communities and school districts.

"It can only mean good things," said Colin Guhlke, who farms with his family and sells cars at Elliott Motors. "We're definitely hoping that some folks will be able to buy this fall."

John Hendrickson, owner of Hendrickson's Finishing Touch flooring shop, said he anticipates that some of the money being reaped from the grain fields surrounding the town will mean more business.

"I think we'll benefit," he said. "People around here like to keep their money local."

As the seat of the second-largest wheat-producing county in the United States, behind Whitman County south of Spokane, Davenport needs wheat dollars to pay for services ranging from schools to city government to health care.

This year the tax dollars from wheat sales and property should be substantial.

"I've been here 28 years and I've never seen prices that give the farmer more than $6 a bushel," warehouse manager Stoner said.

The only downside is that this crop will be about average. July heat set back spring crops that appeared headed toward bumper proportions.

"That's about the only disappointment around here," Stoner said.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Google expands Puget Sound presence
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - 11:34 AM PDT Thursday, August 16, 2007

Online search giant Google Inc. has signed a lease for nearly 200,000 square feet for three new office buildings in Kirkland.

The new lease represents a major expansion for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in Puget Sound, the backyard of its rival, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) of Redmond. The two companies are battling over online advertising and a variety of other web-based services.

Google, of Mountain View, Calif., already has a 400-person engineering office in Kirkland and a 30-person sales office in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood. The new buildings in Kirkland will also be devoted to engineering.

"The Kirkland office has been one of our more productive offices and we think this expansion will help it continue to build on that success," said Google spokeswoman Sunny Gettinger.

"Seattle is incredibly important because it's rich in engineering talent. It's important for people who want to live in the area to be able to work for Google," she said.

In Kirkland, Google will lease 195,000 square feet at Lakeview Plaza, 747 Sixth Ave. Lakeview Plaza is being developed by SRM Development LLC and the three-building complex is expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year.

Gettinger said Google would move into the new Kirkland space later this year, but declined to give a specific timeline or say how many people would work there.

In May, Google subleased an additional 60,000 square feet of office space from Getty Images Inc. (NYSE: GYI) in Fremont.

[NW Mike]

I know my wife will be ecstatic!
U Village to add trendy H&M

Seattle Times
"Guess what global retail giant is coming to town next year?

Hint: It's trendy. It's cheap. It's Swedish. It's not Ikea.

Fans of fashionable retailer H&M are used to making the pilgrimage to the Bay Area, Chicago or the company's flagship U.S. store on New York's Fifth Avenue, but they will likely find the same Euro-style garments in Seattle's University Village shopping center in the fall of 2008.

University Village spokeswoman Sarah Katsandres said construction on H&M's planned two-story location won't begin until after the first of the year. That's later than indicated on the retailing giant's fan-oriented Web page on MySpace, which said late last month that the store would open in the spring.

If the company follows its pattern of rapid proliferation in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas, more stores here could follow.

H&M will occupy a 18,000-square-foot space, slightly larger than Pottery Barn's University Village store.

"We're very excited," Katsandres said.

The company couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

H&M (formally Hennes & Mauritz) has come a long way since its founding in Sweden in 1947. The company operates 1,400 stores in 28 countries, and last year had sales of $10.1 billion. Profits were $1.6 billion — almost doubling in five years.

The company changes its collections to follow the latest fashion trends, keeps tight inventories and sells high volumes at low prices.

This savvy approach to fashion has made H&M hugely popular. The company's MySpace page — www.myspace.com/hmusa — has 74,570 "friends."

The first H&M store in the U.S. opened in New York in 2000, but it took the brand a while to reach the West Coast. The first Los Angeles-area store opened in 2005, and now it has six in Southern California and seven in the San Francisco area.
As of late May, H&M had 129 U.S. locations."
There also will be an H&M opening in Vancouver BC this fall!
Expect 4 H&M's in the Seattle area.

[James Bond Agent 007]

^
Where in U Village do they have room for another building? :???:

NEway it would have been nice if they'd put it downtown. Oh well.

[destroybananas]

Now finally something trully stylish. I was so tired of the old worn out look from A&F and Hollister. It makes me soooo happy!