Commission may help Washington State avoid stimulus bickering (Jan. 1, 2009)

A commission charged by the 2007 Legislature to come up with an economic development strategy for Washington State’s long-term future may turn out to have a short-term benefit as well by helping the governor plan for how best to deal with the state’s expected share of a multi-billion-dollar stimulus package.

And that assist for Gov. Christine Gregoire could also help Washington avoid the in-fighting that is emerging nationally between mayors and governors over control of the spending priorities for that huge stimulus package.

Horizon Air brings unique synergy to Alaska Airlines

The unique sibling relationship Horizon Air has had over more than two decades with big brother Alaska Airlines has helped parent Alaska Air Group weather, better than most of its peers, one of the most severe financial storms the airline industry has faced.

And it would be difficult to over-estimate the importance of Horizon and its CEO and president Jeff Pinneo in helping give Alaska Airlines the flexibility it needed over the past year to respond to the double whammy of soaring fuel prices and declining demand.

TARP and the future of small banks 

(Dec. 14, 2008) 

When the results of the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) are calculated after the fog lifts on that $250 billion portion of the $700 billion bailout, will there be fewer small banks? The answer depends on whom you ask.

The issue of whether the bank acquisitions the TARP money is fueling might threaten the continued independence of a lot of small-town banks has become an interesting point of discussion. That’s largely because of confusion that surrounds Treasury’s distribution of the funds to banks.

Private lenders attract borrower and investor interest 

Private commercial lenders, sometimes called hard money lenders, have become an important source of capital for credit-starved small and mid-size businesses, as well as an increasingly attractive investment opportunity for those seeking to park their money in a place where they have a chance for more appealing returns.

And Washington State apparently is viewed as a particularly attractive place for such firms because the laws governing them are considered less restrictive than in many states.

Small town of Granger's "Michelangelo Moment" 

The small Yakima County community of Granger is one of the poorest areas in the State of Washington. But it’s creating what I like to call a “Michelangelo Moment” with a growing number of people in the Puget Sound area.

The relationship blossoms through the holiday season each year since 2004 through the Friends of Granger, a 501c3 organized four years ago by Bellevue businesswoman Joan Wallace and nurtured through her gentle pressures on the broad array of contacts she has developed over the years.

(November 24, 2008) 

Legislative attention to business issues unlikely 

This is the best of times and the worst of times for representatives of the business community to hope to raise awareness among legislators about how to be more tuned in to the needs of business.

 It’s the worst of times because it would seem unlikely that a 2009 Legislature in which both houses are tightly under the control of Democrats and faced with growing needs of traditional Democrat constituencies in a shrinking economy would seriously offer an ear to business representatives.

A foundation to aid ADHD students 

The driving force for Neil Peterson in creating his Edge Foundation is that “if coaching is important enough for CEOs who wish to succeed, it’s important enough to help young people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) succeed.”

Peterson, a transportation executive, then successful entrepreneur, who founded car-sharing company Flexcar, is buoyed in his commitment to the goals of his Seattle-based foundation by an $805,000 grant to “launch the research component that will prove the value of coaching for students with ADHD.”

Reflections on western ballot-measure results 

The outcome of voting Tuesday on statewide initiative measures in the three western states that have made the citizen-lawmaking process famous suggest that while voters in California, Oregon and Washington retain a desire to legislate by the ballot, they may be growing weary, and wary, of complex issues being proposed by initiative.

That’s not to say that some of the initiatives approved by voters up and down the coast weren’t far reaching, as with Washington voters’ approval of assisted-suicide initiative 1000 or California voters’ approval of a ban on same-sex marriage.

(Nov. 2, 2008) 

 Meet Kathy, the kind-hearted tax collector

This is by way of introducing Kathy, one of the dozens of employees at the Washington State Department of Revenue who answer the phones when nervous, frustrated or irate taxpayers call.

The manner in which Kathy fulfills her responsibilities would tend to rebut the suggestions of too many people that public employees, state employees in this case, somehow don’t measure up to the quality of private-sector employees.

Former WAMU CEO Pepper has retained "family" ties

“Friend of the family,” the longtime marketing identity of Washington Mutual, wasn’t just an advertising slogan to Lou Pepper. Rather it was a principle that guided his dealing with employees and executives of the financial institution he guided as chairman and CEO from1981 until he handed over the reins to his protégé, Kerry Killinger.

Since Pepper has continued to view his longtime associates and friends there as family, though he passed the leadership role to Killinger in 1990 and left the board in 1996, it was a logical step for him to create a fund to assist WAMU employees who have seen their savings largely evaporate with the largest-ever bank collapse.

(October 16, 2008)

Angel investors assess their role in current financial crisis

As entrepreneurs scramble for financing in this dark economic time, many will be tempted to look at angel investors for the capital they need to grow, or perhaps to merely survive, as financing and credit sources dry up.

But a survey of angel investors up and down the West Coast suggests a variety of opinions on what those entrepreneurs are going to find in the way of willing support from those angels.

(Oct. 11, 2008) 

Politics confuses the images of two builder organizations 

Sam Anderson is far less upset about the legal squabble his builders group is in with the state over possible campaign-finance violations than he is about being lumped together with the statewide builders organization that has been his longtime nemesis.

Anderson is chief executive officer of the Master Builders of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA), which the State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) accused of violating state law by the manner in which it spent member Industrial Insurance rebates on political activities.