AUGUST 2007: DISPATCHES
PORTLAND
Bank of the West has relocated its downtown commercial offices
to the iconic KOIN Center to accommodate recent growth and in
anticipation of future expansion in the Northwest. This will be
the first time the bank’s national banking, equipment
leasing, agricultural and commercial real estate, wealth
management services, and private banking will be under one
roof. The 12,000-square-foot space accommodates 38 employees,
including 18 new management and support positions created by
the expansion, according to Bill Williamson, executive vice
president of the Northwest region division.
The national headquarters for Marquette Healthcare Finance will
now operate out of One World Trade Center in downtown Portland.
The new branch of Minneapolis-based Marquette Financial
Companies provides financing to small health-care
organizations. Martin Golden, executive vice president and
managing director of Marquette Healthcare Finance, says smaller
markets are underserved by lenders compared to larger more
lucrative clients. Health-care finance requires
particular know-ledge of the risks in health care, such as the
annually changing government reimbursements, and being in tune
with the “legislative environment” of health-care
issues, he says. Golden says he expects to have between
30 and 40 employees in the next few years.
California-based Solaix will open a silicon
wafer manufacturing plant this fall in the Rivergate Industrial
District near Portland International Airport. Solaix creates
silicon ingots that are sliced into wafers that solar panel
manufacturers use in their photovoltaic technology. Solaix
invested an initial $52 million in the Portland operation, the
company’s first ever high-volume plant, and says it will
create 100 new jobs by the end of 2007.
Gourmet soda maker Thomas
Kemper Soda Company has secured three new distribution
agreements, bolstering its presence in the Western states and
positioning the company for national expansion. Thomas Kemper
CEO Bill Germano says that in September, the soda will switch
its primary sweetener from high-fructose corn syrup, which has
fallen out of favor among discriminating label readers,
to cane sugar.
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