R&D Briefs
Longview boosts industrial development
Tri-County Truss/Lyman Lumber has purchased 37 acres in Longview’s Mint Farm Industrial Park, where it plans to build three facilities and employ about 480 by 2010. Tri-County Truss/Lyman Lumber is headquartered in Excelsior, Minn. The company primarily sells materials used in the new-home construction industry. The company will first begin construction on a truss plant to begin operating in 2006. In 2007, construction is expected to be completed on space for a framing labor company, and a wall panel manufacturing plant is expected to be completed by 2008. Tri-County Truss/Lyman Lumber employs about 1,800 and had 2004 sales of nearly $500 million.
In December, the Port of Longview announced the sale of 35 acres to Simpson Timber Co. with an option to buy an additional 25 acres. The company could build a sawmill at the West Industrial Park site, but no plans for development of the property have been revealed. Tacoma-based Simpson is the state’s largest log consumer and lumber producer, the port said.
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage opens new stores
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has opened a new retail store in Salmon Creek and plans to open a Camas location next month.
The new store is located at 14201 N.E. 20th Ave. Sales Manager Jim Christian is joined there by home mortgage consultants Don Lamb, Shirley Ling and Steve Bowden, and Assistant Deanna Lewis.
In addition to traditional offerings, this location also offers mortgage products for consumers with a subprime or non-traditional credit history.
The Camas store will open by mid-February at 335 N.E. Fifth Ave. and will be staffed by Sales Manager Scott Hanson, Home Mortgage Consultant Wendi Dierickx and Assistant Jennifer Lussier.
I&T Briefs
Linear Technology one of 400 best big companies
Forbes named Linear Technology in its 2006 list of the 400 best big companies. The Milpitas, Calif.-based semiconductor manufacturer that operates a plant in Camas made its debut on the Platinum 400 list this year. The company posted annual sales of $1.1 billion, an increase of 19 percent over the previous year, with net income of $430 million. Ranking items include sales and earnings growth, stock market returns and debt to total capital. All the companies must post more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
Dotster boosts security for E-commerce businesses
Vancouver-based Dotster Inc. signed an agreement with Thawte Inc. to provide digital security certificates for e-commerce business customers seeking advanced encryption technology to safeguard customer data and increase consumer confidence.
Dotster said it is entering the market as the lowest cost provider of Thawte certificates. Dotster will offer a variety of fully authenticated SSL certificates capable of 256-bit encryption. Digital certificates, first introduced in 1995, provide SSL encryption for customer data submitted through Web sites. Dotster is a Web hosting company with three million Internet domains. For more information visit www.dotster.com/ssl.
New program for old technotrash
Earlier this month, the Computer Reuse/Recycling and Marketing program began accepting unwanted technotrash at the Clark County Jail Work Center. The center accepts CDs, DVDs, diskettes, videotapes, audiotapes, computer tapes and their cases.
CREAM is a partnership between the Clark County Public Works Department, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, City of Vancouver, Clark College, Columbia Resource Company and the Salvation Army.
Usable computers are refurbished, reformatted with new software by Clark College students and then donated to the Salvation Army for distribution to qualified residents. Unusable computers are disassembled for recycling or safe disposal within the United States. CREAM also accepts unwanted televisions.
The Jail Work Center collection site is located at 5197 N.W. Lower River Road in Vancouver. Collection hours are 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The technotrash is shipped to Washington-based GreenDisk that collects and consolidates the technotrash, destroys all intellectual property and recycles the materials. Businesses and institutions can call 360-397-2212 for their service options.
Vancouver Radiologists acquire new MRI
Vancouver Radiologists has acquired a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the Signa 1.5T manufactured by GE Healthcare. This new MRI system will be located at Vancouver Radiologists new outpatient imaging center located at 3250 S.E. 164th Ave., Suite 108 in Vancouver.
The Signa 1.5T system features advanced magnet technology, enabling physicians to obtain excellent image quality, plus a spacious opening that can accommodate larger patients.
General
SWMC ‘tops off’ patient tower
Southwest Washington Medical Center “topped off” the $146 million E.W. and Mary Firstenburg Patient Tower with a ceremony on Jan. 16. Hoffman-Andersen of Washington, a Joint Venture placed the final steel beam, completing the framework of the new tower.
When completed, the tower will feature a glass-enclosed lobby area with natural light, materials, warm colors and an overlapping wing-style ceiling design that extends beyond the lobby to continue the unique architectural theme outdoors.
Prominent in the new tower is a dedicated heart and vascular center with five new cardiac catheterization labs and two open heart surgery suites, 13 new surgery suites and five floors of private patient rooms. Site preparation began in August 2003 and construction is slated for completion in December of this year with occupancy in early 2007.
Nutter Corp. achieves higher safety rating
Nutter Corp. improved its Experience Modification Rating (EMR) as determined by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, which rates company safety levels at the end of each year. With an EMR that has consistently been under 1.0 since the company was founded in 1992, the Associated General Contractors recognized Nutter Corp. in 2004 for having one of the 10 lowest EMRs on average among contractors in its industry. For the prior year, Nutter Corp. was also recognized by the Washington State Department of Transportation for safety on its Battle Ground project to improve SR 502 from the west city limits to Southwest Eighth Avenue.
The Department of Labor and Industries calculates an experience factor by comparing a company’s accident costs to the average of other companies in the same risk classification.
Appraisers to conduct physical inspections of rural area properties
The Clark County Department of Assessment & GIS appraisers will conduct a physical inspection of all properties in the rural areas in and around the cities of Amboy, Yacolt, Battle Ground, Washougal and Camas in 2006. For specific boundary lines in this cycle, refer to the county’s online maps at https://gis.clark.wa.gov/ccgis/mol/property.htm.
Inspections include an exterior observation of the property to determine whether there have been any changes that affect value. The property improvement record must be appropriately documented in accordance with the findings of the physical inspection. Inspections will be performed January through May. For more information, call the assessor’s office at 360-397-2391.
C-Tran begins Salmon Creek shuttle service
C-Tran unveiled its Route #19 Salmon Creek Shuttle, serving Washington State University Vancouver, the new Legacy Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, C-Tran’s Salmon Creek Park & Ride and points in between. Hours of operation are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The shuttle represents the first service restored as part of its Service Preservation Plan, with funding coming from the approval of its ballot measure in September 2005. Service will also be restored to the cities of Ridgefield, La Center and the Town of Yacolt by the end of this month.
For assistance, contact C-Tran’s Passenger Service Office at 360-695-0123 or visit www.ctran.com.
BG Chamber to name Business Person of the Year
The Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors will announce the Citizen and Business Person of the Year on Feb. 4 at the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce Recognition Banquet at The Cedars on Salmon Creek.
This year’s nominees for the Business Person of the Year are Scott Collard of J.S. Collard Design, Dr. Thomas Opdahl of Opdahl Chiropractic, Beverly Brissler of Century 21 Americana Properties and Rebecca Harder of Healing Waters Hydrotherapy.
The board will also install new members during the ceremony. For more information, please call the chamber office at 360-687-1510.
