In-home care business ranked top in country
Homewatch CareGivers of Vancouver was named the 2005 top national agency by the Work Options Group for providing exemplary care to people of all ages with various levels of needed care.
Homewatch has been providing in-home care for more than 26 years. Work Options Group supplies backup care programs for employees.
SWMC Foundation awards record level of grants
The Southwest Washington Medical Center Foundation has awarded more than $755,000 in unrestricted grants to benefit nine key clinical programs and services at the hospital.
Projects that received financial assistance include a primary care case manager position for Healthy Steps Women’s and Children’s Clinic, Family Medicine Southwest residency education, a hospitalwide glycemic control program, refresh of the psychiatric units at Behavioral Health and Emergency Room, an orthopedic trauma operating room table and five ceiling lifts. The funds also support new software and supporting equipment for the Radiation Therapy Department and echocardiogram machine at the Heart and Vascular Center.
New East Clark County business organization forming board
The East County Business Roundtable has been established in East Clark County to focus on business and economic development in areas east of 192nd Avenue.
Comprised solely of business leaders, its founding members include Linda Huff of State Farm Insurance, Sebastian Finocchiaro of the GT Group, Debbi Lessard of Douglass Paulson and Lessard PC and Sean Guard, president of Events Northwest, Inc., who will serve as interim executive director of the organization.
Ideally, the group will be a business-community partnership to assist Camas and Washougal, the Port of Camas-Washougal, Clark County and the state on issues that concern business, business recruitment and business retention.
The ECBR is currently forming a board of directors, and business owners who want to learn more may contact Sean Guard at 360-210-5275 or seanguard@comcast.net.
The first meeting is tentatively set for Jan. 2 at an undetermined location, and future membership meetings tentatively will be the second Tuesday of the month.
County Commissioners launch tourism awards program
The Board of Clark County Commissioners invites nominations for its new awards program designed to recognize achievements in tourism. The program was created to increase public awareness of the tourism industry and will recognize achievements in service, eco-oriented and cultural tourism, events and leadership among youth. Nominations must be submitted by Dec. 31 using the official nomination form. To request forms, and to submit nominations, write to Economic Development Manager Kelly Sills, Board of Clark County Commissioners, PO Box 5000, Vancouver, WA 98666-6058. For more information, call 360-397-2232.
Governor awards companies for environmental ethics
Washington State Ecology Director Jay Manning recognized two Vancouver companies Oct. 4 for protecting the environment through changing practices and promoting sustainability.
The 15th annual Governor’s Award for Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Practices went to Frito-Lay and Panasonic Shikoku Electronics Corporation of America in Vancouver; other awards went to Dentistry Northwest in Port Hadlock; Korry Electronics of Seattle; Seattle Tilth Association and Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat in Leavenworth. These companies join 93 past winners.
C-Tran to redesign routes
C-Tran has begun the initial process of redesigning its transit system. To this end, three draft proposals have been developed. Along with relocation of some stops and the transit center, the proposals include expanded service hours on routes with the highest ridership, more frequent service and elimination of some routes where ridership is very low. To learn more or to offer input on the proposed changes, call the passenger service office, 360-695-0123.
Housing authority wins national awards for development
The Vancouver Housing Authority won two national awards honoring superior assisted housing and community development programs for its efforts in the Esther Short Commons development.
The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials chose the VHA for the 2006 Award of Excellence and will be presented on Oct. 17 at NAHRO’s national conference in Atlanta.
New Edge Networks teams with Sega
Vancouver-based New Edge Networks has teamed up with video game maker Sega Amusements to offer high-speed broadband connections to power coin-operated video games.
The agreement allows Sega to package a Digital Subscriber Line from New Edge Networks as part of its new ALL.Net online gaming platform. The new platform with DSL from New Edge Networks will appear in entertainment venues nationwide.
Criminal charges in Hewlett-Packard case
The California attorney general filed charges Oct. 4 against former Hewlett-Packard Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and four others. The group is accused of corporate espionage and will face charges of identity theft, use of false or fraudulent pretenses to obtain information, unauthorized access to computer data and conspiracy to commit such felonies. The company employs 2,000 people in Washington, most of which work in East Vancouver.
NLight Corp. makes Fast 50
Accounting firm Deloitte & Touche has ranked Vancouver-based high-end laser maker NLight Corp. seventh on its annual "Fast 50" listing. The list ranks companies according to three-year revenue growth. This is the second year in a row that the company has made the list. NLight showed growth of more than 2,902 percent in the past three years.
