Published July 2005

Business Briefs

Bank of America to close
Darrington, Sultan branches
Bank of America is closing its doors in Darrington and Sultan in September, a move that will force Darrington residents to drive 30 miles to Arlington to do their banking.

The Bank of America closures are among six in Washington state and 100 nationwide. While Sultan has another bank, the closure still will have a major effect there because both the town and the school district use Bank of America for combined deposits of some $30 million a year.

Dianne Wagner, a Chicago-based spokeswoman for Bank of America's branch operations, said the closures came after a periodic review of the bank's locations.

"This is not the first time we've gone through this," Wagner said. "We do make changes. Unfortunately, in the Washington market, we're making significant changes."

In addition to closing the Darrington and Sultan branches, Bank of America plans to shut locations in Okanogan, Republic, Snoqualmie and Sumas.

Sultan Mayor Ben Tolson said the city would not transfer its business to the Bank of America branch in nearby Monroe. Sultan is already talking to Everett-based Coastal Community Bank, which has operated a branch there since 1998 and will be the only bank left in Sultan.

Darrington residents are also talking to Coastal officials in the hope the bank might open a branch there.

Snohomish produce market to close
The Yakima Fruit Market, a familiar sight in Snohomish's north end for nearly 50 years, will close and be torn down this summer.

Owner Chris Lundvall said the challenge of running the produce and plant business was a major factor in his decision to sell the market, located at 1510 Bickford Ave. just south of Highway 9.

"There's all these big chain stores, and they suck up the trade," said Lundvall, 55, who has lived in the Snohomish area all his life and has worked at the market since he was 7 years old.

Lundvall said in June that he would keep the market open for about a month to liquidate his inventory. The structure will then be torn down. Lundvall plans to focus on his import business after that.

According to the Snohomish city planning department, a developer has talked about putting a mixed residential and office building on the site. So far, there has been no formal application for a new development.

The market was built in 1957 by Lundvall's father, Robert.

Energy Northwest eyes
greater ownership of biogas plant
Though the Tulalip Tribes helped spearhead the proposal to construct a biogas plant on 277 acres of state-owned land south of Monroe, an organization that serves Snohomish County PUD may foot most of the bill.

Energy Northwest, an umbrella energy organization that has 16 area public utility representatives on its board of directors, is considering owning the bulk of the project, said Stan Davison, a development specialist for the organization.

Davison said the biogas plant works well with their push for alternative energy sources.

Four local dairy farms, Energy Northwest, an environmental group and the Tulalips are work-ing together to clear the way to construct the biogas plant.

The coalition has to break ground by next spring or else it risks losing $500,000 in U.S. De-partment of Agriculture funding, Davison said. The digester — the guts of any biogas plant — is estimated to cost $1.5 million to $2.5 million. It would capture the gas given off as cow manure decomposes. The gas could then be burned to generate electricity, with fertilizer as a byproduct. Both the fertilizer and the electricity could be sold.

If it works, the four dairy farms could eliminate the cost of treating the large amounts of cow manure they generate.

Barclays withdraws mobile-home park plan
After meeting with city of Marysville officials, Barclays North Inc. has withdrawn its plan for a 2,200-unit mobile-home park in the Lakewood area.

A project of the size proposed by Barclays would have created a small city that would require services such as sewers and public safety that Marysville could not immediately provide, Mayor Dennis Kendall said.

The company proposed the development on land outside the city's urban growth area, although the land likely will be added within the next 10 years, Kendall said. For now, expanding Marysville's urban growth area is not in the public interest and goes against the state Growth Management Act, he said.

However, the concept Barclays proposed has merit, said Mary Swenson, the city's chief admin-istrative officer.

After the company purchased the Eagle Point Mobile Home Park in north Marysville and told residents in March they had a year to move because the company planned to develop the property, Barclays officials were struck by the plight of those forced to move their homes, including some who had lived at Eagle Point for many years.

The company will continue to pursue its concept for developing more low-income and affordable housing, Barclays' representatives have said.

New shopping center proposed for Marysville
A shopping center one-third the size of Alderwood mall has been proposed for northwest Marysville.

The shopping center is planned on 48 acres south of 172nd Street NE on the west side of I-5. The area, just north of Gissberg Twin Lakes County Park, recently was annexed by the city.

The center could host two stores with more than 120,000 square feet of space, which is about the size of the Wal-Mart supercenter at Quil Ceda Village.

"This is a significant development for all the people that live out there," said Mary Swenson, Marysville's chief administrative officer. "The stores that are going here have been looking at Marysville, Tulalip and Arlington for a long time."

Overall, the new shopping center, planned by Kirkland-based Powell Development Co., would include up to 463,177 square feet of retail and restaurant space. That includes a Costco-sized store with a gas station out front.

Swenson and Marysville Mayor Dennis Kendall said they know which stores will occupy at least some of the biggest spaces in the center, but they could not disclose those names at this time.

Swenson said this and other new commercial projects should help keep the city's residents shopping closer to home. The new businesses also will provide the city with more sales tax revenue and help with transportation improvements.

Market Street Mortgage to acquire
Arlington mortgage office
Market Street Mortgage, a national retail originator of residential mortgage loans and a wholly-owned subsidiary of NetBank, recently announced plans to acquire 27 residential production offices located in eight Western states from Major Mortgage, including an office in Arlington.

The deal, which includes Major Mortgage branches in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, is expected to close in early July, subject to regulatory approval by the Office of Thrift Supervision, an official of Market Street Mortgage said. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"This deal allows us to continue growing our presence in the Western region of the country," said Market Street Mortgage Chief Executive Officer Randall Johnson. "The professionals who staff the Major Mortgage branches we're acquiring share our goals. Together, we will further differentiate ourselves in the marketplace and continue to offer superior service, especially to first-time home buyers."

The Arlington office being acquired is located at 202 E. Burke St., Market Street Mortgage said.

Tulalip Tribes to break ground on hotel
The Tulalip Tribes plan to break ground this summer on a 13-story hotel and convention center in the middle of Quil Ceda Village.

Tribal officials planned to meet in June to complete the budget, readying it for bids from contractors, Quil Ceda manager John McCoy said. Construction could begin in August.

The plan is for a 380-room hotel with convention space for 2,000 people, but it will be built for easy expansion, McCoy said.

Tribal leaders are still discussing how luxurious the new hotel will be, he said. He described the current thinking as "three-star plus."

The hotel will sit on four or five acres between the Tulalip Casino and the recently opened Seattle Premium Outlets. It will be just west of the tribes' new amphitheater, a 1,200-seat facility that's set to open this month.

Construction will take about two years, Tulalip officials said.

McCoy said the tribes do not plan to affiliate the hotel with a national lodging chain, but will own and operate it themselves. Tribal members will be picked to get hotel management training.

Federal officials OK Quinton,
Cardiac Science deal
Bothell's Quinton Cardiology Systems and California-based Cardiac Science Inc. said their pending merger has passed Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice scrutiny.

Quinton, which also has operations in Wisconsin and China, makes heart monitors, stress test equipment and systems used to monitor patients and diagnose disease.

Port to pay tribes more than $2M
in Boeing pier deal
The Port of Everett will pay four Northwest Indian tribes more than $2 million for letting the port build a new pier for Boeing Co. jet parts on the tribes' traditional fishing grounds.

The payments, intended mostly for enhancing fisheries projects, will go to the Tulalip Tribes, the Swinomish Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe and the Lummi Tribe.

It means the port will be able to seek a builder and begin constructing the $20 million project this fall.

The Tulalips, the major tribal government involved in the negotiations, approved the deal in early June. It includes a $575,000 payment for fisheries improvements, another payment of $80,000 for design and construction of a monument commemorating the Point Elliott Treaty, and a promise to create a conservation area on 50 acres of tidal mud flats.

Port Executive Director John Mohr said the Tulalips' payment was similar to those agreed to by the other tribes.

Although not in the Tulalip agreement, the port has also promised to pay for an eelgrass enhancement project in the area and spend $800,000 to redevelop the beach. Both projects would aid salmon.

The Tulalips had earlier asked officials to transfer a portion of sales tax proceeds from busi-nesses at the tribes' Quil Ceda Village from Snohomish County to the tribe, but that issue was not part of the final agreement.

Port nets eighth consecutive exemplary audit
The Port of Everett recently received its eighth consecutive exemplary audit.

After more than four weeks of the Washington State Auditor's Office reviewing the Port's financial statements, the agency reported that there were "no findings" in the audit.

"I am just so proud of our staff," said Phil Bannan, vice president of the Port of Everett Commission. "Not every agency can say it's had eight exemplary audits in a row. This just shows the port's dedication to excellence both internally and externally."

The audit examined financial records from Jan. 1, 2004, through Dec. 31, 2004. The audit consisted of examining the port's financial statements, accountability for public resources, internal controls, compliance with federal programs and other financial activities at the port.

Goodrich, Southwest
mark 1,000 jet jobs
Southwest Airlines and Goodrich Corp. held a ceremony in June to commemorate the 1,000th 737 on which the company has done heavy maintenance for the airline.

Goodrich's Aviation Technical Services facility at Paine Field does all the "D" checks — the most extensive maintenance work, done at 2-1/2- to 10-year intervals — for Southwest. It has done so since 1975, when the facility was owned by Tramco. Goodrich acquired the business in 1988.

Jobless rate rises
despite addition of 2,200 jobs
After two deep drops, Snohomish County's jobless rate rose sharply in May. But a labor economist said the 0.5 percent increase should be of little concern.

"What I believe is happening here is we've had a couple of really sharp drops in the unemployment rate, and now we've seen an increase in May," said Donna Thompson of the state Employment Security Department. "I feel that the data is correcting itself. It probably fell too low over the past few months."

The county unemployment rate, which fell to 4.5 percent in April, rose to 5 percent in May. That's still well below the state average of 5.4 percent.

The county added 2,200 nonfarm positions in May, and so far this year has added a total of 8,400 jobs, setting an annual growth rate of 3.9 percent, a number described by Thompson as "a healthy growth rate."

Industries adding jobs in May included aerospace, which added 300 workers as the Boeing Co. continues to ramp up for the new 787 jetliner. Other manufacturers added 200 more people. Construction added 600 people; retailers added 500 workers; government added 200; temporary help firms added 200; financial firms added 100; and the restaurant and hotel industry added 100.

The data means that Snohomish County had an estimated work force of 341,100, with 324,100 people working and 17,000 looking for work.

SBA partners with Ed2Go
to offer online business training
New online business classes will be available for small businesses throughout the nation through a co-sponsorship between the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Thomson Corp. (Ed2Go), a national provider of online, instructor-taught training classes, offering courses through more than 1,000 community colleges and other partners around the country.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to enroll in three of Ed2Go's most popular online educational courses at no cost. Courses being offered include "Creating a Successful Business Plan," "Customer Service Fundamental" and "Creating Web Pages."

Each online course will be six weeks in length and will be facilitated by an instructor. The next course start dates begin July 20, Aug. 17 and Sept. 21.

Registration for each class will be taken at the SBA's Small Business Training Network site at www.sba.gov/training. Go to the free online courses section and click on the "Instructor-Facilitated Courses" button.

Sound Transit's finances earn
clean report from auditors
For the eighth consecutive year, independent auditors have given Sound Transit a clean report on the agency's financial health, the organization reported in June.

The 2004 financial audit, conducted by KPMG LLP, found no reportable conditions or material weaknesses involving internal control, and no instances of noncompliance required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards, Sound Transit said, adding that it complied in all material respects required by the major federal programs that provide funding for Sound Transit's capital programs.

"Day in and day out, Sound Transit works hard to be a good steward of the public's tax dollars. Once again our annual independent audit of our financial management and transactions is proof we're doing a good job," said Sound Transit Board Chair and Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg.

Also presented to Sound Transit's Audit and Reporting Subcommittee in June was an annual sub-area report that is conducted by independent auditors. The report found no major issues with Sound Transit's adherence to sub-area equity, the agency's financial framework that requires revenues generated in each of five geographic subareas to be used solely for the benefit of that sub-area.

Sound Transit seeks applicants
for advisory committee
Sound Transit is accepting applications for membership on its Citizen's Accessibility Advisory Committee, which advises Sound Transit staff on the accessibility of its services and facilities for people who are disabled or are senior citizens.

The committee is made up of two members from each of Sound Transit's five geographic subareas: Snohomish County, north King County, south King County, east King County and Pierce County, as well as five at-large members from anywhere in Sound Transit's service area.

Applicants should be people with disabilities, senior citizens and/or advocates or staff from agencies that serve these populations.

To request an application or for more information, e-mail accessibility@soundtransit.org or call 206-398-5039. Applications must be received by July 31.

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