Election’s regional impact

With the presidential election behind us, there’s a sense of expectation that a new administration will address problems facing our economy. How would that translate for Clark County?

In plenty of ways.

Local hospitals and physicians have been screaming for years that Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements from the federal system to this region are unfair and not keeping pace with the rising costs. Reform at the federal level is 20 years overdue. Meanwhile, regional energy costs are a key factor in our long-term economic vitality. The federal government plays a big role in what we pay for hydroelectric power, how much we spend on fish and where dollars are spent on alternative energy production. Gov. Chris Gregoire mentioned Washington’s energy opportunities in her acceptance speech last week. The outlook is exciting but insider politics could sabotage those opportunities by short-changing emerging green technologies and by a failure to support nuclear power research and development.

These are just two examples of a multitude of issues affected by decisions in Washington D.C.

These items were posted to my 60 & Single blog at columbian.com last week: New ideas for household budgeting linked to a Wall Street Journal story, online resources for job-seeking retirees, steps to take this month during Medicare’s open enrollment, a book review from the New York Times of “Smart Cookies Guide to Making More Dough” and a piece on the shopping differences between men and women.

Regrettably we have published our final edition of The Columbian B2B magazine launched in January 2007. The business news department has enjoyed bringing this magazine to the Clark County community but staffing cuts and rising costs have made continued production impossible.

Making an outstanding contribution to the quality of this product were Sherry Nelson, Columbian creative manager and her layout artists, our fine photo department led by Troy Wayrynen and writers Courtney Sherwood, Cami Joner and free-lancer Eric Apalategui.

Our November-December cover story? “Young and in charge: Profiles of 35-and-under Clark county business owners.”

In the coming week, columbian.com expects to add more investor services to its Business & Markets Web page. Through a collaboration with Chicago-based Zacks VerticalReach Media we will offer personalized investor portfolio services.

By going to the site and plugging in your favorite stocks, you will get updated share prices at any time of the day or night. The Columbian is determined to be your primary source of local, national and international news.

That includes market and financial news. Our online audience is growing. If you add up Columbian print subscribers and our online audience, we have as many readers as ever.

Julia Anderson is The Columbian business editor. To reach her send e-mail to julia.anderson@columbian.com or call 360-735-4509.