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Northwest banks continued to make solid strides in the fourth quarter. The tone in earnings reports was decidedly more upbeat, and the conversation has shifted from survival to growth. Profits were up, and several saw gains in their loan portfolios over the previous year. Learn what analysts took away from the fourth quarter, and what our sources said that indicates things might be looking up in 2012.

Contractors’ views on how busy they will be in the coming year varied widely by state. Some were more optimistic than others. We’ll tell you what types of projects will keep contractors busy, which sectors will lag, and whether they expect to hire. You will also learn when contractors expect business to bounce back in their state. A hint: it’s unlikely to be 2012.

A one-week span earlier this year shows how globalization can make certain commodity prices highly volatile. Just as global supplies of this crop looked abundant, conditions changed dramatically half a world away, and U.S. prices marched upward. We’ll tell you how important this commodity is to the region and why the roller coaster ride may not be over.

How did the region's10 largest companies by market capitalization do in the fourth quarter? We give you their key statistics in PNW Snapshot’s easy-to-read format.

Those ubiquitous shipping containers bound for Asia from Pacific Northwest ports still head west mostly empty or frequently carrying low-value cargo like scrap steel and waste paper. But in a trend that is little noticed, more containers are climbing the food chain: They carry higher-value products from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Learn what is being loaded into the containers, how much more the extra handling costs, and why buyers are willing to pay the price.

The worst drought in the southern Plains since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s has beef and cattle prices setting all-time records. We’ll tell you what it means for ranchers in the Northwest and what is in store for consumers by the time grilling season rolls around.

Alaska’s public officials have tried all kinds of plans in trying to put North Slope natural gas to work. The governor is giving another go at jump-starting the long-delayed project that would bring the North Slope natural gas to market. Find out what tools he’s employing and the odds an industry insider gives of this plan being successful.

A tentative agreement between the owner of a $200 million, state-of-the-art grain elevator on the Lower Columbia River and a union no doubt prompted a huge sigh of relief in southwest Washington.

One Northwest state’s dairy industry got another dose of good news, while the flagship factory of one dairy company just got a little smaller.

Learn which states in our region were among the top-10 in terms of population growth over a 12-month period last year, and what drove those gains in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

This year should be a busy one on the region’s railroads. New tracks will spur development in northern Montana that is expected to create more than 300 jobs. Work is under way on removing a key bottleneck near one of the Northwest’s major metropolitan areas. Rail traffic has been on the rise across the nation. Learn how much one study upwardly revised the railroads’ projected growth in the Northwest and what will be driving those gains.

Dairy farmers have had a rough go of it after prices cratered a few years back. Demand and prices bounced back starting in 2010, but just as things were looking up, dairies are facing another set of challenges. We’ll tell you what it means for the dairy industry and how much more you may be paying for some of your milk.

Patents have become a billion-dollar business as the information sector grows in importance. It’s a contentious issue in the technology world, with developers and companies divided on the issue, and one of its biggest players headquartered in the Northwest. Read about how much some recent patent portfolios have sold for, why the small inventor is gaining clout, and why patents aren’t everything they are cracked up to be.

Unemployment rates are finally creeping downward throughout the region. See how the labor market has improved compared to last year, and which two cities bucked the trend, in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

The theme for the financial markets in 2011 was volatility, and investment professionals we surveyed from around the Northwest said we should expect much of the same in 2012. But it doesn’t mean there won’t be excellent opportunities out there for the savvy investor. We’ll tell you the stocks they think are attractive in 2012, as well as share insight into their investment philosophies, and their advice on how to handle volatility.

Boeing’s top brass has been voicing its concerns for roughly a year now about how to replace a major part of the work force that is nearing retirement in its factories around the Puget Sound area . That concern took on even more urgency when the aerospace giant announced it will be building the next generation of the 737 in Renton, and will need to bring on more workers. Learn roughly how much of its work force is 55 and older and what measures Boeing and public agencies are taking to keep the labor pipeline full.

Washington officials got a dose of good news recently with the latest personal income data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Evergreen State led the nation in personal income growth and in another measure that suggests its economy is on the right track.

The Pacific Northwest’s wine industry earned honors in annual lists ranking the top wines of 2011; and Oregon’s start-ups improved on last year’s funding totals.

See where the Milken Institute ranked our region’s metro areas in its annual Best-Performing Cities index in this issue’s PNW Snapshot.

Jim Murez

Jim Murez joined Random Lengths in 2009 as Editor of Marple's Northwest Business Letter. For the previous 15-plus years he was an editor at newspapers around Oregon, most recently at The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon.

Michael J. Parks

Michael J. Parks is Editor Emeritus of Marple's Letter and a respected speaker on the Pacific Northwest Economy. He's the "dean of Pacific Northwest economy watchers," says The Seattle Times.