Published July 2003

Business Briefs

Concrete construction company
starts theme division
Finishing Edge Concrete Construction of Arlington has created a theme environment division. The new division will build waterfalls, ponds and streams for zoos, aquariums, resorts, casinos and commercial properties.

Tulalips bless new KeyBank branch
Members of the Tulalip Tribes Canoe Club, tribal leaders and elders performed a ceremonial blessing June 20 for the pre-opening of KeyBank’s new branch located in the tribes’ Quil Ceda Village just west of Marysville.

The Quil Ceda Village KeyCenter, 9226 34th Ave. NE, opened for business June 23, with a grand-opening weeklong celebration scheduled for July 21 through 25.

Cleveland-based KeyCorp, one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial-services companies with assets of approximately $86 billion, operates branches throughout Snohomish County, including locations in Everett, Lynnwood, Arlington, Granite Falls, Mill Creek and Mukilteo.

Physical-therapy clinic
opens in Snohomish
Snohomish Physical Therapy opened its full-service clinic in June, offering Snohomish residents advanced rehabilitation and pain therapy services.

The new clinic is located at 1380 Bickford Ave., the former home of Providence General Medical and Rehabilitation Services.

Part of Integrated Rehabilitation Group, the clinic provides patient therapy and education including post-surgical rehabilitation, neck- and back-pain therapy, geriatric care and treatment for sports, work-related and motor-vehicle injuries.

“Our clinic will offer our Snohomish patients and physicians an advanced physical therapy facility that values one-on-one time with each patient while retaining the ability to schedule patients quickly,” said Allister Brookes, Snohomish clinic manager.

For more information on the clinic, call Brookes at 360-568-7774.

ICOS announces plans
to raise funds for U.S. launch of Cialis
ICOS Corp. will raise up to $250 million to help pay for the U.S. commercial launch of the company’s erectile dysfunction drug and research and development on other products.

The Bothell-based biotechnology company said in June that it intends to offer institutional investors notes than can be converted into ICOS stock over the next 20 years.

The notes will be convertible at a price of $61.50 per share, a 43 percent premium over ICOS’ closing price of June 16, the day of the announcement.

With the huge financing package, ICOS is canceling a “shelf registration” to sell up to $150 million in stocks and securities, which was announced by the company in May.

“This is likely to be the last financing we need before the company reaches profitability,” said Lacy Fitzpatrick, an ICOS spokeswoman.

ICOS reported having nearly $308 million in cash and investments as of March 31, but ICOS plans to spend aggressively on marketing once Cialis is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That approval is expected to come in the next six months.

Already on sale in European Union nations and elsewhere, Cialis is one of several pending rivals to Pfizer’s well-known Viagra. ICOS and Eli Lilly & Co., its bigger partner for development and marketing of the drug, hope that Cialis’ differences from the competition help boost sales. The drug’s most-touted difference is its longevity, as studies have shown Cialis still works 24 to 36 hours after being taken, compared to four hours on average for Viagra.

EdCC opens student housing
Edmonds Community College opened student housing June 10 at Somerset Village across from the college campus at 19705 68th Ave. W. in Lynnwood.

EdCC negotiated with Somerset Village property managers to use one of its nearby buildings for student housing. It had a similar agreement with a prior owner from 1994 to1999. The college said it also hopes to be able to build some of it own student housing by 2007.

Although 90 percent of students live within eight miles of the campus, the college is also the choice for international students from more than 50 countries and for some students who commute to Edmonds because of their interest in its particular programs, according to the college.

A resident director and two student resident assistants will live on-site to help students and plan resident life activities. Eric Cole, also the women’s basketball coach at the college, has been hired as the resident director for the building.

Costco drops plans for new location
Costco has dropped plans to build a new warehouse store at the intersection of Highways 9 and 522 in south Snohomish County.

The Issaquah-based warehouse retailer had done preliminary studies and applied for permits with the intention of building a 150,000-square-foot store on 15 acres south of Maltby. But after a year of working with the property owners, Costco notified them earlier this year that it changed its mind.

Don Fitzpatrick Jr. owns nearly 10 acres south of the intersection between Highways 9 and 522 on which Costco considered building. That land used to house his business, Fitz Auto Parts, and is now home to Copart, an auto salvaging company that plans to move soon to a bigger location in Arlington.

The adjoining land Costco intended to use is owned by Woodinville resident Tom Hirai and his family, according to the Snohomish County Assessor’s Office. The Norwood Complex business park is located there.

Fitzpatrick said Costco didn’t give him a specific reason for pulling out, though the rising cost for traffic mitigation and other permitting issues was a contributing factor.

Left-Tee Golf.com adds
The Trainer to retail inventory
Left-Tee Golf.com LLC, an Internet portal for left-handed golfers, has agreed to partner with Dynamic Golf Technology LLC, becoming a reseller of The Trainer, a line of variable-weight and centripetal-force swing training tools adjustable to the progression of golfer’s skills.

“The Trainer is a revolutionary training tool in that it emphasizes the muscular and physiological features of the club to help accelerate muscle memory,” said Left-Tee Golf.com President Mark Johnson. “This is another example of our efforts to continue to bring high quality products to lefty golfers.”

Founded in April 2000, Everett-based Left-Tee Golf.com has developed an online community for left-handed golfers, including a network of more than 150 left-handed PGA Teaching Professionals.

Information management companies join
Guardian Records Management of Everett has recently merged with locally based Integrity Records Management. The new company will continue to operate as Guardian Records Management Inc., according to a company news release.

Former Integrity Records clients should anticipate “business as usual” with the same staff members, address and telephone numbers, the company said, adding that customers also can expect extended hours as well as a full range of records and X-ray services.

Guardian Records Management’s corporate offices will remain at 2912 Cedar St. in Everett. The company’s phone number is 425-259-9882.

Farmers market opens
in downtown Everett
A new farmers market opened in downtown Everett in June, offering local employees, businesses and residents a venue to buy fresh local produce, nursery stock, vegetable starts, local honey and cut flowers.

Located on Rockefeller Avenue, north of Wall Street and Mathews Park, the market will operate every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Nov. 26.

Tristan Klesick of the Organic Produce Shoppe is the market’s manager.

Staffing company affiliates itself
with Randstad North America
NorthWest Staffing Solutions of Everett has affiliated itself with Randstad North America, a temporary services staffing network with more than 700 offices across the United States and Canada.

128th Street ‘pedestrian village’
proposal on hold
After two meetings at which dozens of residents of the McCollum Park area assailed Snohomish County’s plan for a high-density “pedestrian village” at I-5 and 128th Street SE, the county is shelving its proposal.

The Snohomish County Planning Commission had been scheduled to vote June 10 on changes in land-use rules that would have encouraged high-density development in the area. But county planning staff took the proposal off the agenda after County Councilman Dave Gossett lobbied them to do so.

Instead, the commission voted unanimously to pave the way for a similar high-density development for the area around I-5 and 164th Street SW.

State law requires the county to accommodate more residents and concentrate growth in certain areas, and Gossett and planning officials said they continue to see 128th Street SE as an ideal place for a high-density project because of its proximity to I-5. But they said they want it designed with more input from area residents, and they’re willing to scale back the proposal.

The county proposed a pedestrian-friendly area of stores, parks, offices and 1,675 apartments, condominiums and townhouses on a 73-acre site southeast of the freeway interchange. But those living in the single-family homes near the site vehemently argued that the proposal would change the feel of their neighborhood.

Verizon Foundation awards grants
to area nonprofit agencies
The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, recently gave grants totaling more than $125,000 to 15 nonprofit organizations in the Puget Sound area working on literacy-improvement and education projects.

Groups that received grants include: Alliance for Education ($10,000 grant), Edmonds Community College Foundation ($18,000), Hopelink ($10,000), Institute for Community Leadership Training and Organizing ($10,000), Junior Achievement of Greater Puget Sound ($9,000), Literacy Council of Seattle ($4,500), Page Ahead ($5,000), Skagit County Community Action Agency ($10,000), Sno-Isle Regional Library Foundation ($3,000), Snohomish County Literacy Coalition ($5,100), Foundation for Private Enterprise Education ($5,000), United Way of Island County ($5,000), Whatcom Literacy Council ($9,000), Northshore School District ($10,000) and YMCA of Snohomish County ($15,000).

Food Pavilion, Cost Cutter
offer new rewards program
Food Pavilion and Cost Cutter stores have launched a “More Choices” rewards program that is a digital version of the S&H Greenstamps of years past.

The 34 Brown & Cole stores around Puget Sound are involved, including the Cost Cutter store in Everett, Ennen’s Foods in Oak Harbor and the Food Pavilion stores in Arlington, Smokey Point and Stanwood.

New businesses, locations
n Fresh Stop Produce, a fruit stand, has reopened for the fifth consecutive year. The stand is owned by Erika Jones. It operates at the corner of Elm Street and Mukilteo Boulevard in Everett.

n Stone Bay Trading Post and Mercantile has opened in a lighthouse-shaped building at 2908 Wetmore Ave. in Everett. The store offers hand-made gifts and items for the home.

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