The Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County earlier this month issued its annual Major Employers List, a compendium of county businesses and enterprises with more than 100 employees.

Among the top 10, little has changed. [See the full list]

The U.S. Army, with 40,091 military and civilian full-time employees – compared to 38,143 in 2007 – extended its lead. Local public school districts came second with 13,434 employees, compared to 13,393 last year. The U.S. Air Force, with a combined 10,434 employes, dropped behind last year’s 11,765.

MultiCare and Franciscan health systems, which respectively operate Tacoma General and St. Joseph medical centers, among other sites in Pierce County, continued their lead among nongovernmental employers.

Fred Meyer Stores, in 12th place this year, jumped ahead of Safeway to lead among for-profit businesses.

MINING THE DATA

Among other highlights of the list, compiled by EDB business retention and recruitment specialist David Nakamura:

 • Several corporate and regional headquarters grew their presence in downtown Tacoma during the year, Nakamura said. Russell Investments increased employment by 5.9 percent over the year and has gained 311 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees since 2004.

DaVita increased 5 percent over the year, while Columbia Bank rose by 7.2 percent.

 • Nakamura notes that several other Tacoma businesses increased their employment: Bargreen Ellingson by 98.8 percent; Concrete technology Corp. by 52.9 percent; Precision Machine Works by 28.6 percent; and Charles River Clinical Services by 23.4 percent. Charles River, formerly Northwest Kinetics, has grown from 72 employees in 2005 to 248 today.

 • In DuPont, Venture Bank opened its new headquarters and made its first appearance on the list. State Farm Insurance increased 6.6 percent, while Intel maintains a steady presence with 1,000 employees.

 • Employment in the once-rural Frederickson area continued to grow alongside the fortunes of the aerospace industry. Boeing increased its work force by 21.4 percent over the year, and Toray Composites (America) Inc. added another 45.7 percent. Employing 180 workers in 2004, Toray today employs 450.

 • REI continues as Sumner’s largest employer, up 13.6 percent with 702 FTEs. Nakamura said that both Simmons Manufacturing Co. and Precision Aerospace/Precision Pattern Inc. earned double-digit growth, up 13.8 percent and 28.3 percent respectively.

A FEW BUSINESSES

 • “We’re doing very well,” said Sue Tinnin, human resources director at Pacific Crest Industries, a Sumner cabinet manufacturer with 175 employees.

They’re doing so well, in fact, that Tinnin proudly says Pacific Crest has recently been recognized as the second-fastest-growing cabinet company in the U.S.

“We’re in the process of adding a second shift,” she said. “We’re hoping to add 20 to 30 people in the next two or three months.”

 • “We’ve been diversifying exponentially in services,” said Derek Lunde, marketing strategist for Tacoma-based BCRA. “That’s added quite a bit of growth.”

From architecture and engineering, the company has branched out to offer clients such services as interior design, building science, graphic design and marketing.

BCRA continued its double-digit growth on the latest list, up 13.1 percent this year after a 15.1 percent gain in 2007.

“We specialize in mixed-use family and retail design,” Lunde said. “Also education, religious, government. (In) all those different markets, somebody is spending somewhere. Health care has been huge for us, and we’ve been fueled with a lot of work from Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base.”

 • At Fred Meyer, with more local employees than any other retailer, director of public affairs Melinda Merrill said, “As far as our business in Tacoma, we’re very happy with that community, and that’s why we have recently invested in remodeling both our store at 45th and 19th and our store on Pacific. We continue to see growth in our sales there year after year.”

Renaissance is one of the reasons the company sees continued opportunities in the county, Merrill said.

“The city is investing in downtown; the community has changed dramatically over the past decade or so as a result of the city’s investments, and we fully expect to continue investing in the Tacoma market.”

GETTING ON THE BUS

Paul Turek watches employment in Pierce County as regional labor economist for the state Employment Security Department. He foresees a quieter ride ahead.

“We’ve been seeing expansion, but the expansion has been occurring at a more modest rate of growth,” he said last week.

“We’ve been expanding at a pace of about 2.5 percent to 3 percent, but in 2008 the pace is slowing down.”

In February, he said, the expansion of jobs slowed to a growth rate of 1.7 percent annually. In March, he counted a 1.2 percent rate.

“We’ve been moving through a slowdown because we’re seeing national effects,” he said. “We’re all connected in terms of markets. For example, gasoline prices have been rising on a national basis. Can we stand apart from that? No.”

Still, he said, the current slowdown does not foreshadow problems encountered the last time the economy sputtered.

“With unemployment locally, we’re bucking the past trends,” he said. “The unemployment rate has continued to decline and is now in a rising period. While there are jobs out there, there are not enough jobs to accommodate all of the people seeking jobs. There are jobs being created, and we are moving forward. We are not in a statewide recession.”

He cites the presence of military bases, and the local impact of world trade through the Port of Tacoma, as mitigating and salutary factors.

“The general trend – one can be pretty optimistic about the local area. Locally and regionally, the area is moving forward. In the long term, we’re doing OK. We should continue to move forward. We’ll get through this latest chapter, cross our fingers and hope it doesn’t get worse. We should go into a new expansion.”

And barring bad news – oil prices, food prices, inflation, Iraq – the good news could arrive soon.

“We’ll start to grow again,” Turek said. “We look at the second half of this year, and it could be as early as June.”

His overall metaphor leaves the driving to someone else.

“We’re fighting for the best seat on the bus,” he said.

“But the bus is going to go where it’s going to go. We go along for the ride.”

C.R. Roberts:253-597-8535

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