Business

The rise of Gonzaga to number-one ranking among college basketball teams and its early plunge into NCAA tournament oblivion sparked interest and attention beyond the usual sports-fan ranks. And so will the possible next chapter for the little Spokane school, if it successfully pursues membership in a reorganized Big East Conference, where media riches can abound. If Gonzaga exits the West Coast Conference, as is being increasingly rumored on both sides of the country, much of the conversation would focus on the role athletic success has come to play in not only the image but also the broader financial success of smaller private universities.

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Sound Publishing Inc., as the U.S. subsidiary of what has become the largest-circulation newspaper company in Western Canada, has itself quietly grown into the largest publisher of newspapers in Washington State. But Sound, with headquarters in both Bellevue and Poulsbo, is suddenly attracting attention. Since the first of the year, Sound and its parent Black Press Ltd. have purchased the Seattle area operations of two high-visibility national companies, buying the Seattle Weekly from the Village Voice in January and the daily Everett Herald from the Washington Post Co. a few weeks later. The Herald deal is expected to close next month.

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Because more small businesses get their insurance coverage through business associations in Washington than perhaps any other state, new eligibility standards for such groups because of the Affordable Care Act could cause major coverage disruptions. At issue is the eventual determination by the U.S. Department of Labor next year on which of the so-called Association Health Plans (AHPs) meet federal requirements or must change, possibly dramatically, to be in compliance with ERISA, which protects the interests of participants in employee benefit plans.

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To those who have watched the leading role Washington State University has played in distance education for nearly a quarter century, word that WSU’s online MBA programs have been ranked No. 1 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report will seem like appropriate recognition. But the honor isn’t viewed by College of Business Dean Eric Spangenberg, or WSU President Elson Floyd, as the culmination of a chase for rankings. Rather, as Floyd put it, “Our goals are to increase access, improve quality and push the envelope of educational innovation. We have and will continue to experiment with the most promising approaches to digital instruction for connecting students to WSU.”

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As a new year brings new leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the long-rumored internal struggle over whether the focus of the nation’s largest and most influential resource for entrepreneurs should be far flung or local may soon play out. Thomas A. McDonnell, longtime Kauffman Foundation board member and chair since 2006, assumed the role of president and CEO as of January 1, filling the position left vacant since exactly a year ago when Carl Schramm was forced out. McDonnell hasn’t indicated yet whether or not he will guide a change of focus.

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Most of the two dozen properties Seattle’s Columbia Hospitality manages across five Western states are destinations well-recognized by hotel and resort guests, but less recognized is the brand of the fast-growing hospitality management and consulting company itself. Now founder and CEO John Oppenheimer hopes a new retail-products unit that will market food items served at the iconic Salish Lodge will help bring broader exposure not just for the hotels and resorts themselves but also for the Columbia Hospitality brand.

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“When something has been in your family for 110 years, stewardship becomes more important than a focus on profits,” says Peter F. Stanton, chairman and CEO of Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank, in explaining how his company escaped most of the banking turmoil of the past four years. “That doesn’t mean we spend our time looking in the rearview mirror,” added Stanton, who was named president in 1990 becoming the fourth generation head of the bank that is now the oldest and largest privately owned commercial bank in the Northwest.

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As the California Clean Energy Angel Fund that she launched five years ago winds down, Susan Preston’s analysis of the opportunity to create a second “cleantech” fund has guided her to conclude “the bloom is off the rose of clean-energy investing.” “We have done a great deal of analysis into raising a second fund, and unfortunately, market timing is quite bad,” said Preston, the former Seattle attorney who formed the first-of-its-kind angel fund for seed and start-up stage clean energy companies in August of 2007 and became its general partner. “The public and private markets are down on clean energy and the venture model itself is being questioned.”

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Dave Smith’s“aha moment” about the unmet need of big-men’s clothing came at a Microsoft shareholders meeting at Safeco Field a few years ago when all attendees were given embroidered shirts to mark the occasion. But there wasn’t one that would fit Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s 3X size, Smith recalls, adding “It wasn’t pretty.” Smith, who at the time worked for a company that provided promotional products for firms, including Microsoft, recalls that “we always had trouble finding 2X and larger products for customers.”

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Bob Betz, who as one of the state’s most respected winemakers is co-chairing the 25^th  Auction of Washington Wines, recalls with a smile the first auction. “I bought two bottles for $60, and it was the live auction. And they were bottles of Oregon wine.” Much has transpired for both Betz, then already an established executive with Chateau Ste. Michelle winery, and the industry itself since that launch event. What was initially, and for the first 10 years, called the Auction of Northwest Wines because it was held in partnership with the equally young Oregon wine industry, now sees live-auction items bring in an average of $10,000.

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