Published February 2005

Business Briefs

Marysville firm wins jet cabin work
The Marysville subsidiary of a Florida aerospace company will be involved in developing “luxurious super first-class” aircraft interiors for a U.S. airline.

B/E Aerospace said in January that subsidiary Flight Structures Inc. will do the design, engineering and integration for new interiors on 10 long-range jets. The interiors will include custom wood cabinets, leather seats, flat panel entertainment systems, mood lighting and personal beverage dispensers.

Separately, B/E said it has received a contract to provide lie-flat premium seats for an international airline. The airlines were not named. B/E said the two contracts were worth $90 million to $125 million.

American Boiler Works
moves to Arlington
American Boiler Works, a company that called Everett home for 100 years, moved to Arlington in January as part of the relocation efforts for the redevelopment of the Port of Everett’s north marina area.

A number of other industrial tenants also have been forced to find new homes to make way for a $200 million project that will involve condos, retail shops, offices, public walkways and an amphitheater.

American Boiler Works’ new location, at 6720 191st Place NE, has 5 acres, which should help the company grow, officials said. And the move has helped the company reorganize things to work more efficiently.

But it hasn’t been easy.

Betty Hanley, the metal fabricator’s finance and administrative director, said the company had to cut back on staff to afford the move, which involved relocating large equipment that had been embedded at the old space at 111 13th St. in Everett.

The company employs about 100 people.

Monroe votes to keep
no-gambling law in place
After dozens of residents spoke against a proposed minicasino in town, the Monroe City Council voted unanimously to reaffirm its no-gambling law in January.

In November, Freddie’s Club, a card-game casino, asked the city to lift its no-gambling law so it could move to Monroe after it sold its business in Everett.

The proposed club would have generated about $400,000 annually in tax revenues for the city and created nearly 100 jobs, representatives of the club said. It had been interested in coming to Monroe because U.S. 2 goes through town and could bring in many customers.

About 40 people packed the council chambers at the January hearing held to assess the community’s interest in a proposed casino on Cascade View Drive east of the Evergreen State Fair grounds.

Even before the public hearing, the city received letters and e-mails opposing the plan. Under state law, local governments can ban gambling.

The council, which normally doesn’t make a decision right after a hearing, quickly decided to reject the casino.

Philips Medical will cut 17 jobs
Philips Medical Systems of Bothell said it will lay off 17 employees by mid-March.

The company previously announced that up to 150 local employees, all from its ultrasound transducer department, could lose their jobs by September. Philips is moving its transducer work to one of its other locations.

Philips, one of the county’s largest private employers, has nearly 1,700 workers at its worldwide ultrasound headquarters.

City, port donate to Edmonds
marketing program
The city of Edmonds and the Port of Edmonds recently contributed $30,000 each to TEAM Edmonds, a marketing committee of the Greater Edmonds Chamber of Commerce.

The committee is raising a 2005 budget of $90,000, with the funds to be used to run advertising campaigns and provide marketing support to Edmonds organizations. The port grant must be matched equally with funds raised from other local businesses or from the chamber.

The marketing program, with the theme “Find Yourself in Edmonds,” officially launched in January with a series of free informational meetings for Edmonds businesses and community organizations.

Under the program, participants have the use of the “Find Yourself in Edmonds” theme and graphics, negotiated media rates, professionally created advertising materials and formats, coordinated advertising campaigns as well as advice from advertising professionals on where to place advertising for best results.

Bothell-based Seattle Genetics
wins key patents
Seattle Genetics Inc. of Bothell has received two key U.S. patents related to the company’s SGN-40, an experimental drug being tested as a treatment for cancer.

The first clinical trials of SGN-40 started late in 2004 on patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The drug also is being tested for another form of cancer.

Microvision signs
licensing agreement
Bothell-based Microvision Inc. has signed a licensing and product agreement with Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, that could be worth more than $6 million.

Under the agreement, the two companies will collaborate to adapt Microvision’s augmented vision technology to medical products. In return, Ethicon is paying an undisclosed up-front fee and future payments.

Cingular to lay off 155 in region
Cingular Wireless has notified more than 150 Puget Sound area employees of their impending layoff, and more job cuts are expected as Cingular combines its operations with the former AT&T Wireless.

After its acquisition of Redmond-based AT&T Wireless was completed in the fall, Cingular’s chief executive officer said the company wouldn’t begin layoffs until 2005. The first notices went out in early January. A notice filed with the state indicates that 155 employees in Bothell, Redmond and Seattle were told they would be laid off by early March.

Mark Siegel, a Cingular spokesman, declined to detail how the layoffs would be spread across the three locations. He said most of those affected are in administrative jobs rather than customer service.

As of 2004, the former AT&T Wireless employed approximately 5,500 people in Washington state, including up to 2,000 in Bothell, which had been home to the company’s information technology department and also houses customer service offices.

In December, Cingular paid more than $134 million for three Bothell buildings previously used by AT&T Wireless. It’s not yet known whether the company will keep operations centers in several other buildings in the Snohomish County portion of Bothell.

Boeing pier gets second permit
The Washington state Department of Ecology has approved a second key permit for the new Port of Everett pier that will serve the Boeing Co.

The department on Jan. 19 approved a water quality permit for the project, which outlines the conditions the port must meet as it builds and operates the pier.

Among the conditions, the port must plant 1,100 square feet of eelgrass near the pier to make up for about 700 square feet that will be lost to the 850-foot pier’s shadow. Eelgrass provides habitat for young salmon and the small fish they feed on.

The port also will bring in about 12,000 cubic yards of sand, gravel and cobble to restore eroded beaches, which will be open to the public. The concrete pilings for the pier will be precast, removing the risk of spills while the concrete is poured.

The pier will allow Boeing to ship oversized containers directly to the company’s Everett factory.

Earlier in January, the Ecology Department approved a conditional use permit for the project. The port still must get a federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state and local permits to build and operate the pier.

Sale of AquaSox completed
The Everett AquaSox Baseball Club, a Class A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, announced in January that it had received all requisite approvals from Major League and Minor League Baseball and that the sale of the team from the Sperandio family to the Carfagna family has been completed.

With the transaction, Peter A. Carfagna becomes acting president of the ball club, and Peter E. Carfagna, who recently relocated to the Puget Sound area, becomes vice president of baseball operations and will oversee day-to-day AquaSox operations from Everett.

While awaiting MLB approval to complete the sale since their announcement of the deal in mid-September, the Sperandios and Carfagnas have worked closely to ensure a smooth transition, the club said.

The Carfagna family is also the majority owner of the Lake County Captains, a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, located near the home of Peter and Rita Murphy Carfagna in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.

CombiMatrix adds Aussie rep
Mukilteo-based CombiMatrix Corp. will sell its genetic analysis products, known as microarrays, in Australia and New Zealand after signing a distribution agreement with INBIO of Australia.

Michael Tognotti, CombiMatrix’s director of sales, said the company hopes to further expand international distribution of its products this year.

Everett extends ban
on adult businesses
The Everett City Council voted unanimously in late December to extend the city’s moratorium on new adult retail businesses another six months.

City Planning Director Allen Giffen said the planning department needed more time to study whether to restrict the locations of stores that sell sex-oriented videos, magazines and toys.

The ban, which was to expire Jan. 21, continues now until July 21.

The controversy over adult shops arose after Taboo Video opened in March just off Everett Mall Way across from a child-care center and next to a home. Several people picketed the store in protest.

The planning department is now looking at whether to bar such businesses near schools, parks, homes, churches and child-care centers. The department looked at a ban within 750 feet of such places, but Giffen said that left very few sites for new adult businesses. Such sweeping restrictions could leave the city open to lawsuits, he said.

Everett golf course
‘Merchandiser of the Year’
Legion Memorial Golf Course in Everett has been named “Merchandiser of the Year” by Billy Casper Golf, the nation’s fifth-largest golf course management firm. The award recognizes the course for operating a good looking and profitable golf shop.

Compass Health closes
Everett drop-in center
Compass Health has closed an Everett drop-in center because of a budget squeeze caused in part by changing requirements for how government money for mental health programs can be used, said Terry Clark, a director for the mental health agency.

Opened in 2000, the center at 3322 Broadway served 558 people last year, many of whom have serious mental illnesses such as severe depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Clark said. The center cost about $287,000 to operate in 2004.

Compass will still try to serve its drop-in center clients by having caseworkers contact them and give them sack breakfasts and lunches, Clark said. In mid-January, Compass was notified of both a $25,000 federal grant and $9,500 from the city of Everett to pay for the food.

Closing the drop-in center won’t just affect clients. Some staff members will be laid off, too, although Clark said she would not say how many until everyone has been notified.

Clark said Compass would like to get enough money to reopen the center sometime this year, even at a reduced schedule.

A fund-raiser will be held March 17 in Everett to raise money for services for the homeless and mentally ill.

Report: Jobless rate, jobs increase
Unemployment edged upward in December for Snohomish County and the state as a whole despite strong job growth, the state Department of Employment Security reported.

In Snohomish County, where the jobless rate increased by one-tenth of a percentage point to 5.4 percent, there was an increase of 700 jobs in December.

In Washington state, unemployment climbed to 5.8 percent, also an increase of one-tenth of a percentage point. Employment Security Commissioner Sylvia Mundy said about 13,800 people were hired during December.

Donna Thompson, a labor economist for the department, said the unemployment rate rose even with strong job growth because so many long-term unemployed are looking for jobs again.

During December in the county, the Boeing Co. and others in aerospace added 400 workers, but many other sectors remained flat. After adding 1,300 jobs in November because of the opening of the Alderwood mall expansion, the retail sector lost 100 jobs in December.

But the numbers are more significant when looking over the last 12 months. Thompson said the county has added 9,500 jobs since December 2003, mostly in service sectors.

The county’s labor force in December was estimated at 359,000 people, with 339,500 on the job and 19,500 looking for work.

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