WASHINGTON STATE

About 70 percent of Next IT’s revenues currently come from its ActiveAgent Web-based software, which uses virtual guides to interact with Web-site visitors and customers, says Brown.

“They very easily over the next couple of years could become the first profitable fuel-cell company in the country,” says Scott Morris, president of Avista Utilities and a member of ReliOn’s board. “They continually meet their milestones and their projections.”

"With the Legislature and the governor electing to impose the highest state inheritance tax in the nation on family owned companies, it has left us with little choice but to move,"

The venture capital firm, with offices in Spokane and Seattle, lead two financing rounds in Pacific Northwest companies.

"Data centers like this are what contains the family jewels," Enderle said. "They’re looking for low-cost real estate and stable sites in terms of weather and geographic activity. It means they’ve done some work and determined it’s one of the least-expensive, safest places they can build."

So why doesn’t Washington, a state that touts economic development as a key priority, invest more in business incentives? Why should we? Are we certain that we’re not investing enough? What’s a job worth anyway?

Using a precursor to the technology standard known as WiMax, Clearwire offers download connections up to 1.5 megabits per second and upload connections up to 256 kilobits per second, speeds it claims are 25 times faster than typical dial-up connections. The service – including a monthly modem charge – costs $35 to $42 per month.

One of the latest to benefit from Trilogy’s war chest is Junxion, a 3-year-old Seattle company whose technology allows computer users to create wireless hot spots wherever a cellular network is available.

A reprieve may come next month. On April 11, shareholders are set to consider a $65 million financing deal, led by MPM Capital, which will own about 30 percent of NeoRx’s stock if it is approved.

Northstar is testing its lead product, the Northstar Stroke Recovery System a pacemaker-like device that delivers electric stimulation, that’s meant to help restore hand and arm function to stroke victims.