SB Profiles
Executive Q & A: Michael Garvey
YOUTH: My dad was born and raised in Washington state. He was a longshoreman and a staunch union supporter. In the famous 1934 dock strike, the bloodiest strike on the West Coast, he was on the tough-guy squad that threw scabs off the ships. He got beat up. My mothers father was a coal miner….
Former Governor Albert Rosellini dies
Former Washington state Governor Albert D. Rosellini has died at the age of 101. The Seattle Times reports Rosellini died of complications from pneumonia. Rosellini, a Democrat who served as governor from 1957 to 1965, championed construction of the Highway 520 floating bridge, which is named in his honor, and is widely considered the father…
Talking Points: John Rindlaub, CEO, Wells Fargo, Northwest Region
PROMOTION: While I will miss my friends, Im highly motivated to move to Hong Kong where I can connect our strong U.S. presence with our business in Asia. We have 2,500 employees in 12 Asian countries. I served in the Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War, I worked in Tokyo for…
Net Gains
In a professional sports world where attendance has declined across the board and player lockouts have become dinner-table discussion topics, the Seattle Storm has experienced an increase in attendance and season-ticketholder retention. According to the organization, gross revenues have risen 76 percent in three years. Corporate sponsorship of the team has similarly increased, and the…
Talking Points: Steven C. Cooper, President & CEO, TrueBlue Inc.
Under Steve Cooper, Tacoma-based TrueBlue has expanded beyond its Labor Ready franchise, which has long provided day labor to construction companies, into a family of enterprises that find employment for a range of blue-collar workersfrom carpenters to aviation mechanicsin a variety of industries. The new businesses helped TrueBlue weather the recession. It now has 2,500…
Growing Pains
Andrew Stout, owner of Full Circle Farm in Carnation, has enjoyed enormous success raising and selling organic produce, with annual sales of $11 million. Most small businesses would be satisfied to grow by 50percent to 90 percent a year. Not Andrew Stout, whose Full Circle Farm, basedin Carnation, has logged that rapid growth since he…
Weyerhaeuser Restructuring REIT Step?
Weyerhaeuser has declared a $5.6 billion dividend, the final step in the timber company’s long journey to become a real estate investment trust. We discussed the planned restructuring into a new financial entity in an April story. While the conversion makes a lot of sense to shareholders because it will reduce the tax hit on…
Washington Innovation Summit in Tacoma Revealed State’s Strengths, Weaknesses
The annual innovation summit organized by the Washington Technology Center was recently held in Tacoma. It covered a range of industries from aerospace and materials to renewable energy and education. If you missed this great meeting, you can still catch up by watching videos and presentations here: https://www.watechcenter.org/index.php?p=Program&s=1687 One of the key areas of focus…
Washington Innovation Summit in Tacoma Reveals State’s Strengths, Weaknesses
The annual innovation summit organized by the Washington Technology Center was recently held in Tacoma. It covered a range of industries from aerospace and materials to renewable energy and education. If you missed this great meeting, you can still catch up by watching videos and presentations here: https://www.watechcenter.org/index.php?p=Program&s=1687 One of the key areas of focus…
The Next Wave
Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold, two leaders in the local tech community, areputting millions of their money behind a technology that could solve our energyproblems while offering a solution to the nagging issue of how to handlenuclear waste. The technology is being developed by TerraPower, a spinoffof Myhrvolds Bellevue-based invention company Intellectual Ventures. Thecompany is…
Biography: Theodor P. Baseler
Wineries Washington: ChateauSte. Michelle, Col Solare, Spring Valley Vineyard, Northstar, Columbia Crest, Domaine Ste. Michelle, Snoqualmie Vineyards Oregon: Erath Winery Napa, Calif.: StagsLeap,Conn Creek, Villa Mt. Eden Personal Age: 55 Hometown: Bellevue Education: Mastersfrom Northwestern University, Bachelors from Washington State University Family: Wife JoAnne,daughter Andrea (now a senior at WSU) Board and corporate seats: Current…
Weathering Another Storm
For the Washington state wine industry, the continuingrecession means consumers are buying fewer pricy top-of-the-line bottles. That changeactually plays to Chateau Ste. Michelles core strategy of producing good butaffordable wines. Thats called price-to-quality ratio, and Ste. Michelleis known for it, says competitor Norm McKibben at Walla Wallas Pepper BridgeWinery. Even in a recession, people dont…
Power Surge
Avista Corp. is planning oninvesting $125 million in its first wind farm in eastern Washington. Two local power providers that have played a key role inpromoting the generation of clean energy as part of an earlier state-sponsoredinitiative now stand to benefit from stimulus spending by the federalgovernment. Both plan to continue their surge in investments…