Business in brief: PFD to survey south site
The Spokane Public Facilities District took additional steps Tuesday to acquire the city block south of the INB Performing Arts Center.
The 120,000-square-foot block bounded by Spokane Falls Boulevard, Main Avenue, Washington and Bernard streets is owned by three parties. The PFD has been negotiating with Spokane architect Glen Cloninger and Diamond Parking to acquire their combined 83,000 square feet of space. The PFD, in conjunction with the city of Spokane, owns the remaining land.
On Tuesday, the PFD board authorized its attorney, Stanley Schwartz, to commission an appraisal of the land, paying not more than $12,000 for that work. The board also directed the PFD staff to prepare and issue a request for proposals for a master plan for the site.
The PFD envisions it as a site for parking and future convention center expansion space. However, the block could also contain retail, housing, office space or other uses.
PFD Executive Director Kevin Twohig said conversations with both Cloninger and Dan Geiger of Diamond Parking indicate a willingness to sell the land. The issue, he said, will be the price.
Spokane Valley
Itronix cuts ‘handful’ of jobs
Times are good at Spokane Valley-based Itronix Corp., the maker of rugged portable computers. Since being acquired last year by global defense contractor General Dynamics, Itronix has added 57 jobs here and in its overseas offices, company officials said.
Yet business is still fluid enough to demand some job cuts. “Restructuring to meet changing market needs” forced the layoff of a “handful” of Itronix workers in the past two weeks, company spokeswoman Fran Jacques said on Tuesday.
Jacques, based at General Dynamics’ Scottsdale, Ariz., office, said the company would not be more specific, although she said most of the cuts occurred in the Itronix office in Spokane Valley.
That leaves about 450 Itronix workers total, with 400 in Spokane. The rest are in sales and support offices in Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Latin America, France and Germany.
Jacques said Itronix’s management will continue to modify its work force and expects to add 13 position over the next six months.
Spokane
Key Tronic boosts earnings estimate
Key Tronic Corp. revised its earnings estimates for the quarter ended June 30, a move that could mean a doubling of profits.
Better results from its Mexican factories and strong demand from customers were credited by CEO Jack Oehlke for driving earnings per share to an estimated 18 cents to 20 cents a share for the quarter, compared with the 7 cents to 12 cents per share the company had forecast earlier.
During a conference call with analysts this week, Key Tronic declined to give specifics. The company’s stock price rose $2.17 per share, or 51 percent, to close at $6.37 Tuesday — a seven-year high.
The Spokane company, a contract manufacturer, will officially release its quarterly results Aug. 22.