Business in brief: Kaiser workers getting furlough

Kaiser Aluminum will send about 200 workers at its Trentwood rolling mill home next week while maintenance is done on some of the plant’s equipment.

Most of the workers are expected to return the following week, according to company spokesman Dave Quast.

Kaiser employs about 800 at the mill, which makes plate, sheet and other rolled aluminum products, primarily for the aerospace industry.

The aluminum industry has been hit hard by the recession, and operations at a Kaiser plant in Bellwood, Va., will be suspended in July because of low demand from customers in the automotive industry.

Bert Caldwell

WinCo studying CdA store site

WinCo Foods has submitted a project review application for a 94,600-square-foot store in Coeur d’Alene near the new Kroc Center.

The store probably would open in about two years on nine acres at the northeast corner of Ramsey Road and Appleway Avenue.

Zanetti Bros. has filed for $207,000 in site development in the former gravel and sand pit.

WinCo stores feature groceries, meats, produce, bulk foods, a bakery and a large deli. The stores usually have about 200 employees and are open 24 hours.

Based in Boise, WinCo has 68 stores in the West, including two new stores in Spokane. Nils Rosdahl

Firm offers back-office kit

Spokane tech firm Threegate Media Group has released a comprehensive back-office software toolkit that gives small or midsized companies an online tool to manage inventory, sales and shipping.

Called HYDRA, the product is software as a service, meaning all company data is accessed from a Web-based server. Any customer using it needs no new hardware or software.

Paul Muehlhausen, one of the two partners of Threegate Media Group, said the advantages of HYDRA are ease of use and reduced cost.

The Hydra back-office suite costs $750 to install and a monthly fee of $500, or $5,400 per year, Muehlhausen said.

Tom Sowa

Nike’s revenue, earnings drop

Portland – Athletic footwear and apparel company Nike Inc. reported Wednesday that its profit dropped in its fiscal fourth quarter on costs to cut jobs, but adjusted results beat Wall Street expectations.

However, Nike also said orders for the next several months are down sharply compared with last year, and investors sent shares down $3.61, or nearly 7 percent, in after-hours trading.

Nike said its net income fell 30 percent to $341.4 million, or 70 cents per share, for the quarter that ended May 31. Nike’s revenue fell 7 percent to $4.7 billion for the quarter.

Associated Press