Business Appreciation 2015

Business 2015

APPRECIATION

A supplement to The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle June 24, 2015

Page 2 — Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash.

Casino is first phase of development Tribe plans more facilities at new Omak gambling site

Omak and the Okanogan Valley, said Gaming Manager Bryon Miller.

The casino is open around the clock, and employs more than 200 people in three shifts.

Visitors are greeted by a seating area and floor-to-ceiling, lighted water sculpture. They can

By Dee Camp The Chronicle OMAK – The Colville Confederated Tribes are pinning their economic hopes for big gambling and entertainment on the new 12 Tribes Resort Casino, which opened June 17.

The facility, 28968 U.S. Highway 97, includes the casino, two restaurants, a nightclub and hotel. It is the first phase of what tribal officials hope will be a larger complex.

“This is only the beginning of what we hope is going to happen on this site,” Colville Business Council Vice Chairman Mel Tonasket said.

Plans call for a convention center, bingo facility and RV park.

“There are a lot of things that this facility is just the start of,” he said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony June 16.

The 56,000-square-foot casino side of the operation is twice the

See Casino 3

Business Appreciation

Al Camp/The Chronicle

The 56,000-square-foot casino is on the left. At right is the 80-room hotel with spa and athletic amenities. size of the Okanogan Casino, just a few miles to the south in Okanogan. That facility now is closed, and tribal officials haven’t yet decided what to do with it.

Along with Class III games, the

new casino offers two restaurants, a nightclub, sweet shop, private banquet room and conference rooms. Valet parking is offered.

“It’s a beautiful casino,” tribal gaming Chief Operating Officer

Randy Williams said. “We think it’s the nicest looking in the state.”

Colville Tribal Federal Corp., the tribe’s business arm, spent around $43 million on the facility, which sits on a hill overlooking

2015© The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle Owned and operated by Eagle Newspapers Inc. 618 Okoma Drive, Omak, WA 98841 P.O. Box 553, Omak, WA 98841 Roger Harnack, Editor and Publisher Dee Camp, Section Editor • Teresa Myers, Advertising Manager 509-826-1110 • 800-572-3446 • 509-826-5819 fax www.omakchronicle.com Cover photo: Dee Camp

ANDERSON’S GROCERY ! #!

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Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash. — Page 3

Casino from 2

Dee Camp/The Chronicle

Folks try out games during the ribbon-cutting gala on July 16.

Thanks for being the greatest customers in the world.

4440 Hwy. 155, Nespelem 509-634-4222

check out the games or move past the gaming floor to the restaurant and night club area or to the hotel wing.

The 80-room hotel features rooms, suites, room service, an indoor pool, sauna, spa, exercise room and indoor-outdoor hot tub.

Some rooms offer heated towel racks, TV/mirrors and jetted tubs.

Most hotel amenities are open to guests only, but the spa is open to the public.

Over the gaming floor, sculptural glass bubbles are suspended above the ceiling.

Pathways, either of tile set on the diagonal or of carpet, lead visitors to other parts of the building.

Those paths will help underage visitors navigate to food services and the hotel, Williams said.

Gambling age is 18, but younger guests are welcome in the restaurants and hotel.

“Our market is an adult market,” Miller said.

Along with gaming machines such as slots, the facility will offer poker, craps, roulette, blackjack and other novelty games.

Machines will change regularly.

“We’re a full entertainment venue,” Williams said.

One restaurant, Yu Bistro, features modern Chinese cuisine

Al Camp/The Chronicle

Workers put the finishing touches on the hotel, which is next to the 12 Tribes Casino. with a range of appetizers, soups and salads, and main dishes featuring beef, pork, chicken and seafood, noodle and rice dishes, and vegetable-based items.

Diners will find everything

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Gene's Harvest Foods Thank you to all of our wonderful customers for 52 great years!

22 W. Apple, Downtown Omak 509-826-0212

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from spring rolls and crab Rangoon to hot and sour soup, wok-seared broccoli beef, crispy honey chicken, Singapore street noodles, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce and spicy Sichuan asparagus.

“Asian is the hottest cuisine on the planet,” Executive Sous Chef Bennett Myall said. “It can be healthy and it quickly lends itself to a higher-end style.”

The other, the Camas Dining Room, offers family and fine dining choices. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be offered.

The breakfast menu offers everything from oatmeal with raisins to French toast with berry compote, huevos rancheros or steak and eggs. Pure maple syrup will be available, and should appeal to the facility’s Canadian guests, Executive Chef Jim Makinson said.

Lunch offerings range from soups and salads to angel hair pasta with basil-tomato sauce with shrimp to buttermilk chicken or hamburgers. Panini sandwiches also should be a popular choice, the chefs said.

Dinner runs the gamut, from beer-battered fish and chips to New York sirloin and cedarplanked King salmon. Local beef and produce will be featured.

Downtown Okanogan 509-422-4247

Page 4 — Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash.

Al Camp/The Chronicle

Element 78 is the gaming floor’s bar. Drinks may be taken to the gaming floor, tribal officials said.

Gaming from 3 Children’s menu choices will go beyond the chicken fingers-andFrench fries or mac-and-cheese fare often offered by restaurants.

“We’ll offer fruit cups and other stuff besides the usual,” Makinson said. “If you’re paying $180 a night (at the hotel), you want something healthy your kids will enjoy.”

The nightclub, Evolution, offers live entertainment such as comedy shows, fights and music. Friday and Saturday night acts began opening weekend.

Okanogan Truck & Tractor, Inc.

A folding wall allows Evolution to join with Yu for a larger venue.

Near the front entrance, the sweet shop offers coffee, bulk candy — including old-time sweets — pastries and ice cream.

Smoking will be allowed in the casino; a special air-clearing system will keep smoke from lingering, Williams said.

The tribe is doing extensive marketing outside Okanogan County.

If advance bookings and buzz are any indication, people already are happy with the facility, Group Sales Coordinator Lovee Eldridge

Al Camp/The Chronicle

The casino’s indoor pool, foreground, sits adjacent to an indoor-outdoor hot tub, upper right-center. said just before opening day.

“My phone is ringing off the hook,” she said. “There is a lot of interest from the Canadian

market, Idaho and Oregon.”

Taylor Woodstone of Bloomington, Minn., was the prime contractor.

The tribe also operates the Mill Bay Casino and Deepwater Amphitheater in Manson and the Coulee Dam Casino in that city.

BREWSTER DRUG & Hardware

Thank you for your trust.

We look forward to serving you for many years.

2916 Cameron Lake Rd., Okanogan 509-422-3390

Thrifty Auto & Tire, LLC

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Collision Specialists Family owned Bryon, Kellie and David Thank you for many great years of service!

1604 N. 2nd Ave., Okanogan

509-422-5562

Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash. — Page 5

Patient needs, regulations are priorities Harmony House earns top rating for health care service The Chronicle BREWSTER — Constant attention to patient needs, health care rules and regulations, and industry changes has allowed Harmony House Health Care Center to keep going strong for the past 45 years.

Jerry Tretwold, who owns and operates the nursing home with his wife, Toni, said the key to continued success is “to pay attention to business. Nothing of any significance happens that I don’t know about.”

Regardless of whether he’s in the building at 100 River Plaza, at home or on vacation, Tretwold said his staff has instructions to let him know about a variety of issues and situations.

“I’m in the building all the time. I know my residents by name. It’s fun when the girls flirt with me,” the 72-year-old said of residents who often are his age.

Tretwold had worked in retail,

Omak

Hardware

Harmony House

The Harmony House facility has been under the same ownership for more than 40 years. then in a cabinet shop when a friend asked him to work for him at his Chelan nursing home. Later,

in 1972, another friend asked Tretwold to manage his Brewster nursing home.

Mac’s Tire of Omak

The Tretwolds purchased Harmony House in 1978 and in 1992 purchased the building

Bob Raymer’s !

Locally family owned.

Thanks to all of our loyal customers!

661 Riverside Drive 509-826-0640

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T hank you for many wonderful years in the community!

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where it’s housed.

A decade ago, they did a $2 million remodeling project.

Tretwold has been involved in a variety of outside activities and groups, including the Washington Health Care Association, which he has served as president; a national health care political action committee, Brewster school volunteer, deputy county coroner for 28 years and the Three Rivers Hospital board, for which he is the current vice chairman. He also ran an ambulance service for 25 years.

Those outside activities help round out his life, but “if I didn’t like my job, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

The Tretwolds constantly strive to improve their business, despite constant changes in health care.

Harmony House recently received the Bronze Commitment Award from the National Quality Award Program of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living.

The program honors centers across the nation that have demonstrated their commitment

See Harmony 6

Page 6 — Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash.

Harmony from 5 to improving quality care for seniors and individuals with disabilities.

“It is a great honor to be recognized by ACHA/NCAL with a National Quality Award,” Tretwold said. “This award symbolizes the dedication and commitment we have to the quality journey.”

The Bronze Commitment award is the first of three levels in the quality improvement process.

No other nursing home Tretwold facilities in Okanogan County have been given that designation or the higher silver or gold levels, according to the American Health Care Association’s website.

Centers at that level develop an organizational profile with essential performance elements, such as vision and mission statements and an assessment of customer expectations, Tretwold said. They also must demonstrate their ability to implement a performance improvement system.

Harmony House now can move forward in developing approaches and achieving performance levels that meet criteria required for the silver level.

Change and improvement are watchwords in the health care industry these days, with shrinking federal support for Medicare, implications from the

Affordable Care Act and a move toward consolidation of facilities.

The number of nursing homes in the state has dwindled significantly over the past few decades, Tretwold said.

Health care “is so different” than it was when he started in the business, he said.

Preventive care is much more prevalent, and licensing and regulatory agencies watch facilities like hawks.

While the medical and accountability factors are important, Tretwold said he also wants his staff to be kind, welcoming and helpful to residents.

Tretwold said both his parents and his wife’s father were residents of Harmony House and that was a real eye-opener. After work, they would stick around to be with their parents and the staff “would forget we were here,” he said.

That allowed him to see how his staff interacted with each other and the residents.

He said he was, for the most part, impressed with the compassion and caring he saw.

In the future, he sees additional changes for nursing homes, hospitals and other aspects of health care.

He just returned from Washington, D.C., where he met with U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5th District, and U.S. Sen Patty Murray.

Urgent care, charity care, observation stays, veterans health care and all manner of reimbursement and financial considerations all play roles.

“Health care, from top to bottom, is changing,” he said.

Harmony House

The family dining room at Harmony House provides a homey atmosphere.

Serving the community since 1987.

204 N. Main St. • Omak 509-826-1919

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Making memories to last a lifetime!

509-422-4401 www.timpatrickphoto.com

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Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash. — Page 7

Marijuana: A new economic player Okanogan County offers trio of retailers for pot products

Growers, Twisp; Kettle River, Danville; Double Delicious, Malaga; Farm West, Omak, and Okanogan Pot Growers, Chewiliken Valley.

“It’s kind of like farm-to-table,” she said, adding that she wants to keep prices reasonable to keep people from going to the black market.

The store offers a variety of pot and pot products, plus paraphernalia.

Dutton also displays local artists’ works, but cannot post prices or sell artwork from the store. She will supply artist contact information to people interested in purchasing the works.

Dutton is an acupuncturist by trade, and said she decided to get into the marijuana retailing business because several of her acupuncture patients requested something to help them sleep and ease pain.

Her goal is to make enough money with the Sage Shop so that she won’t have to worry about income from acupuncture and can offer affordable health care to the

By Dee Camp The Chronicle OMAK – The passage of Initiative 502 gives the business landscape some new players in the form of recreational marijuanarelated businesses.

Three retail shops have been licensed, with the newest being The Sage Shop at 903C Engh Road.

Others are Fresh Greens, 29 Horizon Flats Road Suite 7, Winthrop, and 4US Retail, 23251 state Highway 20, Okanogan.

Sage Shop, after a lengthy battle with the city over whether it could open, opened its doors May 30 after the city dropped its fight.

Store owner Montana Dutton said business has been good so far.

She employs four or five people and is buying the store’s weed locally.

Initial suppliers are the Green Company, Tonasket; Cascade

The Sage Shop staff includes, from left, John Akin, Linda Watson, Nathan Hansen, adviser Jeff Newton, Jenny Friebus and owner Montana Dutton.

See Pot 8

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Page 8 — Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash.

Pot from 7 community.

Under Initiative 502, passed by state voters in 2012, retail pot stores can be licensed by the state Liquor Control Board, soon to be known as the Liquor and Cannabis Control Board.

The board said Okanogan County can have five stores, but said one must be in Omak.

Under a city ordinance, businesses in town must comply with local, state and federal laws.

Although recreational marijuana use and sales are allowed under state law, they still are illegal under federal law.

Dutton obtained a state license but ran into a roadblock with the city. But the City Council, faced with a protracted legal battle and noting that the U.S. Department of Justice has said it won’t seek prosecutions for recreational marijuana use in Washington and Colorado, dropped its challenge.

Meanwhile, Fresh Greens owner-operator Austin Lott said his business is doing well after a somewhat rocky start.

Like Dutton, he faced opposition from the town. Unlike Dutton, he wanted to operate in an industrial zone, but the town didn’t want to grant him a conditional use permit.

Dee Camp/The Chronicle

Packaged marijuana awaits customers at The Sage Shop.

Ultimately, he was able to get the permit and opened July 17, 2014. There have been no issues with the town since.

“It was a rather inauspicious beginning,” he said of the store’s opening, which coincided with the day the Carlton Complex fire blew up. Electricity to the Methow Valley went off that afternoon and remained off for eight days.

With homes and farms

burning, no electricity and hundreds of people displaced by the fire, nobody really wanted to buy pot, he said.

In addition, retailers who opened last July, when the state began allowing them to start selling, ran into a product shortage.

After the shortage came a surplus of product, but things have evened out now, Lott said.

Al Camp/The Chronicle

South of Okanogan, 4US Retail/Caribou Corner Cannabis offers cannabis products.

“It’s going well. We have lowered prices. We’re catering to local people, not those who come here for recreation,” he said.

His shop offers marijuana, edibles, concentrates, buds and other pot products, plus a variety of paraphernalia.

The county’s third store, 4US Retail, also got off to a slow start because of the product shortage.

Store operators Sean Sheehey and Teresa Tindoll could not be reached for comment.

The store has received several favorable reviews on allbud.com.

Heatstroke Screenprinting

Thank you for all your support over the years!

Custom screenprinting • Vinyl graphics • Tees • Uniforms • Signs • Banners • Vehicle graphics www.heatstrokeSP.com Okanogan • 509-422-5021

“Thank you for 22 years of beautiful smiles!”

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Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash. — Page 9

Jackson’s Chevron nears 70-year mark Several generations of family put mark on service station

By Al Camp The Chronicle

The crew at Jackson’s Chevron Service — Gas and Service Station gather in front of the store. They include, from left, Chick Jackson, Dennis Jackson, Christine Monahan, Robert Jackson and John Marchand.

NESPELEM – A fixture for nearly 70 years, Jackson’s Chevron Service – Gas and Service Station continues to serve those in the region with gas, 24-hour towing, a deli, mini mart and repair shop.

“I love people, that’s why we’ve run this place for 70 years,” Chick Jackson said.

His father, Jess, started the business in early September 1945, right after World War II ended, Chick Jackson said. Doors officially opened in early 1946.

“They called my dad JI, everybody called him JI,” Chick Jackson said.

The service station, which truly offers a service to the small community, became a Chevron distributor in 1980. Before that it was a Texaco station located on

See Jackson’s 10

Joaquin Bustamante/Special to The Chronicle

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Thanks to all our customers for the great years.

We appreciate you shopping locally.

Owned and operated by Connie and John Shaver 17 N. Main, Omak • 509-826-2726

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Page 10 — Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash.

Jackson’s from 9 the backside of town for 35 years.

Chick, 61, and his three brothers (including Dennis, 74, who still works there), along with other family members, have kept the business booming ever since. Chick and Dennis have been associated with the business since the early 1970s when Jess Jackson turned over the keys to the business to them.

“They bronzed my apple box I used to stand on to wash windows,” Chick Jackson said with humor in his voice. “It’s in the Service Station Hall of Fame.

“My brother has been her longer than all of us. He’s still working here.”

Several generations have or continue to work at the business, located along state Highway 155 in town.

“There was my dad, us (he and wife, Sindy), a nephew (Robert Jackson), our kids and grandkids,” Chick Jackson said. “We have four generations running around here.”

Other brothers who worked at the station include Jim, who is retired after being a powerhouse operator for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and Lee, who worked 25 years for McCollum Ford in Spokane.

Wives of all four brothers have

also worked at the station. Jackson said his children worked there in high school and part of their college years.

Sindy Jackson continues is bookkeeper, gas pumper, cook and cow hustler (on the family’s ranch).

“When we get a middle-of-thenight wrecker call, she goes with me,” Jackson said in 2010. “She’s a very, very good partner. I am amazed she’s stuck around this long.”

The station is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

Gas prices stay competitive, oftentimes being lower than many stations in the more populated Omak-Okanogan area.

“We really have to watch what we charge, because I can’t run very fast anymore,” Chick Jackson, with more humor reflected in his voice.

Being more serious, he said, “We have a great foundation of customers. We are thankful for what we’ve got. Without them, we would not be here. We are knocking on the door for 70 years. It’s been a great run.”

Chick and Sindy Jackson, when not running the business, work or attend rodeos throughout the region.

That’s partly because they work the events, but also because they raise bucking bulls (and a few broncs) that are trained and perform for stock contractor Mike Corey of

Moses Lake.

“Sindy times rodeos for Mike,” Chick Jackson said. “He’s a hometown boy from Loomis.”

The couple recently returned from several days of rodeo in Sisters, Ore. “Every performance they had was sold out,” Chick Jackson said.

“It was like being in Omak on Saturday, but every performance was like that. I don’t know how they do it.”

He says the most fun and excitement he’s ever had in his life was working the Suicide Race in Omak.

“That was a kick,” said Chick Jackson, who worked the hill, river and arena over the years.

But the love of raising bulls takes center stage in his thoughts and conversation.

“We send a bull to work with Mike, who buys them at a very young age,” Chick Jackson said. “We get to see what he purchases perform all over the United States and Canada.”

The bulls from the Jackson Ranch have performed at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, at Calgary and many towns in between.

“There are three of us in town raising buckin’ bulls,” Chick Jackson said.

The others are Gary McClure and Carl Stacey.

Brock Hires/The Chronicle

Customers carry out their purchases from Anderson’s Grocery.

Anderson’s Grocery celebrates 115 years Fourth generation owner strives for continual improvement The Chronicle REPUBLIC – With almost 115 years experience under its belt, it’s no wonder why Anderson’s Grocery is a favorite business in Ferry County.

“My great-grandfather actually started this business,” Kari Beedle said. “He came from Sweden; went to Alaska for the gold rush and somehow ended up here in Republic.”

Beedle has been the owner for the past 17 years.

“We’re actually fourth generation Andersons,” she said, adding that the store has seen

See Andersons 10

Thanks for visiting our fruit stand! www.shawsfruit.com 3533A Hwy. 155, Coulee Dam, WA 99116 509-633-0133

Hair & Nail Salon Thank you for many great years!

Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash. — Page 11

Anderson’s from 10 many product line changes since its early days.

The store now offers a deli, bakery, fresh meat, local produce and other local products.

“In the summertime, when it’s available, we try to buy from local growers as much as possible,” she said.

“I’ve been shopping at Anderson’s since the mid-1990s when we began vacationing in the Republic area,” Sarah L. wrote on Yelp.com. “Over the years I’ve seen this store expand its line of groceries to include organic vegetables, and milk products, salad kits and fresh baked La Brea breads.”

“We used to bring groceries all the way from Seattle to Curlew,” writes Jennifer O. of Auburn on Yelp.

“But no more; in fact, Anderson’s Grocery is nicer than most stores in the Kent-Auburn area. I felt like I was in a fancy grocery store in Seattle.”

The store is open seven days per week and features daily specials in the deli along with in-town deliveries three days per week.

“There use to be another store about two miles south of Republic, but, you know they ended up shutting down and that increased our business now,” Beedle said.

“It’s been a real pleasure being a part of this family and the history of Republic.”

Brock Hires/The Chronicle

Employees help customers at the bakery counter on a Saturday morning.

Derina’s Flower Basket )$-!(,*!%$-* " + 513 Okoma Dr., Omak 509-826-1728

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• Real Estate • Business Estate Planning • Probate

Thank you to all our clients for your business and support over the years.

We appreciate our customers’ trust in us!

Thank You!

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Page 12 — Business Appreciation 2015, The Chronicle, Omak, Wash.

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“I’ve been coming for years and I keep coming back.”

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Animal Hospital of Omak

Still doing jewelry repair — the Harrison Way! Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

• Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

125 Pine St., Downtown Okanogan 509-422-4282

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