Share this article! Genentech launches in Oregon Genentech has opened its $400 million manufacturing center in Hillsboro, providing a big boost to Oregon’s aspirations for bioscience. The San Francisco-based company has 250 employees working at the new center. The drugmaker, acquired last year by Swiss-based Roche Holdings for $46.8 billion, comes with a global reach … Read more
Genentech launches in Oregon
Genentech has opened its $400 million manufacturing center in Hillsboro, providing a big boost to Oregon’s aspirations for bioscience.
The San Francisco-based company has 250 employees working at the new center.
The drugmaker, acquired last year by Swiss-based Roche Holdings for $46.8 billion, comes with a global reach and loads of growth potential.
Genentech brings valuable experience, knowledge and industry cachet to Oregon, according to Arundeep Pradhan, vice president of technology transfer and business development at Oregon Health & Science University.
Read the full story at OregonLive.com.
Astoria developer falls from grace
Astoria developer Chester Trabucco is known for helping reestablish the city as a tourist and retirement destination.
But now his local legacy is being plagued by debts and foreclosure, with his newly renovated Fisher Brothers building becoming the most recent casualty.
Trabucco said his fall from grace mirrors that of other commercial real estate developers: Ill-timed investments in riverfront condominiums sealed his fate.
As he loses his grip on his properties in Astoria, several distinguished downtown buildings are shifting out of local control to absentee landlords, and many of Trabucco’s backers in the business community have turned on him.
Read the full story at The Daily Astorian.
Brew boys get big
Eugene-based Ninkasi Brewing has grown from microbrewery to regional brewery by brewing 18,000 barrels last year.
Ninkasi’s new status puts it in the same league as Widmer, BridgePort, Deschutes and other big local names.
But while [co-owner Jamie Floyd is] glad enough of the production bump, numbers aren’t what matter most.
“Being connected to my community is the most important thing for me, and being the village brewer is the perfect way to do that. What I want is the Chico-fication of Eugene,” he said, referring to the Northern California home of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., the country’s second-largest craft brewer, after Boston Beer Co.
Read the full story at OregonLive.com.
Mill plans on the table
The Ashland City Council is set to decide whether to adopt redevelopment plans for the former Croman Mill site.
The plans include offices, shops, housing and space for a park, which city officials hope will create more family-wage jobs.
Two members of the Planning Commission who disagree with the Croman plan crafted a minority report, but the commission voted 5-3 against sending that report to the City Council. Commission vice chairman Michael Dawkins and commission member Melanie Mindlin said they will present the minority report to the council as individuals tonight.
The minority report lists 11 concerns Dawkins and Mindlin have about the Croman plan, including that it “does not aggressively manage growth” and it “will need community funding.” The possibility has been raised that infrastructure improvements could be made on the land through a special tax district.
Read the full story at the Mail Tribune.
No urban renewal for Tualatin
Rising opposition proved to be too much for a $120 million urban renewal extension proposal in Tualatin.
The Tualatin City Council dropped the plans, which would have extended the renewal district for another 25 years to pay for redevelopment efforts.
The turnabout follows a stormy meeting last week with community members and growing speculation that Tualatin might not secure support from enough taxing districts, as is required by a new state law.
“I am not going to pursue it any further,” said Ogden, noting that the city might consider a cheaper option. “There’s just too much opposition. There’s too many people that are frustrated. Too much anxiety.”
Read the full story at OregonLive.com.
