Best of the Northwest: Quick facts

Our insistence that the companies we rank maintain share prices above $2 every day for the previous two years has proved a tough standard. Of 129 publicly traded companies in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, 48 were excluded for falling below the $2 minimum.

Community banks have been among the hardest-hit companies during the credit crisis and subsequent recession, and our ranking reflects that. Of 15 companies on last year's list that didn't qualify for ranking this year, nine were banks.

Even with a smaller field, four companies managed to muscle their way onto this year's ranking. Clearwire and First Financial Northwest, both 2007 IPOs, weren't eligible before; Coeur d'Alene Mines and Frontier Financial didn't make the cut last year but did this year. (Frontier, alas, won't be part of any more rankings; it's closing down after the April seizure of its banking subsidiary.)

Mentor Graphics posted the biggest improvement in our ranking derby: The Oregon-based company, which makes tools to design printed circuit boards and other electronic products, jumped 52 places, to 35th in this year's ranking.

The biggest decliner this year: Bothell-based Cardiac Science. The maker of defibrillators and other cardiac equipment fell 54 places, from 20th last year to 74th this year. The weak global economy cut into sales of the company's defibrillators, particularly in Japan.