PepsiCo to merge regional centers
PepsiCo will consolidate regional distribution operations at the Central Business Park in Spokane Valley.
The beverage company will move its North Idaho and Eastern Washington distribution centers into 80,000 square feet of space at the commercial and industrial campus at 11016 E. Montgomery Drive, between Pines and Argonne roads.
PepsiCo signed a long-term lease and will move after Aug. 1. Its 130 employees in the region will work at the new facility, which includes warehouse space, an administrative office and distribution.
The company will relocate from its distribution centers at 4014 E. Sprague Ave. in Spokane and at 520 W. Dalton Ave. in Coeur d’Alene. It also will move out of a fleet maintenance shop at 17 N. Ralph St. in Spokane.
In selecting the new site, PepsiCo obtained $50,000 in incentive funds from the governor’s Strategic Reserve Fund, with the assistance of Greater Spokane Incorporated.
PepsiCo owns three other distribution centers in Washington, in Everett, Seattle and Tacoma.
Group seeks property tax refund
Ambassadors Group is asking Spokane County to refund property taxes the company paid on its for-sale headquarters building.
A filing in Spokane County Superior Court says the county assessed the corporate property at $7.8 million in 2011, after assessing the same property a year earlier for $9.6 million.
Ambassadors’ Chief Financial Officer Tony Dombrowik said the company believes the 2010 assessment should be lowered to $7.8 million.
If the county agreed to a reduced assessment, Dombrowik said Spokane-based Ambassadors would be refunded about $60,000.
“This is just our using the available process to appeal that (amount),” he said.
The publicly traded company moved into the 133,000-square-foot building, at 2001 S. Flint Road, in 2007. In the past year its board of directors decided to sell the facility and find a smaller building to lease.
The building and 11 acres of land are listed for $13.3 million. Real estate broker Goodale and Barbieri Co. is handling the listing.
Sterling issues layoffs in takeover
Sterling Bank’s takeover of First Independent Bank in Vancouver will result in the layoff of 63 employees, according to the Washington state Department of Employee Security.
The bank issued a notification of the layoffs in Vancouver – which will be effective Aug. 3 – this week.
Sterling purchased most of the assets of First Independent in late February. The sale included an $8 million premium on top of the value of the assets, with an agreement to pay an addition premium of up to $17 million depending on the performance of the assets.
It’s the latest round of layoffs since the purchase. Sterling has said it intends to keep most First Independent Bank branch employees and that most employee cuts will be in administration and operations.
First Independent operated more than a dozen bank branches in Clark and Skamania counties, and two offices in Oregon.
Paper Clips
• Albertsons will lay off as many as 2,500 employees at 247 Southern California and southern Nevada supermarkets beginning June 17, the supermarket chain announced Wednesday. Some employees will be laid off at every store and the layoffs should be finished by July 1.
• Taco Bell is going more upscale. The chain said Wednesday it plans an early July rollout of a menu addition created by celebrity chef Lorena Garcia for its nearly 5,600 U.S. restaurants. New items feature such ingredients as black beans, cilantro rice, citrus- and herb-marinated chicken and cilantro dressing.
• American Airlines said it will reduce flights in July partly because of a shortage of pilots due to more of them calling in sick. The 1 percent reduction in July’s schedule follows a 1.5 percent cutback in June, which was also blamed partly on higher usage of sick leave by pilots. A union spokesman said Wednesday that pilots could be taking care of elective procedures before American raises their premiums and co-payments.