The Economy

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...

Employers in Washington state added a net 54,900 jobs in the 12 months through February, lowering the unemployment rate for that month to an estimated 8.2 percent, the state Employment Security Department reported Wednesday. While not spectacular Washington extended to 17 out of the past 18 months of net job creation in a report released by the Emplyment Security Office Wednesday March...

Another excellent article by Aaron Corvin on of the Columbian.   This article details the evolving economic development scene in East Clark County with Camas and Washougal and the Port of Camas - Washougal. The article is reprinted below : It doesn’t have the gargantuan cargo-handling cranes or the broad international flair or the multimillion-dollar rail project of the Port of Vancouver. But the...

On March 16th Mayor Tim Leavitt delivered his 2012 State of the City Speech.  Keeping a focus in the momentum we've seen in a reviving downtown commercial real estate market, the event was hosted at the Kiggins Theater.  The  long time Vancouver landlmark  has experienced a $450,000 rennovation this past year.   Lee Rafferty - Executive Director of  Vancouver's Downtown Association - VDA served...

OPTIMISM.... yes outright optimism seems to be breaking out almost like our optimism that spring will arrive soon.   In January I posted about attending the Columbian's Economic Forecast breakfast.  There John Williams - President of the  Frederal Reserve Bank in SanFransisco summed up our status up this way -   We saved the country from a depression and we'll see more slow improvement mirroring the...

Here is an article from Aaron Corvin on  of the Columbian on march 1st summarizing the latest employment stats ofr Washington State in 2011. Employers in Washington state added a net 62,500 jobs in the 12 months through January, lowering the unemployment rate for that month to an estimated 8.3 percent, the state Employment Security Department reported Wednesday. In the private sector, employers added...

The Pub- Talk event is the most interesting of all Networking and business promotion Events in Clark County.  Starting about two years ago and produced by the CREDC and the SWW Workforce Development Council  it brings together entrepreneurs who have developed unique ideas that are ready to really make a splash in their market place. Wednesday we were treated to a presentation by Kurt Rylander on Patents...

Have you noticed in the past six months that it seems everywhere you drive in Clark County there is road construction ?  Don Wagner - Regional administrator at the Washington State  Depratment of Transportation outlined the $75 million in projects that were underway or competed in 2011, and the $114 million in exisiting or new contracts for 2012 in his break out session at the Economic Forecast...

As 2011 draws to a close, we can tally some economic progess.  Clearly for many industries the level of business activity has improved over 2010. While we worked through a stall at mid year that caused major concern, and media hand wringing, stronger growth trends have re-asserted themselves.  Soon we'll see  2011 retrospectives on TV and in print, along with forecasts for 2012.  Locally the...

Have you noticed the change in the tenor and types of economic stories the past two months?   As we slogged through the spring all the way through to  late  summer of 2011, stork markets were reeling  and we were inundated by  stories expressing fear  around the idea that the economy was slowing to a point that we might be slipping into a double dip recession.   In response I posted a blog on...