Strictly Business

Strictly Business: Wall Street shenanigans hit home

You've probably never heard of Jeff Connaughton.

Strictly business: About that 'socialist' light-rail line

Let's assume that Portland State University economist Tom Potiowsky was swinging for the fence when he took a swing at light-rail opponents at Thursday's Economic Forecast Breakfast, sponsored by The Columbian.

Strictly Business: Camas baits; will Fisher bite?

Ken Fisher likes Clark County, that's no secret. His wealth management company also is well-liked by the county.

Strictly Business: Bashing of Jantzen mall unjustified

Don't count on new Portland Mayor Charlie Hales to invite out-of-town guests to Jantzen Beach, one of the most popular Portland destinations for Vancouver residents. Hales puts the island's "strip malls and lottery bars" on his list of embarrassments for a city that relishes its Portlandia vibe.

Strictly Business: Potash still holds hope for growth

In 2008, the Port of Vancouver and BHP Billiton — the Australian mining giant — started talking about the possibility of the company's making the port's Terminal 5 into a home for its planned new potash export facility.

Strictly Business: Waterfront rebirth draws near

A temporary cyclone fence blocked my passage to the Columbia River waterfront west of the Interstate Bridge one rainy morning last week. But beyond the new passageway cut beneath Burlington Northern's main line a couple blocks south of Esther Short Park, I could see the wide Columbia River in the distance.

Strictly Business: Want to save? Join the club

If you're like me, you love shopping for holiday gifts and hate using charge cards.

Strictly Business: Fiscal cliff worries nonprofits

It's the time of year for giving, and every nonprofit knows it. If your mailbox is anything like mine, it's stuffed this month with requests for tax-deductible donations to countless worthy causes. Any donation I've made in response to remembrance requests at a funeral, any contribution I've made to a music or cultural nonprofit, any college my children have attended have placed me on their mailing lists for their year-end "asks."

Strictly Business: Green jobs here, worth cultivating

Turns out, green jobs — those future jobs that will help underpin a sustainable economy — are already here. What's more, greener industries grow faster than the overall economy, and states in the U.S. that possess a greater focus on green industries have fared better in the economic crash.

Strictly Business: Innovation that's down to earth

The sky is the limit, or so it seems, when it comes to collecting, organizing, and dispensing information. The cloud has become our chosen image for seemingly limitless information storage warehouses, reflecting our confidence that all information soon will be at our fingertips all the time.

Strictly business: A blessing to take care of business

November is a month to give thanks, but while counting my blessings I'm also looking at the increasingly blinding light of my own mortality.

Strictly Business: Bringing shopping home for holidays

Oh, goody. More retailers are planning to break from tradition and jump-start this year's Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving.

Strictly Business: Helping vets get down to business

I've often wondered what it must have felt like to be in my father's and my grandfather's shoes, coming home from a nerve-jangling war, trying to figure out how to return to civilian life.

Strictly Business: Utility ready for emergency

Thousands of utility workers from across the nation, including 11 from our own Clark Public Utilities, are joining in the massive effort to restore power to the millions of homes and businesses whose power lines were damaged by the epic Hurricane Sandy.