The News Tribune Business Team will keep you updated on what's happening in the South Sound and beyond. Check here for news about economic development, aerospace, shopping and much more.
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Contributors
Marce Edwards is the business editor. She has been at The News Tribune for seven years and has written about technology and big businesses in the South Sound including Weyerhaeuser and Russell. Before moving to Tacoma, she worked at The Idaho Statesman in Boise. She is a Northwest native who likes to garden and refuses to use an umbrella. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and two kids.
C.R. Roberts is a Tacoma native. Before joining The News Tribune, he worked as a freelance writer and part-time cowhand on a cattle ranch in Northern Idaho. He writes about small business, personal finance and other business issues.
John Gillie writes about the aerospace and airline industries, commercial development and consumer issues. During his 30-year-tenure at The News Tribune he has covered issues as diverse as the Native American fishing rights disputes, crime and the courts, the wood products industry and energy. He lived in Tacoma with his family for 25 years, but now lives in Kent because his wife heads a five-state non-profit foundation headquartered in Ballard, and it only seemed a sensible compromise to make considering their workplaces are 40 miles apart.
Kelly Kearsley has been a business reporter at The News Tribune since 2005. She covers the Port of Tacoma and international trade. Being born and raised in Spokane she’s used to living in cities with inferiority complexes and, in fact, prefers it. Prior to working at The News Tribune, she spent three years as a reporter for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon and another year working stints for The Associated Press and Seattle Times. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and miniature schnauzer.
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Washington drivers scored ninth among drivers from the 50 states in a national drivers' test sponsored by GMAC Insurance.
That's down from sixth place in last year's written test, however.
Washington drivers earned an average score of 80.7 on the test. Drivers from the top ranking state, Kansas, scored an average of 84. New Jersey drivers scored the lowest on average, 69.9.
To take the test yourself, go to www.gmacinsurance.com.
Some of the questions are not particularly well worded, so give yourself some credit for the ambiguity of the questions and answers.
The people who pay three to ten times as much as coach passengers to get a roomier seat and free drinks in first or business class aren't flying as frequently, new figures show.
Traffic in premium class seats dropped 3.9 percent in March, said the International Air Transport Association.
That's not good news for airlines who depend on those mostly business fliers to pay a disproportionate share of the cost of getting their planes from origin to destination.
The flight of such high price fliers is particularly disquieting to airlines who are squirming financially to cope with fuel prices that are topping $3 a gallon for jet fuel.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend, you kings and queens of the open road.
On Monday I predicted by today I’d see a sign proclaiming $4-per-gallon regular-grade gas. I was one day off. I saw just such a sign last night at a Shell station near South 56th & South Tacoma Way. Alas.
Today we set another record in Tacoma as the average price of a gallon of regular hit $3.916 – up more than 2 cents from yesterday’s $3.891.
Bellingham, as usual, led the state’s charts at $3.982 – also a record. And for the first time I remember, every region in the state topped its previous high.
The national average, according to AAA, was at $3.831 today, up from yesterday’s $3.807.
The Oil Price Information Service reported Tuesday that drivers saw $5 diesel in two American cities – one each in Alaska and California. Today, the average gallon of diesel was at $4.751 in Washington, while Tacoma drivers got a small break off that price at $4.737 – which was up a smidgen from Wednesday’s $4.732.
Boeing's new Renton assembly line built to produce Navy P-8A Posieden submarine hunting patrol craft could also help Boeing up its commercial 737 production rate.
The new assembly line, in a building where 757s were once built, is now focused on turning out the first examples of the P-8A for Navy testing.
The P-8A is a militarized version of the 737 equipped with a bomb bay, underwing missiles and sophisticated surface and underwater sensors. The Navy wants to buy a total of 113 of those aircraft, and other armed forces around the world could buy as many as 100 more. With just the U.S. Navy order, the assembly line will be pumping out a leisurely 13 planes a year.
Since the P-8A assembly line is a duplicate of the two other 737 assembly lines at Renton, Boeing could sandwich in production of commercial 737s between the patrol aircraft, Boeing officials say.
The company is pumping out about 30 737s a month from its other assembly lines, but the company has a huge backlog of 737s on order.
The Olympian reports today that Weyerhaeuser could begin exporting logs from the Olympia port in July.
The notices are part of the company's request to the state for a stormwater-discharge permit, the paper reports.
Weyerhaeuser signed a five-year lease with the Port of Olympia in 2005 expecting to move from Tacoma to Olympia by spring 2006.
But the project has faced opposition and several environmental challenges.
Weyerhaeuser spokesman Frank Mendizabal cautioned that the date is arbitrary and said the Federal Way timber company cannot begin operations at the Port of Olympia without the permit.
Here's the rest of the story:
Mendizabal would not be specific about when barges or log trucks could begin arriving in Olympia or whether Weyerhaeuser will begin operations with new offices and vehicle-repair facilities. Those facilities have not been constructed. Last week, he told The Olympian that Weyerhaeuser hoped to begin operations in Olympia before the end of 2008.
The nation's fourth largest cell phone service provider, Bellevue's T-Mobile, took first place in Wireless Retail Service Satisfaction Study released this week by J.D. Power & Associates.
Alltel claimed the number two spot with Verizon finishing third.
T-Mobile won top honors in Power's January Wireless Customer Care Performance Study.
T-Mobile tied with Verizon in Power's Call Performance Study. Alltel was at the top of that list.
Amidst all the consternation about the late deliveries of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, the company quietly rolled out the first of its new 777 Freighters this week on-time.
The ceremony occurred just next door to the lagging 787 assembly line in Everett.
777 Freighter debut
The 777 Freighter, based on the 777-200LR passenger aircraft, of course is a much simpler plane to create because of the company's long history with the 777. The first 777 was delivered to United Airlines 13 years ago.
The 777 Freighter has already proven to be a commercial success for Boeing with 78 orders. The first plane will go to Air France later this year after a short flight test program.
No more trans fat with your McDonald's french fries. That's the word today from the company's CEO.
The fast food chain has changed out its oil at all its restaurants in the United States and Canada, the company announced.
McDonald’s has lagged other restaurant operators in switching over to a zero-trans-fat cooking oil out of worries it would compromise the taste of its trademark fries, The Associated Press reports. It has been under increasing pressure from consumer advocates and some public officials to make the change.
The new oil is canola-based and includes corn and soy oils.
CEO Jim Skinner told shareholders at the annual meeting at its headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., that the new oil has been in use in U.S. restaurants for a few months now for french fries, hash browns, chicken, filet of fish and biscuits.
He said McDonald’s is on schedule to convert to the new oil by year’s end for its remaining baked items, pies and cookies.
Skinner said the company decided not to advertise the changes.
