Mar. 29--New names have joined the list of major employers in Pierce County. Some companies have dropped away.

Hope for better days remains.

That's the word from the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County. The board annually compiles a list of those Pierce County companies that employ 100 or more full-time workers.

The list, issued last week, shows that where 208 companies employed 163,064 people in 2008, this year 193 companies employ 162,399.

Publicly funded employers head the list this year, as they did last year -- with Fort Lewis at the top, employing more than 42,000 civilian and military personnel; followed by schools, which employ nearly 14,000; McChord Air Force Base, above 10,000; and the state, with nearly 8,000 workers.

Health care companies top the list of private employers, with MultiCare and Franciscan Health System employing more than 10,000 people combined.

"The number of total jobs this year was very similar to 2008," said Chris Green, who began compiling the list in January. "There's not anything that would come as a shock, based on what's been in the news."

Green, who said he made more than 800 calls to human resource directors and other company officials this year, notes that "a lot of people I spoke to are optimistic. A lot of people had positive feelings."

He said that more than once he heard, "'We think it will pick up soon.' Surprisingly -- it may be counterintuitive -- people were more optimistic than not."

Added Bruce Kendall, EDB president and CEO: "I think what we see is that in spite of the economic downturn there are companies that are growing, that are hiring. That's good news. At the same time, there are companies that are holding place, and there are some that have shrunk.

"If someone is just reading the headlines, it seems like all the economic news is bad," Kendall said. "You look at this list, you see there is some good news out there. We don't want to overstate it, but there are some bright spots that we find."

The list is used when contacting businesses that might be considering locating in the county, Kendall said.

"We give this out a lot," he said. "It's something we get a lot of requests for. When companies are looking to come into this area, they want to know who's here. We want to be certain we are giving them solid numbers."

NEW NAMES

The bureau hadn't previously contacted four companies -- Investco, Pierce County Security, Toysmith and Ikea -- that made the list this year.

Five others -- America's Credit Union, Lynden Transport, Sound Credit Union, Trident Seafoods and Artbeads.com -- "grew onto the list," said Green. These concerns had either been named in earlier years, and fallen off, or else had been contacted in earlier years with the thought that they might have reached the 100-job minimum.

Not everyone might have heard about Artbeads.com, a business that employs 125 on the Key Peninsula.

The company offers online sales of beads and jewelry-making supplies, said Carey Kimura, vice president of marketing and communications. It was founded in 2000 and is working on its eighth consecutive year of growth, he said.

"In these tough economic times, the growth has been smaller than in past years, but we have growth still," Kimura said.

The company serves hobbyists and commercial jewelry makers both, and is privately held.

FAMILIAR NAMES

Green points to a handful of companies that stand out, for him, on the 2009 list.

--Founded in 1960, Tacoma-based Bargreen-Ellingson continues to increase its work force, up nearly 14 percent this year over last year after adding 14 full-time equivalents to its rolls.