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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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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A solar cell produced by Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab Inc. has set a new efficiency world record for an earth-bound solar cell.
The cell, tested at a U.S. Department of Energy lab in Colorado, converted 41.6 percent of the sunlight falling on it to electrical power.
The previous record, 41.1 percent was held by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany.
Spectrolab solar cells power 60 percent of satellites orbiting the earth as well as the International Space Station. The company is expanding its efforts in building terrestrial photovoltaic cells.
Add Air Berlin, Europe's third largest discount air carrier, to the list of airlines that is considering whether to maintain its order for 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Boeing's many delays have given airlines an opportunity to reconsider their orders for the fuel-efficient twin-jet or to seek compensation from Boeing for the delays.
The Dreamliner is now more than two years behind schedule in making its first flight. Deliveries have slipped a similar amount.
The first of Air Berlin's planes is now scheduled for delivery in 2013. With anemic passenger traffic figures, airlines have other good reasons to consider postponing or canceling their multi-billion-dollar orders for the new planes.
Boeing has already lost 50-some orders for the composite-bodied aircraft.
JayRay, a Tacoma advertising and public relations agency, recently opened a new focus group research facility in its downtown offices.
The facility includes a conference room for the focus group participants and an observation room for clients to watch the conversation via video.
JayRay uses the facility for work with its own clients and is also offering the space for rent to other interested groups.
Shari Campbell, the company's vice president, said that such a facility hasn't been in available in Pierce County.
For more information contact her at 284-2531 or scampbell@jayray.com.
Call it the recession dividend. Sale airfares from the Puget Sound to Hawaii now have dropped below $300 roundtrip.
Alaska Airlines is advertising $298 roundtrip fares between Sea-Tac and Honolulu and $318 rountrip fares from Sea-Tac to Kona.
Those fares, of course, are for a limited number of seats between now and Nov. 17. Taxes and fees are extra. Tickets must be purchased by Sept. 3.
Hotel rates in the 50th state have likewise taken a dive as tourism has withered with the economy.
If you've got a few bucks extra, a Hawaiian vacation probably will never be cheaper.
Need a map? Need to make a map? The University of Washington Tacoma wants to help.
A three-day introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for professionals who create maps will be offered next month by UWT’s KeyBank Professional Development Center.
The workshop, GIS Overview-Basic Fundamentals to Creating Maps, is designed for students who have little or no prior experience using GIS tools but need to create maps for their projects. Proficiency is valued in fields including public works, planning and environmental consulting, according to a UWT release.
Students will gain hands-on experience using ArcView, as well as the newer ArcGIS desktop suite, including ArcMap, ArcCatalog and ArcToolbox.
The workshop will be held at the UWT campus in the GIS computer lab, Sept. 15–17, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Space is limited to the first 20 who apply. The instructor, Catherine Crook, is the GIS analyst for the Port of Tacoma.
For more information and to apply, visit the University of Washington Tacoma KeyBank Professional Development Center’s website at www.tacoma.washington.edu/pdc or call 253-692-4618.
For the 13th consecutive year, the state Department of Labor & Industries will present its popular – and free – Washington Small Business Fair on Sept. 12 from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at Renton Technical College, 3000 N.E. 4th St. in Renton.
The fair is held for the benefit of current and prospective small business owners, and this year will feature a mid-day panel session with business experts who will share tips and stories on how to survive when the economy is down – and how to be ready when the rebound arrives.
During morning and afternoon small group sessions, business owners can get information and training in one-hour chunks about how to create or expand a small business while successfully managing taxes and regulations, according to a release from L&I.
More than 40 seminars will be taught by business professionals on a wide variety of topics, including Web site design, business law, financing, marketing and business planning.
Seminar topics and directions to the fair are available at www.bizfair.org.
More than 30 non-profit and government organizations, including trade associations and local chambers of commerce, will also be on-hand throughout the day to resources and networking opportunities. Previous Biz Fair events have drawn an average of about 700 participants, L&I said.
Attendance at the fair requires no advance registration, and parking, like the event itself, is free.
