Published September 2004

Business Briefs

Indian market opens in Marysville
J.K. Market opened in August at 1508 Third St. in Marysville, bringing Indian spices, food and goods to the north Snohomish County marketplace.

The market is owned by Kewal Singh Johal and his wife, Jasbir Kaur. The couple also own the Grand Taj restaurant in Lake Stevens, where they teach Indian cooking lessons. They plan to open a second restaurant near the Marysville store in the near future.

The market, which offers traditional Indian items such as spices, rice, flour, teas, lentils, seeds, herbal medicines and pickles, as well as DVDs and CDs, is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

NESCO shelves plans
for Darrington energy plant
Kirkland-based National Energy Systems Co. has shelved plans to build an electricity-generating plant next to the Hampton lumber mill in Darrington. Company officials cited changing conditions in the power market as well as the mill’s own expansion plans.

In early 2003, NESCO revealed plans to build a 15- to 20-megawatt plant that would burn wood waste from the Hampton mill. In addition to producing electricity, steam from its wood-fired boiler would be used in the drying kilns at the mill.

But up to three months ago, the mill’s owners decided that NESCO’s plant wouldn’t be ready in time to provide the steam needed for the sawmill’s expanding operations, said Steve Zika, chief executive of Hampton Lumber Mills.

The mill has started going through the permitting process to add more drying kilns and construct its own wood-waste boiler to produce steam. That boiler will have a 4- to 5-megawatt generator, but it would not be large enough to produce electricity for the outside market, Zika said.

Even though Hampton plans to build its own wood-fired boiler over the next two years, the energy company hasn’t fully ruled out its project at the mill, NESCO Vice President David Eaden said. “If market conditions were to change, that would make our co-generation plant an option.”

Simrad centralizes repair,
service department in Lynnwood
Simrad Inc., a maker of marine electronics, has centralized its national repair and service department at its Lynnwood headquarters, resulting in added employees.

The consolidation is one of a number of changes in Simrad’s U.S. operations.

Brian Staton, Simrad’s president, said the centralization of the service and repair department came as a direct response to dealers who wanted simplified service.

Previously, Simrad’s office in Dania, Fla., also provided repair services.

Since announcing the move earlier this year, Simrad has added about half a dozen employees to the staff at its Lynnwood headquarters. The company employs between 50 and 60 people locally.

The Florida office remains open as Simrad’s East Coast sales office and training center.

In addition to physically moving some of its operations, Simrad has appointed several new sales managers to concentrate on key sectors of the maritime market.

Office Depot opens
with Millennium2 format
Office Depot recently opened its new store at 19719 Highway 99 in Lynnwood, just a few hundred feet west of the retailer’s former location.

The new store is the first Office Depot in Washington state to incorporate the chain’s Millennium2 design, which includes new interior colors, more open aisles and shelves designed to keep products more organized, according to the Florida-based retailer.

The Millennium2 format was developed with the goals of being less expensive to build, more efficient to operate and easier for customers to shop, the company said.

To mark the Aug. 12 grand opening, Office Depot is donating $500 to the Family Support Center of South Snohomish County, $500 to the Lynnwood Public Library and $500 to the Lynnwood Food Bank. Also, the company is donating 120 backpacks to children at the Cedar Valley Community School.

Premera to lay off 82 employees
Premera Blue Cross plans to lay off 82 employees as a result of the health insurer’s shift away from processing Medicare claims.

The layoff takes effect Oct. 1, according to a notice filed with the state’s Employment Security Department. It stems from Premera’s announcement in March that it no longer would process claims and offer related services for Medicare Part A as of that date.

Fourteen of the employees due to be laid off already have been hired by the company taking over the Medicare processing from Premera, Noridian Administrative Services LLC of North Dakota. The former Premera employees will work in Noridian’s regional office in southern King County.

One of the state’s largest private companies, Premera has about 3,000 employees. Approximately 2,000 of those people work in the Mountlake Terrace headquarters, the company said.

Chamber to move near
Lynnwood Convention Center
The South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce is relocating next to the Lynnwood Convention Center, a move that is expected give the business organization a higher profile.

The chamber has had its office in the former Fisher Business Center office building, now the Alderwood Business Center, since 1995.

Chamber President Jean Hales said the office building’s owners and manager have been great landlords over the years, but the chance to be near Lynnwood’s new public conference center was too good to pass up.

The chamber’s new office will be at 3815 196th St. SW, Suite 136, just west of where the convention center is being built. The move is scheduled for early September.

The chamber will share the 3,500-square-foot space with the Lynnwood Public Facilities District, which owns the building.

The $30 million Lynnwood Convention Center, covering 55,000 square feet, is scheduled to open next spring.

Scrap-booking store
opens in Silver Lake Plaza
Stampers Ink, a rubber-stamp and scrap-booking store owned by MaryLou and Brad Sturlaugson, has opened at 11419 19th Ave. SE in Silver Lake Plaza in Everett.

The shop features 700 kinds of paper and many accessories. Operating hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is 425-316-3545.

County creates commission
to serve arts community
With a stroke of the pen, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon helped to create the Snohomish County Arts Commission — a group that local artists have championed for nearly two years.

On Aug. 11, Reardon signed an ordinance creating the commission following the County Council’s 5-0 vote to approve the ordinance in late July.

Reardon will have two appointments to the new commission, while each of the County Council’s five members will be allowed to select a commissioner from within their district.

In campaigning for the commission, members of the arts community have touted its benefits, both for local arts groups and for businesses seeking to attract employees to a county with a great quality of life.

FiberCloud acquiring
Seattle data center
FiberCloud Inc., a subsidiary of Whidbey Telephone Co. that operates data centers in Everett and Bellingham, is extending its reach by acquiring Seattle-based Compass Communications Inc.

FiberCloud will take over Compass Communications’ main data center in Seattle’s Westin Building. That building also houses an Internet hub for the entire Northwest.

Terms of the deal between the private companies were not released. In addition to the Seattle data center, FiberCloud will take over a Compass center in Spokane.

Along with its data center services, FiberCloud provides high-speed wireless Internet service to the Peninsula Apartments, the Everett Events Center and several other downtown Everett buildings.

Report: 86 percent of retailers
snuffing tobacco sales to minors
Recent random checks of 59 retail stores in Snohomish County show that 86 percent refuse to sell tobacco products to minors, local public health officials said in August.

But the Snohomish Health District added that more compliance checks need to be done this year to know if compliance rates are declining compared to previous years.

“The current year’s rate of compliance is somewhat lower than the 90 percent rate for 2003 and apparently much lower than the 95.7 percent rate for 2001, but the rates are not statistically different and could be due to chance,” said Dr. M. Ward Hinds, head of the Health District.

The Snohomish Health District’s Tobacco Prevention and Control team works with the Washington State Liquor Control Board in checking retail stores for compliance. Clerks who sell tobacco to minors can be fined $50 for a first offense, and the storeowner can be fined $100. Repeat offenses can cost up to $1,500 in fines and a one-year suspension of the store’s tobacco license.

For more information about the Tobacco Prevention and Control program, call 425-339-8657.

Zonta calls on nonprofits
to apply for funding
The Zonta Club of Everett is accepting applications from nonprofit agencies for annual funding. Organizations whose programs benefit women and children are encouraged to apply before the Sept. 10 deadline, the club said.

To be considered for funding, groups must complete an application as well as a Zonta commitment form; both are available online at www.zontaeverett.org.

To request a hard copy of the forms, call 425-493-0015 or send mail to The Zonta Club of Everett, Attention: Service Committee Chair, P.O. Box 5204, Everett, WA 98206.

Banner Bancorp to open
two new branches in county
Banner Bancorp will expand its presence in Western Washington this winter when it opens two branches in Snohomish County.

The move — which also includes a new branch in Kent — is part of a broader expansion strategy that Banner is pursuing to become “a very meaningful regional bank,” said Lloyd Baker, chief financial officer of the Walla Walla-based banking company.

Wells Fargo is selling off 15 of its Western Washington branches as it consolidates its holdings following its merger with Pacific Northwest Bank. Banner has bought three of those branches, plus an undeveloped property in Bellingham.

The list includes the former Pacific Northwest Bank branch on Evergreen Way in Everett, and the former Wells Fargo branch on 212th Street SW in Edmonds.

Banner agreed to not reopen the branches for six months after the sale, which closed earlier this year. Baker said his bank plans to remodel the sites and reopen them either late this year or early in 2005.

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