Original article.
http://www.columbian.com/article/20081008/BIZ01/810089971/-1/biz
Columbian plans return to former offices
Julia Anderson
Swept by the double tsunami of a sour economy and rising new building costs, The Columbian Publishing Co. today announced plans to relocate its business and newsroom operations to former offices at 701 W. Eighth St. in downtown Vancouver.
The move, according to Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell, is out of the need to generate more revenue from a new six-story building constructed by Campbell and his wife, Jody, which opened south of Esther Short Park in January. The options, Campbell said, are to either lease all of the 118,000-square-foot $30 million structure or to sell it. At present, Columbian newsroom, advertising and circulation operations occupy four of the six floors in the building at 415 W. Sixth St.
In order to make the difficult financial transition, Campbell said the company is trying to negotiate a new loan with its lender or will seek temporary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors. Chapter 11 gives a business time to reorganize and return to financial health.
“Like many newspapers across the country, The Columbian is facing a difficult business situation given the economic environment, but we are fortunate to have the resources that allow us to respond with economical solutions,” Campbell said. “The Columbian is confident it has the ability to come out of this situation and continue to be the trusted news source for Clark county as it has been for more than 100 years.”
Campbell is the third generation of his family to operate the newspaper purchased by his grandfather, Herbert Campbell in 1921.
“We strongly believe that we will be successful through this transition,” Campbell said. “With the newspaper and our Web site, we continue to be market leaders for both advertisers and readers. We reach many more customers than either TV or radio in this market.”
The Columbian’s move is predicated on the two-pronged difficulty of very tight credit markets and a downturn in advertising revenue in the newspaper business, Campbell said.
The relocation to 701 Eighth St. will take time and is not expected until the first quarter of 2009. The Columbian, which has experienced two rounds of layoffs in the past 10 months, employs a total of 282 people including 12 employees of the Camas Post-Record, which it also owns.
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