Cabela’s considers store in Lacey

Olympia Fishing and hunting outfitter Cabela’s is looking into opening a store in Lacey, Wash., but the company wants incentives totaling about $15 million before it brings about 400 jobs and thousands of shoppers to the Interstate 5 site, a newspaper reports.

The Nebraska-based company has started negotiations to build a 225,000-square-foot store.

The city has applied for nearly $10 million in state grants to help pay for the estimated $29.7 million in road and utility improvements needed for the store.

Cabela’s also is considering either Liberty Lake or Post Falls for a store, officials in those cities have said.

Spokane Valley chamber honors businesses

The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce presented the following businesses with 2005 Awards of Excellence at its annual gala, held Friday at Mirabeau Park Hotel:

“ Small Business of the Year — Beal Digital Media

“ Medium Size Business of the Year — Inland Empire Distribution Systems

“ Large Business of the Year — Mirabeau Park Hotel

“ Nonprofit Organization of the Year — Transitions, a local charity that helps women and children through life crises.

“ Chamber Member Volunteer of the Year — Connie Wagner of Quality Inn Valley Suites. Wagner directed the Miss Spokane Valley Ambassador Program.

“ Community Caring Award — Randy Johnson, owner of ActNow, Inc. a human resources management and placement group, for his outstanding involvement in the community.

“ Harry E. Nelson Citizen of the Year Award — Julie Prafke, founder and president of Humanix, Inc.

Registered nurses in high demand statewide

Registered nurses will be the workers in the highest demand statewide this year, according to a survey by the state Employment Security Department.

That’s the third time in a row registered nurses led the list of the state’s hottest jobs.

In October, a survey of 15,000 Washington businesses found an estimated 5,160 unfilled positions for RNs.

Computer-applications engineers ranked second, with 2,776 job openings statewide, followed by cashiers, with 2,414 openings.

The full job-vacancy report is available online at www.workforceexplorer.com.

IBM sued for allegedly not paying overtime

San Francisco International Business Machines Corp. was sued in federal court Tuesday for allegedly not paying overtime to tens of thousands of rank-and-file employees.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of three current and former workers, and seeks class-action status to represent computer installers and maintenance workers for IBM throughout the United States.

Lawyers said they are seeking millions of dollars in back pay for employees of the world’s biggest technology services provider based in Armonk, N.Y. They are also considering punitive damages.

Experts speculated that the practice of not paying overtime to workers who deserve it was widespread in the technology industry.