Published January 2001

Business Briefs

Aluminum-maker’s cutbacks
will cost port jobs, revenue
A Montana aluminum manufacturer has dramatically cut production because of energy costs in a move that also will reduce revenues and jobs at the Port of Everett.

Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., which imports the raw material alumina through the port, notified officials there it has cut production by about a third. If those cutbacks were to last a year, it would cost the port $300,000 and significantly reduce work for longshoremen.

“They’re a player for us,” port Director John Mohr said about Columbia, adding that the company was the third-biggest customer next to the Boeing Co., which imports 777 fuselages, and log exporters.

Columbia said it had made the cutbacks suddenly at the request of federal power officials, who were seeking to ensure the Northwest doesn’t have a power shortage.

Banks award $1,500 grant
to local elementary school
Everett Mutual Bank and Commercial Bank of Everett recently awarded a $1,500 grant to St. Mary Magdalen School in Everett, according to a news release. The grant will be used to help purchase a digital video editing and presentation station to enhance the computer curriculum.

St. Mary Magdalen School is a Catholic elementary school serving 450 students from preschool through eighth grade.

Express Personnel Service
owners give scholarships
Bonne McArthur and Elizabeth Shinn, owners of Express Personnel Service offices in Everett, Monroe and Mukilteo, recently donated scholarships of $500 each to Everett Community College, King’s High School and King’s Elementary School.

Business women set meeting
“Women and the United Nations: Our Role and Our Issues” will be the focus of the Greater Port Gardner Bay Business and Professional Women’s meeting Jan. 22 at The Flying Pig, 2929 Colby Ave., in Everett.

Featured speakers will be Maxine Loo, a bilingual/ESL specialist with Seattle Public Schools, and Joanne Dufour, a social studies teacher at Seattle Lutheran High School.

The dinner, networking and business-meeting portion of the event will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The speakers’ program will begin at 7:15 p.m. For more information, call 425-355-3415.

Cascade Bank nets ‘outstanding’ rating
Cascade Bank of Everett again has received a rating of “outstanding” in meeting its federal Community Reinvestment Act responsibilities.

A government evaluation highlighted Cascade’s lending programs, including those for small business, community development and home loans. It also commended Cascade’s system for alternative delivery of retail banking services, including ATMs, online banking, TellerPhone banking, bank by mail and courier services, and Cascade’s donations to various community groups and activities.

Marysville restaurant gets
new look, new name
Bistro Ricardo is the new name for the former Fra Amici on State Avenue in Marysville. The remodeled restaurant is now open for lunch and dinner.

Publishing company leases
space in Everett biz park
Trader Publishing Co. announced last month that its Northwest division will move to the Quadrant I-5 Corporate Park in south Everett.

The company, which publishes nine magazines including Auto Trader and RV Trader, expects to be in its new facility by March 1, said spokeswoman Sharon Cuzner. The division serves Washington, Alaska and Idaho.

More than 75 employees will make the move from north Seattle to the new 9,296-square-foot facility. The company signed a five-year lease in the complex that is home to Premera Blue Cross, Reid Middleton, State Farm and the American Cancer Society.

Web site encourages local commerce
Since leasing myMarysville.com in the fall, Maria Frazier has been busy getting the word out about the Web site, which features local business listings, photographs and articles.

She has been passing out fliers to city businesses, sending out mailings through the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce and relying on word of mouth to attract advertisers, organizations that want to be linked and Web surfers.

“The whole idea is to get the community to buy online” from local vendors, Frazier said.

The cost of advertising on the site is $24 for the first year, Frazier said.

For more information, call Frazier at 360-659-2886 or visit the site, www.mymarysville.com.

Area theater groups plan merger
Pied Piper Presents of Everett and Village Theatre of Issaquah have announced their plan to merge.

Discussions of a possible merger began in spring, with details worked out through the summer, according to a news release. The board of directors for each group approved the merger plan in September, pending review of financial matters, which now has been completed.

“This merger will allow Pied Piper Presents to achieve operating efficiencies that were not previously possible for an organization of our size,” Executive Director Brenda Stonecipher said in the release.

Village Theatre and Pied Piper Presents share office and performance space at the Everett Performing Arts Center. Under the merger, the two organizations will combine accounting, marketing and administrative support. Stonecipher will remain with Pied Piper Presents, which will become a product line of Village Theatre.

Seminar to focus on stress management
Seattle Pacific University will start its 2001 Lessons in Leadership Gold Subscription Series this month with “The Power to Change Performance: Strategies for Moving from Chaos to Coherence.”

The presentation will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 25 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. Bruce Cryer, President and Chief Operating Officer of HeartMath LLC and a developer of training courses in communication and stress management, will be the speaker. Cost of the event is $299 per person, with reduced prices for groups of 10 or more. For more information, call 800-873-3451 or visit www.wyn.com on the Web.

Investment workshop set
Edward Jones Investments is sponsoring a workshop this month that will cover topics such as investing in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, as well as Individual Retirement Accounts. Participants will receive a financial analysis to help tailor their investment strategy.

The four evening sessions begin Jan. 11 and will be held at the Snohomish County PUD, 2320 California St., in Everett. Cost of the workshop is $20 per person and includes materials. For information or reservations, call Beth Schuster at 425-355-2008.

Report: High-tech wages
average $60,000 in county
Snohomish County’s high-technology employees earn an average salary of about $60,000, while their Puget Sound counterparts average $129,300 a year, according to a recent report.

The Puget Sound area average of $129,300 a year is the nation’s highest. AeA, the nation’s largest high-tech trade association, joined the Nasdaq Stock Market in releasing a study on average salaries, quality-of-life issues and other economic factors related to the high-tech industry in the country’s top 60 metropolitan areas.

For purposes of the study, high technology included jobs with ties to electronics, so biomedical companies were included in the tally, according to the AeA. Biotechnology was not counted because it is based on life sciences.

Windermere donates $3,000
to help women, children
Sales associates and staff with Windermere Real Estate’s Snohomish County offices recently partnered with the Windermere Foundation to donate $3,000 to Catholic Community Services, according to a news release. The money will go to Seton House, a division of Catholic Community Services that helps homeless, pregnant and newly parenting women and their children.

New businesses, locations
Advance America recently opened a cash-advance center at 4915 Evergreen Way in Everett. For more information, call the branch at 425-317-8966.

The Body Connection, offering massage therapy and skin-care services, recently opened at Pilchuck Landing in Snohomish. Located at 265 Cypress St., the business is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to noon by appointment on Sunday. For more information, call 360-568-6793.

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