ON Semiconductor Corp. is scaling back costs in 2009 and issuing a lower forecast for the year as the company looks at laying off 10 percent of its work force, closing plants temporarily and giving employees unpaid time off.

That effects 500 employees in Gresham.

The Phoenix-based semiconductor manufacturer said it would furlough about 1,500 workers, or about 10 percent of its global employee base. It also plans to take temporary actions, such as closing factories for four to six weeks during the first and second quarters, cutting about $80 million out of capital spending, 23 percent out of senior executives salaries and 15 percent out of other employee salaries.

Also among temporary measures will be a hiring freeze and elimination of second-half 2008 bonus payments.

ON plans to close its Gresham chip factory — which it bought from LSI Logic Corp. in 2006 — for at least four weeks during the first half of the year and the plant's 500 employees will have to take an additional two weeks of unpaid time off. ON did not say whether Gresham employees will be included in 1,500 job cuts.

ON (NASDAQ: ONNN) also adjusted its fourth-quarter 2008 outlook, saying it expects revenue of between $480 million and $490 million, which would leave it down about 16 percent to 17 percent from 2007.

“Our updated fourth-quarter 2008 revenue outlook reflects the reduction in demand we have experienced as a result of deteriorating conditions in the global economy,” said Keith Jackson, ON Semiconductor president and CEO in a prepared statement. He added that the company has increased its cash on hand and the first quarter likely will continue to present the company with challenges.

The payroll cutbacks will be comprise either three weeks of unpaid time off for senior executives at one level and two weeks of unpaid time off for other workers or a four-day work week. The actions will occur in the first and second quarters. Employees also will receive no pay increases or bonuses in 2009.

The company expects the changes to save about $40 million to $50 million a quarter, about 25 percent of which would come from the temporary measures. The overall cost of the restructuring is expected to be between $20 million to $30 million.

Daimler Trucks North America, formerly known as Freightliner LLC, will lay off 190 people at its Portland truck plant on Jan. 30, the company said Thursday.

The Portland-based truck maker will lay off 2,137 companywide. Most of the job losses are at the company’s plants near Charlotte, N.C. At their busiest, the three Charlotte-area plants employed 6,000. The job cuts in North Carolina will occur March 13.

The Portland cuts affect production line workers making vehicles for the U.S. military and Western Star brands.

Daimler Truck employs 1,900 at its Swan Island headquarters. The company announced in October that it would close its Portland plant by 2010, affecting more than 900 jobs.

The moves come as a result of continued declines in truck orders, the company said.

The reductions are “unavoidable and necessary,” Chris Patterson, Daimler Trucks president and chief executive, said in a statement. “These are extremely difficult and challenging times for our industry.”

Pacific Continental Corp., the parent company of Pacific Continental Bank, has announced a private placement of 750,000 shares of common stock at $13.50 per share.

The private placement represents a discount to the current market price for Eugene-based Pacific Continental (NASDAQ: PCBK). The stock traded between $13.94 and $14.22 on Thursday.

The private placement will add $9.6 million to Pacific Continental’s balance sheet, after transaction costs. That brings the bank’s ratio of total risk-based capital to total risk-based assets to about 12 percent, up from 10.8 percent at the end of the third quarter. Regulators term a bank “well-capitalized” when its capital ratio is at least 10 percent.

Pacific Continental has applied for an investment from the U.S. Treasury under the Troubled Assets Relief Program that was started in October. Under that program, the Treasury has invested $187.5 billion in banks across the United States, with the idea that banks will then use the additional capital to make more loans to individuals and businesses.

Shares of Pacific Continental have traded between $8.98 and $16.59 over the past 52 weeks.

Metro One Telecommunications Inc. sold its remaining operations this week, the company disclosed in a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

At one time, Metro One was one of the state’s biggest companies. Founded in 1989, it had revenue of $258 million in 2002. At one point during the dot-com boom, shares traded for more than $170.

Shares (OTCBB: INFO) closed Thursday at 10 cents. They have a 52-week range between 3 cents and $1.67.

The company, which originally provided enhanced directory assistance, never recovered after cell phone carriers brought such services in-house.

Last March, the company started focusing on its outsourced call center operations and data business. Both operations have now been sold or shut down.

The company sold its data services business on Dec. 31 to Rancho Santa Margarita-based Melissa Data Corp. for $475,000, the company disclosed in an SEC filing Thursday.

The business provides information that can be used to generate sales, such as listings of new home-owners.

As a result of the sale, six Metro One employees are now employed by Melissa Data Corp. A seventh employee was laid off by Metro One and did not join Melissa Data Corp.

The company also decided to exit the contact services business in November. On Wednesday, the company announced it had terminated a contract for the service and decided to shut it down, resulting in a work force reduction of 46 employees.

Metro One now has two employees and no continuing business operations.

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. reported a first-quarter loss of $34 million on the heels of continued weak demand and low steel prices.

The Portland-based scrap metal company’s (NYSE: SCHN) loss equaled $1.21 per share, compared with earnings of 85 cents per share from the same period a year earlier. The loss was far below the 75 cents per share loss anticipate by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

The quarterly revenue of $499 million was a 17 percent drop from the $604 million from the same period last year.

“During the first quarter we faced difficult market conditions, including an unprecedented drop in demand for recycled metals and finished steel products,” Tamara Lundgren, Schnitzer’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “The weak economic environment and the worldwide financial crisis resulted in a rapid and precipitous drop in both sales volumes and sales prices from those experienced in the previous quarter in all of our businesses.”

The company said demand collapsed in all three of its business units, leading to double-digit drops in quarterly revenue: 66 percent for metals recycling, 35 percent for auto parts, and 46 percent for steel manufacturing.

On the brighter side, the company said it used cash from operations to reduce debt by $48 million, strengthening its balance sheet.

The weak results weren’t unexpected.

Lundgren, in an apparent attempt to temper market expectations, on Dec. 17 warned of first quarter losses. Wall Street listened: at the time, analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 30 cents per share.

The company said it isn’t likely to get much better.

It predicted sales volumes for metals recycling are expected to be 10 percent to 20 percent lower than the second quarter of 2008. Sales volumes for steel manufacturing are expected to be 20 percent lower than the first quarter and 60 percent lower than the record second quarter of 2008. And revenue in its auto parts business is expected to decline 20 to 25 percent compared a year earlier.

Shares of Schnitzer were up nearly 4 percent in mid-day trading to $39.77 per share. It has a 52-week high of $118.55.

Horizon Air Thursday said it expanded service between Seattle and Portland to meet demand from passengers stranded by the Southwest Washington flooding.

That included the addition of two flights to accommodate Amtrak passengers after the rail company halted service between both cities Thursday.

“We are very grateful for Horizon’s flexibility and desire to help us and our passengers,” Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said in a news release. “We understand it took some juggling and do deeply appreciate it.”

Seattle-based Horizon, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK), on late Wednesday announced it was offering a discounted $119 one-way fare between Portland and Seattle in anticipation of an expected I-5 closure.

By Thursday, demand for the flights was so strong that Horizon said it would put spare aircraft into service and would continue to look for ways to add additional flights.

The $119 nonrefundable one-way fare is available through Saturday. Horizon normally operates 25 daily flights each way between Seattle and Portland on weekdays and 18 each way on weekends.

Same-store sales dipped at both Costco Wholesale Corp. and Nordstrom Inc. in December, but not as much as analysts anticipated.

At Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco (NASDAQ: COST), same-store sales (comparable-store sales at locations open a year or more) fell 4 percent compared with the same time last year. Sales fell to $7.4 billion from $7.55 billion a year earlier.

The drop in same-store sales wasn’t as steep as analyst Dan Geiman of McAdams Wright Ragen brokerage in Seattle predicted. Geiman estimated a 4.5 percent drop and said Costco was “severely impacted by the combined impacts of gasoline deflation and the stronger U.S. dollar.” Geiman has a “hold” rating on Costco’s stock.

Costco has 11 stores in Oregon.

At Seattle-based Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), same-store sales fell 10.6 percent compared with the same time a year earlier and sales dropped to $1.13 billion from $1.22 billion in 2007.

Nordstrom’s drop in same-store sales was less than analysts’ expectations of a 14 percent drop. In a note to investors, Geiman said he expects that Nordstrom “will continue to face competitive markdown pressures into the foreseeable future — or at least until the economy starts to improve.”

He lowered his fourth-quarter earnings estimate to 34 cents per share from 42 cents per share and his fiscal year earnings estimate to $1.85 from $1.94. Geiman maintains his “buy” rating on Nordstrom.

Nordstrom has five stores and three Nordstrom Rack locations in Oregon.

The 58-day Machinists’ strike hurt Boeing’s total yearly delivery of commercial airplanes, with the company reporting 375 planes delivered in 2008, down from 441 a year earlier.

Chicago-based Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) said it delivered 290 Renton-built 737s last year, down from 330 in 2007. At its Everett wide-body jet factory, Boeing said it delivered 14 747s, 10 767s and 61 777s last year, which compares with 16 747s, 12 767s and 83 777s a year earlier.

Total fourth-quarter deliveries fell to 50 in 2008, compared with 112 in 2007.

Boeing said it recorded 662 net commercial plane orders in 2008 and now has a backlog of 3,700 plane orders.

Boeing has operations in Portland and Gresham.

President-elect Barack Obama made the case for a massive economic stimulus package Thursday during a speech at George Mason University.

“If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years,” Obama said. “The unemployment rate could reach double digits.”

Obama acknowledged the stimulus package — which could total $750 billion or more over two years — would make the federal government’s estimated $1.2 trillion budget deficit even worse.

But doing “doing too little or nothing at all” would “lead to an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes and confidence in our economy,” he said. “At this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.”

Obama proposed spending money to boost alternative-energy production, improve the energy efficiency of federal buildings and 2 million homes, computerize all medical records within five years and provide new technology for schools and new training for teachers.

The stimulus package also should include repairs to roads, bridges and schools, development of a “smart” electricity grid, expansion of broadband lines to rural areas and investments in scientific research, he said.

Obama called for a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families in order “to get people spending again.” Unemployment insurance and health care coverage should be extended to people who have lost their jobs, he said.

“Government at every level will have to tighten its belt, but we’ll help struggling states avoid harmful budget cuts, as long as they take responsibility and use the money to maintain essential services like police, fire, education and health care,” Obama said.

The president-elect also pledged to reform “a weak and outdated regulatory system so that we can better withstand financial shocks and better protect consumers, investors and businesses from the reckless greed and risk-taking that must never endanger our prosperity again.”

“No longer can we allow Wall Street wrongdoers to slip through regulatory cracks,” Obama said. “No longer can we allow special interests to put their thumbs on the economic scales. No longer can we allow the unscrupulous lending and borrowing that leads only to destructive cycles of bubble and bust. It is time to set a new course for this economy, and that change must begin now.”

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Republicans “will work tirelessly” with Obama on “serious solutions that will get our economy back on track.” But he added that Republicans will oppose “efforts to spend billions on wasteful pork-barrel projects, special interest earmarks and other nonessential items.”

“Any economic package must produce results that energize our small businesses and help middle-class families,” Cantor said.

The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators fell again in November to 89.6, based on a 1997 benchmark of 100.

The decline from October was 0.5 percent. Compared to six months ago, the UO Index is down 7.9 percent.

Deteriorating labor market conditions, as measured by initial jobless claims and payrolls at employment service agencies drove index weakness during November. Remaining indicators were either unchanged or improved slightly.

Overall, the UO Index indicates that Oregon remains in recession, said Tim Duy, director of the Oregon Economic Forum and a UO adjunct assistant professor.

Initial jobless claims spiked in November to a weekly average of almost 14,000, compared with the peak of 10,245 reached during the 2001 recession. Payrolls at employment services firms (largely temporary help agencies) fell for the fourth consecutive month and are down 8.6 percent, compared with year-ago levels. Total nonfarm payrolls — which is not included in the UO Index — indicate that firms shed 6,300 employees in November and 34,900 employees since February of 2008.

The Oregon unemployment rate climbed to 8.1 percent, the highest since September 2003. The depth of the downturn in the Oregon labor market will almost certainly exceed that of the 2001 recession, Duy said.

For the fifth consecutive month, residential building permits remain near a monthly level of 1,000. Recent stabilization in this indicator is a hopeful sign that new residential construction activity has bottomed, Duy said. Still, permit activity remains very low, housing markets deteriorated further in November, and there is little to indicate that an upturn is near, he added.

New orders for non-defense nonaircraft capital goods, adjusted for inflation, rose in November, partially offsetting weakness the previous month.

Economic conditions are likely to deteriorate through the first half of 2009; anticipated fiscal stimulus should help support growth in the second half of the year, Duy said.

Still, he added, lacking a housing bubble to propel growth, the rebound — similar to the labor market weakness during the period of 2001 — may be too tepid to support job growth.

YoCream International Inc. increased sales more than 52 percent in 2008.

Portland-based YoCream (Pink Sheets: YOCM) for the fiscal year ending Oct. 31 had sales of $43 million, with earnings of $4.4 million, or $1.89 per share, compared with sales of $28.2 million, with earnings of $600,000, or 29 cents per share, in 2007.

YoCream is a producer of frozen yogurt, desserts and beverages.

YoCream’s stock was up more than 5 percent in early trading Thursday to $15 per share. The stock has a 52-week range of $8.25 to $18.99.

Macy’s Inc.’s list of store closures does not include any Oregon locations.

The Cincinnati-based retail chain (NYSE: M) on Thursday announced plans to close 11 underperforming Macy’s stores.

“These closings are part of our normal-course process to prune underperforming locations each year in order to maintain a healthy portfolio of stores,” said CEO Terry J. Lundgren in a statement. “While new store growth has slowed in the current economy, our long-term strategy is to continue to selectively add new stores while closing those that are underperforming.”

Final clearance sales at the affected stores will begin next week, officials said. Costs associated with the closings are estimated at $65 million, most of which will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Macy’s also has said it expects to open three new stores and one replacement store this year. Following the store closings announced Thursday, the chain will operate 808 Macy’s stores and 40 Bloomingdale’s.

Macy’s stores on Thursday’s closure list:

• The Citadel, Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Westminster Mall, Westminster, Colo.
• Palm Beach Mall, West Palm Beach, Fla.
• Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, Hawaii.
• Lafayette Square, Indianapolis, Ind.
• Brookdale Center, Brooklyn Center, Minn.
• Crestwood Mall, St. Louis.
• Natrona Heights Plaza, Natrona Heights, Pa.
• Century III Furniture and Clearance, West Mifflin, Pa.
• Bellevue Center, Nashville, Tenn.
• Ernst & Young Plaza, Los Angeles.

The holiday moratorium on foreclosures by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been extended.

Those moratoriums, begun in November, were designed to give loan modification systems more time to work. Loan modifications include waived late fees, reductions in interest rate, lengthening of term, moving missed payments to the end of the loan, and rarely, reduction in principal.

Freddie Mac says 60 percent of its delinquent borrowers avoided foreclosure last year through workouts. Many borrowers who received workouts last year defaulted again within six months.

The two companies, which were seized by the federal government last year, have a mission of buying mortgages on the secondary market in order to provide liquidity, thereby lowering interest rates. They own or guarantee about half the mortgages in the country.

The moratorium was extended through the end of January, the companies announced Thursday.

Fannie Mae also said it will start a new program designed to allow renters to stay in houses where the landlords stopped paying the mortgage. Details to come.

The moratorium does not apply to empty houses.

Although the earlier moratorium was expected to affect 16,000 households, the vast majority of foreclosures are not loans owned by Fannie and Freddie, because the companies did not permit the degree of risk-taking that the purely private subprime investors did.

Average rates on long-term mortgages fell to the lowest level since at least 1971, when Freddie Mac started keeping track.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) says the average 30 year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.01 percent this week, the 10th straight weekly decline and the fourth consecutive record low. Since October, 30 year mortgage rates have dropped nearly 1.5 percent, shaving about $184 off the monthly payment on a $200,000 loan.

The decline this week, came in part after the Federal Reserve moved to purchase mortgage backed securities from Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mac.

The Fed began buying those securities this week, part of a pledge to buy up to $500 billion worth of them by June.

Mortgage applications, including those for refinancing, reached a five-year high at the end of 2008, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Papé Group has acquired the assets of three Bobcat dealerships, including two in Oregon.

Eugene-based Papé is a holding company for capital equipment dealerships across the west. That includes Bobcat West, a sales, parts and service firm for several Bobcat loaders, excavators and attachments.

All three of the dealerships — one in Portland at 14912 N.E. Airport Way, one in Hubbard, and a third in Reno, Nev. — will expand the service network for Bobcat West and other equipment dealerships throughout the Papé Group.

The sales closed Dec. 31. Terms were not disclosed.

InFocus Corp. has adopted a new shareholder rights plan designed to prevent a hostile takeover of the company.

Wilsonville-based InFocus (NASDAQ: INFS) has such a low stock price relative to the company’s value that at least one large shareholder has recently been accumulating more shares.

That makes the company increasingly vulnerable to an attempted takeover.

Under the newly adopted shareholder rights plan, if any person or group acquires at least 15 percent of the voting power of InFocus’ common stock without the board’s approval, the board would be able to dilute that shareholder’s stake immediately.

The plan will remain in effect until Jan. 7, 2012. The board said it will submit the rights plan to a shareholder vote within the next year.

InFocus has been trading at or below 80 cents per share since the beginning of November.

The company’s market cap of $31 million is well below the value of its cash, net of liabilities.

Investor Nery Capital Partners L.P. of Asheville, N.C., purchased more than 400,000 additional shares in December, bringing its holdings to 12.2 percent of InFocus’ outstanding common stock. Nery now owns 4.97 million shares.

InFocus announced last month it had hired Thomas Weisel Partners LLC to help the company evaluate “strategic alternatives.” This language normally means someone wants to buy the company.

Merix Corp. lost 29 cents per share in the second fiscal quarter, more than double the loss expected by Wall Street.

Beaverton-based Merix (NASDAQ: MERX), a printed circuit board maker, for the quarter ending Nov. 29 had sales of $76.9 million, with a loss of $6.1 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with sales of $97.4 million, with a loss of $5 million, or 24 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2007.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 12 cents per share.

Included in the second quarter loss is $1.1 million of severance and a write down of assets held for sale associated with cost reduction activities.

Michael D. Burger, president and CEO, attributed the results to “the recent financial crisis that has affected many areas of the global economy.”

For the first six months of fiscal 2008, Merix had sales of $167.5 million, with a loss of $2.2 million, or 39 cents per share, compared with sales of $196.8 million, with a loss of $2.1 million, or 41 cents per share, in the same period of last year.

In after-hours trading Tuesday, Merix’s stock was down 23 percent to 40 cents per share. The stock has a 52-week range of 17 cents to $4.74.

Delta Air Lines Inc.’s traffic rose 0.8 percent in 2008, boosted by a 13.7 percent increase in international routes.

Atlanta-based Delta (NYSE: DAL) flew 123.1 billion revenue passenger miles, an industry measure that represents one mile flown by one paying passenger. International traffic increased 13.7 percent, while domestic traffic was down 5.3 percent.

Capacity, also known as available seat miles, was down 0.5 percent to 151.1 billion.

Occupancy rose 1.1 points to 81.5 percent.

Delta is the fifth-busiest passenger airline serving Portland International Airport.

The slowing economy will cost hundreds of thousands of franchise-related jobs and lead to the closings of thousands of locations, according to the International Franchise Association.

The Washington, D.C.-based group estimates the number of franchise establishments will decline by 1.2 percent this year, or an estimated 10,000 locations. There were 865,000 business format franchises in the U.S. in 2008 employing close to 10 million people. Franchise closings will cost 207,000 jobs this year, the group says.

Overall economic output by U.S. franchises will decline 0.5 percent, or $4.2 billion.

The declines will be led by drops at automotive, real estate and lodging-related franchises, while fast-food restaurants and full-service restaurants may see moderate gains this year.

The association’s 2009 business forecast was prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Online advertised job vacancies declined 507,000 to 3.86 million, The Conference Board announced Wednesday.

The December loss brought the monthly total of online advertised vacancies below 4 million for the first time since July 2006. There were, on average, 170,000 fewer ads each month in 2008 than 2007.

Advertised vacancies dropped in every state except South Dakota in December.

“The sharp December drop in online advertised vacancies is another indication that the economy has not reached bottom,” Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board, said in a news release. “The widespread nature of the decline in employers’ demand for workers — both across geographics and across occupations — does not bode well for an employment return in the first half to 2009.”

In the health care field, where job demand has remained positive over the past few months, the number of online advertised job vacancies for health care practitioner and technical occupations was down 49,200 nationwide for the year, to 523,000 in December. Job demand for health care support workers was up slightly, to 87,200.

The nonprofit Conference Board is a leading business membership and research organization. It produces the Consumer Confidence Index and Leading Economic Indicators for the U.S. and other major nations.

Nike Inc. on Wednesday introduced a new product that provides more protection for football players.

The padding system called Nike Pro Combat gives football players lighter, stronger and more breathable base layer protection.

The products were worn in competition for the first time at the end of this year's college football season by a number of teams competing in bowl games. They'll be available to consumers starting in June.

Nike (NYSE: NKE) is based in Washington County.

The Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce has produced two new downloadable audio tours highlighting popular historic attractions and movie scene locations.

Narrated by local experts who reveal little-known facts and help visitors relive past eras, the free tours are designed to promote tourism and highlight the area's historical significance.

“As the oldest community west of the Rockies, we have always had a lot of history to share with visitors. Now we are showcasing our stories in a more engaging, authentic way,” said Skip Hauke, executive director of the chamber.

“Astoria and Warrenton’s Historical Attractions” tour features 21 locations around the community with historical significance, including the Flavel House, the Astoria Column and Fort Clatsop. Tour narrators share tidbits about Lewis and Clark’s expedition, the fish canning industry and maritime tales, among other topics.

“The Reel Astoria” tour includes 12 destinations featured in major motion pictures, most famously the cult classic “The Goonies,” about to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2010. Movie hounds can also visit the school where (now governor) Arnold Schwarzenegger taught in “Kindergarten Cop” and the spooky house from the “The Ring Two.”

Made possible in part by a matching grant from the Oregon Tourism Commission, the audio tours are available for no cost at www.OldOregon.com and can be used on iPods or burned onto CDs.

Corresponding maps for each tour are available at www.OldOregon.com.

Supervalu swung to a loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 due to $3.3 billion in charges related to the grocery store chain's falling stock price.

Minneapolis-based Supervalu (NYSE: SVU) is the parent company of Alberstons and Cub Foods.

The company reported a loss of $2.9 billion, or $13.95 a share, for the quarter that ended Nov. 29, compared to a profit of $141 million, or 66 cents a share, a year ago.

Much of the loss was due to $3.3 billion in charges from writing down the value of goodwill and other intangible assets to reconcile its stock price to book value per share.

Excluding write-downs, earnings fell to 62 cents from 69 cents per share.

Supervalu reported its third-quarter net sales dropped 0.4 percent to $10.17 billion from $10.21 billion.

Supervalu cut its guidance a third time Wednesday, saying that it now expects earnings per share in the range of $2.80 to $2.90, compared to an earlier estimate of a range of $2.90 to $3.

The grocer also said that it’s cutting back on capital spending to $850 million in fiscal 2010 compared to $1.2 billion in fiscal 2009.

Store development plans for fiscal 2010 will focus on remodels including 85 to 95 major store remodels, 40 to 45 minor store remodels, four new traditional supermarkets and 50 to 60 limited assortment stores, including licensed stores.

Supervalu is predicting fourth-quarter charges of 43 cents to 58 cents per share related to store closings and other cost-cutting measures.

The company also said its fiscal 2010 debt reduction goal is $600 million, an increase of $200 million over fiscal 2009.

Jeff Noddle, Supervalu’s chairman and CEO, warned in a statement that charges will continue to hurt the company’s bottom line.

Ray Shaw, chairman of American City Business Journals, will receive the 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

The award will be presented to Shaw at the annual SABEW conference in Denver in April.

Shaw has headed Charlotte, N.C.-based American City Business Journals, which owns the Portland Business Journal, since 1989. Previously, he was president and chief operating officer of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

“Ray has had a profound impact as both a business journalist and a business journalism entrepreneur,” said Bernie Kohn, SABEW president and an editor at the Baltimore Sun.

“In his so-called retirement, Ray built American City Business Journals into a company that has filled a major need for business-to-business journalism in numerous communities. We’re delighted to recognize his achievements in both journalism and business.”

American City Business Journals publishes 40 weekly business newspapers nationwide and also owns several sports publications, including The Sporting News.

“I like Ray’s commitment to quality journalism,” said Kent Bernhard, vice president of editorial at American City Business Journals. “He’s not a corner cutter when it comes to that.”

Shaw is the 19th person to receive SABEW’s highest award since its inception in 1993.

Intel Corp. on Wednesday lowered its fourth quarter revenue outlook, citing further weakness in demand and customer inventory reductions in the global PC supply chain.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) said it now expects about $8.2 billion in revenue, down 20 percent from the third quarter and down 23 percent year over year.

It now expects a net loss of between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion versus a previous expectation of a loss of about $50 million. Intel said it will take a non-cash charge of about $950 million as a result of the year-end market price of Clearwire Corp. stock.

The company on Nov. 12 had already lowered its revenue projection for the quarter to about $9 billion from an earlier expectation of between $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion.

Intel’s largest presence is in Washington County, where it employs about 15,000 workers in Hillsboro, Aloha and Beaverton.

Despite news of layoffs and cost-cutting at the end of 2008, employees in a year-end survey showed a high level of confidence relating to their own jobs and compensation in the next six to 12 months.

Nearly twice as many said they were more concerned about fellow workers being fired than about their own job security in the next six months in the survey done by Harris Interactive for Sausalito, Calif.-based Glassdoor.com. Forty-two percent said they are concerned their company will lay off other employees in the next six months while 21 percent said they are concerned they will be laid off during the same period.

The number of workers who believe they will get a pay raise or bonus this year was split.

About 40 percent said they expect a pay raise or cost of living increase in the next 12 months while 40 percent do not.

Of those eligible for a bonus, 57 percent expect one and 40 percent do not. Of those who expect a bonus, 41 percent expect the same size as the last bonus, 28 percent expect less and 15 percent expect more.

Most said they would be willing to take on more work or forego other benefits rather than take a cut in salary or wages, lose vacation or take unpaid leave. About 61 percent said they would not be willing to take a pay cut if they discovered their job was in jeopardy.

Glassdoor.com is Web site where users can anonymously share reviews, ratings and salary details about specific jobs for specific employers.

US Airways Group Inc. says it will post a loss for 2008 and cut capacity this year, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The carrier, which is the sixth-busiest passenger airline at Portland International Airport, says it expects to cut domestic mainline capacity by 8 percent to 10 percent during the year. Total mainline capacity will be reduced 4 percent to 6 percent, the airline said.

U.S. airlines have struggled during the past year, hit hard by high fuel prices and the global economic crisis. US Airways says it had a net loss of $1.7 billion in the first nine months of 2008. It hasn’t yet said how large a loss it expects to post for the full year.

In other developments, US Airways Group Inc. reports a 1.1 percent decrease in mainline passenger traffic for December.

The airline flew nearly 4.66 billion revenue passenger miles last month, down from 4.71 billion in December 2007.

The carrier’s mainline passenger-load factor, or percentage of filled seats, was 80.3 percent, up from 75.9 percent in the year-ago period.

Mainline capacity fell 6.4 percent to 5.8 billion available seat miles.

Arizona-based US Airways (NYSE: LCC) operates 3,100 flights per day to 200 destinations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.

One week into Oregon’s expanded bottle recycling program, the state Liquor Control Commission said many Oregon retailers and manufacturers aren’t in compliance with the law.

The state’s landmark Bottle Bill expanded Jan. 1 to include bottled water products. The change means retailers can only sell brands labeled to show they have a 5-cent refund value in Oregon.

But checks by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission found that several brands sitting on shelves are still unmarked.

“We were the first in the nation to have a bottle bill and now we’re embracing our first expansion,” Thomas Erwin, OLCC director of government affairs and communications, said Wednesday in a statement. “Oregonians value our environmentally responsible culture and take the bottle bill seriously. In order to make this a success, retailers and manufacturers need to do their part too.”

Only bottles with the “OR 5¢” label are eligible for a refund. If not marked, consumers who paid the nickel deposit when purchasing the bottle may not get their deposit back upon return.

“Even if a bottle return machine is programmed to accept non-marked containers, we still have a multitude of small retailers across the state who are looking for that `OR 5¢’ designation before paying out a nickel,” Erwin said in the statement. “OLCC has been actively engaging manufacturers and retailers for a year and a half to ensure their understanding and compliance with the bottle bill.”

Inspectors with the Liquor Control Commission will be conducting inspections across the state starting the week of Jan. 12. Business owners that aren’t in compliance with the law could face a Class A misdemeanor charge. Businesses with a liquor license could receive an administrative sanction in addition to the criminal citation, the commission said.

Consumers are urged to e-mail the commission at bottle.bill@state.or.us or call the OLCC’s Bottle Bill hotline at (888) 426-2009 to report violations.

Columbia Sportswear Co. Tuesday said it is promoting Thomas B. Cusick to the posts of executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer.

Cusick, 41, joined the company in September 2002 as corporate controller. He was promoted in March 2006 to vice president and corporate controller, and promoted again in May to chief accounting officer. Prior to joining the Portland sportswear company (NASDAQ: COLM), Cusick held various financial management positions at Cadence Design Systems and OrCAD, a firm acquired by Cadence in 1999.

He replaces Bryan L. Timm, who earlier this year was promoted to chief operating officer and executive vice president.

“Tom was one of many strong candidates we considered during an international executive search process conducted over several months,” Tim Boyle, Columbia’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “We are confident that his deep knowledge of Columbia’s business and his strong financial management skills will enable him to make immediate meaningful contributions in his expanded role.”

Planar Systems Inc. has sold off the rest of the CoolSign business it acquired when it bought Clarity Visual Systems Inc. in 2006.

Beaverton-based Planar (NASDAQ: PLNR) did not disclose what it received for selling the CoolSign Digital Signage business to CS Software Holdings LLC.

CS Software Holdings will use the CoolSign software in areas other than gambling. In November, Planar sold a portion of CoolSign to Bally Technologies Inc., a maker of technology systems for gambling companies. That sale price was not disclosed.

CoolSign was a software business that Clarity acquired when it was still a private company, located in Wilsonville.

Planar paid $56.1 million to acquire Clarity, including closing and restructuring costs of $11.4 million. Clarity hasn’t added profits to Planar since the merger.

CoolSign is the second business that Planar has sold off recently. In August, the company sold medical imaging business Dome for $34.3 million in cash. Planar had purchased Dome for $61 million in 2002, paying a little more than double Dome’s annual revenue.

The company has needed to add cash one way or another. In fiscal year 2008, which closed in September, Planar consumed $8.7 million of cash in its operations, balancing that with a $31.6 million increase in cash from its investing activities. The company finished its fiscal year with $14.9 million in cash.

Planar’s revenue for the fiscal year was $259.3 million. The company lost almost $89.8 million, or $5.92 per share.

Shares of Planar closed at 89 cents on Tuesday, up from Monday’s closing price of 70 cents.

The stock has traded between 61 cents and $6.67 over the past 52 weeks.

Portland’s longtime city auditor said Tuesday he will leave the position by mid-May.

Gary Blackmer, in a three-sentence letter, told the Portland City Council he will leave the position on May 18. Blackmer’s announcement means the city will hold a May 19 primary to fill his seat. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will take place July 14.

“I have accomplished a great deal in the past ten years and it is time to leave,” Blackmer wrote city commissioners. “Portland is a place and a government organization to be proud of, and the time is right for a new auditor to undertake the longer-term challenges facing the city, as I have always tried to do.”

Blackmer told the Portland Business Journal he’d decided to leave the job in the last few months.

“I assessed where I was and looked at what I’d accomplished here and realized that, with a new city council coming in, having someone with a longer time to serve than the next two years was important for the city,” he said. “The next auditor will look at things longer term than I would have. The office is running well right now, so it’s a good time to do this.”

Blackmer told the Oregonian newspaper he does not have another job lined up.

During his two-and-a-half terms, Blackmer’s office has frequently criticized city agencies, including the Portland Development Commission, for their lack of transparency. He’s also drawn fire from citizens groups opposing Portland’s publicly funded elections process. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who took office last week, became Portland’s first candidate to use the funds.

Blackmer previously served as Multnomah County’s auditor.

The auditor’s office aims to spur open government processes and impartial reviews by giving the public more access to information.

Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said in a memo to employees Tuesday that he’s recommending the board not award 2008 bonuses to himself and other senior executives.

“This was a difficult decision because we have worked hard and made progress on many projects that will create value for our company in future years,” Lewis said in the memo obtained by Bloomberg News. “Nonetheless, we are a pay-for-performance company.”

Lewis is recommending that he and his direct reports not get bonuses for 2008. Other senior executives are likely to receive lower bonuses.

Bank of America, which 64 branches in Oregon, is expected to report disappointing quarterly earnings later this month as the recession deepened late in 2008.

Bank of America shares lost two-thirds of their value and the dividend was cut in half last year as the financial turmoil took its toll on the banking industry. Lewis took advantage of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression to buy Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial, giving the largest bank in California top franchises in brokerage and mortgage businesses.

Lewis took home $24.8 million in total compensation last year, 11 percent less than in 2007.

The Davidson 99 Regional Stock Index fell 28 percent in the fourth quarter, D.A. Davidson & Co. announced Tuesday.

The 28 percent decline is the worst quarter of the year for the index.

For 2008, the Davidson 99 fell 41 percent. By comparison, the S&P 500 dropped 25 percent.

The Davidson 99, launched in January 2004, is comprised of 99 stocks from companies operating within seven Northwest and Rocky Mountain states, including Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

The 21 Oregon companies are Schnitzer Steel, Columbia Sportswear Co., Lithia Motors Inc., Nike Inc., Umpqua Holdings Corp., Precision Castparts Corp., The Greenbrier Cos., Monaco Coach Corp., Cascade Bancorp, Stancorp Financial Group, West Coast Bancorp, Cascade Corp., Flir Systems, Electro Scientific Industries Inc., FEI Co., Lattice Semiconductor Corp., Mentor Graphics Corp., RadiSys Corp, Triquint Seminconductor Inc., Northwest Natural Gas and Portland General Electric Co.

Overall, the large-cap leaders, including Nike, Microsoft Corp., Qwest Corp. and Amazon Inc. helped offer performance stability during the fourth quarter.

“Commodity price declines and market uncertainty helped lift the prospects for the airline industry and gold producers. These factors helped Alaska Air Group, SkyWest Inc. and Newmont Mining — three of the top performers in the Davidson 99 — increase noticeably during the fourth quarter,” said Fred Dickson, director of private client research and chief market strategist for Great Falls. Mont.-based D.A. Davidson & Co.

The best performing stocks in the Davidson 99 include Seattle-based Alaska Air Group, up 40 percent; Greenwood, Colo.-based Emergency Medical Service Corp., up 21 percent; Skywest Inc., based in St. George, Utah, up 11 percent; Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corp., up 5 percent; and Denver-based Qwest Communications, up 5 percent.

The Davidson 99’s worst-performing stocks in the quarter include Broomfield, Colo.-based Level 3 Communications, down 76 percent; Coburg, Ore.-based Monaco Coach, down 73 percent; Everett, Wash.-based Frontier Financial Corp., down 71 percent; and Greenbrier Companies, based in Lake Oswego, down 69 percent.

Since its inception on Jan. 1, 2004, the Davidson 99 index value has fallen 3.2 percent.

DA Davidson & Co. is based in Great Falls, Mont., but its largest office is in Lake Oswego.

An investor who’s been accumulating shares of InFocus Corp. has just added to his holdings.

Nery Capital Partners L.P. of Asheville, N.C., has purchased an additional 420,000 shares of Wilsonville-based InFocus Corp. (NASDAQ: INFS) as of Dec. 30.

The firm, which is managed by Michael Nery, now owns 4.97 million shares, or about 12.2 percent of InFocus’ outstanding shares, up from 11.2 percent as of Dec. 4.

Nery declined to talk about his purchases.

His accumulation of InFocus stock is reminiscent of recent history at the projector company. InFocus replaced several board directors and its CEO in 2007 at the behest of another investment firm and large shareholder, New York-based Caxton Associates LLC.

After achieving the board and leadership changes it had demanded, Caxton sold all its InFocus holdings in December 2007.

InFocus, whose stock has declined steadily for the past 18 months, reaching a nadir of 45 cents per share in December, announced last month that it had engaged investment banker Thomas Weisel Partners to explore strategic alternatives.

It’s the second time InFocus has engaged an investment banker for that purpose. It hired Banc of America Securities in the fall of 2006, as the company’s declining revenue and increasing losses led Caxton and others to call for a sale of InFocus.

At that time, shares were trading for about $1.71. Now InFocus’ stock is trading below 80 cents. According to Nery’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, his firm has purchased its 12.2 percent stake in InFocus for a little more than $6.5 million in total.

InFocus has faced declining revenues and persistent losses for years, as numerous consumer electronics companies added digital projectors to their product lines, diluting InFocus’ market share and onetime dominance of its category.

In October, the company reported a 7 percent decline in third quarter revenue compared to the prior year, and an increased loss, to $4.2 million, or 10 cents per share, on revenue of $70.6 million.

Last month, InFocus said it will lay off 30 percent of its 300 employees worldwide over the next year to cut costs. With about half of its employees at its Wilsonville headquarters, that means about 45 people will be laid off locally.

The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index has dropped to a record low as the housing market continues to weigh on an already distressed economy.

The index fell to 82.3 for the month of November. That’s down 4 percent from October, the lowest level since the index began in 2001. The November reading is 5.3 percent below the same month a year ago, when the index stood at 86.9.

“Mounting job losses and very weak consumer confidence deterred home buyers from signing contracts in November,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

The forward-looking index tracks sales contracts that have been signed, but before a deal actually closes. Sales are typically finalized within one or two months of the contract signing.

Pending home sales across all regions were down from October to November, but sales in the West were up significantly from November 2007. The index for the West was down 2.4 percent for the month, but up almost 19 percent from November 2007.

EnergyConnect Group Inc. Tuesday said Kevin R. Evans will take over as its CEO and president.

He replaces Rod Boucher, who now takes the title of chief technology officer of the Lake Oswego-based company he founded. Both will be part of the company’s board of directors.

EnergyConnect (OTCBB: ECNG), which last year renamed itself from Microfield Group Inc., helps companies automate their electric services and reduce electricity usage.

For the past five years, Evans has been senior vice president, chief business officer and chief financial officer of the Electric Power Research Institute, an energy research group in Palo Alto, Calif.

Prior to that, Evans was CFO of Mountain View, Calif.-based PlaceWare, which designs and produces collaboration and meeting software. According to an EnergyConnect news release, Evans developed PlaceWare from the startup phase until it was sold to Microsoft, where it became the core technology behind the company’s Live Meeting software.

The Oregon Climate Change Research Institute tapped Philip W. Mote, the Washington state climatologist, as its first director.

The Oregon University System research institute was established in 2007 to help the state better plan for and respond to climate change. In addition to facilitating research and providing climate change information to Oregon decision-makers, the institute will support the state’s new Oregon Global Warming Commission, created last year by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Mote will also become a professor in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis, where the institute will be located. He will begin his new duties on a part-time basis in the spring, transitioning to full time this summer.

Mote is a leading scientist on the impacts of climate change, including variations in Pacific Northwest and national snowpacks, sea levels, water resources, precipitation and temperatures. He was a lead author for the fourth assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received a Nobel Prize for its efforts.

Washington’s state climatologist since 2003, Mote also is a research scientist with the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington, where he has worked since 1998, and is an affiliate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences.

Alaska Airlines said that it cut its fuel consumption by 16 million gallons in 2008 and that December traffic fell quite a bit, but the airline attributed part of the traffic drop to the snowstorms that blanketed its Seattle and Portland hubs.

Jettisoning its last MD-80 airplanes in 2008, adding Seattle-made blended winglets to the tips of its planes’ wings, and reducing the amount of potable water carried on board helped cut fuel consumption, said officials at the airline, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK)

Alaska Airlines said that fuel costs now contribute 36 percent of the airline’s total budget, up from 23 percent three years ago.

Alaska Airlines and its sister airline, Horizon Air, are ranked No. 3 and No. 1, respectively, as the busiest passenger airlines at Portland International Airport.

Moving to an all-737 fleet saved 11.8 million gallons of fuel last year, Alaska said. Other fuel-saving moves last year included: using less fuel by using ground power to cool and heat airplanes on the ground; reducing weight on planes by flying with only 20 gallons of potable water onboard instead of 30; removing insulation on 737-400 planes; and adding blended winglets made by Aviation Partners Boeing.

December wasn’t a good month for the airline due to the powerful storms that hit the Pacific Northwest. Alaska’s on-time performance plummeted to 58.4 percent compared with 71.7 percent a year earlier. The airline said its revenue passenger miles fell to 1.48 billion last month from 1.56 billion in December 2007; available seat miles fell to 1.83 billion from 2.06 billion; and revenue passengers fell to 1.28 million from 1.44 million. But its planes flew fuller — December’s passenger load factor (the percentage of available seats occupied by fare-paying passengers) rose to 80.7 percent from 75.8 percent in 2007.

For the entire calendar year of 2008, Alaska reported a 1.4 percent increase in revenue passenger miles; no change in available seat miles; a 4.3 percent decrease in revenue passenger miles; and a 1.1 point increase in passenger load factor. Its 2008 on-time performance improved to 78.3 percent compared with 72.4 percent in 2007.

Portland, which lately lost its free Wi-Fi network to poor economics, is the first Western city to get the new broadband wireless service offered by Clearwire Corp.

Baltimore, Md., already has the service.

Dubbed Clear, the service depends on WiMAX, a technology that’s been tested for years by Intel Corp. Intel Capital invested $1.6 billion in Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR), which went public in 2007.

The wireless broadband service can be purchased by the day or month. Home Internet service starts at $20 per month, and mobile Internet service at $30 per month. Per-day service costs $10.

People must buy modems or adapters to pick up the Clearwire signal. A small modem for laptops costs $50. A leased modem for home use costs $5 per month.

Clearwire’s Portland stores are located at:

• Uptown Shopping Center and West Burnside and 23rd Place.

• Northeast Broadway and 15th Avenue Northeast.

• Clackamas Promenade at Southeast Sunnyside and Southeast 92nd St.

If Clear service catches on, a big winner will be Intel, which is making WiMAX-capable processors for laptops and other mobile computing devices, including phones.

But some cellular phone companies are planning for a different standard for wireless broadband, called LTE, which builds off current cellular technology. These include AT&T and Verizon.

The CEO of Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire, Benjamin Wolff, has said the company will build its network to support both LTE and WiMAX, to insure his company’s viability regardless of which standard becomes popular.

Shares of Clearwire were trading at $5.11 on Tuesday, up from Monday’s closing price of $5.07. The company’s stock has traded between $3.24 and $18.26 over the past 52 weeks.

Southwest Airlines Co. said on Tuesday the passenger carrier increased its traffic slightly in the month of December and for the entire year of 2008.

Southwest is the second busiest passenger airline serving Portland International Airport.

Dallas-based Southwest (NYSE: LUV) recorded 5.8 billion revenue passenger miles in December. Revenue passenger miles are the industry’s measure of traffic. A revenue passenger mile is one paying passenger flown one mile.

That figure is up 1.1 percent when compared to the 5.7 billion revenue passenger miles recorded in December of 2007. The airline’s load factor — or the percentage of planes filled with paying passengers — was 69.7 percent, a slight increase from 68.2 percent the previous year.

During the fourth quarter of 2008, Southwest experienced a 1.4 percent drop in revenue passenger miles, recording 17.3 billion revenue passenger miles, a slight decrease from 17.5 billion revenue passenger milesduring the same quarter in 2007.

For the entire year of 2008, Southwest saw its traffic increase 1.6 percent to 73.5 billion revenue passenger miles, compared to 72.3 billion revenue passenger miles for the same period in 2007. The year-to-date load factor also hit 71.2 percent at the end of 2008, which is slightly lower than the airline’s load factor of 72.6 percent in 2007.

Home Comfort Zones Inc. has signed RST Inc. of Westwood, Mass., to become the company’s manufacturer’s representative in the New England region.

RST will be responsible for developing the company's brand in the region, including dealer recruitment, training and support in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island.

Beaverton-based Home Comfort’s MyTemp provides room-by-room temperature control for residential forced-air HVAC systems.

MyTemp was named to Popular Science’s Best of What’s New 2008 list of top 100 technical innovations. MyTemp is available in six western states, but the company plans to have nationwide distribution by 2010.

Rentrak Corp. on Tuesday announced a multi-year agreement with NBC Universal to use Rentrak’s Mobile Essentials service.

Portland-based Rentrak’s (NASDAQ: RENT) Mobile Essentials system analyzes trends and tracks user information in formats such as video clips, SMS messaging, ring tones, video games, wall paper, and other mobile content.

Glen Friedman, president and founder of Ideas & Solutions Inc. in Los Angeles, a media and technology consulting firm, represented Rentrak in securing the agreement.

Terms were not disclosed.

For the quarter ending Sept. 30, Rentrak had revenue of $24.3 million, with earnings of $842,000, or 8 cents per share, compared with Q2 2007 revenue of $22.8 million, with earnings of $1.1 million, or 10 cents per share.

At the end of trading Tuesday, Rentrak's stock was up 1 percent to $11.58 per share. The stock has a 52-week range of $9.01 to $15.80.

Lithia Motors Inc., which in 2008 sold off several stores and lost $2.3 million in the third quarter, announced Monday that its board of directors voted to suspend its quarterly dividend for the fourth quarter of 2008 due to the current economic environment.

Medford-based Lithia (NYSE: LAD) sells 27 brands of new and all brands of used vehicles at 98 stores, which are located in 42 markets within 13 states. Lithia has sold at least 14 dealerships since initiating a restructuring plan in June of this year.

Lithia stock fell slightly in Monday trading to $3.27 per share, down 0.91 percent. The overall market also dropped 0.91 percent Monday, to 8,952.89.

KPD Insurance Inc. and Portland insurance agency Jones Kendall Sauer have merged.

The merged insurance office, which will have the KPD name, will be located at 10300 S.W. Greenburg Road at One Lincoln Center, Suite 200, near Washington Square.

KPD’s corporate office will remain in Springfield.

Terms of the merger, which was announced Monday, were not disclosed.

U.S. construction spending continued to fall in November, but the slowdown was much less than expected.

The Commerce Department reported a 0.6 percent drop from October to November of last year.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted the drop to be a much steeper 1.3 percent.

October’s drop also was revised to 0.4 percent from the originally reported decline of 1.2 percent. Private home building -- which makes up roughly a third of total spending -- fell 4.2 percent to an annual rate of $328 billion, the lowest since August 1999.

On the other hand, public spending grew by 1.4 percent in November of last year. Federal building was up 6 percent, and state and local building gained 1 percent.

Total public construction spending reached a record high rate in November of $322 billion. Compared to November 2007, total construction was down more than 3 percent.

As the economy spiraled into disarray in the third quarter of 2008, Americans cut back sharply on tourism and travel spending.

The Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that spending on tourism and travel dropped at an annual rate of 8.1 percent in the third quarter, the largest decrease since 2001.

Air transportation was at the forefront of the decline, falling more than 20 percent in the third quarter after a drop of nearly 19 percent in the second quarter. Spending on accommodations sank as well, decreasing 3 percent in the third quarter.

In the meantime, travel and tourism prices rose overall in the quarter.

Electron microscope maker FEI Co. announced that its fourth-quarter orders have exceeded previous expectations by at least 7.6 percent. The company also announced its acquisition of the assets of an Australian software company.

Hillsboro-based FEI said that with currency adjustments, it is now expecting fourth-quarter orders will total at least $156 million, matching orders in the fourth quarter of 2007. Taking currency shifts into account, FEI’s prior projection was for $145 million in orders in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Though the semiconductor and data storage markets are “weak,” according to CEO Don Kania, orders from leading research institutions were “robust.”

FEI also announced that it spent $2.8 million buying the assets of Intellection Holdings Pty. Ltd., based in Brisbane, Australia.

Intellection, which went bankrupt, supplied software that it combined with electron microscopes made by FEI rival Carl Zeiss SMT AG of Germany. Its customers are in the mining and mineral industry.

Intellection’s employee count was not disclosed. It’s likely FEI will keep about 10 of the company’s Brisbane employees, “significantly” fewer than its total work force.

Now FEI will substitute its own instruments for the Zeiss instruments Intellection sold along with its software for mineral analysis.

FEI’s current business in the mining industry amounts to less than $10 million per quarter, less than 7 percent of total revenue. FEI is expected to report about $595 million in revenue for 2008.

FEI did not disclose Intellection’s current annual revenue. The company was the biggest competitor of JKTech Pty. Ltd., another Brisbane-based maker of mining and minerals software.

FEI’s tools for the mining and minerals business include JKTech’s software. FEI will continue to use the software from both companies as it develops new tools for the mining industry, said FEI spokesman Fletcher Chamberlin.

Developing tools specific to particular industries has been part of FEI’s growth strategy. A tool designed expressly to solve the specific problems of mining companies, for example, brings more profit to FEI than a generic scanning-electron microscope, even when it’s coupled with software developed for mineral analysis.

FEI’s stock was trading at $19.37 in the middle of the trading day Monday, up from Friday’s close of $19.07. Shares of FEI have traded between $15.87 and $29.14 over the past 52 weeks.

Two holders of MathStar Inc. stock have written to chairman and chief executive Douglas Pihl, urging him to liquidate the company.

Hillsboro-based MathStar (Pink Sheets: MATH) closed down all of its programmable semiconductor development operations in May last year, and announced it would seek “strategic alternatives.”

Since then, Pihl, who founded the company 11 years ago in Minnesota, has told investors that liquidation would be too lengthy a process. He said he and the board would prefer to merge with a company also engaged in semiconductor development. That company would then be able to take advantage of MathStar’s losses for tax purposes. MathStar has never recorded a profit.

Pihl and the board have turned down two merger offers from the private Minnesota company PureChoice Inc. The company makes air purification systems.

MathStar reported $14.8 million in cash and securities as of Sept. 30, 2007, in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has raised about $137 million from both private and public investors.

With fewer than 9.2 million shares outstanding, shareholders would get $1.61 for each share they hold on liquidation, more than twice what MathStar’s shares are trading for now on the Pink Sheets. Shares were trading at 78 cents on Monday, down from Friday’s close of 80 cents.

Salvatore Muoio, whose New York investment firm S. Muoio & Co. LLC owns 7 percent of MathStar’s outstanding shares, said in his letter of Dec. 12 that he “strongly” urges MathStar’s board to pursue liquidation rather than a merger, “given the current business environment and the company’s assets and prospects.”

Muoio added that he doesn’t believe the company’s future value in a merger offsets “the hard cash equivalent value shareholders would receive in a liquidation in the current environment.” He went on to say, “we would be particularly concerned if a transaction were to be announced where any appearance of a conflict of interest were present.”

Zachary McAdoo, whose firm The Zanett Group of New York owns more than 5.5 percent of MathStar’s shares, said briefly in a Dec. 30 letter that he “strongly” urges Pihl and the board to liquidate MathStar, rather than acquire another company.

MathStar, which had 77 employees at the end of 2007, now has just one: Pihl. As of March 1, 2007, Pihl owned 3.7 percent of outstanding shares. His salary was $220,000 in 2007, and his bonus payments and benefits totaled $29,463 for the year.

Weyerhaeuser Co. said Charles Williamson has been named nonexecutive board chairman, replacing Steven Rogel, who retires on April 15.

Williamson joined the Federal Way, Wash., timber giant’s (NYSE: WY) board in 2004 and currently chairs the executive committee and serves on the compensation and finance committees. He’s also a board member at Bellevue, Wash.-based Paccar Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR) and Talisman Energy Inc. (NYSE: TLM), of Calgary, Alberta.

Rogel has been Weyerhaeuser’s chairman since 1999 and has been CEO and president of the company since 1997.

In addition, Weyerhaeuser said Wayne Murdy has been appointed to the board, replacing Donald Mazankowski, who is retiring. Murdy is the former chairman and CEO of Newmont Mining Co. (NYSE: NEM) of Denver.

Weyerhaeuser owns and manages more than 1 million acres of forestland in Oregon.

The Fournier Group, a Portland-based insurance and financial services group, has moved its headquarters to the penthouse condo at the Kaplan Building, 510 S.W. Fifth St.

The seven-story Kaplan Building takes its name from the former sporting goods store that once occupied the street level retail space. It was acquired by Foundation Real Estate Development, which refitted the building and is selling individual floors as office condominiums.

Fournier Group purchased the 5,000-square-foot top floor, said Rob Wangen, director of operations. Wangen said the new location is closer to Fournier’s business clients. Moving downtown is a long-time dream of the owner, he said. R&H Construction and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architecture transformed the work space for the new occupant.

Fournier has about 70 employees with 15 currently working at the new office.

• Oliver Wyman, a Los Angeles-based management consulting firm, renewed its lease for 11,036 square feet at the Bridgetown Building, 1631 N.W. Thurman St., Portland. Scott Weigel of CB Richard Ellis represented Oliver Wyman. The landlord, Creative Media Design, represented itself.

• Dun & Bradstreet, the Short Hills, N.J.-based company that operates a global database of business information, leased 1,568 square feet at Lloyd Center Tower Building, 825 N.E. Multnomah St., Portland. Scott Weigel of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant. Lloyd District Properties LP is the lessor.

• Harness, Dickey & Pierce leased 1,470 square feet at Columbia Square, 111 S.W. Columbia St., Portland. Tom Becic of Melvin Mark Brokerage Co. represented the lessor, Columbia Square LLC.

• PacBlu Inc., a digital production facility, leased 1,081 square feet at 1 Lincoln Center, 10300 S.W. Greenburg Road, Portland. Keith Young, GVA Kidder Mathews, represented PacBlu; Jeff Borlaug, NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson, represented Lincoln Center LLC.

• Stanley Steemer International Inc. leased 10,474 square feet at Sunset Highway Business Park, Hillsboro. Equis Corp. and Cushman & Wakefield of Oregon Inc represented the tenant; Evan Berstein, Dave Ellis and John Fettig of Capacity Commercial Group represented the lessor, Pacific Northwest Properties L.P.

• NBS Financial Services arranged an $18 million fixed rate loan from State Farm Life Insurance Co. to finance phase two of Mission Hills Apartments, the largest apartment community in Clark County. Mission Hills, developed by Ed Pietz, is a 556-unit project on 32 acres. Construction of the 288-unit second phase was completed this fall.

Monaco Coach Corp. on Monday said it hired a financial adviser to help improve the struggling recreational vehicle maker’s liquidity. Such announcements normally mean a company is seeking a buyer.

Coburg-based Monaco (NYSE: MNC) said Imperial Capital LLC could also help it find joint venture partners.

Monaco also retained Avondale Partners LLC to evaluate strategies for Monaco’s Signature Motorhome Resorts business and BMO Capital Markets to work with both Bison Manufacturing LLC, its equine trailer division, and Roadmaster LLC, its specialty trailer division.

Monaco shares ended 2008 down 94 percent for the calendar year. The company drastically reduced its workforce and production, closing two plants in Indiana, and slashed executive salaries.

Fellow Oregon RV-maker Country Coach last week told employees that it could close unless it gets financing by Feb. 28, according to the Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene.

Reduced share prices are making RV companies attractive acquisition targets.

Middlebury, Ind., based Coachmen Industries Inc. agreed last month to sell its RV assets to Forest River Inc., an RV company owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Monaco has also attracted investors.

Tulsa, Okla., private equity fund Prescott Capital Management Group — which owned about 520,000 shares of Monaco stock in June — as of last week now owns more than 4.6 million shares, making it the company’s single largest shareholder at 15.4 percent.

Officials with Prescott have not returned calls seeking comment.

Monaco shares jumped nearly 7 percent in mid-day trading Monday to 64 cents per share. They've traded between 39 cents and $12.22 in the past 52 weeks.

Clear Choice Health Plans Inc. announced Monday the purchase of Trusteed Plans Service Corp.

Tacoma, Wash.-based Trusteed Plans will retain its name and management team and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bend-based Clear Choice.

Clear Choice (OTCBB: CCHN) provides health insurance to 46,000 clients. Trusteed Plans is a third party administrator of employee benefits plans that operates in six Western states — Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Montana — with 55,000 clients.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.