Business briefs
Published 8:39 pm Friday, March 21, 2008
Cobalt, a Seattle-based automotive marketing services firm, has selected Lynnwood for its expansion, bringing 300 new jobs to the city. Cobalt has leased 40,000 square feet in the Northview Corporate Center, near I-5 and 44th Avenue W. David Lee Peugh, a senior manager for Cobalt, said the company looked at other cities in the region, but settled on Lynnwood because of its location near I-5 and I-405, its labor pool and leasing costs. The city’s quick permitting also was a factor, Peugh said.
Bothell’s Lumera gets defense job
Lumera Corp. of Bothell has received a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract to design and fabricate polymer devices. The contract will bring the company $98,933, but if the company meets certain goals, it could receive a followup contract worth $750,000. Lumera’s shares fell 4 cents on Friday to close at $1.87.
Auditors issue new Nastech concerns
Nastech Pharmaceutical Co. officially disclosed Friday that its auditors have issued a “going concern” notice, raising questions about the financial viability of the Bothell-based biotech firm in the future. The company suffered a huge blow last fall when Procter &Gamble Pharmaceuticals decided to end its agreement to help Nastech develop a nasal spray to treat osteoporosis.
Government looks for Alcoa bribery
The U.S. Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into whether aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. participated in bribery in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain. In documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, federal prosecutors asked a judge to halt a federal civil lawsuit that accused Pittsburgh-based Alcoa of bribing officials through overseas shell companies to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments. Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C., also known as Alba, in which the Bahrain government holds a 77 percent stake, is seeking more than $1 billion in damages.
Mortgage-backed securities tempting
The subprime mortgage crisis has yielded at least one benefit for states: Mortgage-related investments have become so cheap that they are luring some pension funds to buy. Retirement systems in South Carolina and Pennsylvania are nibbling at the securities, betting that they have been beaten down so much that the ones with good credit ratings could yield strong returns later. South Carolina is looking to buy $100 million of mortgage-related investments for its $30 billion state pension fund.
Gates Foundation trust to sell stock
The Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation’s trust will sell more than half of its nearly 1 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to comply with federal tax rules, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday. The Gates Foundation said it will sell 550,000 Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which is run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The plan was adopted so the trust can comply with federal tax rules.
From Herald staff and news services
