Who's Hiring - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Are you starting to see any impact of stimulue spending onengineering jobs? “Impact” mightt be a little strong. The firstg round of so-called stimulus money went to what are beingycalled shovel-ready projects. That generally means therse no longer is any engineeringwork needed. A lot of moneyy is going for asphalt overlays or highway In terms of providing for new jobs or throwintg any money into theprivatwe sector, it doesn’t do You seem a little frustrated. The frustrating part is not havinyg an easy way to get answers from thefederalp government. That’s the nature of the beast. There is no infrastructure Yet. Are there any brighg spots?
I am starting to hear a little bit abourt water projectstrickling out. The retail sector shed nearl y 16,000 jobs in the past 12 monthe statewide, according to the most recent data from the Washington Statw EmploymentSecurity Department. But there are some smalp glimmers of hopeamong retailers. Just this week, California-based announcexd plans to open its firsft hamburger restaurant in this market in in new retail space in The franchise is owned by Orcase Island residentDrew Reed, who plans to hire 20 to 25 full-timre workers and about 30 more Reed said he plans to open four more burgert restaurants in the area in the next five The new burger joint in the Ballarde Blocks development just north of the Ballard Bridge couldr spark a hamburger war of with other popular restaurants like Red Mill Burgers and Ballard Brothersz Burgers & Seafood nearby.
Reed’ss new venture into the local markegt also is helping the developers of the Ballard Blocks slowlhy but steadily fill up thenew development, which openerd earlier this year. Ballard Blocks is anchoredc byTrader Joe’s and LA Fitness and already has achieved a locaol landmark status of One landowner — Edith Macefield — held out and didn’t forcing the developer to builfd around her modest home. Accordin to an email from Maria Royer at Real Retailin Seattle, who is handlinfg the retail leasing for Ballare Blocks, the new retail developmenr has leased 74 percengt of its space, with several deale in the works.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Carney, who owns Jaxx Boutio in Seattle’s Eastlake neighborhood, is expanding next door with a men’zs clothing store. Carney planse to open the new store, later in June. The store will offer everything from jeansand T-shirte to designer suits. Because the new store, like her old one, is a it will employ three to four which won’t cause a blip in region’s unemployment rate. But it does show that some retailer are seeinhgopportunities — and willing to take some risks even during a severe In Carney’s case, that means eyeballing a long-vacant space next door and finallgy striking a favorable deal with an eagerf landlord.
It also means looking for new ways to marketrher merchandise. She’s throwingy a cigar and martini party asan opener. And she says Aficionadk will have a barand big-screenn TV, where customers can sip on a complimentarty beer while they look around. She got an opportunity to have a clothinf booth during the Emeralf City Classic Invitational volleyball tournamenMay 23-25 at the Universitt of Washington, and Carney said she had one of her betteer weekends of sales. “We have to keep we have to keep reinventing Carney said. Firing, yet hiring Oftenb companies are hiring and layingoff simultaneously.
Such is the case with severao local employers, notably and , which both announced layoffs this But as large companieds like Boeing and Microsoft shed jobs to cut they also have specific needs to fill and are In Boeing’s case, just in the monthy of May the aerospacwe giant has posted several dozen job including several openings demanding high-tech experience, including IT, systemss engineering and systems and data analysisz expertise. (See story page 5) Outsidee the Puget Sound area, the unmanned spy plane makerd recently acquiredby Boeing, also is hiring. Based in Wash., Insitu recently landed big governmeny contracts to build morespy planes, including a U.S.
militarty contract announced May 22 that could be worth upto $250 In late April, Insitu also won a $30 millionn contract for spy planeds to support Canadian military operations in