Business-friendly state key to luring mint's new jobs

Ross Hansen couldn't say enough to northern Nevada reporters last week about the business-friendly environment of Nevada, where Hansen is moving his Northwest Territorial Mint from suburban Seattle.

Here's just how friendly he viewed it to be:

During meetings with Gov. Jim Gibbons, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki and staff members of economic development agencies, Hansen told them that the sales tax Nevada collects on sales of gold and silver was a potential deal-killer.

In response, Hansen said, state officials agreed that the state will change the law.

Mike Skaggs, executive director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, said the commitment by the state didn't go that far.

The governor's staff has agreed to take a look at possible changes in law governing sales taxes on gold and silver and will undertake an analysis of the potential cost, Skaggs said.

Privately held Northwest Territorial Mint acquired Medallic Art Co., a century-old company headquartered in Dayton, and will combine the two companies' operations in Nevada.

Hansen said an unfriendly business environment in Washington drove the headquarters operation of his company out of the state, and a business-friendly climate in Nevada brought him to Dayton.

Along with the governor and lieutenant governor, Hansen met with State Sen. Mark Amodei and Assembly members Tom Grady, Bonnie Parnell and James Settelmeyer and Rob Hooper from the Northern Nevada Development Authority as he considered a move to Nevada.

They grilled him about Northwest Territorial Mint, the types of jobs it might bring to the state and the measures it takes to ensure environmental protection. (Metal stamping operations such as a mint get close attention from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to keep heavy metals out of water supplies.)

That grilling, Hansen said, was refreshing after visits to other states that were willing to sell their souls to win the jobs the mint would bring with it.

Nevada officials also were willing to work with Northwest Territorial Mint to resolve issues such as the sales tax that might have sent the company elsewhere.

"I felt like it was a partnership," Hansen said.

Northwest Territorial Mint became fed up with Washington officials and began searching for a new home about a year ago, looking at northern Idaho and other potential locations.

Among the actions taken by the Washington State government that angered Hansen was a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general in early 2008. It alleged that 82 consumers had complained to state and federal agencies and the Better Business Bureau that Northwest Territorial Mint failed to make timely deliveries of thousands of dollars in gold and silver bullion purchases and failed to answer their complaints.

In a response at the time, Northwest Territorial Mint said the lawsuit by the Washington attorney general was "deceptively misleading" and failed to acknowledge the company's clearly stated policies on delivery of gold and silver.

"No client has ever lost money or been defrauded by Northwest Territorial Mint," the company said in a prepared statement after the lawsuit was filed.

Court records in King County, Washington, show Northwest Territorial Mint signed a consent decree last September to bring the lawsuit to a close. The company didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing, and paid a $20,000 fine and $38,763 in attorney fees to the state. It also agreed to provide detailed delivery and payment policies to customers.

The Dayton deal began to come together when Bob Hoff, the president of Medallic Art Co., decided to retire after more than 30 years in the business.

He'd known Hansen through industry circles and traveled to Washington State to discuss a potential sale of his company.

Medallic Art was a well-known player in the mint industry. It's produced the Pulitzer Prize, the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Newberry and Caldecott Medals.

It was formed in 1903 in New York City by sculptor Henry Weil. The company moved to Danbury, Conn., in 1972, to Sioux Falls, S.D., in 1991 and to Dayton in 1997.

Hoff's visit to the Seattle area came as Hansen, frustrated with the direction of state government in Washington, was beginning to look at Idaho and other potential locations for his company.

The opportunity to acquire Medallic Art's modern equipment and move quickly to a business-friendly state gave Hansen the motivation he needed.

Northwest Territorial Mint creates commemorative coins and similar items for Fortune 500 companies as well as the military. It's also a dealer in precious metals.

It expects to employ about 150 people in a 118,000-square-facility near the Dayton Air Park. Medallic Art Co. had employed fewer than 20 people in the building, and Hansen said his company will spend much of this summer preparing the building for expanded operation.

He said up to 100 employees of the company's current headquarters in Auburn, Wash., will be offered a chance to relocate. Northwest Territorial Mint also expects to hire 75 to 150 northern Nevada residents this autumn in jobs ranging from artists to salespeople to office support.

Northwest Territorial Mint, which has been in business since 1984, has created medallions for organizations ranging from the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Boy Scouts, the National Rifle Association and Harley-Davidson.

Its operations also include a die-cutting facility and sales office at Green Bay, Wis., a sales office at Springfield, Va., and a retail store in The Pentagon.