A woman engineer with the Boeing Co.’s space and defense division will be the next president of the union for engineers and technicians at the company. Cynthia Cole was elected to a two-year term as president of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, the union announced Thursday. Bob Wilkerson, a Boeing engineer in Renton, was elected union treasurer, and Dave Baine, a Boeing engineer in Auburn, was elected secretary. Cole is the second woman to be president of SPEEA. She succeeds Jennifer MacKay, an engineer with Triumph Composite Systems of Spokane, who did not seek reelection.
Safeco calls off Seattle office plan
Safeco Corp. scrapped plans on Friday to expand its headquarters in Seattle’s University District, saying it would opt instead to sell its historic headquarters and lease office space in both the city and the suburbs. In September, the company announced a grand plan to close its offices in suburban Redmond and add another 260,000 square feet of office space around its existing high-rise in the University District. But it said Friday that it would be cheaper to rent office space than to buy and own it.
Neah Power ready to start trading
Neah Power Systems Inc. of Bothell will begin trading under its own symbol Tuesday in the over-the-counter Pink Sheets market. This comes after the developer of small fuel cells was purchased by Growth Mergers Inc. Growth Mergers previously was a public company with no active business operations. Neah Power said Friday it does not yet know what trading symbol it will get. Neah also has said it will apply to trade on the Nasdaq over-the-counter market.
Pakistan Airlines gets winning 777
Pakistan International Airlines has taken delivery of the 777-200LR jetliner that the Boeing Co. used to break the distance record for a commercial airplane. On Nov. 10, the plane landed at London’s Heathrow Airport after flying more than halfway around the world from Hong Kong. The nearly 23-hour trip covered 11,664 nautical miles.
U.S. Senate panel to study gas prices
A U.S. Senate panel has scheduled a hearing next week to examine whether gasoline prices will rise higher than normal this summer because of oil companies’ plans to phase out the use of gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE. The focus of the hearing will be a February report released by the Energy Information Administration that warns that the phase-out could lead to gasoline price spikes and supply shortages.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
