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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Got something to say? Here's the place to say it. We welcome your comments on what's going on in business in the South Sound that we should be discussing, reporting or analyzing here on our blog or in the pages of The News Tribune.
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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How about this for an easy way to do something good?
Real estate agents from Keller Williams will staff the entrances to two Tacoma grocery stores Thursday to collect your donations for local FISH food banks.
Thursday marks a national day of giving back for Keller Williams Realty. The Tacoma office chose to support the food banks, said George Atz, a Keller Williams agent.
Agents will collect the donations outside the Top Foods, 3130 S. 23rd St., off Union Avenue; and the Safeway, 707 S. 56th St., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Alliance of Angels, an investor program of the Seattle-based Technology Alliance, on Wednesday officially launched its new Seed Fund with more than $4 million in capital.
The fund will invest in worthy start-ups with growth potential throughout the Northwest.
Until now, the individual alliance members would chose whether to invest in young companies seeking early stage capital. Alliance investments resulted in five successful exits for its investors last year.
“AoA has an excellent track record of providing access to capital for entrepreneurs while offering attractive deals to our members,” said AoA Chairman Dan Rosen, CEO of Dan Rosen & Associates. “Having made a total of 80 investments just in the past two years, AoA continues to actively invest in great local companies and now will be able to put even more money to work.”
“With this additional vehicle available to benefit both investors and entrepreneurs, (the alliance) is poised to take angel investing in the Pacific Northwest to a new level,” he said.
The alliance expects its Seed Fund to make seven to 10 investments per year, over a period of three to four years.
Do you want some of that capital? You'll have some hoops through which to jump.
Qualifying companies will have successfully progressed through the alliance's screening process, pitched their company's business plan to the membership and secured investments totaling at least $100,000 from two or more alliance members.
If you make it that far, eligible companies undergo another review by volunteer investment committee members Peter van Oppen of Trilogy Partnership, Tim Porter of Madrona Venture Group, and angel investor Gaylord Kellogg. The committee will focus on ensuring proper due diligence and diversification when making investment decisions on behalf of the Fund’s investors.
Pierce County saw the state’s second-highest rate of foreclosures in April, compared with other counties, while the number of foreclosures fell 17.07 percent from March.
Although down for the month, foreclosures remain 50.28 percent above March, 2008.
Data released Wednesday by RealtyTrac show one in every 385 housing units being foreclosed in Pierce County in April, compared to one in every 320 in March.
The 816 units being foreclosed in April compare to 914 in March. In April of 2008, 543 units were in some form of foreclosure.
RealtyTrac, based in California, monitors foreclosure-related filings that include notices of default, notices of trustee sales and “REO” properties that have been foreclosed and are now owned by the lender.
Thurston County in April ranked ninth in the state for total foreclosures, with a total of 116 units, or one on every 866. In March, 214 units faced foreclosure; and in April 2008, RealtyTrac recorded 87.
The total in Thurston County is down 45.79 percent from March, but up 33.33 percent from the year before.
Clark County recorded the state’s highest rate with one of every 327 units facing foreclosure.
Statewide, one in every 817 units was in foreclosure – and the number of foreclosures was down 20.7 percent from March. Nationwide, one in every 374 units faced foreclosure, with the number of foreclosures increasing 0.25 percent fro the previous month, RealtyTrac said.
A resident near the Port of Tacoma didn't know what to make of what looked like a car carrier being escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard early this morning.
So she called The News Tribune wondering what all the blue flashing lights were about.
Tara Mattina, spokeswoman for the port, said the Guard was not escorting cars, but military equipment that is eventually headed to either Iraq or Afghanistan.
The ship came in late last night to pick up a second load of equipment and left early this morning via flashing-light escort. Mattina said the port is used to ship military equipment anywhere from two to four times per year.
The first ship to transport such equipment attracted attention from protesters a couple weeks ago. Once the port worked with the military officials and Tacoma Police to block the road where the equipment was destined, demonstrators moved their efforts to Ft. Lewis, Mattina said.
She said no protesters were present at the second shipment leaving this morning, but they probably didn't know about it.
"We generally don't advertise that information," she said.
