|
Change drives Top 10
(Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 31--This was not a year for incremental change in Clark County's economy.
It was 12 months of blockbuster announcements that brought elation for several ambitious development projects and heartache from a sweeping job layoff.
In fact, development was the top local business story of 2006, according to The Columbian's business news staff. And the location is a familiar one to this list -- downtown Vancouver.
It wasn't just one project that garnered the top spot but three that together represent a $237 million investment.
The biggest of the three is Riverwest, a mixed-use development that will include a new downtown library, apartments, retail and office space where the Carr Auto dealership now sits at the intersection of Evergreen Boulevard and C Street.
A new Fred Meyer store is the centerpiece of Grand Central, a commercial and retail complex destined for the old Jantzen swimwear factory off of Highway 14.
Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell is constructing a six-story office building that will include retail on the ground floor, the newspaper's operations on four floors, including ground-floor space, and two floors of leasable office space.
All of this while plans move ahead to redevelop 29 acres of prime waterfront property being sold by Boise Cascade Corp.
2. Mill workers
The specter of layoffs at Georgia-Pacific's Camas paper mill arose in June and by Nov. 17 it became reality when it was announced 300 jobs were being cut from the mill's 900-member work force.
Company officials said the job loss was tied to G-P's decision to shut down three of five paper machines and a pulp line.
3. Shopping
Clark County residents love to shop. OK, so we're not really different from any other region of the country, but national retailers are finally noticing us.
Best Buy opened the county's first electronics-only store in Columbia Crossing, the area's biggest and newest shopping center since the Westfield Vancouver mall opened. Sportsman's Warehouse, Pier 1 and Kohl's also opened stores in the Vancouver area.
Don't be surprised if the retail sector winds up as a top story in 2007. IKEA is opening a store just across the Columbia River near the Portland International Airport. Best Buy will open a second store, in Hazel Dell, and the former Evergreen Airport is about to be transformed into a shopping destination that is expected to include some high-end tenants.
4. Bubble deflates
Housing made a repeat appearance on the list, but for a very different reason this year as sales and construction cooled from the frenzy of 2005.
5. wafer makers
The "will they or won't they" debate ended in September when SEH America confirmed it was investing at least $350 million in its Vancouver facility. The decision means SEH will add hundreds of jobs to produce 12-inch silicon wafers for the computer chip industry.
6. help wanted
Job growth maintained a quick pace; Clark County employers added jobs at twice the rate of the Portland metro area overall. That expansion pushed the unemployment rate to a six-year low.
7. Doctors in the house
An aging and growing population continues to make Southwest Washington an attractive place for the health care industry.
The conditions in 2006 resulted in The Vancouver Clinic's opening a new Salmon Creek medical office building next to Legacy Salmon Creek. The company also announced it will build a clinic adjacent to Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Southwest is completing its own expansion with an eight-story hospital wing. Not to be left out, Kaiser Permanente built new offices in Orchards, which are opening next month.All of these new offices, of course, mean new jobs.
8. where's it stuck?
The Port of Vancouver unveiled a record annual budget for 2007. It's $83.2 million. That's relatively big stuff. But dig into the details and you'll find that $26 million of that is earmarked for rail line expansion, and that's what the big deal is really all about. The rail lines inside and outside the port create a choke point that affects rail traffic up and down the West Coast.
The improvements are expected to increase the port's capacity and give the entire coast much-needed relief to move goods faster.
9. please like us
A new business tax proposed by Vancouver city leaders put the town on the verge of being tagged as "business unfriendly" just like that city to the south.
An 11th-hour deal avoided that moniker -- business and city leaders agreed instead on a $50 per employee surcharge for a certain class of businesses.
10. mixed-use nixed?
The Port of Camas-Washougal teamed with local developers to plan a hotel, offices, condominiums and retail space on waterfront land that is partly owned by the port.
Neighbors are upset with what they perceive as disrespect for the location's historical roots and the port's attempts to stifle opposition.
RUNNERS-UP
Great Western Malting hopes to build a $100 million ethanol plant at the Port of Vancouver.
Businesses kept leaving Portland for Clark County.
The Vancouver Housing Authority had a rough year with a critical audit, a land deal that failed and the executive director's choice of a company vehicle, a Hummer.
Christensen Shipyards needed a new facility to build its even-bigger line of luxury yachts. The place? Tennessee, not Vancouver.
Jonathan Nelson can be reached at 360-759-8013 or jonathan.nelson@columbian.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
