When large organizations croon about moving their headquarters to Clark County, the lullaby almost makes us forget about the 10,000 vuvuzelas of an economic crisis. Almost.
A couple of weeks ago, The Columbian reported and editorially rhapsodized about California-based Fisher Investments considering Camas as a new site for its corporate headquarters and hundreds of highly paid employees. Imagine how many Clark County fingers remain crossed as that story develops.
Thursday’s edition brought similar hopes about a nonprofit organization, Bellevue-based PeaceHealth. The hospital chain is engaged in merger negotiations with Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, and plans include moving PeaceHealth’s executive offices and support staff to Vancouver. That could mean 340 jobs brought here, about 80 from executive offices in Bellevue. Another 260 or so jobs in operational areas such as information technology and accounting could move here from PeaceHealth offices in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. The chain operates seven hospitals (none in Bellevue), including two in Washington cities (Bellingham and Longview).
We’ll keep the confetti sacked up for awhile, but this is encouraging news for several reasons. First, it illustrates how smart communities can use the worst of economic times to position themselves for a more rapid recovery than other places will enjoy. Now is not the time to hunker down and hope a recovery arrives on its own.
Brutal as these times are, timing is a key motivator both in PeaceHealth’s possible headquarters move and the merger talks with Southwest Washington Medical Center. Officials from both operations have said bringing the headquarters here has not been a requirement for sealing the deal, but it’s clear that such a corporate transfer appeals to both factions in the merger talks.
Another encouraging aspect of this story is the reminder about benefits this community offers to corporations thinking about moving here. PeaceHealth wants to move closer to a major airport than the commute Bellevue offers. Office buildings are more reasonably priced here. Cost of living is lower and, while the quality of life might be debatable, that quality is high in both Bellevue and Vancouver. With PeaceHealth hospitals, laboratories and other facilities in four Oregon cities (Eugene, Springfield, Florence and Portland), Vancouver’s more central location likely appeals to the three-state chain.
Another lesson in this developing story is about turning apparent liabilities into assets. No one sees any empty building as anything but a drain on a community. But visionaries see potential in empty buildings, particularly new and nice empty buildings such as the one The Columbian built and later vacated.
PeaceHealth found that building to be the perfect size and quite appealing, just across the street from beautiful Esther Short Park and next door to a convention center that the hospital chain wants to be near. Turns out, the building is not available. The city of Vancouver bought it from the Bank of America for less than half the appraised value. The new city hall will save taxpayers $1 million a year in consolidated offices from several leased sites.
Finally, PeaceHealth expects to bring “a considerable number of visitors each year” to the new services center in Vancouver. That’s good news for local hotels and restaurants.
Clearly, an aggressive economic development policy makes more sense during this economic slump than simply falling into a defensive crouch. We hope both the Fisher Investment and PeaceHealth stories continue toward permanent benefits for Clark County.
