FEBRUARY 2007: DISPATCHES
PORTLAND
No, the French-fry smell isn’t coming from the cafeteria.
Anderson Construction
is using biodiesel in its forklifts and generators while they
work on a $42 million expansion at Providence St. Vincent Medical
Center. Besides sparing people at the hospital from
noxious diesel fumes, Chuck Blomquist, a project manager at the
St. Vincent site, says environmental savings and a desire to be
a green company mean Anderson will continue to use biodiesel.
“The smell is much more palatable,” he explains and
the equipment operates the same with the alternative fuel.
Trade volume in the Portland/Vancouver region will double in
the next 25 years, and there is a critical and immediate need
for increased focus on planning and infrastructure investment
to prepare for that growth, according to a study funded by the
Port of Portland and
other regional agencies. The Portland/Vancouver region’s
trade facilities (marine terminals and air cargo facilities)
are already operating near or at capacity and, at the same
time, the ability of the highway and rail system to handle the
additional freight volume and the supply of industrial land to
accommodate support services is strained, the reports says. The
Metro Council is
undertaking an effort called the “New Look,” which
will try to figure out how to manage about a million more
people living in the Portland metro region in the next 25
years. Sandra McDonough, president of the Portland Business Alliance, says
the study reinforces the key conclusions of a congestion study
commissioned by the port, Metro and other agencies in
2005that found that increasing congestion, even with currently
planned improvements, will significantly hurt the
region’s ability to maintain and grow business. That
earlier study found that the failure to invest adequately in
transportation improvements will result in a potential loss
valued at of $844 million annually by 2025.
The new private sector-backed economic development group for
the greater Portland area announced its formation and board of
directors last month. The Four
County Economic Development Corp. (working name) will be
led by Scott Campbell, publisher of The Columbian in Vancouver;
Mark Ganz, CEO of The Regence Group; Eric Parsons, president
and CEO of The Standard; and Malia Watson, president of US
Bank.
Mike and Brian McMenamin, the duo behind the popular brewpubs,
opened the doors to their latest watering hole in December. But
Chapel Pub isn’t just another quirky bar: It’s also
part of company headquarters. McMenamins purchased the former
Little Chapel of the Chimes in the north Portland neighborhood
of Piedmont after outgrowing the former headquarters at the
Mission Theatre site. Company CFO Larry Dortmund said the
Chapel, a funeral home built in 1932, is fantastic and that the
40 corporate employees are happy to have space to spread their
wings. McMenamins, which employs about 1,750 people throughout
its Northwest locations, is the fourth-largest brewpub chain in
the United States in terms of beer production, according to the
Oregon Brewers Guild.
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