Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland articles from January 2008

Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland archives from January 2008

Commercial builidng in Oregon to stay strong in 2008.
January 2, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker Oregon's construction industry isn't growing as fast as it did in recent years. But commercial building will stay strong next year, even as the housing market slides, economists and builders say. The medical,...

Big work ahead for bottle bill group in Oregon Legislature.
January 2, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan The Oregon Legislature's already okayed expanding the state's Bottle Bill to water and flavored water containers. But work's just beginning for the task force that'll explore further changes to the 1971 landmark...

Tanasbourne Health Center in Hillsboro expands campus.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Providence Health & Services has announced that it will expand the campus of its Tanasbourne Health Center in Hillsboro. A new, three-story, 80,000-square-foot building, slated to open in early 2009, is under...

Investors purchase Salem waterfront acreage.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Salem investors have purchased a 13-acre industrial site along the city's waterfront. Larry Tokarski and Dan Berrey plan to turn the former Boise Cascade paper-converting plant site into a mixed-use area with housing,...

Avionics firm builds plant in Wilsonville.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Rockwell Collins, a high-tech avionics firm, has announced it will move operations and more than 200 employees currently located in Tualatin to Wilsonville. As part of the move, the company will construct a new building...

Portland Business Alliance begins collecting survey information.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff With an eye toward gathering information to help track local business trends, the Portland Business Alliance is mailing out forms for its annual Downtown Business Census and Survey. The survey will go out to all...

Oregon Highway Users Alliance elects Schlack.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Oregon Highway Users Alliance has elected Art Schlack as president of its board of directors. Schlack works for the Association of Oregon Counties.

VM+SD magazine elects Portland designer to board.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC staff VM+SD magazine has elected Michael Payne to its advisory board. Payne is a retail designer at Mulvanny G2 Architecture. He designed the flagship store for HANNspree.

Portland-based Arcadis hires Moody.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Arcadis has hired Christopher Moody as an environmental geologist. Moody has 13 years of experience. He previously worked as an assistant project manager for URS and led client negotiations with the Oregon Department...

Lake Oswego-based West Coast Bank promotes Halliday.
January 2, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff West Coast Bank has promoted Katie Halliday to branch manager of its Cornelius Pass branch. Halliday has eight years of banking experience, including managerial positions at US Bank and Sterling Savings Bank.

Oregon builders down 400 jobs from Nov. 2006.
January 3, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Year-over-year construction employment increased in November in 20 states but fell in 17, including Oregon, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Year-over-year, construction employment...

Columbia Slough Watershed Council picks '07 award winners.(Awards list)
January 3, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The Columbia Slough Watershed Council will hold its ninth annual awards celebration and silent auction Feb 1. Winners of the 2007 Watershed Council Awards will be recognized at the event. The 2007...

Northwest Environmental Business Council to address nexus of Oregon's small biz, environment.
January 3, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The Northwest Environmental Business Council and the Oregon chapter of the Air & Waste Management Association will hold an event Jan. 15 to discuss environmental issues that affect Oregon businesses. The...

Commentary: Forest Stewardship Council strangles green building market.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Doug Martin Long before people in the new world began to understand the risks of reducing timber supplies, European countries saw first-hand the potential danger of over-harvesting. From Germany's proactive 18th-century...

Olds receives Melvin Jones Fellowship Award from Ft. Vancouver Lions Club.
January 3, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The Fort Vancouver Lions Club has awarded Diana Olds the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award for exceptional service to the community. Olds is the branch manager of the Columbia Credit Union Salmon Creek. She is also...

College of Labor and Employment Lawyers inducts Oregon attorney Victor Kisch.
January 3, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers has inducted Victor Kisch as a fellow. Kisch is a partner and chairman of the Labor and Employment Group at Stoel Rives.

Oregon State University hires John F. Conley.
January 3, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Oregon State University's College of Engineering has hired John F. Conley Jr. as a signature faculty fellow at the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute. Conley will help with development and...

Oregon broker Teryn Bonime receives Graduate Realtors Institute designation.
January 3, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Windermere/Cronin & Caplan Realty Group Inc. has announced that Teryn Bonime was awarded the Graduate Realtors Institute Designation. Bonime is a broker in Windermere's Raleigh Hills office.

Commentary: What's next for your family's business?
January 3, 2008... Byline: Amelia Heath You've spent your career running the business you started. Or perhaps you took over the business from your family's previous generation and have spent your career building it. You've given it your blood, sweat and...

Renovators of Hotel Fifty in Portland bank on 'boutique' label.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Adjacent to the Morrison Bridge on the footsteps of the Willamette River, Hotel Fifty, previously a Starwood-operated Four Points by Sheraton, has 40 years of history. Now it's building a future as a flagship boutique...

Oregon Legislature could hear more climate bills in '08.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker The Oregon Legislature will carry out a grand experiment this year, hearing policy proposals as well as budget changes in its 2008 special session. And environmental advocates plan to seize the opportunity to keep...

Eighty-year-old Portland building gets LEED renovation.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Dan Carter In the 1920s, the Fitzgibbon Glass Co. moved into a brand new building in Northwest Portland. A number of other tenants used the 30,000-square-foot warehouse at the corner of Northwest 19th Avenue and Vaughan Street...

Bids abound at Portland International Airport this year.
January 3, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Five contractors are bidding for a $1.7 million restroom rehabilitation project at Portland International Airport. Sixteen restrooms in the terminal, concourses and rental car offices at PDX are to be...

Last phase of Hood River street revitalization begins.
January 4, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf For more than a decade, the city of Hood River has been revitalizing its downtown streets, working piecemeal to improve sewers, sidewalks and aesthetic elements of the historic small town. On Jan. 8, the city will...

Portland's Honeyman lofts to add new homes.
January 4, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan The Metro, the Bindery, and the Cotter buildings - a Pearl District trio known collectively as the Honeyman Hardware Co. Buildings or the Honeyman Hardware Lofts - have been on the National Register of Historic Places...

Multnomah County's Burnside Bridge rehab ends with one last tweak.
January 4, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker Downtown drivers rejoice. Multnomah County's two-year rehabilitation of the Burnside Bridge wraps up this month as engineers do some final tweaking of the 82-year-old structure's new lift system. Most of the heavy...

Seattle company purchases Resort at the Mountain.
January 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Coastal Hotel Group has added a new resort to its portfolio with the purchase of the Resort at the Mountain in Welches. A privately owned hotel manager based in Seattle, Coastal Hotel also owns the Inn at Otter...

Light aficionados hail designs of Portland's Eleek.
January 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Readers of Architectural Lighting magazine are turned on by the Portland-based Eleek. The sustainable design and manufacturing company recently scored in four categories in the magazine's sixth-annual Architect's Choice...

Southern Oregon city rebuilds span.
January 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff At least one community in Oregon has figured out how to pay to fix an ailing transportation system. The citizens of Wimer, in Southern Oregon, spent four years raising $300,000 in donations of cash and materials to...

Commentary: Some bad news on horizon for Oregon employers in 2008.
January 4, 2008... Byline: Rich Meneghello The unpredictable world of employment law makes it tough to determine what the future might hold. But, no matter what, the new year promises to be a busy one for employers. Here's why: Oregon's 2008 special session....

Port of Camas-Washougal hires Ripp.
January 4, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Port of Camas-Washougal board of commissioners has hired David R. Ripp as executive director of the Port of Camas-Washougal. Ripp previously served as executive director of the Port of Woodland and managed a...

Buena Vista Custom Homes hires Clark.
January 4, 2008... Byline: DJC staff Buena Vista Custom Homes has hired Josh Clark as a building superintendent. Clark will manage Buena Vista subdivision sites. He was previously the building superintendent for Hilligoss Homes Inc. and spent time...

Legal Marketing Association Seattle/Northwest elects Weimer.
January 4, 2008... Byline: DJC staff The Legal Marketing Association's Seattle/Northwest chapter has elected Scott Weimer to its board of directors. Weimer will serve a two-year term. He is a client relations and marketing project manager for Schwabe,...

Boora Architects breaks in 'new' office in Portland.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan New year, new digs - or new old digs. Boora Architects returned last week from temporary offices in the Commonwealth Building to its longtime Morgan Building space, which the firm began renovating in October. ...

State of Oregon wants more small, minority contractors building universities.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker For the first time in more than a decade, the Oregon University System is changing how it buys property and hires contractors for campus construction projects and other services. The Oregon State Board of Higher...

Heading for higher ground in Portland.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein Building a tower addition for a retirement community is a fairly common project for a general contractor. Unless said tower is built on a steep incline. That was the challenge general contractor JE Dunn...

ABC, Independent Electrical Contractors of Ore. sign off on 'merit' alliance.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker The Independent Electrical Contractors of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors announced Friday that their partnership is official. The two construction industry...

Fred Meyer on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland eyes LEED certification.
January 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Fred Meyer store on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard Thursday became the first in the retail company chain to apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's...

Canstruction seeks Oregon participants.
January 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Canned food isn't just for stocking your cupboards. The Society for Design Administration is inviting Oregon architects, engineers, contractors and designers to participate in the 12th annual Canstruction design/build...

Tonkon Torp in Portland promotes staff.
January 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Tonkon Torp has promoted Christopher D. Erickson, Jack Isselmann and Tatiana A. Perry to partner. Erickson's practice focuses on intellectual property and business matters. He holds an undergraduate degree from the...

Coldwell Banker Commercial in Portland hires Clark.
January 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Coldwell Banker Commercial Mountain West Real Estate has hired Tyler Clark. Clark began working in real estate in 2003, investing in residential properties in the Albany area. He holds a degree in business...

Talbot, Korvola & Warwick promotes Whitlow.
January 7, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Talbot, Korvola & Warwick has promoted Angelique Whitlow to partner. Whitlow was previously a senior manager with the firm. She is a certified public accountant and has 13 years of experience in advising...

Demand for glaziers provides window on Portland market.
January 8, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker Parked in a giant dolly at the Mountain Glass warehouse in Canby are half a dozen 24-foot sections of the north tower of a new Salem Hospital building. The aluminum frames, assembled and sealed by hand, sit waiting to...

Robertson cultivates art of real estate in Portland.
January 8, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf If Jan Robertson weren't the chief financial official of one of the largest real estate firms in Portland, she'd probably be an arts educator. Or she'd be designing sets and lighting for theater productions. Her...

Carbon calculation as complex as builders make it.
January 8, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Like a lot of things, there's an easy way to calculate carbon emissions, a not-as-easy way, and a thinking-way-too-hard way. Say, for example, you buy a car, Northwest Natural's Chris Galati said. Carbon was...

Port of Portland to give PDX restroom rehab contract to Cor.
January 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff On Wednesday, the Port of Portland will request approval to award a construction contract to Cor Construction Inc. of Newberg for demolition and reconstruction of restrooms at Portland International Airport. Cor...

Construction work keeps Oregon State University busy.
January 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff A building boom currently under way at Oregon State University doesn't show signs of slowing anytime soon. The Corvallis university is at work on about $180 million in construction projects, including building...

Office vacancies in U.S. up for first time in four years.
January 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff A softening demand for office space in the fourth quarter of 2007 caused U.S. vacancy rates to rise for the first time in four years, the real estate research firm Reis reports. According to numbers gathered by Reis,...

Commentary: Planning to appeal? Here's a crash course.
January 8, 2008... Byline: David L. Canary Appearing in court, or even before a property tax appeals board comprising lay citizens, is about as appealing as going to the dentist for a root canal. You don't know what to expect, and you're afraid you'll say...

Klamath Falls office of WH Pacific Inc. promotes Butler.
January 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff WHPacific Inc. has promoted Jack Butler to office manager at its Klamath Falls office. Butler has 37 years of survey project management experience. He previously worked at WHPacific's Portland and Salem offices. He is...

Southwest Washington Contractors Assn. elects Parry.
January 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Southwest Washington Contractors Association has elected Ann Parry to its board of directors. Parry is assigned to the education committee and the new projects committee. She is a project manager with Nutter Corp....

Public Relations Society of America elects Meihoff.
January 8, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The Portland Metro Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America has elected Darcie Meihoff as its chapter president. Meihoff is the public relations managing director for CMD Agency.

New development agreement, but Portland's One Waterfront Place still stuck in park.
January 9, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf For seven years, the One Waterfront Place office building proposed for the Pearl District has been at once controversial and anticipated, sidelined and pushed forward. Its non-development has in turn been blamed on the...

Woodburn firm wins contract for building on Washington State University's Vancouver campus.
January 9, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Woodburn builder Triplett Wellman has been awarded a contract to handle construction of a new undergraduate classroom building on Washington State University's Vancouver campus. University officials said all of...

Oregon Wave Energy Trust gets first $1M from state.
January 9, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker The Oregon Wave Energy Trust on Tuesday received $1 million from the Oregon Innnovation Council to oversee research and development of ocean power technologies in the state. The grant is part of $4.2 million earmarked...

Portland-based SKB Cos. buys SeaTac airport office complex.
January 9, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Portland-based real estate investor ScanlanKemperBard Cos. on Tuesday said it bought a class A office complex adjacent to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for $79.2 million. The 532,430-square-foot Sea-Tac Office...

Dewey earns senior VP title at Portland-based NBS Real Estate Capital.
January 9, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff NBS Real Estate Capital LLC has promoted David Dewey to senior vice president. Dewey joined NBS in 2005. He currently supervises asset management services on behalf of Morrison Street Funds I & II.

Portland-based Sparling consultants earn credentials.
January 9, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Sparling has announced that audio/visual consultants Brian O'Bannon, Shannon Jelenek, Mark July and Peter Babler have earned their credentials as Certified Technology Specialists by InfoComm International.

National Federation of Independent Business hires Levy as its Oregon director.
January 9, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff The National Federation of Independent Business has hired Harlan Levy as its Oregon state director. Levy previously worked for the Oregon Association of Realtors for seven years, first as a staff attorney and later as...

Portland attorney Caroline Guest joins board of directors.
January 9, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Morrison Child and Family Services has elected Caroline Guest to its board of directors. Guest is a shareholder in the Portland office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. Her practice focuses on employment law and...

Robinson Construction builds project for Reser's Fine Foods in Beaverton.
January 9, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report The research and development department of Reser's Fine Foods in Beaverton is getting new offices, a new kitchen, a remodeled thrift store and a new, state-of-the-art presentation kitchen. The...

David Evans and Associates wins top American Council of Engineering honors.
January 10, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan David Evans and Associates' replacement of a Jackson County bridge took project of the year in last night's American Council of Engineering Companies of Oregon's Engineering Excellence Awards 2008. The concrete...

Proposed street fix for Portland is safe, sound and expensive.
January 10, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf In 2007, the city, county and state argued there wasn't enough money to pay for street and bridge maintenance projects. A new funding model and new taxes, they said, were needed. But with the new year comes a new...

Firms worry about work as building slows nationwide.
January 10, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan Not good, but not bad - that's the gist of American Institute of Architects chief economist Kermit Baker's national construction outlook for the next couple years. Nonresidential construction is moving into a period...

Smart grid technology would cut electric bills, slow construction, says study.
January 10, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker A new smart grid computer system for controlling electricity use in home furnaces, water heaters and other appliances could substantially cut the need to build new power lines, according to a study released Wednesday...

Nonresidential work ends year on a high note.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Construction spending rose 0.1 percent in November to $1.165 trillion, the Census Bureau reported. The total was 0.1 percent less than in November 2006. The year-to-date change for January-November 2006 versus...

Building material prices rise as orders increase.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Orders for construction materials and supplies rose 0.2 percent in November but fell 1.2 percent year-to-date, according to a report released by the Census Bureau. Orders for construction machinery rose 30...

Mitchell to talk economy at meeting of Association of Women in the Metal Industries.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report John Mitchell, principal of M&H Economic Consultants, will offer his views on what the coming year holds in store for the region during a Jan. 24 joint meeting of the Portland chapter of the Association of Women in...

Oregon State University reaches out to businesses.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Oregon State University's College of Business is inviting local businesses to find out how the college can serve their needs with an open house Wednesday. The open house will showcase programs and tools...

WHPacific Inc. hires Thompson at its Klamath Falls office.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report WHPacific Inc. has hired Tim Thompson as the land development project manager of its Klamath Falls office. Thompson has 26 years of civil, environmental and mining engineering experience. He holds a Bachelor of...

Oregon-based Steele Associates Architects earn LEED certification.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Steele Associates Architects has announced that Seth Anderson and Aaron Rogers have earned their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation.

Portland-based Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf hires Owen.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf has hired Stacy R. Owen as an associate. Owen has experience in legislative policy, litigation and business law. She previously worked for the Michigan Economic Development...

ReMax Equity Group in Oregon hires Schneider.
January 10, 2008... Byline: DJC Staff Report ReMax Equity Group has hired Gary Schneider as a broker in its Sunnyside office. Schneider previously worked with Persimmon Realty in Gresham.

Commentary: At DLCD, the old guard gives way.
January 10, 2008... Byline: Ed Sullivan Planning is not supposed to be about personalities. It's supposed to be the somewhat methodical study of land uses and structures - and that is what it is most of the time. On occasion, however, individuals come...

North Portland communities want more living wage jobs.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Libby Tucker Oregon Rep. Chip Shields (D-Portland) met with state labor officials and community leaders Wednesday night to discuss a new legislative agenda for bringing more living wage jobs to North and Northeast Portland...

A garden grows in Multnomah County.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Alison Ryan The slim slip of property in East Multnomah County has been nothing for a long time. At 30-by-100 feet, the land hasn't drawn developers, and the county's been maintaining the grassy space since 1992. But plans for...

Q&A with Nels Gabbert, Portland developer.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf In December, Nels Gabbert's latest development, the Fitzgibbon Glass Building, completed construction. By converting the former home of Jasco, a construction products manufacturer, into a contemporary building, he...

Historic Smith's Block in Portland gets updated for new owners.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Nathalie Weinstein The brick walls of the Smith's Block on Southwest Naito Parkway grunt and strain against the well-meaning Bremik Construction crew, who scrape patiently at its 136-year-old grout. In some places, the bricks...

One Waterfront Place in Portland to break ground in June.
January 11, 2008... Byline: Tyler Graf Winkler Naito Development announced Thursday it plans to break ground on the One Waterfront Place office building at 1201 N.W. Naito Parkway in June 2008. Jim Winkler and Bob Naito are the developers of the $100...

Audit says Portland's contract practices need some work.
January 11, 2008... Byline: DJC staff An audit of the city's Facilities Services released this week says the city needs to improve its system for pre-project planning, including improving coordination within bureaus, to reduce cost overruns and delays on city...

Firms sought to sponsor students for banquet in Portland.
January 11, 2008... Byline: DJC staff Engineering firms are needed to sponsor students interested in attending the 44th Annual Engineers Week High School Banquet, slated for Feb. 20 at Lloyd Center DoubleTree Hotel in Portland. The banquet is part of...

Fisher & Phillips elects Oregon's Mitch Baker a partner.
January 11, 2008... Byline: DJC staff Fisher & Phillips LLP has elected Mitch Baker a partner. Baker is admitted to the Bar of Oregon and has defended employers in labor and employment law matters in both state and federal courts. He has authored desk...

Portland's Hagerman Frick O'Brien hires Nick Klein.
January 11, 2008... Byline: DJC staff Hagerman Frick O'Brien has hired Nick Klein as a sales associate. Klein has six years of experience in syndicate acquisitions and worked as a financial adviser for Washington Mutual. He holds a Bachelor of Science in...

ReMax Equity Group hires Amy Tremain in Beaverton office.
January 11, 2008... Byline: DJC staff ReMax Equity Group has hired Amy Tremain as a broker in its Beaverton office. Tremain previously worked at Prudential Northwest Properties for five years.