Northwest Companies Earn Spots On Fortune 500 List

Ten companies from Washington and Idaho are on the most recent Fortune 500 honor roll. The magazine compiles its list of largest companies based on 1996 sales.

The Boeing Co., riding the airline industry recovery, moved up four spots to No. 36 on Fortune’s list, posting sales of $22.7 billion. The Seattle-based company will soar higher next year after a merger is completed with McDonnell Douglas (No. 87, down from 74th on sales of $13.8 billion). Combined, the two would have ranked 18th.

Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. registered one of the larger gains on the list, advancing from 219th to 172nd with $8.7 billion in sales.

Washington Mutual’s acquisition of American Savings Bank made the thrift No. 398 at $3.4 billion and will rise substantially if its bid for Great Western Financial Corp. is accepted. Combined the two would rank 207th.

Other Washington state companies on the list, all based in the Seattle area, are Weyerhaeuser, 122nd, down from 104th, with sales of $11.1 billion; Paccar, 306th, down from 273rd, $4.85 billion; Nordstrom, 310th, down from 309th, $4.5 billion; and Safeco, 346th, down from 334th, $4 billion.

Among Idaho companies, Micron Technology Inc. advanced despite a rough year in the international computer chip market.

The Fortune ranking showed Micron moving from 419th in 1995 to 370th on sales of nearly $3.7 billion.

Idaho’s largest corporation, Albertson’s Inc., climbed another seven notches in the Fortune rankings. The nation’s fourth-largest grocery and drug retailer moved to 89th with 1996 sales of nearly $13.8 billion.

But Boise Cascade Corp. lost ground in the rankings. With persisting unfavorable conditions in the paper market, the company dropped from 265th in 1995 to 277 last year on sales of just over $5.1 billion, up only fractionally from 1995 sales.