Leadership

Meet Erik Selden, Senior Vice President and team leader of the Washington Trust Banking Team in Vancouver (click here to be introduced to Erik Selden). Over the past two years, Erik has been dedicated to assembling and mentoring a team of skilled, local lenders to serve the financial needs of our area. Their efforts recently culminated in the opening of a new financial center in Downtown Vancouver. In...

It has been a very glorious couple of weeks celebrating the opening of the new Vancouver Waterfront development. Almost 15 years in the making. Years of planning and partnering by the City of Vancouver and the developers come to fruition with the three acre park, extension of the existing trail along the Columbia , a pier that will become an iconic landmark as the years go by. Vision and perseverance are...

CREDC Aspirations to Cure Cancer An inspiring presentation today from Dr. Gary Gilliland President and Director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer research center in Seattle.  He brought us up todate on the mega strides that have been made in the war on cancer the past ten years. The "Hutch" is independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, Fred Hutch houses the nation's first and largest cancer...

The Way of The Sun - Sun Modo on the rise. (Image from The Columbian) Back in 2011 was when Sun Modo first began to raise their profile here in Clark County.  Sun Modo means -the way of the sun, and they were following the growth of the solar industry by providing innovative racking systems for installing solar systems.  They were identified as a rising new business both by their regular attendance at...

Running out of steam?  Our first note is the US economic expansion continued this past summer, but only at a 1.5% increase according to a report released by the BEA last week.  Down sharply from 3.9 % growth this past spring. Second note is Congress did extend the debt ceiling as the month closed out.  This prevents another standoff between the White House and the Congress, and gives the government and...

Tuesday the Vancouver Chamber kicked off their first public event aimed to bring more awareness, more access and more effective application of the numerous resources that are in place to support and nurture small business .  This effort actually began way back in 2013 when the GVCC and the City of Vancouver  coalesced around creating a website where entreprenuers can go to see the wide array of...

If there is one complaint common to almost all Hazel Dell or Salmon Creel residents or shoppers it is the question why aren't there more good restaurants in that part of town. For years the  myth was that the System Development Charges (SDC) by the Clark Regional Waste Water District were too expensive.  These costs are generally based on the per seat capacity of each project and were reputed to add...

My big chance for a question to the panel The Columbia River Economic Development Council held their final  quarterly luncheon of 2014 at the Heathman Lodge Monday January 15th.   The topic was how strategic planning is vitally important to creating a vital economic future. This is topic is important because the effects of the 2008 Great Recession set our economic development base back about four...

Vancouver's Downtown Association is again stepping to the forefront to inspire another surge of activity to the ongoing momentum created over the past three years. Lee Rafferty welcomed VDA members and property owners to a "Downtown Property Owner Summit" this past Thursday at the Brickstone Ballroom. The focus of the Summit was to bring Michelle Reeves back for a review and refresh of the principles she...

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...