<< Previous   of   Next >> Snohomish County Business Journal archives  (click to enlarge) Henry Cogswell College President Ron Hundley made the cover of the journal¿s July 1998 issue, discussing the college's Vision 2010 strategic plan, which envisioned enrollment growing to 1,000 students. However, the college closed its Everett campus in 2006, citing financial difficulties and an anticipated decline in enrollment.

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CONTACT SCBJ John Wolcott, Editor jwolcott@scbj.com Dave Clark, Assistant Editor dclark@scbj.com

July 1998: Cogswell eyed future growth

In July 1998, the business journal's cover story featured Everett's own "high-tech haven," Henry Cogswell College, and its plans for growth as mapped out in its Vision 2010 strategic plan. At the time, the college had been in Everett for two years and recently had launched daytime programs for high-school graduates in addition to its evening and weekend classes designed for working adults.

"We're expecting to grow from our current enrollment of 200 to 1,000 students by the year 2010. That's growth that seems ambitious to us, but some of our consultants think we're being too conservative," Ron Hundley, then Cogswell's president, told the journal.

With its four-year degree program in computer graphics and imaging as well as its programs in engineering, computer science and business administration, Cogswell had grown its enrollment from about 140 when it was located in King County to 230 students in 1998, according to the article. To meet growing demand for space, Hundley said he was looking for another 7,000 square feet of space in addition to Cogswell's 19,000-square-foot headquarters at the corner of Wetmore and California.

The college also was forming a Community Leadership Council to provide "continuing dialog and evaluations to help focus Cogswell's education programs and develop financial and material resources," according to the article. Unfortunately, Cogswell's plans for long-term growth never reached fruition, as the college closed its doors in downtown Everett effective Aug. 31, 2006, citing financial difficulties and an anticipated decline in enrollment. The school that once envisioned enrolling a thousand students by 2010 told the journal that it expected about 156 for fall 2006 and a projected loss of $1 million for the coming school year.

"It's important to realize that although the courses and instruction at Cogswell were excellent, and it's a great niche institution, it is still a tuition-supported college without an endowment," Bill Pickens, who had taken the helm of the Everett college just months before its closure, told the journal in 2006.

Elsewhere in the pages of the journal's fourth issue were these highlights:


Community colleges, aerospace industry team up to train work force

A new joint agreement between Bellevue, Edmonds and Shoreline community colleges enabled students at the three schools to take two quarters of academic classes at any school and one quarter at Shoreline CC for hands-on training as part of a program to train computer numerical control operators. The schools, in partnership with the Washington Aerospace Alliance, hoped to make up for an estimated shortfall of 1,000 CNC operators in the area, according to the article, which noted that students who graduated from the program could seek employment at more than 100 aerospace industry manufacturers in Snohomish County or at another 700 in the state.


Business, industrial park proposed at Arlington Airport

Seattle development firm Davis and Silesky submitted preliminary plans to the city of Arlington for a 286-acre business and industrial park at Arlington Airport that had the potential to lure as many as 4,000 new jobs to the area in coming years. The development was expected to include 3 million square feet of office space, a trail system connecting to the county's Centennial Trail at the north and south ends of the city, a separate trail system within the complex, open green spaces, a convention center, mixed-use commercial zoning that would allow service businesses, and areas of preserved trees along the project's western perimeter to serve as a buffer. The project was designed to be built in three phases, with the total build-out scheduled to take between 15 and 20 years, according to the article. A completed application for formal review was expected in July.


Gargoyles to move back to Kent

Sunglasses manufacturer Gargoyles Inc. said it would abandon its production facility in Lynnwood and nix plans to move its headquarters to the county, having decided to return to Kent for financial reasons. The company had moved its production workers to Lynnwood in late 1997, and office workers and executives were to follow. Bill Blackburn, a former employee hired as a consultant for the move, said that about 90 people were working in Lynnwood, including many employees commuting from Kent. The company said it planned to move back to a building it still owned in Kent and lease additional, smaller space there.


Businesses profiled

In the July 1998 issue of the journal, Dwayne Lane and his auto dealerships were profiled as was Port Gardner Fireworks Co. Lane was reported to be starting a new dealership on I-5 near Island Crossing in the Arlington area, having spent the past 3-1/2 years navigating through Growth Management board hearings. As for Port Gardner Fireworks, its owner, John Fisher, expected to put on between 25 to 30 pyrotechnic shows during the year, including Everett's Salty Sea Days and Fourth of July festivals.


CellPro reorganizes amid legal turmoil

Bothell biotech firm CellPro Inc. announced plans to reorganize key operations and cut its work force by 10 percent, or 16 employees, as cost-saving measures in the face of expensive legal battles with Baxter Healthcare and two other groups alleging CellPro infringed on their patents for technology used to filter blood cells. Company President Richard Murdock said the company "needed to streamline operations so it would have sufficient resources to continue operations through a decision by the Court of Appeals in its ongoing patent dispute," according to the article.


County leads region in job creation

The Puget Sound Regional Council released employment trend statistics, finding that Snohomish County led King, Pierce and Kitsap counties in job growth between 1990 and 1995, with Marysville and Monroe attracting the majority of the county's employment growth. The study showed that Snohomish County added 31,000 new jobs during that period compared to 21,000 jobs in King County, 17,200 jobs in Pierce County and 5,000 jobs in Kitsap County.


State ranks No. 1 in growth of tech jobs

A study released by the Technology Alliance found that job growth in aerospace, computer services and biotechnology fields boosted Washington state to first place nationally for its share of technology-dependent employment in its overall work force, with 35 percent of all state jobs linked to technology industries.


New CT administration building opens

Community Transit¿s new Merrill Creek Administration Building opened at 7100 Hardeson Road in Everett, adjacent to CT's recently built transit center. The $3 million building, completed in nine months and under budget, included an atrium entry, skylight-lit office space and more than 70 offices wired for data exchange, e-mail and Internet access.


Residential real estate figures

The July 1998 journal revealed single-family home sales for Snohomish County in May were up 12 percent from the year before, at 1,054. The median price was $169,950, and the average time a house spent on the market was 50 days.

Kimberly Hilden, SCBJ Assistant Editor