Q: Let's get specific about what you're doing now. Give us some companies that you're investing in.

A: The breakdown of businesses tends to go along state lines. Washington has information technology, consumer and biotechnology. Oregon has semiconductors and industrials, with less activity inland, in Montana and Idaho. Very often what we focus on are discrete brands. For example, take Colorado-based Red Robin [RRGB], a smaller-scale restaurant chain that came public in July 2002 and is very big in our region. It's a highly successful family-friendly gourmet-burger operation, serving lunch and dinner. Who but a native would know that almost every kid in the Pacific Northwest has a birthday party at Red Robin's?

Short

16.7

Great company with outstanding customer service

One bite and you will know why

Upgraded by McAdams,Wright,Ragen from Hold to Buy

Upgraded by Morgan Keegan from Mkt Perform to Outperform

Upgraded by Matrix Research from Sell to Hold

Downgraded by Matrix Research from Hold to Sell

How can you not love this place, watch the growth in your area.

From Barron's 7-2-07:

"In retailing, most people look at the demand side. I always focus on the supply side. Look at casual-dining restaurant companies like P.F. Chang [PFCB], Cheesecake Factory [CAKE], Red Robin Gourmet [RRGB], Buffalo Wild Wings [BWLD] and California Pizza Kitchen [CPKI]. They're growing 15% to 40% per year and generally have P/E multiples of 20 to 30. By my calculation, based on the rate they are opening restaurants, Americans are going to have to eat 28 meals a week out of the house by 2011 to justify these multiples. So unless Americans are going to get very fat or very rich or their houses are going to burn down, that's unlikely to happen."