Nancy Hales to leave the Community Foundation
Nancy Hales announced she will leave the Community Foundation at the end of June. Hales has been the organization’s president for more than 15 years, beginning as its first paid executive in 1992. Hales plans to take a brief sabbatical and then will open a private consulting practice serving nonprofit organizations in the Northwest region. Her successor is currently being recruited.
Biodiesel breaks into Vancouver
On May 30, Powell Distributing, owner of the Shell station located at 4409 N.E. 78th Street, was the first station in Vancouver to offer domestically produced B99 Biodiesel.
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel made from vegetable oil that can run in any diesel engine. The biodiesel will be delivered by Star Oilco and supplied by SeQuential Biofuels. The fuel will be made from used cooking oil, northwest grown canola oil and soybean oil. A portion of the biodiesel SeQuential supplies is produced at Oregon’s only commercial biodiesel production facility, SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel’s facility located in Salem, Ore.
Restaurant opening to benefit Children’s Center
Vancouver restaurateur Tommy O, in partnership with the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, is holding a grand opening at 4 p.m. on June 8 for his new bar and restaurant next to his longtime location at 801 Washington St. in downtown Vancouver. All of the proceeds will go to the Children’s Center.
Sleep Country opens third store in Vancouver
Sleep Country USA opened its third location in Vancouver, in Hazel Dell. Customers are invited to celebrate by participating in its "Princess and the Pea" contest on June 10 for a chance to win $1,000.
The store is located at 9303 N.E. Fifth Ave.
Burgerville awarded community service award
Burgerville was awarded an Association of Washington Business 2007 Community Service Award for "helping people in need." Burgerville upholds a responsibility to helping the community through its work with charitable organizations including The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and The United Way.
Moe’s cuts for charity
Hairdressers at Vancouver’s Moe’s Barbering & Styling gave half-price hair cuts to customers on June 3, giving all proceeds to Vancouver musician Tego Burke, a friend of owner Carrie Winters who was hospitalized a number of times in the last year.
Creative Interiors celebrates grand opening
Creative Interiors and Design celebrated its grand opening May 18 and 19. The company is located in Vancouver at 11815 N.E. 113th St. in the Union Prairie Business Park.
Woodland businessman raises $1 million for relief agency
Woodland businessman Ansgar Schei helped surpass $1 million in contributions for Medical Teams International and the Partners in Hope banquet.
The organization stocks health clinics, trains emergency aid workers, renovates hospitals and brings health care to people in impoverished countries.
This year, local donors raised a total of $135,000 for health care clinics and medicine in Liberia.
Riding High USA sponsors state Miss Rodeo
Brush Prairie-based Riding High USA continues their sponsorship of Miss Rodeo Washington through 2008. Sponsorship began in 2006. The company creates American-made custom rodeo queen, horsemanship and showmanship show clothing.
Fort Vancouver Alzheimer’s Care changes name to Caretique
Fort Vancouver Alzheimer’s Care has changed its name to Caretique to reflect more progressive outlook on memory care. This change will not affect staffing, and the ownership and the management will remain the same.
Nautilus declares dividend
Nautilus Inc. board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.10 per common share, payable June 8 to stockholders of record as of May 20.
Port of Vancouver security gets federal funding
Port of Vancouver and Valero Energy received $359,050 from the FY 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill toward infrastructure security improvements including chemical detectors, cameras, security gates, access controls and training and exercises. Port of Vancouver, which did not receive a Port Security Grant in FY06. Washington State received more than $18 million through the Port Security Grants Program.
Downtown Raymond James relocates to Tech Center
Destry Witt, Shane Weisman and Ralph Miller of Raymond James Financial Services have relocated from their downtown Vancouver location to 1498 S.E. Tech Center Place in the Columbia Tech Center. Raymond James Financial Services, member NASD/SIPC offers investment advice and trading services.
Perkins Pacific relocates to Ridgefield
Perkins Pacific moved its headquarters to 6100 S. Sixth Way in Ridgefield. The 75-year-old company that sells, services and remanufactures power-generation products was previously stationed near Hazel Dell.
The new 110,000 square-foot facility features an all-new, full-service engine machine shop equipped with more than $1 million worth of new tools and machinery. Other improvements include a larger warehouse and parts inventory and a new advanced-technology training center.
General Manager Andy Machin said the company has grown steadily over the past few years and outgrew its old space.
JH Kelly building wine bottle plant
Longview-based contractor J.H. Kelly has been picked to build Cameron Family Glass Packaging’s 175,000-square-foot wine bottle plant at the Port of Kalama.
Cameron Family Glass Packaging completed a $109 million financing deal that will allow the company to build the plant, construction of which is expected to be complete by the end of 2008.
The facility will be the first new glass plant built in the United States in 30 years that will make glass exclusively for the wine industry, and will be the largest eco-friendly wine bottle manufacturing plant in the world, according to the company.
The Cameron family was in the Coca-Cola business for more than a century and spent the last three years researching the wine industry and noticed a significant need in the marketplace for quality and capacity.
When completed, the facility is expected to create about 90 jobs.
Pacific Lifestyle Foundation accepts proposals
Pacific Lifestyle Homes is accepting proposals for the Pacific Lifestyle Homes Foundation.
The Pacific Lifestyle Homes Foundation is a federally and state registered 501c3 private foundation and is geographically focused on the Portland/Vancouver/Salem marketplace, giving preference to applications from areas where Pacific Lifestyle Homes’ communities are located. The foundation only accepts applications from federally registered 501c3 organizations and will provide additional preference to organizations focused on helping physically and developmentally disabled children, community building and providing affordable housing for families.
For more information, email joek@pacificlifestylehomes.com.
Renaissance Homes opens third Vancouver neighborhood
Lake Oswego-based Renaissance Homes is taking reservations on its third Vancouver-area neighborhood, Renaissance Vista, in Salmon Creek.
Infrastructure work has been completed on the 69-home Renaissance Vista at Northeast 29th Avenue and Northeast 170th street, about a mile north of the company’s other Salmon Creek neighborhood.
Homes will range from 2,528 square feet to 3,347 square feet, $489,900 to $599,900. The neighborhood will have an eight-acre habitat reserve with a walking path.
Centex Homes opens Walnut Corner neighborhood
Centex Homes of Portland open a new Vancouver neighborhood this month.
Walnut Corner lies close to I-205, the shopping of the Vancouver Mall and the Royal Oaks Country Club.
Three-to-four bedroom homes at Walnut Corner range from 2,433 to 3,267 square feet and are priced from $326,000 to $367,000.
ESD helping recruit out-of-state seasonal workers
The state Employment Security Department is expanding its efforts to help agricultural employers recruit workers outside of Washington. Growers have expressed concerns about having enough workers for the 2007 harvest season, according to the ESD, which is helping them tap into available programs to recruit workers from across the nation and overseas.
The department also will promote the use of two federal programs – H2-A, which allows agricultural employers to apply for permission to hire temporary guest workers from other countries, and the Agricultural Recruitment System, which allows employers to recruit workers from other states. Both are administered by the federal Department of Labor.
The department has begun talking with colleagues in California and Texas about helping to recruit workers if a labor shortage materializes in Washington, and has trained additional staff at its WorkSource offices to help growers with the application processes and requirements for both recruitment programs.
S1 IT Solutions parent acquired
Genstar Capital LLC announced that it has partnered with management to acquire ConvergeOne, one of the largest providers of independent business communications solutions in the United States and whose family of companies includes Vancouver-officed S1 IT Solutions. Based in San Francisco, Genstar is a middle market private equity firm that focuses on investments in selected segments of life science and healthcare services, industrial technology, business services and software sectors.
Xiotech releases new product
Vancouver-based Xiotech announced the release of CEMS, a new system which is designed to help organizations proactively manage their electronic information that could otherwise be potentially used against them in lawsuits, regulatory actions, intellectual property loss or other issues. Previously, organizations would need to custom-build a system using enterprise content management, email archiving and e-discovery system components to approximate such a capability.
Columbia River Crossing launches website
The Columbia River Crossing project has launched a new website. Features include a search engine, a comprehensive library of project documents and a more user-friendly layout. Columbia River Crossing is a joint project of the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Washington State Department of Transportation. For more information visit the project website at www.columbiarivercrossing.org.
Cricket LCW opens five Vancouver stores
Wireless provider Cricket LCW dealers have opened four new Cricket stores in 2007 in Vancouver, bringing to five the total number of exclusive Cricket dealers in the city. The company has created approximately 60 new jobs in the metropolitan area since Jan. 1.
Dotster launches new ‘design studio’
Vancouver-based Dotster Inc., has launched the new Dotster Design Studio. The new service includes total web presence management and strategic marketing services to help small and medium businesses target and capture new business online and reach a consumer scope of massive proportions.
High tech WSUV librarian makes Library Journal
Washington State University Vancouver’s library reference coordinator Rachel Bridgewater was recognized in the Library Journal as a national expert in bringing high tech in to the old stacks.
She has helped teach online courses and organized CopyNights, where librarians and others with an interest in copyright can share information.
She is a former software developer, and makes use of her skills in her second career, educating campus staff and library groups around the world on technology-based information gathering and sharing.
Columbia Ultimate releases new software version
Vancouver-based Columbia Ultimate released The Collector System 2007.1. The newest release includes a number of key enhancements to the core system as well as the CU•CONVERSE Dialer.
Collection agencies, debt buyers, banks and healthcare and retail organizations use The Collector System to increase cash flow, reduce operating costs, and streamline collections and debt recovery.
For more information, visit www.columbiaultimate.com.
MAP seeks prestigious federal funding
The National Math and Science Initiative has selected the Mentoring Advanced Placement Program (MAP) to represent Washington State in submitting a proposal for the Advanced Placement Training and Incentives grant. The NMSI grant would provide up to $13 million over 6 years to support AP programs in Washington State.
MAP is a Clark County-based public-private partnership, that supports high school Advanced Placement programs by matching AP teachers and students with professional mentors. Funding would allow MAP to provide statewide training for AP teachers and incentive programs for teachers, schools, and students, and to serve more high schools.
MAP grew from serving less than 30 students last year to working with more than 90 students in 20 classrooms. Local businesses including nLight, Hewlett-Packard, Underwriters Laboratories and Sharp Laboratories of America help support this program.
MAP will receive the final notice about grant funding in mid-August.
Bank of Clark County exceeds $350M milestone
Bank of Clark County in May exceeded $350 million in assets, a major milestone achievement for the bank and up over 21 percent from May 2006. Net income for the first four months of the year is also up 21 percent over the same period in 2006.
Excellent loan growth combined with strong local deposit activity contributed. Additionally, the Bank’s Free Courier Service continues to gain popularity and expand.
Bank of Clark County and its parent company, Clark County Bancorp., are closely held companies. The most recent stock sale was $47.50 per share.
Columbia Credit Union wins national recognition
Columbia Credit Union won five national industry awards for their 2006 marketing
campaigns. In the Credit Union National Association Diamond awards, Columbia received first place awards for email marketing and the "Year of the Member" coordinated campaign, and an award of merit for youth marketing. In the Credit Union Executive Society Golden Mirror awards, Columbia received first place for youth marketing and an award of merit for email marketing.
