Columbia River Crossing faces obstacles in its path, Portland Daily Journal of Commerce
At work on recovery, Spokane Journal of Business
Friday, November 13, 2009
Business Around the Northwest
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
► On the Record
“For these reasons, until more information is available on premium estimates and Medicare impacts, I will vote against the legislation in its current form.”
– Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver), in a statement explaining his “No” vote on H.R. 3962 – The Affordable Health Care for America Act. The bill passed the U.S. House 220-215 last weekend.
Reporter's Notebook
The truth behind the “ultimate sacrifice”
Whether it be called Fort Vancouver, or just plain Vancouver, Washington, this is a community that places a high value on service to one’s country.
Nearly 2,400 Washingtonians are stationed at posts throughout the world. Only last August, nearly 150 Clark County residents returned home from battle zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, with about a hundred remaining behind enemy lines.
On this Veterans Day, many Americans will remember the sacrifices and services of wars and military actions past. However, this year also brings sobering reflection on the ever-increasing list of perils facing our servicemen and women stationed abroad, and tragically and inexplicably, here at home as well.
What we term the “ultimate sacrifice” may seem poetic, full of much-deserved honor, dignity and respect. But underlying this phrase is the gritty reality of death, often inglorious, tragic and incomprehensible.
Politics aside, as President Obama prepares to decide the future course of this $231 billion (and counting) Afghan conflict, here’s a number, amongst many others, for him to keep in mind – 18.
That’s the number of Washingtonians killed in Afghanistan, including 25-year-old U.S. Army PFC Christopher “Ian” Walz, a Hudson’s Bay Graduate, Clark College student and a longtime Vancouver WinCo market employee with dreams of experiencing the wider world beyond his hometown.
“He really just wanted to travel, and he found the military was a way to do that,” WinCo produce department supervisor Shane Budge told the VBJ this week. “He had the travel bug.”
On Oct. 27, Walz was killed when his military vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the Arghandab Valley near Kandahar. He was the eighth soldier stationed at Fort Lewis to die on the same day in an eight-year Afghan war against an insurgency growing bolder and deadlier with each new deployment of fresh American troops.
Back in Hazel Dell, Budge remembers Walz as a diligent employee, always smiling, with a laugh that he said stays with many employees at the store – many of whom worked with the fallen soldier for close to six years.
“I’ll always remember him as a good kid,” he said.
There’s something else Budge recalls clearly: Walz’ enthusiasm regarding Obama’s historic candidacy last year, made all the more poignant since it was the President who greeted this fallen soldier upon his return on his final voyage home.
Business Around the Northwest
Business execs more optimistic, South Sound Business Examiner
Retailers voice merry outlook, Spokane Journal of Business
Small Business Index rises, Idaho Business Journal
Friday, November 6, 2009
► On the Record
“A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back the minute it begins to rain.”
-- Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Reporter's Notebook
A message to the mayor-elect
After the most expensive race in city history, today there is no doubt that Councilman Tim Leavitt will become the 57th mayor of Vancouver. And like anyone else campaigning in a hard-fought election for the past eight months, perhaps he feels like he’s in for a little break.
But if mayor-elect Leavitt is looking for a vacation, he’s in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
The problems our city and region faces are too important to wait for Day One of the Leavitt Administration.
After covering his campaign this summer and fall, it is clear Tim cares deeply about a city he’s called home since childhood. But in regards to certain promises made on the campaign trail to the business community – well, we plan to hold him accountable in the coming months.
First and foremost on that list – jobs. Clark County continues to be one of the hardest-hit in terms of unemployment in the state. Firms just emerging from the longest recession in 60 years are still reluctant to hire. Many other companies, retail outlets and restaurants have shut their doors for good.
When we talk about jobs, other issues seem to diminish in impact. For example, the controversy over proposed CRC bridge tolls would be far less pressing if thousands of Clark County residents did not have to commute to jobs in Oregon everyday.
Mayor Pollard was willing to travel anywhere, anytime if it meant landing a new business for Vancouver. His successor has a golden opportunity to coax across the river Oregon business owners nervous about impending tax hikes, as well as California companies looking to ditch a state notoriously unfriendly to business interests for one ranked in the Forbes Top Ten.
Second, the mayor-elect needs not only to keep his promise to convene a business advisory council, but to carefully select its members. The council should be composed of business leaders from companies of all sizes and all economic sectors, including those who may have supported the incumbent in this year’s election.
So Mr. Mayor-elect, if you’re out there – the time for decisive action not only to help sustain our economy, but to be an integral part of its growth, starts now.
Business Around the Northwest
Cut prices? Raise value? Both play part in strategy plan, South Sound Business Examiner
Encoder maker sees economy as bottoming, Spokane Journal of Business
Report: hiring to improve in November, Portland Business Journal
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