Microsoft is planning to open “dozens” of retail stores, beyond the four that currently exist, the company’s COO said recently.

According to Softpedia, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner made the comments during the company’s recent Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC).

“We’re going to build dozens more stores. And we’re just getting started on that. And we’re going to keep building them,” Turner reportedly said at the event. read more »

Mason County PUD No. 3 has sold bonds to pay for construction of its Johns Prairie operations center, a number of important electrical system improvements and refinancing of a portion of existing debt at lower interest rates.

Proceeds from the par value of the $59.8 million bond sale will fund the following PUD 3 projects:

• $34.5 million for the Johns Prairie operations center, including construction, design, equipment, permits and fees.
• $8.4 million for capital projects, including Mason substation rebuild; construction of a watermain to serve the Johns Prairie operations center; potential relocation of PUD facilities related to the 1.5 mile Belfair SR 3 improvement project; and matching funds, if successful, for a federal stimulus grant for broadband expansion.
• $9.5 million for refunding higher interest bonds and debt payoff.
• $7.3 million for reserve accounts, capitalized interest costs and bond issuance fees.
• PUD 3 had initially expected to sell nearly $70 million on bonds for this investment, but financial staff was able to prioritize investments in capital projects and financing costs to reduce the overall borrowing needs.

Because of the timing of the issue and the maturing of current bonds issued by the PUD, it isn’t expected that the bond sale for the operations center will change debt service in the long term read more »

Alaska Airlines, Boeing, Portland International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Spokane International Airport and Washington State University announced a strategic initiative to promote aviation biofuel development in the Pacific Northwest. The first regional assessment of its kind in the United States, the “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest” project will look at biomass options within a four-state area as possible sources for creating renewable jet fuel.

The comprehensive assessment will examine all phases of developing a sustainable biofuel industry, including biomass production and harvest, refining, transport infrastructure and actual use by airlines. read more »

Signatures are expected to be turned in to put a number of initiatives with significant fiscal impacts on the ballot at a crucial time in the state’s history.

Voters will be considering these initiatives in a context where current revenue expectations will be $3 billion short of the amount needed to continue our current commitments to education, communities, health, and economic security.

What they decide will help determine our state’s ability to recover from the recession and maintain key public priorities. read more »

• McWilliams Road Safeway, East Bremerton
• Bucklin Hill Road Safeway, Silverdale
• Callow Avenue Safeway, West Bremerton

Riders can load their ORCA cards with E-purse, Kitsap Transit monthly bus passes, PugetPasses or Washington State Ferries monthly passes at Add Value locations. Other Kitsap County Add Value locations include the Kingston IGA, Bainbridge Island Safeway and Kitsap Transit’s Bremerton Customer Service Office. read more »

Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Association of Washington Business (AWB), Washington Farm Bureau and Washington Food Industry Association and others delivered over 340,000 signatures to Secretary of State Sam Reed in support of Initiative 1082, the business community’s measure to allow private insurers to compete with the state Department of Labor & Industries to offer employers workers’ compensation coverage. Supporters of an initiative must gather 241,153 signatures of registered voters in order to qualify for the November ballot. read more »

Private-sector payrolls continued to grow in June and Washington’s unemployment rate fell for the third straight month, to 8.9 percent — the lowest rate since April 2009.

The May unemployment rate was revised upward from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent after more analysis.

The economy picked up 4,500 private-sector jobs, but registered a net loss of 3,500 jobs for the month. That’s due to 8,000 government jobs being eliminated, about half of which were federal census jobs. So far, Washington has added more than 20,000 private-sector jobs. read more »

Kitsap Economic Development Alliance recently announced that the SBA has introduced the first phase of its social media strategy this week.

On the new SBA YouTube Channel there will be videos on topics such as financing, exporting and marketing business.

Also connect with the SBA’s newest resources on Twitter and Facebook as they continue to be developed.

American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced a diverse group of 11 historic and culturally significant sites in the Seattle-Puget Sound area to receive grants for historic preservation projects. When the Seattle-Puget Sound Partners in Preservation initiative launched in April, the public voted online over a four-week period for their favorite historic places from a slate of 25 candidates across the Seattle-Puget Sound area to receive a portion of $1 million being given away in preservation grants from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The additional historic sites announced were chosen by an advisory committee comprised of civic and preservation leaders from the Seattle-Puget Sound area, as well as representatives from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. read more »