Published September 2002

Business Briefs

Marysville Tulalip chamber
to open new office
The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce will open the doors to its new headquarters, located at Quil Ceda Village, the Tulalip Tribes development just west of I-5, during the first week of September, with a grand opening set for Oct. 17.

Petition started for business
improvement district
A group of business owners in Snohomish’s historic district has begun circulating petitions for the creation of a business improvement district to fund improvements for the area’s streets and streetscapes as well as a marketing campaign.

The proposed Parking and Business Improvement Area calls for the collection of an annual assessment from each license holder within the historic district. Business owners in the district would elect seven of their fellow proprietors to serve on a board, and the board would make recommendations to the City Council on how to spend the money.

The tax would range from $25 a year for smaller retail stalls to $250 a year for larger retail establishments. Nonretail businesses, such as law offices, would pay less, depending on the size of their locations. Organizers estimate collecting $50,000 a year.

The petition drive is just the first phase of the process and requires at least 60 percent of the 550 business licenses in the historic district to sign on. Once that is done, the issue then would go before the city for action.

“We hope to have a supermajority of petitions going to the council by September,” said John Hager, owner of Collector’s Choice Restaurant.

EdCC to add degree in applied science
In August, Edmonds Community College’s board of trustees agreed to add the associate in applied science-T degree, or one with transferable credits.

The new degree is built on technical courses that prepare students for work in specific careers, but also includes a college-level general education component transferable to some four-year colleges and universities. In the past, those students would have missed out on the transferable credits.

The degree will only be allowed for specific programs at certain four-year universities. City University and the University of Phoenix have agreements in place to accept the degrees, while acceptance is under review at Seattle Pacific University and The Evergreen State College.

Other schools, including Central Washington and Eastern Washington universities, are working on bachelor’s of applied science degrees that would be able to accept the new community college credits for specified programs.

SonoSite rolls out iLook
SonoSite Inc. formally introduced the iLook — a 3-pound, nearly palm-sized ultrasound scanner — to the medical market in August.

The Bothell-based maker of hand-held ultrasound devices says the iLook is the smallest, all-digital ultrasound device in the world.

There is at least one competing ultrasound model that weighs only 2 pounds, but it is not all-digital, said SonoSite spokeswoman Elizabeth McHenry.

SonoSite plans to offer two versions of the iLook. A stripped-down version can perform initial quick looks in emergency rooms, monitor patients in intensive care and be used in diagnosing gallstones, heart problems and related conditions.

The more complex version, which offers better visual imaging, can be used during procedures such as inserting catheters into the circulatory system.

The systems, which have a touch screen, will be priced between $12,500 and $15,500.

Kevin Goodwin, president and chief executive officer at SonoSite, said the iLook will help SonoSite increase the use of hand-held ultrasound in hospitals and other medical facilities. He cites studies that report the use of portable ultrasound machines at a patient’s bedside, instead of taking a patient to a conventional ultrasound machine in a hospital’s radiology unit, can prevent complications and save money.

KEECO opens offices in mainland China
KEECO, a Lynnwood-based provider of heavy metals remediation technologies, has opened offices in mainland China through its Hong Kong subsidiary, KEECO Asia Limited.

The move is a result of KEECO’s work with the Asian Development Bank and U.S. Commercial Services to provide solutions to the extensive environmental issues existing in Asia. KEECO has been present in Hong Kong since January 2001, COO William Anderson said.

The company said it also has made inroads into Canada, successfully treating more than 1.5 million gallons of process water from electroplating companies and radiator repair shops in British Columbia and Alberta through its operative partner N.E.A.T. Environment Inc.

Lynnwood retail center
sells for $6.4 million
The North Lynnwood Shopping Center has been sold for more than $6.4 million.

The 60,000-square-foot center at 176th Street SW and Highway 99 S. in Lynnwood is anchored by a QFC supermarket. Other tenants include McDonald’s and Blockbuster Video.

Andy Miller of Insignia Kidder Mathews in Bellevue said the buyer was a private partnership based in Sammamish. The group bought the property from North Lynnwood Shopping Center LLC, a private partnership in Lynnwood.

The shopping center is the third during the past five months to sell for more than $6 million in Snohomish County. In May, the Everett Mall Plaza sold for $19 million. In June, the Everett Plaza on Evergreen Way sold for just under $8 million.

Northwest Biotherapeutics
slashes a third of its staff
Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., which announced in July that it was running out of cash, has laid off 18 employees, or nearly one-third of its staff.

The layoffs, which occurred Aug. 8, were not announced but are mentioned in the Bothell company’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC filing indicates that the reduction will cost the company about $100,000 for severance pay and related expenses.

In December, Northwest Biotherapeutics raised about $20 million in its initial public offering of stock. But in July, Daniel Wilds, president and chief executive officer, said the company had hired a New York investment bank to help it determine its future, which includes either finding a buyer or merging.

Canadian company to buy ScenicSoft
Creo Inc. of Burnaby, British Columbia, announced in August that it is buying Scenic-Soft, the Lynnwood-based maker of software widely used by publishing and graphic arts firms.

Creo, a printing equipment company, signed an acquisition agreement that will pay ScenicSoft’s owners $7.2 million and cover the company’s liabilities of $2.3 million. Once the deal is complete, ScenicSoft and its products will assume Creo’s name.

Erik Smith, who founded ScenicSoft Inc. in 1985 and has served as the company’s president since then, said the decision to sell was based on “many reasons, both internal and external.”

After being ranked as one of the nation’s fastest-growing technology companies in the late 1990s, ScenicSoft has laid off employees in each of the past two years. But Smith said the private company was not in imminent financial danger.

Smith, who plans to help with the transition, said the acquisition will mean few changes for the 60 employees in ScenicSoft’s Lynnwood headquarters. The company also employs 12 in its European office in Belgium.

Creo spokeswoman Rochelle Van Halm, more guarded in her predictions, said there would be no changes or reductions until the deal closes within the next three months.

Sea-Dog earns national
recognition as manufacturer
Sea-Dog Corp., a family-owned, Everett-based manufacturer and importer of marine hardware, recently was awarded “Manufacturer of the Year” by the National Marine Distributors Association at its annual conference in Chicago. In addition, Sea-Dog was awarded two focus awards; one for marketing and one for efficiency.

Cascade Bank plans to open 15th office
Everett-based Cascade Bank recently filed for regulatory approval to add a bank branch in Issaquah.

Targeted to open in November in the Pine Lake Shopping Center, the new office will be Cascade’s 15th.

Piece of famous Japanese bridge
coming to Everett
The city of Iwakuni, Everett’s sister city in western Japan, plans to make a donation to the Nippon Business Institute and Everett Community College of a portion of its famous Kintai Bridge, according to a news release issued by EvCC.

A section of the bridge, which is reconstructed every 50 years, will be donated to the NBI for placement in fall 2003 in a Japanese garden that will be constructed in spring and summer 2003 surrounding the Everett facility.

About 220 yards long, the Kintai Bridge spans the Nishiki River in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture. From the time of its conception, it took almost a decade of research, experiment, and test construction before the bridge was completed in 1673.

CT recognized for bus safety
Community Transit recently was awarded a Certificate of Improvement by the American Public Transportation Association in recognition of the agency’s improved bus safety record during 2001.

APTA’s Bus Safety awards competition encourages transit systems to continually build on their records of safe service delivery. Community Transit was the only Washington state transit agency to receive a Safety Award from APTA this year.

John L. Scott wins technology award
John L. Scott Real Estate has been honored with the Inman Innovator Award for Most Innovative Real Estate Company in the nation at a recent national technology conference in San Francisco. It’s the real estate industry’s highest recognition for incorporating technology into business operations.

Winning the award was based on the role the company and its leader, J. Lennox Scott, have played over the years as a pioneer and driver of real estate innovation. In 1995, John L. Scott was the first real estate company in the Pacific Northwest — and one of the first nationally — to post photos of its entire inventory of homes on its Web site, www.johnlscott.com.

County to process passport applications
The Snohomish County’s Treasurer’s Office has been approved by the U.S. State Department as a Passport Acceptance Facility. The new service is expected to be available by the end of the year.

New businesses, locations
n Plato’s Closet, a national clothing-store chain that carries resale apparel for teens and young adults, celebrated the grand opening of its Lynnwood store, at 18205 Alderwood Mall Blvd., on Aug. 12.

n The Mail Station has opened at 19916 Old Owen Road, Monroe. The business offers a range of business services, including business card printing, laminating, packaging supplies, personal mail-boxes, fliers and brochures. It also is an authorized payment center for AT&T Cable, AT&T Wireless and AT&T Long Distance.

n Blue Ribbon Pet Salon has opened its first self-serve pet wash at 11811 Mukilteo Speedway in Mukilteo. The business is the first of several pet washes that Blue Ribbon plans to open in the region, said owner and Manager Tracey Bigelow. The new, upscale salon has nine self-serve wash bays. Attendants are on hand to help customers as well. Pet owners also can have access to grooming tools if they want to groom their own dogs and cats. For details, call 425-348-8872.

n Pet Pros pet-supply store celebrated the grand opening of its Murphy’s Corner store, at 13402 Bothell-Everett Highway in Mill Creek, on Aug. 10

n Sean Sanders has opened his practice, Seattle Veterinary Neurology and Neurosurgery, at 19511 24th Ave. W. in Lynnwood. Sanders holds a doctor of veterinary medicine degree and specializes in animal neurology.

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