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ACE/E-Manifest Solutions has recently opened in Bellingham. New U.S. federal legislation requires carriers transporting goods into the U.S. to submit their manifests electronically to customs officials. ACE/E-Manifest Solutions claims to be the first third party manifest filer in the U.S. Bellingham resident Ryan Mitchell started this company with his Canadian partner Ron Paul.
Canadian based Brookfield Asset Management had an accepted offer to buy the financially troubled U.S. based mall owner The Mills Corp. This offer has been topped by Simon Property Group and Farallon Capital Management. Brookfield now has three days to either top this offer or walk away from the deal. This would have been a major U.S. acquisition by a Canadian company. Mills owns 38 major shopping malls throughout the U.S. and Canada.
A recent article in BusinessWeek discussed the continued interest in U.S. commercial real estate by foregin investors. According to BusinessWeek approximately 5% of the $336 billion spent last year on commercial real estate was by foreign investors. The top player is the Middle East. However, Canada comes in a respectable 4th acquiring $2.57 billion worth of commercial real estate. The U.S. is still seen as a stable market with many opportunities. One noted changing trend is foreign investors willingness to acquire value-added projects. I believe this indicates foregin investors trust in the stability of the U.S. market. Taking on riskier projects indicates their belief that the market itself has less risk and justifies more risk at the property level.
Given it's geographic location near the Canadian border, Bellingham Washington has a significant number of Canadian businesses. Some of these businesses are selling services and products directly to the local market in northern Washington State. Others are using the location as a U.S. distribution center that is still a close drive to their corporate headquaters just across the border in British Columbia. Some of these companies simply need a U.S. identity and maintain little else than a mailing address in Washington or maybe a small office. It is often quoted around Bellingham that taken as a whole, Canadian companies are the largest employer in the area. I have asked around and no one seems to know where this information comes from.
The Small Business Development Center has just announced that they are going to be studying the impact of Canadian owned companies in Whatcom County. Interestingly they are also going to be studying the impact of U.S. owned companies in British Columbia. This should be a fairly interesting study and hopefully it is made available to the public.
