Smelterville call center closes

Ready, Set, Go closed in late May, resulting in the layoffs of call center workers in Idaho’s Silver Valley.

The call center was a subsidiary of NorthPoint Financial Group in Pleasanton, Calif. Employment at the Smelterville center fluctuated between 50 and 80 workers. The center processed calls related to debt consolidation and refinancing of mortgages.

Ready, Set, Go was the second Silver Valley call center to close this spring, said Kathryn Tacke, regional economist with Idaho’s Commerce & Labor Department.

Sunset Direct, a Wallace call center that sold computer and other high tech products, closed in late April. It employed about 20 people.

Spokane

Firms honored for hiring vets

Four area companies received awards Friday for their efforts to hire military veterans. The awards were given by the state Department of Employment Security at a breakfast meeting in Spokane.

Huntwood Industries and Isothermal Systems Research, both of Liberty Lake; Goodrich Corp., of Spokane; and Kaiser Aluminum, of Spokane Valley, all “have strong track records of hiring veterans,” the department said in a press release. Huntwood employs 108 veterans, Kaiser employs 100, ISR, 46 and Goodrich, 40.

In a recent survey, the Employment Security department found that about 70 percent of Washington National Guard or Reserve members who have been activated into duty since Sept. 11, 2001 had jobs when they were deployed, while only 61 percent had jobs after they returned to the state. Of those who had jobs before and after deployment, 60 percent were earning less after serving in the Guard or Reserve.

The department devised a Hire-a-Vet campaign to boost employment of veterans.

Spokane

Real estate brokerages ranked

Several local real estate brokerages made Real Estate magazine’s list of top property sellers for 2005. The Power Broker Report, released this spring, ranked the top 500 companies nationwide for both sales and transactions.

Tomlinson Black Group of Companies fared well among locally headquartered brokerages. The company’s 10,545 transactions put it 44th on that ranking, and it was 76th for sales of about $2.01 billion.

Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, of Coeur d’Alene, ranked 153rd with 4,314 transactions and 175th for sales of about $1.02 billion.

Century 21 Beutler & Associates, also of Coeur d’Alene, ranked 306th with 2,373 transactions and 285th for sales of more than $598 million.

Keller Williams Realty offices in Washington came in at 493 for brokering 1,450 transactions and at 368 for selling more than $421 million in property.

Two local brokerages made the list of companies to watch, including RE/MAX of Spokane and Keller Williams Realty Spokane Valley.