General
Nautilus adds sixth brand by acquiring Universal
Nautilus acquired the Universal brand of fitness equipment at an auction of assets for $2.31 million.
The company’s stable of brands, including Nautilus, Bowflex, Stairmaster, Schwinn Fitness, Pearl Izumi and now Universal is part of its consumer segmentation strategy, said Gregg Hammann, Chairman and CEO of Nautilus.
Universal Gym Equipment was formed in 1957 and produced single- and multi-station weight training and cardiovascular equipment for commercial, business and home use. Flexible Flyer acquired the brand in 1998 and has sold products under license.
Interior Systems Division receives Masters of Quality Award
The Interior Systems Division of Ohio-based Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. was recently selected as a Freightliner Masters of Quality Award recipient for their plants located in Vancouver, Wash. and Statesville, N.C. The award is given annually to top suppliers who exhibit outstanding professionalism and quality in the areas of accounting, customer support, engineering, materials, purchasing, quality assurance and warranty and service.
Vancouver’s Trim System is part of the Interior Systems Division of CVG. The plant offers design, engineering, manufacturing and delivery of interior soft trim and hard trim products.
ProSpection opens new home inspection office in Clark County
ProSpection, a franchise system of home inspectors, has opened a location in Clark County. Owner Mindy Smith completed ProSpection’s exam requirements and is a member of the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors.
Each home inspection includes a computerized, on-site assessment of more than 250 property aspects to home buyers and sellers. ProSpection also offers inspections for pre-listing, annual maintenance, builder’s warranty, and new construction.
Design & Construction
BIA of Clark County cele-brates 1,000 members
Lacamas Glass and Mirror recently became the Building Industry Association of Clark County’s 1,000th member, a first for the association in its 35-year history.
The BIA has become the fourth largest local association affiliated with the Building Industry Association of Washington.
Membership recruitment efforts at the BIA are directed by Kelley Groen-Barenz, who, working with the membership committee, has brought in more than 100 new members since January of this year. The association will begin building its new headquarters this fall to help fulfill the needs of its growing numbers.
192nd Avenue overlook opens to the public
The City of Vancouver will open to the public a scenic overlook along the new Southeast 192nd Avenue this month.
Walkers and joggers can be treated to views of the Columbia River and surrounding mountains from the overlook 75 feet above the roadway.
To maintain an unobstructed view, transmission lines were placed underground through a partnership with Clark Public Utilities.
The overlook is among the many features of the new Southeast 192nd Avenue Phase III Improvement Project, a new major arterial linking state Highway 14 with Southeast 34th Street. All four lanes of Southeast 192nd Avenue are open to traffic. Work continues on fencing and other finishing touches, as well as general construction cleanup along the project.
Banking & Finance
Bank of Clark County exceeds $300 million mark
Bank of Clark County exceeded $300 million in assets in April 2006, an increase of 22 percent from a year ago. 2005 net income grew 47 percent.
The bank said loan growth and strong local deposit activity contributed to results. The company’s most recent stock sale was for $41 per share.
Columbia Credit Union continues ‘Superior’ performance
Columbia Credit Union has earned its 15th consecutive Superior five-star rating from Bauerfinancial, a leading independent credit union rating firm. Columbia CEO Parker Cann said the rating indicates the credit union is on track to achieve its financial goals and maintain its commitment to members.
Baird seeks to modernize SBA
Congressman Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, and Democrats on the House Small Business Committee introduced comprehensive legislation to update and modernize the Small Business Administration, the Empowering the Next Generation by Investing in the Nation’s Entrepreneurs Act.
Baird said rising costs, increased regulations and a tax system that penalizes expanding enterprises have hurt small businesses.
The ENGINE Act is designed to fully reauthorize SBA for the first time in five years, reduce paperwork and filing burdens for small businesses applying for SBA assistance, discourage contract bundling by the federal government, revamp or expand many SBA assistance programs, including those that provide disaster relief, access to capital and entrepreneurial development and establish pilot programs to address challenges facing small businesses.
Innovation & Technology
New Edge Networks and Chase Paymentech Tighten privacy
New Edge Networks is tightening privacy and security on bankcard transactions through new network interconnections to Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC.
Businesses such as convenience store and petroleum retailers whose PCI-compliant networks are powered by New Edge Networks can use the new redundant direct connections to Chase Paymentech at no added cost. This saves merchants the monthly communications charges for maintaining their own separate connections to their payment processors. Redundant connections also eliminate single points of failure at the merchants’ host locations or corporate headquarters.
Direct connections are part of a New Edge Networks initiative called ARNie, short for America’s Retail Network information exchange. New Edge Networks and Paymentech pioneered direct connections in March 2005. The new connections are exclusive for PCI-compliant bankcard data traffic.
New Edge Networks has been building direct connections to various suppliers, such as Chase Paymentech, to make it easy for merchants to switch from dial-up telephone connections to broadband networks.
iriver launches new "clix" portable media player
Vancouver-based iriver America has released the iriver "clix" portable media player, giving customers compatibility with the new Windows Media Player 11 and the public www of MTV Networks’ new URGE digital music service, launched this month. The iriver clix features a new more intuitive interface, two gigabytes of memory, a large color display, digital FM tuner, enhanced photo viewing, video playback and FlashLite(TM) game support.
Additionally, the iriver clix holds Microsoft’s PlaysForSure designation and is part of the vanguard of PlaysForSure-verified devices that help customers find compatible devices. Other features include a "Now Playing" screen showing album art, song ratings, quick play lists and next song preview; FM recorder and built-in voice recorder; and programmable function keys. The device sells for $199 with a carrying case, earphones and other accessories.
iriver was established in 1999 by Reigncom Ltd.
