Briefcase

Morris joins Fed board

Scott Morris, Avista Corp.’s chairman and CEO, was appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Seattle Branch board of directors. His appointment is for a three-year term.

Morris joined Spokane-based Avista Corp. in 1981. He was elected president in 2006 and named chairman and CEO in 2008.

Morris also serves as chairman of the board for the Western Energy Institute and is a board member of the Washington Roundtable, Greater Spokane Inc. and Gonzaga University.

Other members of the Seattle Branch board include: Mary O. McWilliams, Puget Sound Health Alliance; Richard A. Galanti, Costco Wholesale Corp.; Ada M. Healey, Vulcan Inc.; and Patrick G. Yalung, Wells Fargo & Co.

Becky Kramer

Taxable retail sales mixed

Third-quarter taxable retail sales increased slightly in Washington, but edged lower in Spokane County and the city of Spokane.

The Washington total was $26.5 billion, up 0.2 percent over the third quarter of 2009.

Retail sales, which exclude construction and other industry transactions, rose 2.6 percent to $11.9 billion.

Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Gowrylow said the quarterly increase was the first for 2010 compared with 2009.

In Spokane County, taxable retail sales slipped 1.1 percent to $1.8 million, and retail sales fell 0.8 percent to $861 million.

City of Spokane taxable retail sales fell 1.3 percent to $948 million, and retail sales were down 1.1 percent to $455 million.

Taxable retail sales and the change from 2009 for other county cities were: Airway Heights, down 9 percent to $25 million; Cheney, up 0.5 percent to $33 million; Liberty Lake, up 2.9 percent to $53.3 million; and Spokane Valley, down 1.3 percent to $412.3 million.

Bert Caldwell

Group plans cobalt mine

Tax-free bonds that were part of the U.S. federal stimulus program will help a Canadian company open a cobalt mine and refinery in Idaho.

Formation Capital of Vancouver, B.C., sold $77.7 million worth of industrial bonds before the Dec. 31 deadline to qualify for the tax-free status. Construction is slated to begin this spring on the cobalt mine 22 miles west of Salmon in the Challis National Forest. The ore will be shipped 200 miles to the north for processing at a Kellogg refinery.

The bonds were issued by the industrial development corporations of Lemhi and Shoshone counties. The bonds are sold to private investors, who don’t have to pay federal taxes on the interest earnings. The tax-free status helps attract buyers, said Randy Shroll, a business development manager for the Idaho Department of Commerce.

Formation Capital expects to employ 150 people at the mine and about 45 workers at the refinery.

Becky Kramer