| Northwest Pipe reports record second-quarter profits |
Vancouver-based Northwest Pipe Co. made record profits in the three months ending June 30, $8.4 million on sales of $112.1 million.
And with $264 million of orders in the pipeline, business looks good for the rest of the year, said Brian W. Dunham, president and chief executive officer.
“In spite of continuing concerns of a slowing economy, we have seen strong demanded from the energy, agriculture and construction markets,” Dunham said. “Our costs are obviously higher due to increasing raw material costs, but the market has been strong enough so far to support prices that offset these cost increases.”
But with profit margins down, not all the news from the pipe manufacturer was of records. Read more in Thursday’s Columbian.
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| Boeing buys gorge business for nearly $400 million |
Boeing could lift a fast-growing Columbia River Gorge aircraft company to new heights, under a nearly $400 million acquisition announced Tuesday.
Bingen-based Insitu’s 360 employees are giddy about the news, which could bring payoffs for many, thanks to a company plan that allowed employees to own shares of the private business, said spokeswoman Tabitha Orlando.
Insitu’s acquisition is part of a larger Boeing plan to aggressively grow its presence in the unmanned systems market, said Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft.
Boeing and Insitu have worked together since 2002, when the two businesses jointly began development of the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft, now in use by U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Find out what's next for Insitu in Wednesday's Columbian.
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Qwest Communications contractor Shawn Martinache installs fiber optic lines at a neighborhood switching station at Grand Avenue and East 13th Street, as part of the company's efforts to roll out faster Internet connections across its top markets. Qwest officials won't announce the time line for upgrades, but say that Clark County will continue to get more fiber optic connections in the coming months. To see if you can connect, visit www.qwest.com/fiberoptic. |
| New Edge garners North American service award |
Vancouver-based New Edge Networks announced today that it has received the 2008 North American Telecommunications Service of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan, a global research and growth consulting firm. The award recognizes New Edge's development of a service that allows businesses to prioritize their network data traffic over a digital subscriber line, called multi-protocol label switching over DSL. New Edge is the business communications unit of Georgia-based EarthLink Inc.
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| Early payment opens way for Winco and 1,000 homes in Brush Prairie |
| A dozen big developments south of Brush Prairie will be able to move forward thanks to a voluntary $300,000 early payment by one of the developers. A private group backing Falcon's Nest subdivision, a 198-home project on 50 acres at 14424 N.E. 99th Street, put up the extra cash last week. Commissioners voted Tuesday morning to lift an urban holding restriction in the area on July 29. The extra money was needed after one of the 12 projects in the area, Mason Wolfe's Rivendell project, stalled on a contribution of its own. The projects that will now be allowed to develop include more than 1,000 proposed homes and the WinCo-anchored Bowyer Marketplace project at 117th Avenue and 119th Street. |
| Northwest Natural will propose sharp price increase |
Northwest Natural Gas customers in Clark County may be sweating their bills when they turn on the heat this winter. Citing sharp increases in the market price of gas, the Portland-based company plans to ask Washington regulators to allow a 35 percent to 40 percent rate hike, effective Nov. 1.
Increasing wholesale natural gas costs also may mean higher electric bills by early 2009 as well. The market price of natural gas has climbed by 50 percent since December, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Read the full details in tomorrow's Columbian.
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| Profits down, but Bank of Clark County still making money |
The Bank of Clark County’s second-quarter net income fell 39 percent to $750,000. Planned spending contributed to most of the drop, not the loan turmoil that is cutting profits at many other financial institutions, bank officials told The Columbian.
The privately held Vancouver-based bank booked costs of about $336,250 toward the construction and operation of its east county branch during the three months ending June 30. The branch, at 16409 S.E. First St., opened in March. Read more.
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| Clark County building association to hand out L&I refunds |
| Refund checks totaling nearly $3 million will be given out Friday to contractor employers who provide a safe work place as members of the Building Association of Clark County. About 600 companies will receive the checks, a 25 percent refund on their Labor & Industries workers' compensation payments. Checks range from about $1,000 to more than $100,000, said David Roewe, the BIA's executive director. Roewe said the employers took part in a program that allows members to share liability and hold down overall costs. Last year's BIA program participants also received about $3 million in refunds. |
| New vehicle sales slow in Clark County in June |
| New vehicle sales in Clark County as measured by transaction registrations by county residents with the Washington Department of Licensing declined slightly in June from previous years. According to the licensing department a total of 1,088 new passenger car and SUV purchases were recorded in the county. That's down from 1,174 in June 2007 and the slowest month since 2005. |
| Washington, others settle with MEGA Life and Health Insurance Co. |
| Washington has joined 29 other states in a $20 million national settlement against HealthMarkets, Inc. and its affiliated companies, MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, Mid-West National Life Insurance Co., and Chesapeake Life Insurance Co. The settlement follows a three-year multi-state exam which found multiple problems involving consumer disclosure, oversight and training of agents, claims handling, and complaint handling practices. HealthMarkets faces up to $10 million in additional penalties if it fails to meet performance standards outlined in the settlement. The multi-state examination was initiated in 2005 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and led by Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler and Alaska Division of Insurance Director Linda Hall. |
| Butcher Boys plans new Fourth Plain site, remodel and expansion |
Butcher Boys, a long-time Vancouver meat market and meat processing business, is proposing a major remodel of the former Regal Mattress site to convert it to a new larger store. The Butcher Boys operation would include 8,540 square feet of retail space with 4,800 square feet for future commercial lease space at 2512 E. Fourth Plain Blvd. The new location is near the existing Butcher Boys at 2615 E. Fourth Plain. RSV Construction is the general contractor.
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| Bank of America reports better than expected profits |
Bank of America, which operates 13 branches and a mortgage office in Clark County, said today its second-quarter profit fell 41 percent, as credit quality continued to weaken. But it easily beat Wall Street estimates, and shares are up sharply in early trading. The nation's second-largest bank by assets says it earned $3.41 billion, or 72 cents per share, in the April-June period. In the same period last year, the bank says it earned $5.76 billion, or $1.28 per share.
Thomson Financial says analysts had predicted a profit of 53 cents per share on $18.37 billion in revenue. The Charlotte-based bank completed its $2.5 billion purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. on July 1, a deal it now says will add to its profits this year. Bank America shares closed today at $28.07, down 49 cents.
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| Metrowide employment growth tops Oregon, U.S., not Washington |
Unemployment in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area held steady in June at 5.2 percent, according to a report, today, from the Oregon Employment Department. Seasonally adjusted employment is up 4,800 jobs in the 12 months through June for an annual growth rate of 0.5 percent. In comparison, the nation is flat over the year and Oregon jobs are growing at 0.2 percent. Washington job growth through June is up 1.1 percent. The Oregon report shows weakness in retailing. Job gains were in manufacturing and construction, though short of typical growth. |
| East Vancouver Starbucks on company's cut list |
| The Starbucks at 6700 N.E. 162nd Ave., near Fourth Plain, in Vancouver is one of 600 outlets in the coffee chain that will close in the coming months, as the Seattle-based company moves to boost its business and weed out unprofitable locations. Also targeted in the cuts are 18 other Starbucks in Washington, 88 in California and 59 in Florida. Closure dates for each store will be given after employees are told when their store is closing. Starbucks operates 27 outlets in Clark County. |
| Bank of America completes downtown Vancouver renovation |
The Schlesinger Companies have completed a major lobby renovation at the Bank of America Financial Center in downtown Vancouver. The upgrade began in fall 2007 and included stone flooring, new carpet, paint, energy-efficient light and local artwork. The 10-story building offers 275,000 square feet of class A office space with underground parking. Tenants are Bank of America and Princeton Athletic Club as well as law firms and financial service companies.
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