Looking back at the year’s growing businesses, notable projects & accomplished professionals
A growing residential building and real estate market, a burgeoning high tech industry and a thriving manufacturing sector helped make 2014 a strong year for Southwest Washington.
In this special edition of the Vancouver Business Journal, we’re taking a look back at some of the year’s most successful businesses, notable projects and accomplished professionals.
Business Growth Awards
Hundreds of business professionals from around the region joined the Vancouver Business Journal in celebration of Southwest Washington’s growing companies during our annual Business Growth Awards.
The awards, which recognized growth in 2013, were held on April 24, 2014 at the Artillery Barracks building on the Fort Vancouver National Site. Award recipients, and the categories they were recognized in, included the following companies:
Mill Creek Pub
“Even if you don’t think you have time, get involved,” said Russell Brent, owner of Mill Creek Pub. “Everything I’ve given, I’ve
gotten back ten-fold. Take a leap of faith and it all comes back.”
That commitment to community support, Brent said, has been one of the main drivers of his pub’s meteoric success. It is also why, for the second year in a row, his business was in the running for a Business Growth Award.
Since opening its doors in Battle Ground near the end of 2011, Mill Creek Pub has created nearly 50 new jobs. Gross sales for the restaurant increased 28 percent from 2012 to 2013. Because of increased gross sales and effective cost management, the eatery has experienced a more than 30-percent increase in gross profit over the last year – nearly ten times the 3.8 percent national growth average for 2013 as reported in the recently released Restaurant Industry Forecast.
Over the next few years, Brent said, the pub plans to “continue to grow our business through community involvement, expand our off-site catering and add breakfast as a meal period.”
Finalists in this category: Ginn Realty Group; ProTech Composites Inc.; Webfor
MAJ Place HD, Vancouver 
Construction cost: $5 million
A new multi-tenant development, MAJ Place HD is located on the former Steakburger site between Interstate 5 and Highway 99. Construction of the project kicked off in May and is nearing its completion date. When finished, it will offer 15,000 square feet of retail/office space. The anchor tenant is a 4,400-square-foot Panera Bread Café with drive-thru.
General Contractor: TEAM Construction
Project Owner: Michael A. Jenkins
Written by Nicholas Shanmac
Vancouver Business Journal
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