Boeing Co.'s employment hit 76,792 in Washington at the end of August, up 2,632 from the end of last year.

That's a hiring rate of 329 a month for this year. While that hiring rate doesn't approach the huge hiring surges of the late '90s, it represents a still-healthy growth for the aerospace giant.

Boeing's employment in the state bottomed out five years ago at near 50,000 after the company laid of more than 30,000 workers.

A robust backlog of some 3,700 airplane orders means Boeing's production lines will be going at the present rate for five to six years even if the company receives no more new orders in the meantime, a very unlikely possibility.

The word from Russell Investments (no, not that word - we’re still waiting to hear) is that use of the Russell Index family continues to grow and continues to rank as “the most widely used set of U.S. equity benchmarks among institutional investment products.”

The indexes, according to a release, and according to Russell spokesman Steve Claiborne, account for “an industry leading 63.3 percent of the benchmarks in funds used by corporate pension plans and other institutional investment organizations.”

The Russell 3000 continues to rank as the most commonly used U.S. broad-market equity benchmark, and the Russell 2000 continues to dominate in the use of small-cap products.

These findings come from a look at 3,333 U.S. equity products listed by Nelson Information’s MarketPlace database.

“More investors are relying on our comprehensive approach to tracking the global equity market in order to measure the relative performance of their funds,” said Kelly Haughton, Russell’s strategic director for indexes.

Gig Harbor-based Cutters Point Coffee announced today that it has inked a deal with Global Business Analysis – a strategic business-consulting firm – to build out some 200 stores over the next five years in the Middle East.

“It is a very unique opportunity for us to grow our brand and mission in another country,” said Cutters founder Brooke Payne in a release. “We feel very blessed to be able to work with such a reputable and successful firm as GBA to help us move into markets we could not otherwise tap into.”

According to Cutters Vice President Aaron Amidon, GBA is buying exclusive rights to market Cutters in the area. The build begins with six stores in Qatar and will initially extend into the UAE.

David Shaw, Founder and CEO of GBA, said he is “thrilled” to be able to have struck a deal that allows him to expand the Cutters system in a region where GBA has an established presence.

Shaw said GBA “considered a number of coffee companies and ultimately made the decision to pursue Cutters Point Coffee for its vision and standards for quality.”

Cutters roasts its own blends, and will be shipping products to the Middle East. Amidon told me he sees the new stores as larger (at around 3,200 square feet) than stateside stores (at around 1,800 square feet), and more of a communal experience – with customers expected to spend time together in the afternoon and evening, rather than patronizing the stores primarily before noon, as it is hereabouts.

The company will also be exporting a Turkish blend of coffee to accommodate local tastes.

Cutter's this week opened its 17th store, with all but three in the South Sound.

The Tacoma Club may soon be homeless if its landlord succeeds this week in evicting it from its 16th floor perch in the downtown's Wells Fargo Plaza.

Unico Properties has filed legal paperwork to remove the 72-year-old club from its building if it can't come up with some $84,000 in back rent Unico claims the club owes.

We're attempting to reach management at the club today, but so far we've been unsuccessful.

The Tacoma Club for decades enjoyed a reputation as Tacoma's most exclusive luncheon venue, but in recent years competition from upscale restaurants downtown and other social venues has literally eaten into its business.

For many years, the club topped downtown's Washington Building, but it moved to the newer Wells Fargo Plaza in a bid to update its image.

Membership fees are $115 a month for individuals with an initiation fee of $500. The club requires a minimum of $125 in food purchases quarterly.

In a delay that revives hopes that Boeing Co. can field a competitive proposal in the $35 billion aerial tanker deal, the Pentagon today postponed until the new administration a recompetition to pick a tanker builder.

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., says the Pentagon has canceled the latest round of bidding between Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. for the 179 planes. It now plans to hold a new competition next year, Associated Press reported this morning.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers this morning that he decided to cancel the current round of bidding on the plane — a competition that has stretched seven years — because the Pentagon’s plan to award the contract by the end of the year no longer seemed possible given the complexity of the project and the rancor between the two companies, the AP reports.

He said a delay would provide a “cooling off” period.

“We can no longer complete a competition that would be viewed as fair and objective in this highly charged environment,” Gates said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who had fought to get the Pentagon to pause the competition said she was pleased by the delay decision.

"My first goal is to get the best refueling tankers for our warfighters and our taxpayers. This pause is a reality check on a procurement process that got very complicated and a little muddled. It gives the Pentagon enough time to work with our warfighters to meet their needs and get this done right," she said.

“The Pentagon has assured me that the current fleet of KC-135s is capable of doing the job for as long as we’re going to need them. I’m confident that under the next Administration we will be able to have the kind of fair and open competition we need to ensure our warfighters get the best tankers for their mission.”

=> Read more!