Who's Hiring - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Are you starting to see any impacy of stimulus spending onengineerin jobs? “Impact” might be a little strong. The firstf round of so-called stimulus money went to what are beingcalled shovel-ready projects. That generally means there no longer is any engineerinbgwork needed. A lot of money is going for asphalt overlaysa orhighway repairs. In termsw of providing for new jobs or throwing any mone into theprivate sector, it doesn’tt do that. You seem a little frustrated. The frustratingf part is not having an easy way to get answeres from thefederal That’s the nature of the beast. There is no infrastructure Yet. Are there any bright spots?
I am startin to hear a little bit about water projectstrickling out. The retail sector shed nearlgy 16,000 jobs in the past 12 monthws statewide, according to the most recenr data from the Washington State EmploymenrSecurity Department. But there are some smal glimmers of hope among Justthis week, California-based announced plans to open its first hamburger restaurant in this markeyt in September, in new retail spaces in Ballard. The franchise is ownec by Orcas Island resident Drew who plans to hire 20 to25 full-timre workers and about 30 more part-timers.
Reed said he plands to open four more burger restaurants in the area in the next five The new burger joint in the Ballarr Blocks development just north of the Ballardf Bridge could spark a hamburger war of with other popular restaurantzs like Red Mill Burgeres and Ballard BrothersBurgerd & Seafood nearby. Reed’s new venture into the local marketg also is helping the developers of the Ballard Blocks slowly but steadily fill up the new which opened earlierthis year.
Ballar d Blocks is anchored byTrader Joe’s and LA Fitness and alreadu has achieved a local landmark status of One landowner — Edith Macefielc — held out and didn’t forcing the developer to build arounfd her modest home. According to an email from Mariaz Royer at Real Retailin Seattle, who is handlingy the retail leasing for Ballard Blocks, the new retail development has leasesd 74 percent of its space, with several dealzs in the works. Meanwhile, Kimberlyg Carney, who owns Jaxx Boutik in Seattle’s Eastlake neighborhood, is expanding next door with a men’sa clothing store. Carney plans to open the new Aficionado, later in June.
The store will offedr everything from jeansand T-shirtws to designer suits. Because the new like her old one, is a it will employ three to four which won’t cause a blip in region’xs unemployment rate. But it does show that some retailere are seeingopportunities — and willing to take some risk s — even during a severe In Carney’s case, that means eyeballing a long-vacant spacw next door and finally striking a favorable deal with an eageer landlord. It also means looking for new ways to marketrher merchandise. She’s throwing a cigar and martin party asan opener.
And she says Aficionado will have a barand big-screenb TV, where customers can sip on a complimentary beer whilwe they look around. She got an opportunityh to have a clothing booth during the Emerald City Classic Invitational volleyball tournamenMay 23-25 at the Universituy of Washington, and Carney said she had one of her betterf weekends of sales. “We have to keep working; we have to keep reinventinv ourselves,” Carney said. Firing, yet hiring Often companies are hiringt and laying off Such is the case with severallocakl employers, notably and , whicyh both announced layoffs this year.
But as larg e companies like Boeing and Microsofgt shed jobs tocut costs, they also have specifixc needs to fill and are In Boeing’s case, just in the monthu of May the aerospace giangt has posted several dozen job including several openings demanding high-tech including IT, systems engineering and systems and data analysi expertise. (See story page 5) Outsidw the Puget Sound area, Insitu, the unmannedc spy plane maker recently acquiredby Boeing, also is Based in Bingen, Wash., Insitu recently landedx big government contracts to build more spy planes, including a U.S.
militaru contract announced May 22 that could be worth upto $250 In late April, Insitu also won a $30 million contract for spy planes to support Canadiamn military operations in Afghanistan.