Clark County

Over fifteen years of hard work, 150 million dollars of investment , and a consistent vision for an improved community comes to life Wednesday with the ribbon cutting ceremony and the opening of the 139th Street overpass in Salmon Creek.  Not all the work will have been completed says WSDOT - there remain some ramp improvements that need to be finalized and some landscaping, but the East -West passage...

 As part of the general higher economic activity levels here in Clark County the past twelve months  we are seeing a strong expansion in the number of coffee outlets.  Dutch Brothers has been very active in searching for sites and has two under construction in Hazel Dell .  This one , located at Northgate  Center on 99th Street and  Hazel Dell Avenue makes daily progress toward a mid September...

Wednesday July 23rd the Vancouver Business Journal held their 20th annual Top Projects recognition ceremony.  This years ceremony was well attended and you could feel the enthusiasm and optimism in the crowd for the improved business activity levels from the past several years. Held at the former Vancouver City Hall - located on Broadway and 13th street and renamed Block 56 attendees were able to see...

Trendlines are certainly encouraging for the employment picture in Clark County.  Here are two recent graphs provided by the Washington State Employment Division. The first shows total employment, which almost topped  144 thousand residents as we reach the mid point of 2014.  After the fits and starts we experienced in 2010 and 2011 the graph has steadily risen for  three straight years.  This...

While attending the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours tonight at Cellars 55 - which is a very cool venue ( especially where they store the wine) I met Mike Difabio.  Mike is the owner of Fortside Brewing Company a start up local craft brewer and he is in the process of building out his space and soon will be brewing. I am excited for him. The economics of brewing can provide...

A three year odessy is about to be completed, with a  ground breaking ceremony , scheduled in the middle of July. In early  2011 Dr.  Sanjeev Sharma owner of Premier Dental in Camas, set his sites on purchasing  a small parcel of vacant land in front of the Wal-Mart on 192nd and Mill Plain Blvd.  During our initial  conversation he envisioned the increasing development momentum we see out there...

A firm based in Hawaii,  Watumull Properties Corp is the purchaser of the Orchards Center at 10401 NE Fourth Plain Blvd.  One very clear trend in commercial real estate within Clark County, and across the country during the past year  is that investors and management firms like Watumull are actively considering acquisitions.   Many property owners have come through the last six years having  reached...

On going roadwork along 15th street and upper Main immediately after you enter Vancouver from I-5  is causing regular traffic slowdowns, but doesn’t seem to be hurting business. I went and had some a morning beverage at Compass Coffee last week. Spoke with owner Bryan Wray as there have been earth moving machines and holes in the road  along his stretch of Main for a couple of weeks. Bryan says in...

While much of Clark County seem to be caught up in a debate about development and growth  around  black oil trains , there is a group taking an entirely different tac to create new jobs and growth in our community built around expanding our ability to use and maintain clean healthy water. Tuesday the Clark Regional Water Board of Commissioners approved a contract that launches the construction of the...

Saturday morning the 26th of April I attended a ribbon cutting at the Clark County YMCA over on 51st Ct. The facility has been here since May of 2000.  For the past four years the Y has been in the midst of a capital campaign  to raise 8.2 million dollars to add several new amenities to the building.   A six lane lap pool, a walking track and new group exercise and community rooms were all vital...