Soon you could be shopping for Microsoft products at a Microsoft store.

The software company announced this week that it plans to open stores despite the sagging economy.

The company hired David Porter, a 25-year veteran of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., as its corporate vice president of retail stores, according to The Associated Press. Porter was head of worldwide product distribution at DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. since 2007.

Porter, who is set to start work on Tuesday, is charged with improving the PC-buying experience. The company said his first task will be to set the timing, locations and design of Microsoft-branded retail stores, which will sell computers installed with Microsoft software as well as other company products, the AP reports.

Valley Community Bancshares, parent of Valley Bank, this week reported earnings of $2.4 million, or $2.10 per share, for 2008. The earnings compare to $2.5 million for 2007.

At its January meeting, the company board approved a $1.05 per-share dividend, a 5 percent increase over the dividend paid in 2008.

At the end of December, Valley reported assets of $220 million, up from $208 million at the end of 2007.

According to a release, the bank has elected not to apply for funds from the Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program “due to the company’s current financial strength and long history of stability.”

Noting a drop of nearly 5 percent in earnings from 2007, President and CEO David Brown said 2008 earnings would have recorded a record 16 percent gain were it not for the sale, in 2007, of the bank’s South Hill branch.

Brown noted also that Valley continues to report no non-accrual loans.

A California company that's one of downtown Tacoma's major employers is reporting significantly improved earnings for last year's fourth quarter and for all of 2008.

Kidney dialysis provider DaVita Inc. this week reported fourth quarter 2008 earnings of $98.4 million compared with $85.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

For the full year, DaVita earnings were $374.2 million, or $3.52 a share compared with $340.3 million, or $3.17 a share for 2007.

DaVita is a major employer downtown with a billing office office housed in the former Schoenfeld's Furniture building at South 15th Street and Pacific Avenue.

The company's Web site shows DaVita continues hiring in Tacoma with 15 open positions listed for applications.

The company said its volume of treatments increased by nearly five percent in the fourth quarter to 52,484 per day.

The company last spring told local officials it is looking for room to expand its billing offices in the the Puget Sound area. The company has leased space in other buildings downtown in addition to the Schoenfeld's to accommodate its growing staff. Its lease on its main building downtown expires in 2011.

The company said it is looking for 200,000 square feet of space with room to expand to 300,000.

A task force of civic leaders is working to keep DaVita in Tacoma. The company said it is considering other Puget Sound communities in addition to Tacoma for its offices.

Sea-Tac-based Horizon Air, the nation's largest operator of Bombardier Q400 aircraft, are keeping in close contact with authorities investigating the crash of a Colgan Air Q400 Thursday night near Buffalo, N.Y.

That crash killed 50 people.

Horizon spokeswoman Jen Boyer said those authorities with the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane's operator and local authorities in New York have uncovered nothing that suggests a defect in the aircraft was responisble for the crash.

If investigators discover anything of concern, said Boyer, Horizon "won't hesitate to take whatever action is necessary for the protection of our passengers and the public."

Horizon flies 37 of the 74-seat Q400 propjets made in Canada by Bombardier. The airline is converting its entire fleet to the fuel-efficient planes. Horizon is phasing out its 18 CRJ-700 jets in favor of the Q400s.

Horizon briefly grounded the Q400s last year to inspect their landing gear after two incidents in Europe in which landing gear on SAS Q400s failed. No passengers were killed in those incidents. Horizon's inspections uncovered no problems with the landing gear on its Q400s.

"Safety is our number one priority," said Boyer.

So far investigators say they've not discovered any mechancial issues that may have led to the crash. The Q400 operated by Colgan Air as a Continental Express flight was nearly new having entered service last April.

The Q400 has an excellent safety record.

Some aviation analysts are speculating that the plane, preparing to land in Buffalo, may have been hit by icing in the wet and snowy weather Thursday night.

Ice buildup on a plane's wings or control surfaces can radically alter a plane's aerodynamic profile, making controlling the aircraft difficult.

The Q400 wings are equipped with pneumatic rubber leading edges that can be inflated to crack and shed the ice on the surface.

Shares of Colgan's parent, Pinnacle Airlines Corp., fell nearly 15 percent Friday in Wall Street trading. Stock in Horizon's parent company, Alaska Air Group, fell just 1.17 percent to $28.61 a share.