Business Briefs

Bowling, skating facility has new owner
Lynnwood Lanes and Roll-A-Way has a new owner and a new name on the way as well as renovations in the works.

The entertainment facility at 6210 200th St. SW recently was acquired by NABE LLC, a group formed by real estate developers Jim Potter and Scott Shapiro.

Potter and Shapiro also formed Perfect Game Enterprises LLC to operate the facility and will change its name to Lynnwood Bowl & Skate.

Perfect Game Enterprises has been operating the facility since January and has already made improvements to HVAC and electrical systems and computer bowling monitors in addition to increasing the hours of operation and staffing, according to Potter and Shapiro.

Now that the sale is complete, renovations will get under way, said Shapiro, including resurfacing the bowling lanes and skating rink, refurbishing the bowling computer system and replacing lower monitors, improving the restaurant and bar areas, renovating restrooms, and improving the parking lot.

The renovations will require the facility to close for a few weeks in August, but it will be open in time for fall bowling leagues and school functions, Shapiro said, noting a grand re-opening is planned for mid-September.

Personal Organizer opens
The Personal Organizer recently opened in Edmonds, specializing in home organization, downsizing and moving, especially for senior citizens, as well as showcasing homes for sale.

Owner Jan Parker can be reached at 425-787-9467.

Seattle Genetics wins drug patent
Seattle Genetics Inc. of Bothell announced in April that it had received a key patent related to the company’s experimental cancer drugs. The patent covers the use of certain anti-CD30 antibodies to treat Hodgkin’s disease.

The antibodies are used in SGN-30, which is in phase-2 testing against Hodgkin’s disease and T-cell lymphomas, and SGN-35, an antibody-drug conjugate that will begin human tests this year.

Kohl’s to open Lynnwood store
Work has begun near Alderwood mall to make room for the second Kohl’s store in Snohomish County, part of the retail chain’s push into the Puget Sound market.

The Grand Cinema Alderwood, being torn down at 18421 Alderwood Mall Blvd., will be replaced by the two-story, 98,000-square-foot department store. The business could open by the fall, said Will Daniels, property manager for Sterling Realty Organization, which owns the site.

Kohl’s, based in Wisconsin, also is building an 88,000-square-foot store on 116th Street NE in Marysville, and is negotiating to open in 10 or more sites around Puget Sound in the next year.

Daniels said the Grand Cinema theater in Lynnwood was built in 1984. It was operated by Loews Cineplex, which recently built a newer, larger theater at Alderwood.

Sterling Realty Organization will continue to own the site; Kohl’s is leasing it for the new store.

Edmonds Retirement Inn closing
The Edmonds Retirement Inn was expected to close April 30, forcing 54 residents to find new homes and 20 employees to look for work.

Extendicare Health Facilities of Milwaukee, Wis., did not plan to renew its lease on the 40-year-old assisted-living facility at 21500 72nd Ave. W., confirmed Laurie Bebo, president of Assisted Living Concepts, a subsidiary of Extendicare.

The building is owned by Kavatech, said Josh Williams, administrator for the Edmonds Retirement Inn.

Extendicare’s Aldercrest Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which is located next door to the assisted-living facility, is not affected by the lease agreement.

Extendicare, a placement firm hired by Extendicare and officials with the Home and Community Services division of the state Department of Social and Health Services were working with area facilities to place residents in new homes, Williams said.

Williams said a job fair for employees was scheduled at the center. Other facilities “have been fabulous” about trying to find jobs for displaced staff, he said.

Jaguar-Land Rover dealership
to open in the fall
Now that a $2.57 million land deal with the city has been completed, a Jaguar-Land Rover dealership will open in Lynnwood by November.

Seattle Investment Properties agreed to buy the 3.45-acre lot from the city of Lynnwood in June 2004, but the deal officially closed just recently. The deal was delayed because the site is next to I-5 and needed special permits from the state Department of Transportation to be developed, city officials said.

Jaguar/Land Rover of Lynnwood is being built on a narrow, wedge-shaped lot along Poplar Way east of I-5 and west of Heritage Park.

The 28,900-square-foot luxury car dealership will generate about $350,000 a year in retail sales taxes and create about 50 new jobs in the city, said David Kleitsch, the city’s economic development director. Jaguar’s arrival also may indicate the market for luxury goods is growing, he said.

The new Lynnwood dealership is affiliated with Auto Center Northwest, which operates Jaguar/Land Rover of Bellevue and Jaguar/Land Rover of Seattle.

The dealership building will be about 30 feet tall, according to city records. There will be 153 parking stalls, including 105 reserved for vehicles on display or waiting for maintenance.

A 90-foot-wide demonstration track where customers can test drive vehicles on rugged terrain is being built next to I-5.

Landau Associates awarded
U.S. Forest Service contract
Edmonds-based Landau Associates recently was awarded a contract by the U.S. Forest Service Region 6 to provide emergency response, environmental assessment and remediation services, and tank-related services.

The firm, which provides environmental engineering and science, geotechnical engineering and natural resources, and environmental permitting consulting services, was among 12 firms selected by the U.S. Forest Service to provide such services in the northwest.

Under the contract, Landau will provide services in forest land throughout Oregon and Washington and for locations in Alaska and Idaho, the company said.

“The firm and its team are excited about this opportunity to support the Forest Service in completing their important mission of sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of our nation’s forests and grasslands for present and future generations,” the company said in a news release announcing the contract.

CombiMatrix awarded research grant
CombiMatrix Corp. of Mukilteo and Texas A&M University have been awarded a National Academies Keck Futures Initiative grant to research faster ways to analyze molecular activities.

While DNA microarrays, such as those made by CombiMatrix, are one of the most useful analytical tools in modern biology, the analyses often require several hours to perform. The research will look at how to speed up that time.

Cascade Bank joins SBA’s
Preferred Lender Program
The U.S. Small Business Administration recently added Everett-based Cascade Bank to its roster of Preferred Lender Program and SBA Express participants in the Puget Sound region.

Both the PLP and the Express Loan programs are part of the SBA’s primary lending program, known as the 7(a) guaranteed loan program. Under this program, small businesses may obtain credit through approved lenders with the government guaranteeing up to 85 percent of any loss in case of default.

Goodrich to assemble
landing gear for 747-8
Goodrich Corp. will assemble the landing gear for the Boeing Co.’s new 747-8 at its Everett plant, the corporation announced in April.

Goodrich said it will provide the landing gears under the nose, wings and body of the 747-8, as well as wheels and brakes.

The 747-8 is the latest version of Boeing’s iconic jumbo jet. Boeing plans to stretch the plane to carry 450 passengers, while incorporating new technology and engines developed for the 787 to make it more fuel-efficient.

Design work is on schedule, and Boeing expects to deliver the first 747-8 in 2009, a company official said.

FASTSIGNS gets
Everett Events Center business
The FASTSIGNS sign and graphics center in Everett has been selected as the “official sign company” of the Everett Events Center, said shop owner Tim Harlow.

Harlow opened the shop in November. He can be reached by phone at 425-432-9350 or online at www.fastsigns.com/471.

Mukilteo contractor
wins award for safety
KLB Construction Inc. of Mukilteo recently was awarded a first-place Construction Safety Excellence Award from the Associated General Contractors of America.

The AGC/Willis Construction Safety Excellence Awards are given to contractors who demonstrate a cultural commitment to safety.

Diversified Bio-Medics eyes county
for manufacturing plant
Diversified Bio-Medics Inc. of Blaine is looking at Snohomish County sites for a new $60 million drug manufacturing plant.

The company said it has “several viable locations” in the county under “careful review.”

The company will manufacture pharmaceuticals under contract for other companies. It will be the only one of its kind in the western United States, according to officials with the Snohomish County Economic Development Council.

DBMI officials said they’ve spent the past two years studying West Coast sites for the new plant, which is expected to employ about 100 people and be in operation in 2008.

County’s jobless rate drops to 4.7 percent
Snohomish County’s economy continued to improve in March, adding 12,200 jobs in comparison to year-ago figures, economists said. The jobless rate also dropped by two-tenths of a percentage point from the prior month.

The state Employment Security Department reported that the county’s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in March, down from 4.9 percent in February.

Washington state posted a 5 percent rate of unemployment for March.

Donna Thompson, a labor economist with the agency, said Snohomish County’s job growth continues to be among the fastest in the state. On an annual basis, the county’s growth rate was 5.5 percent, compared with 3.4 percent for the state, Thompson said.

“March may have come in like a lion, with cold, blustery rain, but it certainly didn’t dampen the heated job growth in Snohomish County,” Thompson said. “Sixteen hundred jobs were added during the month, bringing the total of nonfarm jobs to 234,900.”

Jobs at restaurants and bars led the gains. But many other areas also added workers, Thompson said.