MAP hires Marcia and Bill Fromhold
Vancouver-based Mentoring Advanced Placement has been awarded $134,000 from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to hire Marcia Fromhold as executive director and Bill Fromhold as assistant executive director effective immediately.
Marcia Fromhold has been serving as interim executive director of MAP since August. Bill Fromhold currently serves as a state legislator in the 49th Legislative District in Vancouver.
The Shoe Box opens second location
Vancouver-based independent shoe store The Shoe Box has opened a second store at Columbia Crossing at the intersection of Mill Plain Boulevard and 164th Avenue next to Peet’s Coffee.
The Coop family founded the company in 2004 with the original store at Park Place Mall, on the corner of State Route 500 and Thurston Way in Vancouver.
Nautilus Inc. names CEO, reports Q3 losses
The Board of Directors of Nautilus, Inc. named Robert S. Falcone president and chief executive officer of Nautilus Inc., effective immediately. Falcone has served as the company’s interim president and chief executive officer since August and has been an independent director of Nautilus since 2003. He is chairman of the board.
Also, Nautilus reported a decline in third quarter financial performance.
State taxable retail sales increase 7.9 percent
Taxable retail sales increased 7.9 percent to $29.8 billion during the second quarter of 2007, according to the Washington State Department of Revenue.
Retail trade was up 4.5 percent over the second quarter of 2006 to $12.8 billion. Construction was up 13.9 percent to $6.1 billion, new and used auto dealers grew 3.8 percent to $2.6 billion, and restaurants, food services and drinking establishments rose 8.2 percent to $2.2 billion.
Sales tax from construction activities accounted for 20.3 percent of all taxable retail sales, up from 15.6 percent during the second quarter of 2003. Meanwhile, retail trade shrank to 43 percent of total sales compared to 53.2 percent five years ago.
Northwest Natural Products launches new supplement
Vancouver-based Northwest Natural Products has launched AccuFlora Pro-Biotic Acidophilus, a combination of five types of beneficial bacteria. The company researches, formulates and manufactures nutritional supplements.
Vancouver businesses earn state’s top environmental honor
Three Vancouver-based businesses received the 2007 Governor’s Award for Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Practices.
Local winners were Bi-O-Kleen, SEH America Inc. and The Holland Inc., which owns the Burgerville restaurants. These three were among 11 companies and agencies recognized for profitable business practices that help the environment. No other city in the state had as many companies receiving this honor.
Bi-O-Kleen helped develop a national “green” standard for cleaners and has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency’s for its cleaners and detergents.
SEH America produces silicon wafers for computer chips. In less than four years SEH America eliminated its entire 270,000-pound discharge of chromium-contaminated wastewater, while use of toxic isopropyl alcohol dropped nearly 80 percent.
The Holland owns Burgerville, which has received numerous awards for its efforts in sustainability.
REAL ESTATE + DEVELOPMENT
September worst month for residential closings this decade
Clark County’s real estate market slowed dramatically in September, according to Windermere Assoc. Broker Mike Lamb.
During the month, there were 405 new pending residential sales, down 30 percent from September 2006 and 56 percent from September 2005.
There were 382 new closed residential sales, down almost 36 percent from August and down 42 percent from September 2006.
At the end of the month there were 5,536 homes sold this year to date, down 15.6 percent from September 2006 and down 30 percent from two years ago.
On the upside, listing activity slowed, which may ease the current inventory oversupply, and prices rose, Lamb said. The median residential sales price was up 0.6 percent to $267,500.
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
Historic Reserve gets grant
The Vancouver National Historic Reserve is one of 29 recipients of a 2007 Preserve America grant. The $50,000 grant will support the development of a marketing program for the reserve and its programs.
This is the fourth grant of its kind the Historic Reserve has received, and it is administered by the Dept. of the Interior’s National Park Service, in partnership with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
WSUV MBA gets top honors
Washington State University Vancouver’s stakeholder-focused master of business administration program was ranked 78th in the Aspen Institute’s Beyond Gray Pinstripes Global 100 top 100 alternative business schools.
The institute surveyed 600 business schools, and this is the first year WSU Vancouver’s program was considered. Western Washington University’s program also made the cut.
ESD to get its money back
In the first nine months of 2007, the Washington Employment Security Department conducted more than 39,000 interviews of the 32,281 people collecting unemployment benefits and found most to be looking for work as required.
However, more than 3,000 were not.
Collectively, they must repay more the $3.3 million they collected fraudulently.
Unemployment benefits are intended to be a temporary safety net to help cover bills while people are between jobs. State law requires most claimants to contact at least three employers each week to inquire about work and accept any suitable job offer. Washington’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly in September from 4.6 percent in August to 4.8 percent.
BANKING + FINANCE
Arcadia Investment Advisors opens Boise office
Vancouver-based Arcadia Investment Advisors has opened a third office in Boise. Arcadia, a fee-only investment advisory firm with more than $170 million in assets under management, according to a statement from the company was founded in 1996 in Portland and recently relocated its headquarters to Vancouver.
Howard Teutsch will be the primary contact for the Boise office. He graduated from Boise State University and recently worked at Emerald Financial Advisors.
First Independent ads win nationally
First Independent Bank’s advertising campaign and brand launch recently received national awards from the American Bankers Association.
The Vancouver-based bank received first place awards for its internal brand campaign and a humorous advertising campaign. The bank also took second place for its community service campaign and was a finalist for its external brand launch campaign.
The winning advertisements focus on clients’ financial needs during different stages of life, from basic beginnings to raising a family or entering retirement.
Columbia Credit Union wins communication awards
Columbia Credit Union won four Spectrum awards for marketing and communications at the recent Washington Credit Union League Convention in Spokane.
The credit union received a first place award for website creativity, content and ease of navigation. First place awards also went to print ads targeting young adults, and to in-house creative efforts on the credit union’s 55th anniversary collateral materials. Columbia Credit Union also received an honorable mention for a coordinated campaign commemorating that anniversary in 2007.
In-house collaborators on these award-winning materials were designers Jen Shefner and Heidi Kovacs, and writers Gwenda Morrison and Tehra Peace.
HEALTH CARE + HOSPITALS
Hearing care center debuts wireless device
Avada Hearing Care Centers, which has local offices in Vancouver, Longview and Portland, has introduced Blulink, its first wireless system that provides those with hearing loss sounds in sync with the listening environment.
It also offers hands-free connectivity to Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and other wireless electronic devices.
Prior to this technology, hearing instruments functioned independently with each ear processing sounds separate from each other, which some find unnatural.
