Sporting-goods retailer G.I. Joe's Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in early March, received court approval of a $51.2 million loan to help fund operations while it restructures, Bloomberg News reports

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, Delaware, approved the financing from existing lender Wells Fargo Retail Finance LLC, according to papers filed Monday. Gross set an April 2 hearing for final approval of the loan. The judge previously granted interim approval of the financing on March 9.

G.I. Joe's cited the global recession and a drought in the Pacific Northwest as reasons for the bankruptcy filing. The company, based in Wilsonville, Ore., listed both assets and debt of $100 million to $500 million in Chapter 11 documents, according to Bloomberg.

The company operates stores in Washington including in Lakewood, Puyallup, Federal Way and Kent.

The state's ports may be hurting now, but a new report forecasts that marine cargo will increase 37 percent by 2030.

"Once the world economy picks up -- and it will -- there’s an awful lot of opportunity out there for our region," Eric Johnson, executive director of the Washington Public Ports Association, said today.

WPPA and the state's Department of Transportation released their marine cargo forecast today in an event at the Port of Seattle. The forecast is done every five years.

In addition to anticipating growth, the forecast calls out several road and rail improvements needed to meet the state's future cargo needs -- including a few in Tacoma.

First, the predictions. Authored by BST Associates out of Kenmore, the report forecasts that:

- Puget Sound ports will handle 9.7 million TEUs - twenty-foot equivalent units, the standard measure of a shipping container - by 2030. Container traffic in the Puget Sound grew from 2.9 million containers in 2002 to 3.9 million in 2007.

- Auto imports will see a lot of growth. The report forecasts that the state will import 1.5 million cars and trucks in 2030, up from 690,000 in 2007.

- Grain shipments will grow modestly and break bulk - such as metal, forest products and other cargo - will grow slowly.

- Log exports will remain flat after decades of decline.

BST Associates reports that previous versions of the marine cargo forecast were "conservative or close to accurate," with the 2007 predicted container volumes within 3 percent to 4 percent of forecasts made in 1995, 1999 and 2004.

Most of the container cargo enters and leaves the state by train. But some work will need to be done for the state's transportation infrastructure to handle all the boxes, according to the report.

Tacoma claims two of the recommended nine rail improvement projects, including preventing a possible choke point for cargo at the train tunnel under Pt. Defiance.

The forecast predicts that train traffic on that line will likely exceed that track's capacity by 2018.

The project list also includes improving Bullfrog Junction in Tacoma's Tideflats.

Johnson acknowledges that finding money for these projects is going to be tough as the state wrestles with a massive budget short fall.

But he said such investments will nurture international trade and the jobs supported by it.

Meanwhile cargo volume is down at ports around the state.

"They're complete victims of what's happened to the economy," said Paul Bingham, an economist with Global Insight.

Global Insight provides global economic forecasts and the company assisted BST Associates in creating the state's Marine Cargo Forecast.

In Tacoma, the port handled almost 17 percent fewer containers in the first two months of this year compared to the same time last year, according to the port's Web site.

Grain, autos and break bulk cargo were also down in February when compared to last year.

Bingham said he expects imports to start coming back near the end of this year. Exports will take longer to recover.

Mountain View Funeral Home and Memorial Park has been sold to NorthStar Memorial Group (NSMG) of Houston, according to its former CEO and owner Cindy Thompson.
Thompson said her family decided to sell the business because there is no one within the family to take over the company at this point.
“I’m fourth generation and there’s no one in the fifth generation that could be the next owner,” Thompson said Friday afternoon. “There was really no succession plan within the family that was realistic, and that made us look at other options.”
She said they decided on NSMG because of the employees’ experience and dedication to the communities they serve.
According to the NSMG Web site, retaining local management and experts is key to meeting the needs of the communities they enter.
Thompson said she will continue to be involved in the operation, though not as an owner, and that the staff otherwise has remained the same since the sale was made final Feb. 26.
“I don’t think (customers) have seen a difference in how the company has been serving them” since the change in ownership, she said. “We really felt there was a lot of commonality between their business philosophy and our own.”
NSMG is not a publicly traded company, which Thompson said will ensure company decisions about private matters are made with long-term considerations.
NSMG's operation of multiple mortuaries and cemeteries across the country employs 550 people and generates $34.6 million in yearly revenues, according to indeed.com, a job search engine.

The University of Washington Tacoma's Milgard School of Business today released the winners of its eighth annual business leadership awards.

- The Non-profit Business Leader of the Year is David Ottey, the former director of the Emergency Food Network.

- The Small Business Leader of the Year is Brian R. Forth, president and founder of Sitecrafting, Inc., a Tacoma Web site design company.

- The Business Leader of the Year is William L. Matthaei,president and CEO of the Roman Meal Company, which produces bread and other whole grain products.

- And the Lifetime Achievement award goes to James A. Milgard, retired from Milgard Manufacturing.

Alaska Airlines said Monday it expects today to resume all flights to and from Anchorage, provided conditions caused by the eruptions of Mount Redoubt improve.

The airline on Monday canceled 19 flights to Bethel, Deadhorse, Kodiak, Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow. The flights were canceled as a safety precaution related to the high-altitude ash created by the volcano’s eruptions near Anchorage, the airline said.

Travelers were advised to check the status of flights at alaskaair.com or by calling 800-ALASKAAIR. Passengers who had tickets on any canceled flights can rebook by March 30 without a penalty or apply for a refund.

Precautions and continuity plans were put in place as early as January 2009 in the event of a volcanic eruption, the airline said.

Aircraft in Anchorage have been serviced and wrapped in protective sealant. In addition, safety masks, goggles and other supplies are on-hand to protect customers and employees from the volcanic fallout.

Alaska Airlines operates up to 50 flights a day into Anchorage and two fights daily to Kodiak.

— C.R. Roberts and Brian Everstine, The News Tribune