Clark County Business

Bridge City Contracting co-founder Roger Gomez, right, talks to certified renovator Kevin Rodriguez while installing a door handle Jan. 19 at a duplex in Vancouver. Construction is an industry that increasingly draws non-English speaking workers.

‘These are the best employees you will find’: Clark County businesses working to bridge language barrier

January 27, 2024, 6:14am Business Subscriber Exclusive

Violence and poverty are pushing waves of people to flee their homelands. A growing number of them arrive in Clark County seeking the American dream but speaking little to no English. Construction, trucking, hospitality and other industries have welcomed the influx of workers, especially given recent labor shortages, but employers… Read story

Dean Kirkland, chairman of Kirkland Developments, left, oversees work on the foundation of Hotel Indigo along the Vancouver Waterfront in 2018. The developer has faced legal headwinds in recent months.

Dean Kirkland keeps building despite legal disputes

January 27, 2024, 6:06am Business

Prominent Vancouver developer Dean Kirkland said Friday that his Clark County projects are continuing despite facing legal headwinds in recent months. Read story

Washington’s climate efforts hit Clark County utility bills; Typical NW Natural customer will see increase of 11.9 percent

January 26, 2024, 6:07am Business

This month, natural gas customers saw the cost of Washington’s climate efforts reflected in their monthly bills. Read story

Initial worked has wrapped up at the Port of Vancouver’s hundred-year-old Terminal 1 dock, as work continues to transform it into a public market.

Final pilings removed from Vancouver port’s Terminal 1 dock — making way for public market, eventually

January 25, 2024, 12:08pm Business

Crews removed the last piling from the Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 1 dock Wednesday, bringing an end to the first stage of construction to replace the hundred-year-old structure. Read story

The Woodland East Mobile Park Homeowners Association meets Jan. 10 to figure out how to buy the land underneath their homes after rent increases over the past five years.

A lifeline for Woodland mobile home park residents? Groups step forward after reading Columbian’s story

January 25, 2024, 6:07am Business

Two investment groups have a plan to protect Woodland East Mobile Home Park residents from skyrocketing rents by building a new park in Woodland and selling it to residents. But they need the Woodland City Council’s help, they say. Read story

‘If it sounds like we’re angry … we’re angry’: WSDOT leaders push back after road workers injured in I-5 crash

The scene of a Sunday night crash in which a Chevrolet Impala, driven by a suspected drunk driver, rear-ended a Washington State Department of Transportation truck, pushing it into another truck on the shoulder of Interstate 5 near Milepost 8. All six of the road workers who were injured in the crash were discharged from hospitals by Monday afternoon.

January 24, 2024, 6:05am Business

Road officials were angry Tuesday morning as they reflected on a Sunday night crash that hospitalized six Washington State Department of Transportation workers who were attempting to fix potholes on Interstate 5 north just past where it merges with Interstate 205. Read story

Vancouver Housing Authority closes voucher waitlist due to rising rents

Vancouver Housing Authority, which operates Fourth Plain Commons, closed its tenant-based voucher waitlist for the first time in around a decade due to rising rents.

January 23, 2024, 6:10am Business

Vancouver Housing Authority closed its waitlist for housing vouchers in December due to rising rents in Clark County. The waitlist had been open for at least eight years. Advocates say it’s a sign funding for housing voucher programs has not kept up with rent increases. Read story