The city earlier today issued a permit to 13th & Fawcett Associates for demolition of their building at 1305 S. Fawcett in downtown Tacoma. The roof and one side of the former Eagles Aerie #3 collapsed yesterday.

Charlie Solverson, manager of the city's Building and Land Use Services, said the Puget Sound Air Pollution Agency was working with contractors to avoid any unnecessary release during demolition – which could begin as early as tomorrow.

Also today, engineers were investigating the cause of the collapse of the brick building.

UW Tacoma’s Milgard School of Business has chosen four local businessmen who exemplify outstanding business achievement to receive Business Leadership Awards in May.

• George H. Weyerhaeuser, Lifetime Achievement Award
As chairman, president and CEO of the company his great-grandfather founded in 1900, George H. Weyerhaeuser helped the organization grow into one of the world’s largest timber companies.

• Ray Tennison, Business Leader of the Year
A well-known and active member of the Tacoma community, Tennison has been president of Simpson Investment Company since 1997.

• Joe Stortini, Small Business Leader of the Year
Previously a state senator and Pierce County commissioner and executive, Joe Stortini opened his first restaurant, Mama Stortini’s, in University Place in 1992, and his latest restaurant, Joeseppi’s, in Westgate in 2005.

• Bob Ecklund, Nonprofit Business Leader of the Year
President and CEO of the YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County since 2004, Bob Ecklund has led the organization to new highs in membership and fundraising.

=> Read more!

What's your mission? Most companies and firms have one. What's yours?

Author Jeffrey Abrahams has recently published a book (which we will soon review) that chronicles "101 Mission Statements from Top Companies."

We'd like to know about the missions of companies and firms in the South Sound.

Please send us a copy of yours. It's the one carved there above the door, or printed on every piece of stationery, or recited every morning at staff meetings.

Please send your workplace mission statement to C.R. Roberts at c.r.roberts@thenewstribune, or by mail to Roberts at The News Tribune, P.O. Box 11000, Tacoma, Washington 98411.

Thanks.

Political reporter Sean Cockerham reports today that the family leave bill being considered by the Legislature may either die – or go to the voters.

From his story:

Gov. Chris Gregoire said Monday that she generally supports the idea but told bill supporters she favors sending it to a public vote.

“I said, ‘if we’re going to ask workers to pay, then why wouldn’t we ask workers to have a say in that?’” the governor told reporters.

The bill would impose a 2-cent-per-hour tax on workers, adding up to around $40 a year. The state would set up a program allowing workers up to five weeks of family leave each year.

Workers could take the time to care for a new child or sick parent and be paid up to $250 a week.

A public vote doesn't thrill the state's labor council nor the business groups fighting the bill. According to Sean's story, both say a statewide campaign would be complex and expensive.

A French business incubator today announced negotiations with Tacoma's William M. Factory Small Business Incubator. The compact will result in a partnership with Factory as it designs a proposed Applied Technology and Scientific Services offshoot.

The announcement came at an international gathering of incubators being held this week in Seattle.

Karine Caner, manager of Montpelier Agglomeration, the French organization, joined M. George Freche, president of the Region Languedoc Roussillon and Montpellier, to say the agreement will foster the sharing of information and techniques "to better serve entrepreneurs, stimulate job creation and better our respective technology industries."

The agreement will also stimulate trade between the South Sound and Montpelier, as well as develop networks of overseas markets, Caner said.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. this morning released its quarterly national state profiles, which offer data indicating regional economic health and the state of banking in the 50 states.

In today's report on Washington, the FDIC said:
• Single-family home permits were down 32% in the fourth quarter from the same quarter a year before;
• The home-price index rose 13.7 percent;
• Of 99 banks in the state (up from 96), total assets rose to $65.46 billion from $57.83 billion;
• Past-due and nonaccrual loans were at 0.54 percent of total loans compared to 0.69 percent;
• The median percentage of return-on-assets fell to 0.97 percent from 1.13 percent;
•Deposits for the 76 institutions in the Tacoma-Bellevue-Seattle area stood at $63.55 billion at the end of 2006;
• 53% of institutions had assets less than $250 million, 33 percent had assets between that and $1 billion, and 13 percent had assets between $1 billion and $10 billion.

The Puget Sound chapter of the National Human Resource Management Association announced today that it had awarded Tacoma's Columbia Bank its 2006 Prizm Award for workplace diversity.

The award was created to honor organizations and businesses "for their creative and innovative strategies and initiatives to promote, advance and celebrate the concepts and spirit of diversity in the workplace and in the community."

Melanie Dressel, Columbia Bank president and CEO, said she was proud that her bank had been recognized for its "continuing efforts to create a diverse, inclusive culture."

It was only a matter of time before orders for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner topped 500.

That milestone event happened today when Boeing announced that Japan Airlines had ordered five more of the efficient twin-jets.

Along with orders from other airlines whose identities have not yet been disclosed, that puts the 787 orderbook at 514 aircraft. Forty-three airlines have ordered the plane since its launch on April 26, 2004.

The mid-sized jet has enjoyed the most bountiful pre-service sales of any jetliner in history.

The 500 mark came more than a year before the plane is scheduled to begin commercial service. The first example of the plane is due to roll out on July 8 this year, 7/8/07.

Japan Airlines' new order brings that carrier's orders for the 787 to 35. The plane's own success has become something of an issue with Boeing because the aircraft is sold out for its first four years of production. That means that most customers who want to expand an existing 787 order or enter a new order will have to wait nearly five years before getting additional aircraft.

So while Target can't seem to soak up enough ink on the success of its clothing lines (did you see the story about sought-after Target clothes for sale at eBay?), the world’s largest retailer is attempting to bring back women shoppers it turned off with last year’s Metro 7 line, according to trade magazine Brandweek.

Here’s an excerpt from the Brandweek story:

The retailer's share among women who choose to shop at the store "most often" for their apparel purchases fell seven percentage points in February versus February 2006, per BIGresearch, Columbus, Ohio, "That's a pretty big decline," said Joe Pilotta, vp-research. Pilotta said Macy's, J.C. Penney and Kohl's seem to have benefited.

Read more here, including one analyst's assessment that while Wal-Mart is in damange control mode, he’s not sure it’s enough.

Two new drinks debut at Starbucks today: a latte and a Frappuccino both flavored dulce de leche. And that’s not all. The drinks are part of a South-of-the-Border push that includes brightly hued floral mugs and small stuffed frogs and capuchin monkeys.

The new coffees and merchandise come shortly after chairman Howard Schultz wrote to his executives about taking the fast-expanding Seattle company back to its roots. The latte and Frappuccino spent 18 months in development and included trips to Costa Rica, Mexico and much time in the company's Liquid Lab, according to Business Week.

Read more here about Starbucks take on dulce de leche and what it could mean to a company the magazine says “is struggling to hold on to its soul.”

The average price of regular gas in Tacoma reached $3 today, up 1.1 cents from yesterday.

That's about 40 cents a gallon more than drivers paid a month ago when prices averaged $2.577.

The reason: The jump has been triggered by a decline in U.S. gasoline inventories ahead of the summer driving season, when gasoline demand rises and prices usually peak.

Oil prices reached a six-month high last week as tensions between Iran and the West sparked supply concerns. A barrel of crude oil for May delivery rose 7 cents Monday to settle at $65.94 a barrel on the Nymex.

Does anyone have advice for places to find cheap gas?