Our post last week discussed employment gains we’ve been experiencing over the past year. Our concluding remarks highlighted that these employment gains have been focused in particular in our industrial / manufacturing sectors.
Twice within the past week I’ve seen evidence that reinforces this trend. I attended the Clark Public Utilities meeting last week, and staff shared the financial report from February. They’ve seen steady growth in electricity usage by both the commercial and industrial sectors fro several months and expect it to continue. Reading todays Columbian several recent Commercial Real Estate transactions have occurred involving industrial properties, and the vacancy rate has been slowly inching down.
Bill Connelly is quoted in the article : “Since the start of the year, more than 245,000 square feet of vacant manufacturing and warehouse space was rented and removed from the local inventory”. Connelly, a vice president and managing broker with Eric Fuller & Associates Inc. in Vancouver also said that brought the vacancy rate to 13 percent in March, down from 15 percent at the end of 2011. The article went on to highlight the efforts the Port of Vancouver has brought to bear in agressivley recruiting new companies to locate here.
