West Side area code expansion on hold

Plans to introduce a new area code for fast-growing Western Washington have been postponed, the Washington State Utilities Commission said Wednesday.

Phone companies serving the state had asked to add a new area code within the current 360 area code.

Last year, telecommunications officials had predicted the 360 area code would exhaust its stock of numbers by the end of 2007.

The change won’t be needed, however, after state utility commission officials worked with telecom companies on recycling and conserving unused 360 area code numbers.

That effort salvaged thousands of numbers and means the stock of 360 numbers will last until at least 2010, said utility commission spokeswoman Rebecca Beaton.

Spokane

Premera grant fund reaches $1 million

A grant fund established eight years ago by Premera Blue Cross’s Eastern Washington operations has reached $1 million in donations and earnings.

The Premera Health & Wellness Fund has awarded grants totaling about $133,000 since it was established, all of which have gone to the Intercollegiate College of Nursing to support its People’s Clinic.

The fund is managed by Spokane-based Foundation Northwest, whose spokeswoman, Jennifer Pearson Stapleton, called the $1 million threshold a “major benchmark.”

Chicago

Best Buy keeps mum on Five Star stake

Best Buy Co. declined to comment on reports that it has purchased a 51 percent stake in China’s Five Star Appliance, one of the country’s largest electronics retailers, for about $120 million.

Five Star Appliance will retain its brand after the purchase is approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the China Business News reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the situation. Best Buy spokeswoman Susan Busch said the retailer won’t confirm or deny the report.

Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy operates global sourcing offices in China in order to purchase products directly from Asian manufacturers.

Washington

White House won’t punish China on trade

The Bush administration on Wednesday said it would not brand China as a country manipulating its currency for unfair trade advantages, provoking protests from U.S. manufacturers.

The decision came despite congressional pressure to punish China in light of a U.S. trade deficit with the Chinese that set a record of $202 billion last year.

American manufacturers contend China artificially has kept its currency, the yuan, devalued by as much as 40 percent against the dollar, giving Chinese companies a huge advantage over U.S. products.