The peanut debacle has affected two Tacoma companies.

Roman Meal Co. announced today that it has issued a recall of its Whole Grain & Fruit Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Bar, which contains a peanut product that may bear the bacterium salmonella typhimurium. The affected lot code, listed on the back of the wrapper, is “Best Before 22JUN09A.”

The bars contained peanuts processed in Texas by Peanut Corporation of America, and were manufactured by a Roman Meal contractor. No illnesses have been reported. The recall was voluntary.

Roman Meal had been monitoring the nationwide recall for months, and had earlier been assured by the contractor that there was no possibility of contamination.

“Back when the peanut butter-salmonella issue became public, I contacted our supplier and asked, ‘Is our product included?’” said Steve Buckholdt, vice president for quality assurance and regulatory affairs at Roman Meal, when we spoke earlier today.

“The answer was ‘no,’” he said. Additionally, Roman Meal conducted a battery of tests on the product, and all results were negative.

The affected lots were sold only in Iowa and California, and over the Internet. Customers who purchased the bars are being offered a full refund.

“Late Friday I had a communication from the manufacturer in California saying that our product should be recalled,” Buckholdt said. “We’re like many other companies. We’ve done everything a proactive company could do. People know that we’re on top of it, that we’re doing the right thing.”

Like Roman Meal, Tacoma’s Brown & Haley has seen some of its products named to the list of products manufactured using peanuts that might have been contaminated.

The company last Friday issued a recall of its Honey Roasted Peanut ROCA Buttercrunch Toffee, and its Peanut Delights. (Peanut Mountain Bars, which use nuts from another supplier, were not affected.)

“We have conducted 83 tests that are all negative,” said Brown & Haley CEO Pierson Clair this afternoon. “The important thing is - this is a raw material. This is not anything Brown & Haley did. There is disappointment in our raw material supplier. I think that the fact that we have 83 negatives says that our systems internally worked.”

Clair emphasized that the recall was voluntary and made “to be abundantly cautious, because we value the good name of Brown & Haley.”

The Brown & Haley Roca product was sold locally as well as nationally and internationally, according to a press release from the Food and Drug Administration. The Dark Chocolate Peanut Delights were sold only at company outlet stores.

Refunds are being offered to consumers who purchased the products. For more information, click here or visit www.fda.gov.

Airport industry publication Airport Revenue News has named Sea-Tac Airport's concessions program the best overall among large airports.

Twenty-four airports were nominated for the award. That award honors a concessions program that "incorporates all facets of program excellence: great customer service, attractive storefronts, good mix of of shops, quality food services and overall high standards."

"It is very satisfying to be recognized by our peers," said Sea-Tac director Mark Reis. "Our revitalized program has been up and running for some time so this recognition is not just because Sea-Tac concessions are 'the newest thing.'"

The airport overhauled its concessions program three years ago, bringing in more local merchants and enforcing street pricing rules on airport merchants. The program also successfully enticed minority merchants to the airport to be concession operators.

BAE Systems, owner of a former Boeing Co. plant in Irving, Texas, this week told employees it will be eliminating 500 of the 625 jobs at the plant over the next year.

BAE will move some of the electrical wiring and component fabrication for Boeing's 737 AND 777 aircraft now done at the Texas plant to a plant in Fort Wayne, Ind. Work on components for Boeing's 747 and 767 aircraft will remain at the Texas facility.

A BAE spokeswoman said the company will try to find jobs for Irving workers at other BAE plants. Those laid off will receive severance benefits.

Two of the aerospace industry's bigger customers, aircraft leasing companies International Lease Finance Corp. and General Electric Commercial Aviation Services, are feeling the effects of the financial crisis.

ILFC, an arm of trouble insurance giant AIG, may have to rely on government aid to its parent to carry through with its aircraft purchase committments this year, said its parent company.

And GE's aircraft leasing subsidiary may see its supply of relatively cheap money curtailed because of pending downgrades of its parent's debt ratings.

Many airlines, particularly those in tight financial circumstances themselves, have historically relied on leasing companies such as ILFC and GE to provide them with aircraft.

Leasing aircraft gives airlines more flexibility in adjusting their fleet sizes while minimizing their need for upfront cash to acquire new aircraft.

Boeing itself says it has $1 billion available this year to help out airline customers who've found their traditional sources of capital cut off.

Business Week has named Seattle's Amazon.com as the best company for customer service in its annual survey. That surveys uses data gathered by J.D. Power & Associates.

The business publication said that in an era when many firms are cutting back on customer service, the top-rated companies in its survey have held firm on customer service expenditures. The winning companies have also found ways to use technology to make customer service faster and more consumer-friendly.

Here's the magazine's top 10:

Amazon.com -- Online retail
USAA -- Insurance
Jaguar -- Autos
Lexus -- Autos
The Ritz Carlton -- Hotels
Publix Super Markets -- Groceries
Zappos.com -- Online shoes
Hewlett-Packard -- Personal computers
T. Rowe Price -- Asset management
Ace Hardware -- Home improvement

Aiming to fill some 300 positions, the Tacoma Rainiers will host a job fair on Saturday.

“We’re expecting a lot of people,” said Geoff Corkum, the team's media director, earlier this afternoon.

The event begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m. at the Boy Scouts of America office, 4802 S. 19th St., near Cheney Stadium.

The team plans to hire for several positions, including ushers, ticket sellers, vendors, cashiers, cooks, catering staff, parking lot attendants, bartenders, security personnel, clean-up crew, greeters and members of the on-field entertainment Fun Squad.

Most positions pay minimum wage although some offer more, depending on experience, Corkum said.

He recommends that those interested in a position should bring a resume to the fair. Applications can be downloaded at www.tacomarainiers.com.

Interviews will be conducted at the fair, and it is possible that jobs will be offered, said Rainiers President Aaron Artman.

“We hire 100 percent of our seasonal job force at this fair,” he said, earlier today. “With the economy, we could have a real big turnout.”

Ticket sales for the 2009 season are up more than 10 percent over last year, and sponsorships remain solid, he said.

The team’s home season begins April 17.

If it’s the beginning of March, can the Annual Small Business Day sponsored by the National Federation of Independent Business be far behind?

It’s here again – coming tomorrow, March 4 – the 17th yearly appreciation of, as the NFIB says in a release, the men and women who will lead the state and nation out of the recession.

Those people, small business owners and others interested in their fate, will convene in Olympia beginning at 10 a.m. with a welcome from Betty Neighbors, chairwoman of the NFIB/Washington Leadership Council.

Shortly after, according to the release, the federation’s state director, Troy Nichols, will offer a briefing on key legislation now before the legislature. He will be followed by Carl Gipson, of the Washington Policy Center, who will discuss how federal and state stimulus packages impact small businesses in the state.

At 11 a.m., State Sen. Karen Keiser and State Rep. Doug Ericksen will host a question-and-answer session on healthcare, and at 12:30 p.m., Arun Raha, executive director of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, will present the financial outlook for the state. Linda Matson follows with an update on the GROW program, which helps small business owners and their employees engage in the political process.

Following Matson’s presentation, small business owners will be encouraged to attend committee hearings and meet with legislators.