New names have joined the list of major employers in Pierce County. Some companies have dropped away.

Hope for better days remains.

That’s the word from the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County. The board annually compiles a list of those Pierce County companies that employ 100 or more full-time workers.

The list, issued last week, shows that where 208 companies employed 163,064 people in 2008, this year 193 companies employ 162,399.

Publicly funded employers head the list this year, as they did last year – with Fort Lewis at the top, employing more than 42,000 civilian and military personnel; followed by schools, which employ nearly 14,000; McChord Air Force Base, above 10,000; and the state, with nearly 8,000 workers.

Health care companies top the list of private employers, with MultiCare and Franciscan Health System employing more than 10,000 people combined.

“The number of total jobs this year was very similar to 2008,” said Chris Green, who began compiling the list in January. “There’s not anything that would come as a shock, based on what’s been in the news.”

Green, who said he made more than 800 calls to human resource directors and other company officials this year, notes that “a lot of people I spoke to are optimistic. A lot of people had positive feelings.”

He said that more than once he heard, “‘We think it will pick up soon.’ Surprisingly – it may be counterintuitive – people were more optimistic than not.”

Added Bruce Kendall, EDB president and CEO: “I think what we see is that in spite of the economic downturn there are companies that are growing, that are hiring. That’s good news. At the same time, there are companies that are holding place, and there are some that have shrunk.

“If someone is just reading the headlines, it seems like all the economic news is bad,” Kendall said. “You look at this list, you see there is some good news out there. We don’t want to overstate it, but there are some bright spots that we find.”

The list is used when contacting businesses that might be considering locating in the county, Kendall said.

“We give this out a lot,” he said. “It’s something we get a lot of requests for. When companies are looking to come into this area, they want to know who’s here. We want to be certain we are giving them solid numbers.”

NEW NAMES

The bureau hadn’t previously contacted four companies – Investco, Pierce County Security, Toysmith and Ikea – that made the list this year.

Five others – America’s Credit Union, Lynden Transport, Sound Credit Union, Trident Seafoods and Artbeads.com – “grew onto the list,” said Green. These concerns had either been named in earlier years, and fallen off, or else had been contacted in earlier years with the thought that they might have reached the 100-job minimum.

Not everyone might have heard about Artbeads.com, a business that employs 125 on the Key Peninsula.

The company offers online sales of beads and jewelry-making supplies, said Carey Kimura, vice president of marketing and communications. It was founded in 2000 and is working on its eighth consecutive year of growth, he said.

“In these tough economic times, the growth has been smaller than in past years, but we have growth still,” Kimura said.

The company serves hobbyists and commercial jewelry makers both, and is privately held.

FAMILIAR NAMES

Green points to a handful of companies that stand out, for him, on the 2009 list.

 • Founded in 1960, Tacoma-based Bargreen-Ellingson continues to increase its work force, up nearly 14 percent this year over last year after adding 14 full-time equivalents to its rolls. The company, Green said, has increased employment 114 percent since 2007.

“Our business has grown,” said David Ellingson, vice president of national accounts. “We have 18 locations in Washington; Montana; Oregon; Vancouver, B.C.; and Hawaii; and offices in Denver and Dallas.”

The company, which builds, designs and supplies restaurants and other food-service providers, has grown from $105 million in gross sales in 2005 to $150 million in 2007 and $170 million in 2008, Ellingson said.

“There’s a lot of business out there. I would expect it to be down a little this year. We’re using it as an opportunity to analyze everything we do. On the whole, we think our core is pretty solid,” he said. ”The nice thing about our business, in the end, people still need to eat, and they drink.”

 • Absher Construction increased its number of employees by 28 percent over last year, adding 61 FTEs, Green said.

Sean Lewis, Absher director of marketing and communications, said that one of the forces behind his company’s success is “a recognition by our leadership that it’s your people who define you, and you invest in them. It’s not the building, it’s the people.”

Absher, a third-generation Puyallup company, concentrates on public buildings rather than private homes, Lewis said.

“A lot of schools, more schools than anyone else in the state,” Lewis said. “Since 1990 we’ve (become) more inclusive of the private market, diversifying into office and retail and commercial projects, and churches. The new Pierce County Jail, the Mary Baker Russell Music Center at PLU, East Side Catholic School in Sammamish. Great Wolf Lodge. We also do a lot of work at Fort Lewis for the Corps of Engineers.

“The industry has dried up in the private market lately. Almost all that’s out there is public work, and everybody’s going after it. The competition has greatly increased. It’s life in the business world.”

 • Telecommunications company Comcast operates a call center in Fife that employs some 500 people, said spokesman Walter Neary.

“We’ve been adding a fair number of folks. The demand for entertainment – and the telephone and Internet business – has been growing. It’s been a good year because the whole concept of bundling phone, Internet and television has caught on in a big way.”

Neary cites a recent survey that said in a difficult economy, the last thing respondents would eliminate would be their Internet access. Sixty percent named television.

“In a difficult economy, people turn to a variety of sources for relaxation and entertainment,” he said. “No one is going into this with overconfidence, but so far our offerings are holding up pretty well.”

EMPLOYMENT

If the major employers in Pierce County employ 162,399 people, then the balance of the county’s working population of 281,000 people are employed by smaller businesses.

And that number is falling.

“The general trend right now is not good for hiring. It’s mostly down,” said Paul Turek, regional economist for the state Employment Security Department.

“What we tend to be seeing, from an industrial standpoint, is that it’s a far-reaching downturn that’s affecting every kind of industry.”

In February, the unemployment rate in Pierce County reached 9.5 percent, he said.

“Industries that tend to employ less-educated workers, minorities and males in particular, are suffering the most,” he said. “It tends to be better for those who have more education rather than less education.

“Government employment has held up,” Turek said. “Obviously, we’re looking for construction jobs to turn around with the stimulus package. Engineering-type jobs tend to have been in demand. It’s a tough market right now. We’re not looking for things to turn around until the beginning of next year.”

One solid sector, he said, has been health care – confirmed by the presence of MultiCare and Franciscan Health System at the top of the list of private employers.

“We’re up from last year,” said Gale Robinette, spokesman for the Franciscan group. “We’re growing. That anybody is growing in these economic times is a great thing. Many organizations are not growing at all.”

His group opened St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor on March 17, and a week later found “we’ll be phasing in the number of beds much sooner than we thought would be necessary. During the first week, 312 emergency room patients were treated, we admitted 66 patients overnight and performed 29 surgeries. It’s gotten busier faster than we had anticipated.”

MultiCare has added about 400 jobs in the last year as the company expands its services around the county. The services provided by its thousands of workers continue to be in demand, said Kim Giglio, director of recruitment for the health system.

“In spite of the economy in and around us MultiCare has continued to thrive and grow,” she said. “We anticipate we will continue to be hiring in key areas in the current year.”

C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535

blogs.thenewstribune.com/business

TOP 20 EMPLOYERS IN PIERCE COUNTY IN 2009
 Rank/organization Employees Industry 2008 rank
 1. U.S. Army Fort Lewis 42,231 military 1
 2. Public schools 13,736 education 2
 3. U.S. Air Force McChord 10,301 military 3
 4. Washington State employees 7,889 government 4
 5. MultiCare Health System 6,204 health services 5
 6. Franciscan Health System 4,406 health services 6
 7. U.S. Army Madigan Hospital 4,023 health services 7
 8. Pierce County government 3,299 government 8
 9. Washington State higher education 2,912 colleges 9
 10. Washington National Guard 2,476 military 10
 11. City of Tacoma 2,394 government 11
 12. Fred Meyer stores 2,321 retail 12
 13. Emerald Queen Casinos 1,915 gaming 14
 14. Wal-Mart 1,820 retail 13
 15. Boeing 1,537 aerospace 15
 16. U.S. Postal Service 1,482 17
 17. Tacoma Public Utilities 1,313 public utility 18
 18. Safeway 1,261 retail grocery 16
 19. Costco 1,134 wholesale 21
 20. State Farm 1,124 insurance 2
 Source: Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County
 2009 TOP EMPLOYERS LIST
 Rank/Organization Employees Industry
 1. MultiCare Health System 6,204 health services
 2. Franciscan Health System 4,406 health services
 3. Fred Meyer Stores 2,321 retail
 4. Emerald Queen Casinos 1,915 gaming
 5. Wal-Mart 1,820 retail
 6. Boeing 1,537 aerospace
 7. Safeway 1,261 retail grocery
 8. Costco 1,134 wholesale
 9. State Farm 1,124 insurance
 10. Russell Investments 1,042 investments
 11. Intel 1,000 electronics
 12. Longshore labor union 976 labor
 14. Comcast 934 telecommunications
 15. Albertsons 886 retail grocery
 16. DaVita 844 health services
 17. Milgard Manufacturing 796 manufacturing
 18. Pacific Lutheran University 707 education
 19. Army & Air Force Exchange 700 merchandise sales
 19. KeyBank 700 banking
 19. Target 700 retail
 20. University of Puget Sound 684 education

 Source: Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County
 2009 Top Employers List
 Criteria: Employers with 100 or more full-time equivalent employees
 Source: Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County
 Number of jobs represented: 162,399
 Number of jobs on 2008 list: 163,064
 Difference: 665
 Total employers on 2009 list: 193
 Total employers on 2008 list: 208
 Nine companies joining the 2009 list: Investco, Pierce County Security, Toysmith, IKEA, America’s Credit Union, Lynden Transport, Artbeads.com, Sound Credit Union, Trident Seafoods