Bellingham Business Journal, May 05, 2014

Vol. 22 No. 5

MAY 2014 Crowd-funding support helps Hammerhead Coffee Roasters move to new home [Page 10]

Builders are optimistic on new season’s job growth

THE READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS

Ross and Dana Driscoll, owners of Drizzle Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Room, voted the 2014 Business of the Year. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | THE BBJ

Honors and highlights

Ten categories featuring readers’ selections of the best in local business and nonprofit work

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal Whatcom County’s unemployment rate shrank in March, but with new local hires growing at about the same rate they did the previous month, the latest jobs data brought few surprises, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department.

“For the most part, we’ve got a repeat of last month,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, a regional labor economist.

The county’s initial unemployment rate in March was estimated at 7.1 percent, down from 7.5 percent in March 2013, and also below a 7.5 percent revised jobless estimate from February of this year.

Month-to-month change in the local jobless rate and total nonfarm employment in March followed similar trends seen in 2013 and 2012.

Private sector employers in Whatcom County added 1,100 jobs in March 2014 compared to March 2013, including a gain of 300 jobs between February and March of this year. All total, 84,900 people were working in Whatcom County in March, according to the Employ-

RESULTS START ON PAGE 4

JOBS, PAGE 10

The Buzz Nonprofit of the Year: Lydia Place

Safeway, Burlington openings official

Utilizing a housing-first strategy to support homeless families and individuals.

READERS’ CHOICE, PAGE 8

More large-scale retail stores are preparing to open in Bellingham.

RETAIL NOTES, PAGE 3

Business Toolkit Facebook marketing: It’s not what it used to be When you are the problem in your own business TOOLKIT, PAGE 17

The Book Of Lists Rankings this month feature local accountants PAGE 6

Space reserved for mailing label

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2 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

Contents Feel confident with your home financing decision As a responsible lending leader, we work closely with you to help you understand your home financing options so you can make informed decisions.

Whether you’re buying your first home, second home or refinancing your current home, we have the products and services to help you reach your homebuying goals.

Call us to explore your options.

A row of olive oil dispensers at Drizzle Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Room in Bellingham’s Fairhaven District. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | THE BBJ

Larry W. Evans Branch Manager 360-738-2376

[4] The Readers’ Choice Awards

NMLSR ID 856141

Honoring the best in local business and nonprofits. After a round of nominations and a round of voting, we can now reveal this year’s winners and runners-up.

Connect with us On Twitter @BBJToday

Anndi D. Pena

Home Mortgage Consultant 360-738-2363

NMLSR ID 413608

Ross Schram von Haupt

Home Mortgage Consultant 425-301-5710

NMLSR ID 1026086

Ryan D. Martin Home Mortgage Consultant 360-293-1160

[15] Boeing jobs

NMLSR ID 404824

Aerospace manufacturer moves 1,000 engineering positions out of Puget Sound.

On Facebook facebook.com/ BBJToday On Google+ Bellingham Business Journal

[15] Q1 home sales show local market stability Few surprises in residential sales data from early 2014, which could provide some as a promising sign for buyers and sellers seeking predicatability as summer nears.

[20] Changes for Future of Business conference Barry Weafer

Home Mortgage Consultant 360-676-4709

Brandon C. Mankle

Reah Marie Dewell

NMLSR ID 634610

NMLSR ID 156730

Home Mortgage Consultant NMLSR ID 420701 360-738-2362

The nonprofit Sustainable Connections is switching up its popular annual business networking and workshop conference.

[6] The Book of Lists: Featured Lists [7] Market Indicators [17] Business Toolkit

Home Mortgage Consultant 360-384-4975

[18] Public Records [21] People On The Move

The Bellingham Business Journal A division of Sound Publishing Inc.

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Editorial Department: Evan Marczynski, associate editor, evan@bbjtoday.com (Send press releases, story pitches and general inqueries to editor@bbjtoday.com) Advertising Department: Tony Bouchard, advertising sales manager, tbouchard@bbjtoday.com (Send general inqueries about advertising, for print and online, to sales@bbjtoday.com) Subscription information: (888) 838-3000, circulation@bbjtoday.com

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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: BBJToday.com Circulation, PO Box 130, Kent, WA 98035.

May 2014 3

The Bellingham Business Journal RETAIL NOTES

Burlington, Safeway announce fall openings for Bellingham

Sign up for our free email Visit us online at BBJToday.com to register, and start your mornings with the latest local business news sent directly to your inbox.

New large-scale retailers coming to Meridian Street and Sunset Square

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal Safeway Inc. expects to open its new store in Bellingham’s Sunset Square shopping center in October this year, the company has announced.

Renovations of the grocer’s future location, which was once a Cost Cutter store, should begin in May. Safeway says it plans to invest nearly $13 million to remodel the Sunset Square space.

The future 67,000-squarefoot Safeway store will feature all of the grocer’s specialty departments, including an organic and natural foods section, a floral stand, bakery, deli, and wine department. It will also include an in-store Starbucks kiosk.

Remodeling plans also feature a new store exterior with an outdoor market area, as well an enclosed outdoor space with seating and free Wi-Fi. Along with the grocery store, Safeway will also operate a fueling station on the corner of Sunset Drive and James Street.

Safeway took over Cost Cutter’s pharmacy operations last October, and is currently operating its pharmacy in a space adjacent to the future grocery store. The pharmacy will remain open during construction.

Burlington makes new store official Burlington Coat Factory has officially announced plans to open a new location in Bellingham this fall, according to an April 18 news release from the nationwide retailer.

The new Burlington location will be at 4131 Meridian

The Bellingham Business Journal

A rendering of the future Safeway Inc. grocery store in Bellingham’s Sunset Square shopping center. IMAGE courtESy to thE BBJ St., a former Cost Cutter grocery store. Burlington filed for a building permit with the City of Bellingham on April 8 for various tenant improvements at the Meridian Street address.

A senior project manager with Burlington told The Bellingham Business Journal in March that remodeling was expected to begin at the 73,000-square-foot location this spring, but spokespeople with the company declined to confirm the news at the time.

The news release states the Bellingham store will employ between 50-100 people. It will be one of nine Burlington Coat Factory locations in Washington state. New stores are also opening in Burlington (of Skagit County) and Union Gap this fall.

Burlington stores feature a

variety of discount apparel, including children’s items, as well as furniture, jewelry, linens and shoes. The chain competes nationally with other similar retailers such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.

New Walgreens plans for Samish Way A new Walgreens drug store might be built on Bellingham’s Samish Way, on an empty property that once included a Black Angus steak house, according to plans recently submitted to the city by South Carolinabased developer Centennial American Properties LLC. The plans propose a 14,490-square-foot Walgreens building that would replace a Shell gas station currently on the site, as well

as the possibility of a future 4,500-square-foot building slightly north, near an existing Subway sandwich shop.

The now-empty building on the site that once housed the Black Angus steak house, which closed in 2008, would be demolished to allow for additional parking. New entrances to the property would be also built off of 37th Street, which is between Samish Way and Interstate 5.

Bellingham currently has two Walgreens locations: one on Meridian Street, and the other on East Sunset Drive.

There is also a Walgreens in Ferndale.

Inspired... just like our membership WestEdge... built by people, for people.

Find Solutions, not excuses, at WestEdge Credit Union

Evan Marczynski, associate editor of the Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext. 5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.

Join us at westedgeCU.org or call (360) 734-5790 to learn more

NeWS aNd preSS releaSe SuBmiSSioN guideliNeS Send news tips and press releases (including hiring and event announcements) to editor@bbjtoday.com.

News/editorial submissions to be considered for monthly BBJ print editions must be received prior to the final Monday of each month in order to make it in time for the next edition’s print deadline.

leTTerS To THe ediTor guideliNeS “solutions not excuses” 1037125

Letters can be emailed to editor@bbjtoday.com, faxed to 360-647-0502, or snail-mailed to 1909 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225. A letter must include the writer’s full name and hometown at the end. It also must include the writer’s phone number for verification purposes (the phone number will not be published). While there is no specific word limit for letters, we suggest keeping them between 300-400 words.

We reserve the right to edit letters for length, grammar or inappropriate content.

4 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

The readers’ choice awards

Taking olive oil beyond extra virgin

Fairhaven’s Drizzle shop pioneers strict “ultra premium” quality standard for olive oil retailers

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal There’s a specific ritual to tasting olive oil, and Ross Driscoll is eager to show customers the proper method.

Driscoll, who owns Drizzle Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Room with his wife, Dana, starts by pouring a small amount of oil into a plastic cup. He then circles the palm of his hand over the cup’s brim to warm up the sample.

He takes the oil in with one shot and quickly slurps so it coats the back of his throat. Flavors are apparent almost instantly, but for someone uninitiated to the process, the acidic oil’s effect can be a bit overwhelming.

Still, this type of handson demonstration is an example of the key to their business, the Driscolls said. Drizzle Olive Oil sells product, but its owners also focus on sharing with customers the intricacies of olive oil cultivation, as well as its potential health benefits, if produced correctly.

“We just want people to be educated and have a good time,” Dana said.

Ross added: “And we want people to taste. I think that’s not only a fun experience, but an honest experience.”

Drizzle Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Room was named Business of the Year

by Bellingham Business Journal readers in the 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards.

The Driscolls opened the shop in 2011 at 1208 11th St., in Bellingham’s Fairhaven District.

Drizzle features a rotating selection of olive oils and balsamic vinegars. On a typical day, the shop usu-

Ross Driscoll, co-owner of Drizzle Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Room, packs a box full of products behind the counter at the Fairhaven shop he runs with his wife, Dana. evan marczynski pHOTO | THe BBJ

ally has about 60 varieties available for tasting and purchase.

The Driscolls also stock sea salts, honey produced

by Moon Valley Organics in Deming, and spices from A Pinch of Love Rubs and Blends, a product line created by Bob Currie of Bellingham.

After originally opening inside of a small back room, Drizzle completed an expansion in March 2013, taking over what was once the upper floor of the Colophon Cafe. The move gave the shop a storefront directly on 11th Street, and allowed the Driscolls to better handle their in-store sales, which Ross said have grown each year.

Dana, a registered nurse, said she has always been intrigued by olive oil’s role in promoting a healthy diet.

Used in moderation, monounsaturated fat, the main type found in many

Sample over 50 of the world’S freSheSt, Single varietal extra virgin olive oilS, flavored and gourmet oilS, & balSamic vinegarS from modena, italy! come taSte our Selection of artiSan Sea SaltS, local honey, and gourmet oliveS too!

Business of The year WInner Drizzle Olive Oil & Vinegar Tasting room 360-392-8838, 1208 11th St. drizzletastingroom.com FIrST rUnner-UP Vinostrology Wine Lounge & Merchant 360-656-6817, 120 W. Holly St. vinostrology.com SeCOnD rUnner-UP Launching Success Learning Store 360-527-2641, 133 Prince Ave. launchingsuccess.com varieties of olive oil, can provide medicinal benefits, including lowering one’s risk of heart disease and level of cholesterol, according to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Extra virgin olive oils are

generally said to be the best varieties when it comes to health benefits, in part due to their higher standards of production and lack of imperfections. Several agencies coordinate testing procedures to bestow the “extra virgin” designation

Chuckanut Health Foundation thanks our friends and partners for their support

located in the hiStoric fairhaven village 1208 11th Street bellingham, wa 98225 360-392-8838 www.drizzletaStingroom.com

Investing Today For a Healthier Tomorrow 1037720

1037925

upon particular products, including the the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an organization called the International Olive Oil Council.

The Driscolls, however, are among more than 140 merchants worldwide that sell extra virgin olive oil carrying an additional label, known as “ultra premium.”

Developed by Californiabased Veronica Foods, extra virgin olive oils also certified as ultra premium are held to stricter quality tests than those used to designate products as simply extra virgin, or as it is known to those in the industry, EVOO. Ultra premium standards place greater emphasis on an olive oil’s shelf life and chemical purity.

Ross said the ultra premium designation at Drizzle has provided new opportunities to share information on their products with customers. It has also motivated him and Dana to expect better quality from their suppliers.

“It’s upped the expectation we have from the producers,” he said.

Dana said educating customers on the various intricacies of olive oil production and storage is a major part of Drizzle’s business. A lot of effort is placed toward training the shop’s eightperson staff, she added.

Employees at Drizzle are expected to field all sorts of questions from customers.

Among more common inquiries, Ross said a lot of people want to know where the olives in a particular batch of oil were grown.

However, an oil’s production date and its manufacturing process are more important indicators of quality, he said.

Looking ahead, the Driscolls said they plan to continue building their online store. While wholesale distribution is a possibility down the road, Ross said it’s not an immediate goal.

Dana added that they will likely spend the next year building more connections in the community, and developing new ways to utilize their products.

BesT cusToMer serVice WInner The Woods Coffee 360-933-1855 thewoodscoffee.com Various locations in Whatcom County FIrST rUnner-UP Fairhaven Runners & Walkers 360-676-4655 fairhavenrunners.com 1209 11th St. 2nD rUnner-UP Community Food Co-op 360-734-8158 communityfood.coop 120 N. Forest St. 315 Westerly Road

BesT eVenT sPace WInner The Leopold Crystal Ballroom 360-733-3500 leopoldballroom.com 1224 Cornwall Ave. FIrST rUnner-UP Event Center at Silver Reef 866-383-0777 silverreefcasino.com 4876 Haxton Way, Ferndale

BesT PhiLanThroPy CO-WInnerS Whatcom Educational Credit Union & RAM Construction Winners determined by readers’ votes

May 2014 5

The Bellingham Business Journal

The readers’ choice awards

On one’s “big day,” tradition still wins out Brittany O’Brien’s Spruce shop caters to nostalgia with wedding-invitation designs and other paper products

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal Customers tell her that her shop is like “a Pinterest board come to life,” said Brittany O’Brien, owner of Spruce Stationery & Design in downtown Bellingham.

Yet the focus of O’Brien’s business is a bit different than that of Pinterest, the popular social website where more than 70 million users upload posts of arts and crafts, fashion, food and other creative endeavors.

Spruce Stationery & Design is all about actual dyed and cut paper products, specifically wedding invitations.

“With weddings, the first thing your guests see is the invitations,” O’Brien said.

“I think that people are still very traditional and sentimental when it comes to wedding planning.”

O’Brien, voted Entrepreneur of the Year by readers of The Bellingham Business Journal in the 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards, opened Spruce in June 2013 at 1422 Cornwall Ave. As currently the sole force behind the store, most of O’Brien’s attention is on designing invitations and other signage or printed materials for weddings.

But her shop also offers design services for other print products, including corporate stationery, party invitations and holiday gift cards.

O’Brien got her start after she decided to leave a job she landed at a commercial design firm following her graduation from Central Washington University in Ellensburg in 2003. Her bachelor’s degree was in graphic design and advertising.

The job made sense for someone with her background, but it was difficult to find creative outlets through her day-to-day work, O’Brien said. After designing her own wedding invitations in 2005, friends began asking O’Brien to use her talents for their own weddings.

A year later, she was taking freelance design jobs, and attending bridal-industry expos. She generated

eNTrePreNeUr oF The Year WInner Brittany O’Brien Spruce Stationery & Design 360-366-8069, 1422 Cornwall Ave. shopspruce.com FIrST rUnnerS-UP Doug Pfeif and Zach Pfeif Haywire Computer repair 360-306-8791, 2004 James St. haywirerepair.com SeCOnD rUnner-UP

Brittany O’Brien, owner of Spruce Stationery & Design in downtown Bellingham, ties a ribbon onto a gift-wrapped package. O’Brien opened her shop in June 2013.

Colleen Unema Q Laundry 360-656-5621, 810 Alabama St. q-laundry.com

evan marczynSki pHOTO | THe BBJ

buzz, and had her work featured in several bridal magazines, such as Seattle Bride and Martha Stewart Weddings.

Opening her storefront in downtown Bellingham allowed her to expand her business, she said. With more space, and better visibility, she is now able to attract a broader variety of customers than she would

be able to if she continued working freelance, O’Brien said.

“It just gives a lot more flexibility,” she said.

Business at Spruce is very seasonal, O’Brien said.

Winter holidays generally bring a boost, including more orders for personalized stationery and products used as corporate gifts.

O’Brien said she gener-

ally has about 5-10 design projects going on at one time.

Her Cornwall Avenue location is next door to Pure Bliss and Chocolate Necessities, two local shops that are in separate, yet complementary industries to hers. O’Brien said the neighbors have helped drive walk-in traffic to Spruce, and she believes the effect

works both ways.

Handling the volume of business she’s generated in her first year has been one of her greatest challenges, O’Brien said. She expects to hire new employees soon, including one to handle instore customer service, and another to work on graphic design and production.

Online retailers present her greatest competition,

she said. O’Brien counters that by carrying products from small, artisan creators, particularly ones that cannot be found anywhere else.

“I’ve been really pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed with the positive response from the community, especially because it’s a different style of shop for Bellingham,” O’Brien said.

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6 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

The Book of Lists: Featured Rankings

ACCOUNTANTS Ranked by number of local employees

Rank

Company, local address

Phone/fax/website

Employees

Owner/Top executive

Year Est.

Services/Specialties

1

Moss Adams 2200 Rimland Drive, Suite 300

676-1920/671-5411 mossadams.com

90

Mark Thoma

1976

Manufacturing, construction, ownership transition, casinos, tribal government, international and wealth advisers

2

Larson Gross 1616 Cornwall Ave., Suite 205

734-4280/734-4893 larsongross.com

70

Marv Tjoelker

1949

Tax planning and preparation, estate planning, business valuation and consulting, audits and financial statements, accounting, U.S./Canada cross-border issues, accounting and bookkeeping

3

Varner Sytsma & Herndon 2200 Rimland Drive, Suite 205

30

Robert Sytsma, Kathy Varner, Kathy Herndon, Chris Sullivan, Adam Hill, Wendy Wixon

1984

Tax returns, financial statements, business valuations and international

4

Metcalf Hodges 709 Dupont St.

733-1010/671-9756 metcalfhodges.com

12

Hartwell Bressler, Julie Johansen

1964

Small to medium-sized business growth, management and exit strategies, tax strategy and preparation, financial statements, accounting services

5

The Archer Halliday 1621 Cornwall Ave.

756-1010/756-1011 archergroup.com

12

G. Dennis Archer, Bernadette Halliday

1964

Accounting services, estate planning, 1031 tax-deferred exchanges, business valuations, pensions, quarterlies, audits,tax returns and planning

6

Multop & Associates 2710 Rimland Drive, Suite 101

671-7891/671-4963 multop.com

10

Phil Multop

1976

Income tax and investment planning, small-business accounting

7

Gene Bell & Associates 1700 Iowa St.

671-1845/671-2247 genebellassociates.com

6

Gene Bell

1998

Tax and accounting, financial services

8

Groeneweg Vree & Co. CPAs 1922 James St.

354-2228/354-2229 N/A

5

Mark Groeneweg, John Vree

1964

1040 income tax, partnerships, corporations, estate taxes, bookkeeping and quarterlies

9

Wyandt Accounting Services Inc. 4200 Meridian St., Suite 100

647-8992/647-5834 thewiseaccountant.com

5

Yon Wyandt

1998

Enrolled agent tax services, QuickBooks Pro adviser, payroll services, corporate record book services

734-8715/738-1176 vshcpa.com

10

Jan Bowman & Associates 519 E. Magnolia St.

733-0956/715-3250 jbaaccounting.com

4

Employee owned

1984

Payroll, taxes and QuickBooks

11

Steele Financial Services Inc. 1303 Commercial St., Suite 4

647-1739/647-5421 steelefs/com

3

Rick Steele

1989

Financial planning and investment, tax planning and preparation, family and community focused, member of social investment forum

12

McMaster & Associates 3636 Kansas St.

647-9361/612-5890 mcmasteraccounting. com

3

Betty and Mac McMaster

2003

Accounting, business taxes, personal taxes, back-tax issues, payroll, bookkeeping services, business-management services

13

Orphalee Smith CPA 1408 Commercial St.

671-8181/671-3604 N/A

3

Orphalee Smith

N/A

Tax and accounting, financial services

What is the Book of Lists?

The Bellingham Business Journal’s Book of Lists is an annual report of Whatcom County business statistics useful for prospecting and fact-finding in the region’s key industries. It is published each February as a supplement to the BBJ, and select lists are featured in the journal each month.

The full book contains more than two dozen listing categories, including fields such as real estate, manufacturing, financial and professional services,

technology, health care, hospitality, recreation, automotive and marine services, and large public and private sector employees.

We hire a researcher to contact local businesses and organizations to ask for the information contained in the lists.

Rankings are generated based on those responses, as well as additional research, where necessary. There is no charge to be included in the book, and we assume that information provided by companies

is accurate. Due to space constraints, the lists include only the highest ranking firms. Some firms choose not to be included, or do not return requests for information before the book’s annual deadline.

Some of the lists featured in monthly editions on the BBJ will also be shortened, due to space constraints.

These lists rely on research completed last year, and some items may have changed since then.

We make every attempt to provide accurate information. But if you notice an error or believe something important has been omitted, please contact us at 360-647-8805.

Did you miss the last book? You can pick up a copy, or get extras for home or work, at our office, located at 1909 Cornwall Ave. Also check out our “green” edition, online at BBJToday.com.

May 2014 7

The Bellingham Business Journal

Market Indicators

Jobs: Continued unemployment claims increase Unemployment Rate

Jobless benefit claims

March 2014: 7.1% March 2013: 7.5%

Bankruptcies

Year-to-date: 112 Annual change: �18.25%

March 2014: 2,965 March 2013: 2,698

Includes non-seasonally adjusted figures in Whatcom County

Includes continued unemployment benefit claims in Whatcom County

Includes filings for Chapters 7, 11 and 13 in Whatcom County

4,000

10% 8%

70

3,000

6%

50 40

2,000

4%

30 20

1,000

2%

March 2014: 47

Chapters 11,13 Chapter 7

60

10 J F 2013

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

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D

J F 2014

J F 2013

M

SOURCE: WASHINGTON STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DEPARTMENT

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

M

SOURCE: WASHINGTON STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DEPARTMENT

0

J F 2013

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

M

SOURCE: U.S. BANKRUPTCY COURT, WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON

Spending: Loonie remains at 90 cents in value Sales-tax distribution

Motor-vehicle registrations

Year-to-date: $5.06M Annual change: �0.8%

March 2014: $1.41M

J F 2013

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

March 2014: $0.90 March 2013: $0.98

Includes original registrations in Whatcom County

Includes basic and optional local sales tax to Bellingham

$2.25M $2M $1.75M $1.5M $1.25M $1M $750K $500K $250K

Canadian dollar

March 2014: 1,163 March 2013: 978

N

D

J F 2014

$1.05

1,000

$1.00

750

$0.95

500

$0.90

250

$0.85

M

SOURCE: WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

Includes monthly averages (Canada-to-U.S.) at market closing

1,250

J F 2013

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

M

SOURCE: WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING

$0.80

J F 2013

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

M

SOURCE: BANK OF CANADA

Housing: Late mortgages see significant drop Home sale prices

Residential sales

$350K

400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50

$300K $250K $200K

Average price Median price

$150K $100K $50K J F 2013

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

SOURCE: NORTHWEST MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE

Pending: March 2014: 311

Pending sales Closed sales Closed: March 2014: 217 J F 2013

M

Foreclosures & Delinquencies

Closed: Year-to-date: 516 Annual change: �9.32% Pending: Year-to-date: 781 Annual change: �5.33%

Average: March 2014: $268,731 March 2013: $257,322 Median: March 2014: $239,950 March 2013: $238,000

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

4.5% 4% 3.5% 3% 2.5% 2% 1.5% 1% 0.5%

Delinquency rate Foreclosure rate

J F 2013

M

SOURCE: NORTHWEST MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE

Delinquency rate: February 2014: 2.93% February 2013: 4.02% Foreclosure rate: February 2014: 1.11% February 2013: 1.46%

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

SOURCE: CORELOGIC

Other factors: Busy month at Bellingham Int’l Airport traffic

Cruise terminal traffic

Year-to-date: 141,321 Annual change: �6.86%

Includes total enplanements at Bellingham International Airport

70K 50K 40K 30K 20K 10K J F 2013

M

A

SOURCE: PORT OF BELLINGHAM

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

M

Bellingham: Year-to-date: $42.85M Annual change: �17.08%

Includes inbound/outbound passengers at Bellingham Cruise Terminal

4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500

March 2014: 60,543

60K

Building-permit values

Year-to-date: 3,900 Annual change: �4.22%

$30M

March 2014: 1,413

March 2014: $21.08M

$25M $20M $15M $10M $5M

J F 2013

M

A

SOURCE: PORT OF BELLINGHAM

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

J F 2014

M

J F 2013

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

SOURCE: CITY OF BELLINGHAM

Notes: Graphs include the most recent data available at press time. Annual changes show cumulative difference from the same time period during the previous year. Data include raw numbers only and are not adjusted to account for any seasonal factors.

O

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J F 2014

M

8 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

The readers’ choice awards

A housing-first strategy to fight homelessness Lydia Place celebrates 25th anniversity as demand for local housing and support services reaches new high

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal Homelessness often has roots in a number of societal ills, including substance abuse and domestic violence. But according to Emily O’Connor, the executive director of Lydia Place, securing safe housing for all is the first step toward permanent solutions.

“Oftentimes, when someone has a roof over their head, they can start to work on all of those other issues,” O’Connor said.

Lydia Place, a Bellingham-based organization that since 1989 has worked to provide homes and services to local homeless families, was voted Nonprofit of the Year by readers in The Bellingham Business Journal’s 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Lydia Place has enjoyed a recent string of success and achievement, including program expansions, more extensive partnerships and better financial footing.

With growing demand for homeless support services in Whatcom County, Lydia Place today is serving more families than ever before, O’Connor said.

Shultzie Fay Willows, the nonprofit’s development and outreach director, said the 2013 expansion of the organization’s Supportive Services Program, a collaboration with the Bellingham Housing Authority, was one of the past year’s major highlights. The partnership provides permanent housing for homeless families.

The expansion of the partnership allowed Lydia Place to provide 18 new housing units for homeless

Christine Brown, a volunteer, organizes a display of shoes at Wise Buys, Lydia Place’s thrift store, located at 1224 N. State St., in downtown Bellingham. evan marczynski PHOTO | THe BBJ

families in Orleans House, a 24-unit affordable housing property operated by the Housing Authority.

All total, the collaboration between Lydia Place and the Housing Authority served 80 formerly homeless households last year, according to the nonprofit.

Other recent achievements at Lydia Place include: - The Transitional Housing Program, which is the original outreach service provided by Lydia Place, helped 25 mothers and 40 children between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013.

The program provides homeless women with children with case management and safe housing for up to six months, or until they can find permanent residence.

- 90 households received support through Lydia Place’s partnership with the Whatcom Homeless Service Center. The partnership provides case management

NoNProFiT oF The year WInner Lydia Place 360-671-7663, lydiaplace.org P.O. Box 28487, Bellingham, WA 98228 FIrST rUnner-UP Interfaith Coalition 360-734-3983, 2401 Cornwall Ave. interfaith-coalition.org SeCOnD rUnner-UP Whatcom Land Trust 360-650-9470, 110 Central Ave. whatcomlandtrust.org and rental subsidies for homeless individuals who are on a centralized wait list called the Housing Interest Pool, which is coordinated by the nonprofit Opportunity Council.

- Lydia Place received a $230,040 grant through a property tax levy for low-

Contact Lydia Place: PO BOX 28487 Bellingham, WA 98228 (360) 671-7663 lydiaplace.org

Community means so much more than where you live.

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income housing assistance passed by 56 percent of Bellingham voters in 2012.

The grant will allow Lydia Place to make repairs to its 8-bedroom transitional home for women and children moving out of homelessness. It will also allow the nonprofit to invest the

an evening of fashion and fun benefiting homeless families in Whatcom County!

Tickets & Info Visit: lydiaplace.org

home’s long-term maintenance, improve energy efficiency and better meet standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Lydia Place also partners with Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church and the Interfaith Coalition to provide emergency housing and support services for homeless families.

Additionally, the nonprofit worked with the Whatcom County Health Department and the Whatcom Homeless Service Center on a pilot project designed to provide stable housing to homeless families with members needing treatment for mental illness, as well as families with at-risk children under five years old.

O’Connor said the nonprofit’s housing-first strategy is built from broader evidence-based research that shows getting homeless families into permanent housing quickly, rather than having them run through a gamut of emergency and transitional homes, is a more beneficial and costeffective method of getting families in need off the streets.

As it is for any nonprofit, finding money to fund programs is an ongoing challenge for Lydia Place, O’Connor said. A low vacancy rate among rental homes in Bellingham, coupled with rising monthly rental rates, also presents difficulties.

Shultzie Fay Willows said Lydia Place has branched out in its fundraising activities, even creating a new annual event last year called “Handbags for Housing.”

The 2014 edition, which will be held June 5 at Depot Market Square in downtown Bellingham, will feature a handbag bazaar, a fashion show, an auction and raffle, as well as food, wine and beer tastings.

More information about the event is online at www. lydiaplace.org.

The nonprofit is also trying to increase the visibility of its downtown thrift store, Wise Buys, which located at 1224 N. State St. In 2013, the volunteer-run store

LYDIA, PAGE 9

BesT sPoT For a BUsiNess LUNch WInner Avenue Bread 360-715-3354 avenuebread.com Various locations in Bellingham FIrST rUnner-UP Ciao Thyme 360-733-1267 ciaothyme.com 207 Unity St. 2nD rUnner-UP Keenan’s at the Pier 360-392-5510 thechrysalisinn.com 804 10th St.

BesT LoGo WInner

Big Fresh 360-752-3304 bigfresh.com 1344 King St., Suite 202

FaVoriTe “hooKy day” acTiViTies Skiing/snowboarding, golf, hiking up Oyster Dome, Larrabee State Park, Kulshan Brewing Co., Mindport museum, breakfast at Arlis’s Restaurant Winners determined by readers’ votes

May 2014 9

The Bellingham Business Journal

The readers’ choice awards

New name, renewed focus for local foundation

Sue Sharpe leads the newly renamed Chuckanut Health Foundation as community partners coalesce health, youth outreach

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal

In six years leading the Chuckanut Health Foundation, Sue Sharpe said her role guiding the organization, which in its 30-year history has directed more than $15 million to agencies supporting community health and education, has been largely done behind the scenes.

So when readers of The Bellingham Business Journal voted her the Executive of the Year in the 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards, Sharpe said she couldn’t take all the credit.

“In my mind, it’s really a recognition of the work [we do] as a community, not the work I do as an individual,” said Sharpe, executive director of the Chuckanut Health Foundation, which until 2013 was known as St. Luke’s Foundation.

The accolade comes at a time of significant change for the organization. Along with the new name, the Chuckanut Health Foundation’s board of directors and staff last year completed a top-to-bottom reassessment of its mission and values.

The independent, nonprofit foundation provides grants to local agencies to bolster a variety of community support programs, mainly focusing on health care, but also on other areas such as nutrition, education and access to housing.

In 2013, the Chuckanut Health Foundation granted funding to 14 local organizations, including the Bellingham Food Bank, Lighthouse Mission, Northwest Youth Services and the Interfaith Community Health Center.

“We’ve really started looking at health in a much broader way,” Sharpe said.

The foundation’s new name is probably its most visible change.

What is now formerly known as St. Luke’s Foundation was created in 1983 with proceeds from the original sale of St. Luke’s Hospital, a standalone community hospital that was later acquired by PeaceHealth.

Sharpe said the St. Luke’s name carried significant historical weight for many people in the community. But as time went on and the foundation grew, its connection to the past became less apparent, she said.

The name also began sparking confusion among community members, Sharpe said.

She added that in the past several years the foundation’s staff and board of directors have spent a good deal of time explaining how the organization is independent and not connected to the St. Joseph hospital.

Sharpe said the new name, Chuckanut Health Foundation, emphasizes the organization’s local connection and its independence.

“In some ways, I feel like we have a stronger identity moving forward because we’re not

LYDIA, From 8 brought in $70,000 to Lydia Place, about 13 percent of the organization’s annual funding.

After learning of Lydia Place’s selection as Nonprofit of the Year by BBJ readers, O’Connor said she felt the honor was a sign that supporters see a true need for the nonprofit’s work. She said the support was

eXecUTiVe oF The Year WInner Sue Sharpe, executive director, Chuckanut Health Foundation (Formerly known as St. Luke’s Foundation) 360-671-3349, 800 e. Chestnut St., Suite 1B chuckanuthealthfoundation.org FIrST rUnnerS-UP Mark Lee & Doug DeVries, co-owners and co-founders Big Fresh and nVnTD 360-752-3304, 1344 King St., Suite 202 bigfresh.com SeCOnD rUnner-UP ron Price, campus president Charter College, Bellingham 360-647-5000, 410 W. Bakerview road, Suite 112 www.chartercollege.edu

Sue Sharpe. pHOTO COURTESY TO THE BBJ

Thank you to our readers who voted and congratulations to all of the honorees.

being confused with someone else,” she said.

Major efforts at the Chuckanut Health Foundation today include more investment in programs supporting nutrition, which Sharpe said constitutes a basic component of health care. The foundation was also one of the founding creators of Project Homeless Connect, Sharpe said, which helps build community awareness of efforts to help homeless families and individuals.

Sharpe said the foundation’s involvement in creating an initiative known as the Community Health Improvement Plan, or CHIP, was also significant factor in the organization’s revisioning process.

CHIP is a joint initiative between the foundation, the City of Bellingham, Whatcom County, PeaceHealth, the Whatcom Community Foundation, the United Way and a number of other local organizations. Sharpe highlighted three priorities of the initiative: support for youth and families; support for healthy neighborhoods, which encompasses safety, food and sense of community; and support for health services for neighborhoods in need.

Sharpe said she felt the incorporation of community feedback was particularly useful in the creation of CHIP. She added that for any nonprofit agency or foundation, a consistent reassessment of its programs and impacts is necessary to ensure they continue meeting the needs of those they serve.

“The issues that we face today are totally different than they were 30 years ago,” she said.

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Willows also noted that Lydia Place’s 25-year history has been built upon local roots.

“Lydia Place was started by the community,” Willows said. “It really has been a grassroots, community-driven endeavor right from the beginning.”

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10 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

A crowd-funding fueled move

Hammerhead Coffee Roasters to have new home after Kickstarter campaign success

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal Scott Hartwich leans in close to “Homer,” his coffee roaster, listening for telltale pops and snaps from the raw green coffee beans inside, which will indicate the current roast is nearing completion.

Hartwich co-owns and operates Hammerhead Coffee Roasters with his wife, Mary Burwell. As Hartwich handles roasting, Burwell keeps an eye on the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages and manages marketing and community outreach efforts.

Surrounding the two are co-tenants and customers in Greene’s Corner, the convenience store at 5305 Northwest Drive in Bellingham that has served as Hammerhead’s home since 2009.

At Greene’s, customers mill around, drinking coffee, chatting and watching television. On this particular day, construction workers are outside fixing exterior damage the building sustained last October when a speeding car slammed into the front entrance, then caught fire.

Despite the frenzied surroundings, Hartwich and

Scott Hartwich of Hammerhead Coffee Roasters in Bellingham checks the color of a batch of coffee beans during a recent roast at the business’ current home in Greene’s Corner. evan maRCzynsKi pHOTO | THe BBJ

Burwell said they enjoy being at Greene’s Corner, with a supportive group of co-tenants and loyal customers. But with Hammerhead’s business growing, they’re ready to move.

“There’s a lot of distractions here, which can work to your benefit if you want new retail customers coming in and seeing the roasting operation,” Hartwich said. “But when you’re in the middle

of a roast and you’ve got to interact, that’s a little tough.”

Supporters contributed more than $3,000 to Hartwich and Burwell through the crowd funding website Kickstarter, which will allow them to move their coffee roasting operation to Bellingham’s Sunnyland Neighborhood once their lease at Greene’s Corner ends in May. The money will allow the couple to finance upgrades

to their coffee roaster, named Homer after Hartwich’s grandfather, and also after the ancient poet usually cited as author of the Greek epics the “Illiad” and the “Odyssey.”

They also plan to use the funds to buy new shelving and fixtures, as well cover building permit and occupancy permit costs.

The business’ new home

COFFEE, PAGE 22

JOBS, FrOm 1 ment Security Department’s data.

Local industries with the largest year-over-year job gains in March included professional and business services (200 new jobs, including 100 added between February and March), retail trade (100 jobs) and financial activities (100 jobs).

Employment in the trade, transportation and utilities sector decreased by 3.9 percent year-over-year, dropping about 600 jobs between March 2013 and March 2014.

That includes a loss of 200 jobs between February and March 2014.

Manufacturing jobs also fell locally. Whatcom County lost about 200 of them in March compared to the same month last year, according to the Employment Security Department.

Vance-Sherman said the diversity of Washington state’s manufacturing industry makes it difficult to develop a clear understanding of its county-level job trends.

Statewide, close to 3,000 jobs in aerospace manufacturing were lost between March 2013 and March 2014, according to state estimates.

At the same time, other manufacturing sectors saw gains, including fabricated metal producers (1,500 new jobs statewide in March 2014 compared to the same month last year) and food manufacturers (800 new jobs).

1037126

COFFEE

“Manufacturing is a very mixed story right now,” Vance-Sherman said.

Back in Whatcom County, new hiring in local construction was muted in March compared to larger gains seen in February, according to Employment Security Department data. The sector added about 100 new jobs between February and March, but no year-to-year gains were estimated by labor economists.

Construction hiring has grown locally over the past several years. Professionals in the building industry attribute the increase to improved economic development conditions and renewed confidence from financiers.

Liz Evans, the Bellinghambased northern district manager for the Associated General Contractors of Washington, said the growing demand for construction workers is a trend playing out nationally, particularly in urban cores.

A variety of new development is boosting hiring in Whatcom County, Evans said, including new industry and infrastructure improvements at Cherry Point, new hotel construction in Bellingham, and more starts on mixed-use buildings.

“We are definitely seeing growth in our industry,” she said. “People are able to borrow money, so projects are coming online.”

Brian A. Evans (no relation to Liz Evans), executive officer of the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County, said local residential builders are seeing more demand for remodels and new construction projects, largely thanks to an improving real-estate market.

A renewed willingness from banks to lend money to construction projects has fueled new demand for jobs in the industry, he said.

Favorable interest rates for home loans also help.

“That’s what’s really driving this, the ability to get money to build,” he said.

Whatcom County had one of the lowest unemployment rates in northwest Washington in March, according to the latest estimates. San Juan County outpaced all others in the region, with a jobless rate at 6.2 percent.

Skagit County’s unemployment was estimated at 8.1 percent. Island County’s jobless rate estimate was 7.6 percent.King County has the lowest jobless estimate in Washington state in March, at 5.2 percent. Snohomish County posted 6 percent unemployment.Ferry County in northeastern Washington had the state’s highest jobless rate, at 12.8 percent.

11

The Bellingham Business Journal

May 2014

May 2014

PORT NEWS Port Welcomes New Businesses to the Waterfront, Supports Expansion of Existing Businesses

Sponsored content provided by Port of Bellingham

Redden Marine and the Port of Bellingham have been working side-by-side on a new construction project that will replace the old Redden Marine building with a new facility at the corner of Roeder Avenue and Bellwether Way.

T

he Port of Bellingham is working hard to strengthen marine trades and marine-related businesses on Bellingham's waterfront. New businesses are opening soon on the waterfront and existing businesses are expanding.

Redden Marine is poised to expand its operations adjacent to Squalicum Harbor through the construction of a new building at the corner of Roeder Avenue and Bellwether Way. The Port has worked side-by-side with

Redden Marine, which will be the anchor tenant of this new development. A team made up of Jeff Kochman, Pete Dawson (Dawson Construction) and Terry Brown (Zervas Group) was chosen to develop the site. The first phase of construction will create a new building for Redden, and the second phase will add a building with retail on the first floor and residential units on the upper floor.

The new show room at NW Explorations

This phased approach will minimize business interruption for Redden, which will keep its existing facility open during construction.

The Bellwether Market will open at 8 Bellwether Way later this spring as a high-end convenience store catering to the needs of local and visiting boaters, as well as those who live and work around Bellwether on the Bay.™ The 867 square foot facility will carry specialty wines, meats, cheeses, chocolates, fresh and local sandwiches and salads.

NW Explorations is a trawler brokerage, charter fleet and service center at Squalicum Harbor. This year the business had a major expansion into the Marina Square Building so that it could expand its business to include a show room, display of its retail products and services, as

well as a shop area for electronic repairs and installations, and a tool/parts repair area for servicing vessels.

Earlier this year, LFS, Inc. expanded its operations at the Fairhaven Marine Industrial Park by leasing an additional 30,800 square feet of marine trades warehouse space from the Port, for a total of 110,800 square feet in three different marine warehouse buildings. LFS is expanding to meeting growing demand in its wholesale marine commercial fishing distribution division. In addition to their expanded warehouse space, LFS also operates a retail store on Roeder Avenue at Squalicum Harbor.

Other new businesses on Port of Bellingham developments include: • Atlantic Maritime Officers Association – Union for seafarers: Harbor Mall, Squalicum Harbor

Bellingham’s Best Marine Store Pacific Northwest cards, books, & gifts Outdoor clothing, TEVA & Merrell shoes Toys for kids & adults

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• Baron and Company, Inc. – Marketing, Graphic Design, Advertising: Fairhaven Station • Descartes Biometrics – Biometric Authentication Solutions for Electronic Devices: Harbor Center Building

• Mind Body Foundry – Wellness and Hypnotherapy: Harbor Center Building, Squalicum Harbor • StrEAT Food Café – Neighborhood Café with Weekly Specials: Bellingham Cruise Terminal

PORT OF BELLINGHAM CONTACT: Port Administrative Offices 360-676-2500 info@portofbellingham.com www.portofbellingham.com

1801 Roeder Ave. Bellingham, WA 98225 HOURS: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Dan Robbins, District One Michael McAuley, District Two Jim Jorgensen, District Three

MEETINGS: 3 p.m. on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month. Agendas are on the Port website.

THE PORT OPERATES: Bellingham International Airport Bellingham Cruise Terminal Squalicum Harbor Blaine Harbor Fairhaven Marine Industrial Park Bellwether on the Bay Shipping Terminal Airport Industrial Park Sumas Industrial Park

12

The Bellingham Business Journal

Activate Your Tourism Bureau Membership Today Sponsored content provided by Loni Rahm, and Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.

M

ay is a big month for Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.

It’s our membership drive month, our annual meeting and spring taste of tourism, presentation of our Destination Marketing Partnership award, the opening of our new welcome center in downtown Bellingham, and National Travel & Tourism Week.

Membership Drive: throughout the month, BWCT staff and board members will be encouraging businesses to activate their membership with the tourism bureau. If you own or operate a business anywhere in Whatcom County, you’re ALREADY a member, but you do need to “opt in” to take advantage of your membership benefits.

Last year, visitors spent over $595.5 million in Bellingham and Whatcom County. Are you getting your share?

Your free membership opens the door to a variety of business benefits and resources – including a listing on bellingham.org, invitations to our networking

and marketing presentations, and our monthly e-newsletter full of community and business news.

Opting in is easy.

Go to bellingham.org.

Click “Membership”.

Click “Membership Form”. Fill out the form and submit. If you prefer to enhance your presence with marketing, media and public relations services, you can do that as well. If you have any questions, please contact Mike@ bellingham.org Annual Meeting, Awards & Spring Taste of Tourism: Once you have activated your membership through the opt-in process (or if you are already one of our nearly 500 business members), you will want to reserve tickets for our Spring Taste of Tourism, Thursday, May 29, 11:15 am – 1:00 pm at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal.

Following a brief program, election of officers and an awards presentation, you’ll have the opportunity to taste food and beverages provided by more than 20 local restaurants, caterers and beverage purveyors. Tickets are $15

in advance (don’t wait too long or it may be sold out) and you must be an active member of the bureau, 21 and over to attend. Please RSVP to angie@bellingham. org Welcome Center Opening: Kids art walk on May 2nd, an annual celebration of art produced by local students, will coincide with the opening our new welcome center in downtown Bellingham at 1306 Commercial Street. Staff and ambassadors will be available Monday thru Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to answer questions, distribute

maps and brochures, and assist with information requests. Wifi and charging stations will be available as a convenience to travelers as well.

Identified as an important element of the “My Downtown Plan”, the welcome center is a cooperative venture between Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism, the City of Bellingham and the Downtown Bellingham Partnership. You don’t have to be a visitor to take advantage of our information resources – stop by and say hello anytime.

Have a fabulous May.

Mark your calendar Visit our website or call for more details: www.bellingham.org (360) 671-3990

May 3-11 is National Travel &Tourism Week – which marks the traditional kick off to the peak travel season. Studies continue to reinforce the physical and emotional value of travel on couples, families and individuals. Shockingly, the studies also indicate that Americans, on average, leave 3.2 days of unused PTO in their “bank” each year. Invest in your well-being with your PTO this year. In fact, make 2014 the year of travel for yourself and your family.

Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism 904 Potter Street | Bellingham, WA 98229 360-671-3990 | 800-487-2032 www.Bellingham.org Open 7 days, 9 a.m

May 2014

May 2014

Chamber Business Missions

By Chris Rasmussen The foundation of peaceful, productive relationships with many of our country’s loyal allies is based in trade. Simply put, we tend to make friends with the people with whom we do business. Chambers by most definitions support business and trade which often includes travel.

Since the early 2000’s and especially in preparation for hosting the Olympics, China wanted Americans to come and visit and we did that in droves. During the fall of 2006 I traveled

13

The Bellingham Business Journal

with a Bellingham Chamber group to China. I will never forget the history of ancient China, the colors and sounds of their modern cities and the smiles and waves from people on the street. Funny and sometimes embarrassing things happened. The Chinese interpretation of signs into English was at times, really comical.

We laughed and they laughed, too.

Since that first 2006 trip, I have traveled with the Chamber to India, Ireland, and Egypt. I like to tell my friends that in

a few short years, I have stood on the Great Wall of China, watched the sunrise over the Taj Mahal, kissed the Blarney Stone and stood on the Great Pyramid.

The Chamber has sponsored many other trips including Tuscany, Italy, Greece, Dubai and Turkey.

I’m headed to Dubai in March, and based on the testimonials from a previous group and my own experience of Middle East hospitality, I will be having a wonderful time!

What’s on your bucket list? Want to

Join us on one of our upcoming trips: Russia Tour includes Moscow and St. Petersburg May 21 – 28, 2014

Eastern Europe Tour includes Budapest, Vienna and Prague September 15 – 22, 2014

China Tour includes Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guilin, Yangshou, Xian and Beijing October 22 – November 1, 2014

put together an adventure? Planning on doing business in another country? Want to give a really special

graduation or anniversary gift? Give me a call at the Chamber at 360-734-1330 or email me at chris@

bellingham.com or visit our website at bellingham.com/ chamber-travelers.

Pre-purchase your ticket and receive double entry into the $500 Bellis Fair Mall American Express gift card giveaway!

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The Bellingham Business Journal

May 2014

May 2014

Sponsored content by BIAWC

A private, not-for-profit, trade organization of builders, remodelers and other businesses related to the home building and construction industry.

We are local. We are small business. We are the professionals.

We live, work and play here in Whatcom County.

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A-1 Welding Inc./Northwest Roller Systems, Abbott Construction Company Inc., Adelstein Sharpe & Serka, Aflac, Aggregates West Inc., Aiki Homes Inc., Al’s Electric & Plumbing Inc., Altimeter Studio, Alvord-Richardson Const.

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Knutson Inc., G.R. Plume Company Inc., Gale Contractor Services, Gary's Plumbing & Heating LLC, Gateway Controls Inc., GDS Countertops Inc., Geyer & Associates Inc., Granite Precast & Concrete Inc., Great Floors, Greenbriar Construction Corp./Whatcom House Movers, Greggerson Painting Inc., Guardian Security, H & L Aluminum USA (listed with BIAW as Teibrob Corp.), Halvorson Losie Willner PLLC, Harbor Lands Co., Hardware Sales Inc., Haskell Corporation, HBHansen Construction Inc., Heeringa Excavating, Henifin Construction LLC, Hertco Kitchens LLC, Higher Plane Cabinetworks Inc., Highline Construction LLC, Hilltop Restaurant & Catering, Hindman Construction Inc., Home Front Services Inc., Homeward Designs Inc., Honcoop Trucking LLC, Hudson Remodeling, Hulford Electric Co. Inc., Hunnicutts Inc., Hydro Mechanical Inc., Industrial Design & Equipment Inc., Innovations for Quality Living, Interconnect Systems, Interior Doors & More, Iverson Earth Works LLC, Jansen Inc., JM Electric, Jones Engineers Inc. PS, Joostens Roofing Inc., Judd & Black, Justesen Industries, JVD Construction Inc., JWR Design Inc., K Engineers Inc., Kamps Painting Company Inc., Kaptein Construction, Kelly's O'Deli Inc., Kenoyer Contracting and Design Inc., Kramer Construction Inc., Land Development Engineering & Surveying Inc., Landmark Enterprises Inc, Landmark Real Estate Management LLC, Langabeer & Traxler PS, Larry Brown Construction Inc., Larry Steele & Associates Inc., Larson Gross PLLC, Legacy Kitchen & Bath / Russell's Window Coverings, Leisure Home & Spa, Len Honcoop Gravel Inc., Lightning Electric Inc., Louis Auto Glass Inc., Ludtke Pacific Trucking, Lyndale Glass Inc., Lynden Floor Design, Lynden Sheet Metal Inc., Lynden Tribune & Print Co., M. C. Smith Construction Inc., MAAX US Corp., Management Services NW Inc., Marr's Heating & Air Conditioning Inc., Marv's Plumbing Inc., Mason's Houseworks Inc., Matia Contractors Inc., Merit Engineering Inc., Metcalf Hodges PS, Meyer's Construction & Cabinets, Moceri Construction Inc., Moncrieff Construction Inc., Moore and Company, Commercial Brokers, Morse Distribution Inc., Moss Adams LLP, Mowry Tile & Stone Inc., Mt. Baker Landscaping, Mt. Baker Roofing Inc., Mt. Baker Silo Inc., New Whatcom Interiors, Nielsen Brothers Inc., Nolans Roofing Inc., North Coast Credit Union, North Coast Electric / Lighting, North County Lawn Care, North Pacific Concrete Pumping Inc., Northern Marine & General Contracting Inc., Northsound Refrigeration Inc., Northstar Stone & Landscape Supply, Northwest Chip & Grind Inc., Northwest Energy Systems of WA Inc., Northwest Fence Inc., Northwest Heavy Equipment Repair Inc., Northwest Liquid Transport 1 Inc., Northwest Professional Services, Northwest Propane LLC, Northwest Sky Ferry, NW Safety Signs Inc., OASYS Inc, Oltman Insurance, ONeill Group Inc., Overhead Door Co. of Bellingham Inc., P & P Excavating LLC, Pacific International Grout Co., Pacific Northwest Roofing , Pacific Party Canopies Inc., Pacific Surveying & Engineering Services Inc, Paint The Town, Pearson Construction Corporation, Pederson Bros. Inc., Peoples Bank, Perry Pallet, PFC Corp., Phantom Screens, Pioneer Post Frame Inc., Plastering Plus Northwest, PM Northwest Inc., Pottle & Sons Construction Inc., Price & Visser Millwork Inc., Print & Copy Factory, ProBuild, Profection Painting Inc., Professional Turf Growers LLC, Profile Construction Inc., Puget Sound Energy, Quality Construction & Plumbing, R & T Construction Inc., Rainshield Handyman Services Inc., Ralph's Floors Inc., RAM Construction General Contractors Inc., Razz Construction Inc., RCI Construction Inc., Recycling & Disposal Services Inc., Redden Marine Supply Inc., Reichhardt & Ebe Engineering Inc., Rice Insurance LLC, RMC Architects PLLC, Robinson Hardwood & Homes LLC, Roger Almskaar, Land Use Consultant, Ronald T Jepson & Associates, Roosendaal-Honcoop Construction Inc., Rose Construction Inc., S & S Concrete Const. Inc., S & W Rock Products LLC, Sail Electric Inc., Sanitary Service Co. Inc., Schouten Construction LLC, Schramer Construction Co. Inc., Security Solutions NW/Bellingham Lock & Safe Inc., ServiceMaster Clean by Roth, Servpro of Bellingham, Sherwin-Williams Co., Signs By Tomorrow, Signs Plus Inc., SilvaStar Forest Products, Siper Quarry LLC, Skeers Construction Inc., Smith Mechanical, Snapper Shuler Kenner Insurance, Special-T Signs & Graphics, St John Glass & Glazing, Steel Magnolia Inc., Sterling Real Estate Group, Stremler Gravel Inc., Strengholt Construction Co. Inc., Strider Construction Co. Inc., Sullivan Plumbing Inc., T & T Recovery Inc. dba Lautenbach Industries, T.C. Trading Company Inc., TEK Construction Inc., Terpsma Construction Inc., The Bellingham Herald, The Chimney Sweep Inc., The Color Pot Inc., The Final Touch Cleaning Service Inc., The Franklin Corporation, The Sign Post, The Unity Group Insurance - a Division of HUB International Northwest LLC, Tiger Construction Ltd., T-Leasing Coin Laundry Rental & Sales, Topside Roofing, TPS Remodeling / Four Seasons Sunrooms, Triple S Construction Inc., Trus Joist / Weyerhaeuser, Valley Plumbing & Electric Inc, Van Beek Drywall Inc., Van's Plumbing & Electric Inc., Velocity Electric Corporation DBA VECOR, Viewpoint Group Inc., Village Lighting, Vollara, Volonta Corporation, Vossbeck Construction Inc., Walkers Carpet One Floor & Home, Washington Federal, WECU, Welcome Construction Inc., Wellman & Zuck Construction LLC, West Coast Windows Inc., West Mechanical Inc., Western Concrete Pumping Inc., Western Forest Products, Western Refinery Services Inc., Western Roofing Co. Inc., West-Lind Construction Management Inc., Westside Building Supply, Whatcom Builders Inc., Whatcom Construction Inc., Whatcom Land Title Co. Inc., Whatcom Landscapes Inc., Whatcom Roofing, Whatcom-Skagit Housing, Whidbey Island Bank, Wiebe Construction, Williamson Construction Company, Windermere Management by Ebright Wight LLC, Windermere Real Estate, Windsor Plywood, Wise Enterprises LLC, You Buy It We Install It Floors Inc., Z Construction Inc.

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May 2014 15

The Bellingham Business Journal REGION

Boeing Co. sends engineering jobs out of state State’s dominant aerospace manufacturer plans to centralize its airplane customer-support services in Southern California Boeing announced Thursday, April 10, that it is moving about 1,000 engineering jobs to Southern California from metro Puget Sound, including Everett.

The jobs provide customer support for in-service airplanes, work which Boeing is centralizing at its Long Beach and Seal Beach sites.

The move will be finished by the end of next year and affects engineers supporting the Next Generation 737, 747, 767 and 777 models, as well as two military variants — the KC-46 tanker and the P-8 submarine chaser.

The jobs are moving, but not necessarily the workers, who are effectively being laid off.

If they want to keep their current jobs after the move, they have to compete with outside applicants, Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said.

An internal Boeing memo about the move states, “We expect that many of the affected employees in Washington state will be offered positions with other programs in the Puget Sound area.”

However, other jobs here are not guaranteed.

Engineers providing support for new jetliner models — the 787 Dreamliner, 737 MAX and 777X — will stay in metro Puget Sound for now.

The 737 MAX work will move to California around 2020, according to the memo.

Boeing started the re-organization last year when it set up engineering design centers in metro Puget Sound, Southern California and North Charleston, S.C. “We see Southern California clearly as specializing in customer support. We look at Puget Sound as primarily developing new airplanes, and North Charleston as 787

“We pointed that out to the governor, we pointed that out to the Legislature, and they still went ahead and did it,” Dugovich said.

Boeing’s “decision was a business strategy, not a labor strategy,” Alder said.

For years, the company has had trouble attracting engineers to work in metro Puget Sound, and the move allows the company to tap into Southern California’s engineering talent pool, he said.

That pool includes new graduates from the state’s several colleges with engineering programs, as well as engineers on Boeing’s C-17 line, which is shutting down next year.

The move helps the company stay competitive, which benefits all of its roughly 169,000 employees around the world, Alder Boeing Co. employees work on the fuselage of a 777 jet plane in Everett on May 29, 2013. Boeing plans to use Everett as a production base for fiber-composite wings on its new 777X model. GENNA MARTIN pHOTO FOR THE (EVERETT) said. About half of the workforce is in Washington.

DAILY HERALD | COURTESY TO THE BBJ In the past two years, Boeing has been in-sourcand composite body work,” Alder said. year. ing many jobs that previously had been A fourth center in Moscow has about 300 The move shifts jobs to a non-union contracted out, he said. to 400 engineers handling a broad range of shop.

Demand for big commercial jetliners work.

“This is a significant number of jobs” is expected to continue expanding over Currently, the Puget Sound design center moving, said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the next 20 years. And Boeing expects has approximately 2,300 engineers. About the the Society of Professional Engineerits design centers to grow as well, Alder 1,600 positions are in customer support. So ing Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the said. “As long as they can stay competitive, the move will leave about 600 of those jobs union representing the affected workers. they’re going to get future work packages.” here.

“The expertise is here,” he said.

The company already has about 1,800 engineering jobs in California. That includes about 500 in customer support services it moved from Washington last

Local home sales steady in Q1

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal Activity in Whatcom County’s housing market during the first quarter of 2014 brought few surprises and gradual yearto-year increases in total sales and home prices, said Lylene Johnson, a broker with The Muljat Group.

The news should come as a promising sign for both buyers and sellers looking for predictability going into the home-sales season later this year.

“It’s really pretty stable,” Johnson said.

“There’s nothing super exciting going on, but there’s nothing horrible.”

Johnson’s recent analysis of quarterly market data showed total home sales increased 6.6 percent in the first quarter this year compared to the same time period in 2013.

The median sale price of homes sold in Whatcom County also increased 1.6 percent to $249,000 at same time, according to Johnson’s analysis, which used data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

That increase was caused mainly by an 18.2 percent jump in Birch Bay/Blaine.

Median prices in Bellingham, Lynden, Ferndale and Sudden Valley dropped slightly in the first quarter this year.

Sales in the county are continuing a gradual trend upward, according to Johnson, with closings in the $300,000-$500,000 price range making up a growing portion of the overall market.

Johnson said a variety of factors are contributing to normalcy in Whatcom County’s home-sales activity, including lower unemployment, attractive mortgage rates, more new construction, and stable housing inventory decreasing pressure on buyers to make fast decisions.

When Washington extended huge tax breaks for Boeing in November, the state didn’t require the company to keep engineering jobs here.

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16 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

Business Briefing Lottery determines marijuana retail business licenses A lottery to determine which marijuana business startups will receive one of the state’s limited number of retail licenses was held last month, and licenses are expected to be issued no later than the first week of July, according to the Washington State Liquor Control Board The board approved a staff recommendation to utilize a double-blind lottery to create a list of applicants the agency will use during its retail licensing process.

A list for each jurisdiction that will require a lottery is expected to be released by the liquor board on its website May 2. Updates will be available online at BBJToday.com Regulators are allowing licenses for six marijuana retail stores in Bellingham, and 15 total across all of Whatcom County. Statewide, the board will allow up to 334 marijuana retail outlets, in accordance with limits set by Initiative 502, which decriminalized marijuana in Washington state in 2012.

As of April 1, the liquor board had received 76 license applications for cannabis retail stores in Whatcom County, according to the agency’s records. Of those, 53 are located in Bellingham, seven in Blaine, four in Ferndale, three in Lynden, three in Everson, two each in Point Roberts and Sumas, and one each in Glacier and Maple Falls.

Applicants who successfully make it through the lottery process are not guaranteed a license, as they still must pass criminal background and financial health checks, as well as ensure their retail locations are not within 1,000 feet of places where children congregate (schools, parks and some other areas), as specified by I-502. Applicants must also verify they are state residents.

The liquor board indicates it will entertain appeals for applicants ruled ineligible.

The lottery was not be conducted by the board itself.

The agency contracted with Washington State University’s Social and Economic Sciences Research Center and the Seattle-base accounting firm Kraght-Snell, which works with Washington’s Lottery, to produce results.

Additional information, including an FAQ document, is available on the liquor board’s website: www.liq.wa.gov

San Juan Cruises offering new route to La Conner San Juan Cruises is introducing a new route from the Bellingham Cruise Terminal to the Skagit County town of La Conner as part of its 2014 cruise season, which began Saturday, May 3.

The La Conner tour will run six times this summer between June and August. It will depart from Bellingham on San Juan Cruises’ 50-foot, 53-passenger M/V Salish Sea vessel, and pass through the Swinomish Channel and Deception Pass.

The tour’s return route will go directly under the historic Deception Pass Bridge.

San Juan Cruises has a variety of other tours scheduled this year, including its popular whale watching cruises.

More information is online at www.whales. com.

Fitness Gear & Training marks anniversary Fitness Gear & Training in Bellingham celebrated its 25th anniversary in April.

Fitness Gear & Training moved to its current home at 1605 N. State St., last December

after previously operating at 1423 Railroad Ave., since 2004. The new location includes expanded space for Fitness Gear’s personal training areas, showers and retail showroom.

The business opened in 1989 as Fairhaven Health & Nutrition. Current owner Bob Palmer bought the store in 1992, renamed it and moved it to Bellingham’s Sehome Village.

Fitness Gear later relocated to Cornwall Avenue in 1997 before moving over to its former home on Railroad Avenue.

Palmer’s son, Zac Palmer, was named general manager in 2004 and developed the business’ personal-training services.

Bellingham on list of Washington cities on the rise The online real-estate database Estately has placed Bellingham sixth on a list of 10 Washington state cities on the rise.

Estately says it used U.S. Census data and FBI crime statistics to rank every Washington city with populations greater than 30,000.

Rankings take into account several criteria: population, home values, poverty levels, crime rates, incomes and residents with bachelor’s degrees.

Bellingham shined in rankings of poverty reduction and home values.

The number of people living below the poverty line in Bellingham dropped 16 percent between 2000 and 2012, according to Estately’s analysis of Census data. The value of owneroccupied homes in the city increased 85.27 percent from 2000 to 2010.

According to Estately: “Bellingham has seen an impressive reduction in poverty rates over the past 10 years, but there’s still a ways to go in increasing income levels. The city’s college educated population is growing steadily, and home values are definitely ticking up. A stronger, more diversified economy would go a long [way] toward putting Bellingham at the top of this list.”

Washington’s unemployment rate at 6.3 percent in March Washington’s job picture continues to show signs of improvement, according to a new report from the state’s Employment Security Department.

The state’s unemployment rate in March is estimated at 6.3 percent, equaling the rate from February, which was revised downward from an initial estimate of 6.4 percent.

Washington added an estimated 6,700 new jobs in March, according to the report. The March job gains followed additions of 5,800 new positions each during January and February. Economists recently revised an earlier estimate of 2,500 new jobs for February, adding 3,300 positions.

“We’re getting job creation, but it’s not gangbusters job creation,” said Paul Turek, a labor economist with the Employment Security Department, in a news release.

The biggest job increases in March were in the professional and business services, which added an estimated 3,100 jobs. Of those, 2,600 were in administrative and support services, meaning office workers, with 1,400 working for temporary employment agencies.

Sterling, Umpqua banks receive approval on merger Umpqua Bank and Sterling Financial Corp. announced Tuesday, April 1, that they received the regulatory OK for their planned merger.

The combined company will operate under the Umpqua Bank name and will have $22 bil-

lion in assets and nearly 400 locations across five states. It will be the largest community bank on the West Coast.

The merger was first announced Sept. 11.

Umpqua is based in Portland, Ore., while Sterling Financial is based in Spokane.

Sterling operates loan offices in Bellingham, as well as branches in Lynden, Blaine and Point Roberts. Umpqua has no current locations in Whatcom County.

Small Business Development Center celebrates 30th year Western Washington University’s Small Business Development Center celebrated its 30th anniversary last month Development Center is part of an alliance of more than 1,000 similar programs across the country. It provides free advising, technical assistance and research to local business owners and managers.

Unemployment-benefits handbook moves online In a move to cut costs, the Washington State Employment Security Department plans to rely more heavily on the Internet to transmit eligibility requirements to people who apply for unemployment benefits.

The department has for years mailed a 45-page paper handbook to all benefit applicants that describes what they must do to continue to receive benefits.

Last year, it cost the department about $325,000 to print and mail the manual to every applicant.

Now, the department is instead asking applicants to download the manual from its website at esd.wa.gov.

Printed copies can still be picked up at WorkSource job centers or requested by calling the unemployment claims center at 800-318-6022.

Whidbey Island Bank shareholders approve new merger Shareholders for Washington Banking Co. overwhelmingly approved a merger Tuesday, April 15, with Heritage Financial Corp.

Washington Banking is the parent company for Whidbey Island Bank.

More than 97 percent of the shares voting at a special meeting in Oak Harbor were in favor of the merger, representing more than 80 percent of all outstanding shares.

“With the approval of both our shareholders and Heritage’s shareholders, we are on track to complete this business combination of two of Washington’s strongest banking franchises,” said Jack Wagner, Washington Banking’s president and CEO, in a statement.

Upon completion, each outstanding share of Washington Banking common stock, other than dissenting shares, will be converted into the right to receive 0.89000 of a share of Heritage common stock and $2.75 in cash.

The combined company will take the Heritage name and be based in Olympia. It will have more than 70 branches along the I-5 corridor from Bellingham to Portland.

Six Washington Banking branches will retain the Whidbey Island Bank name. All other Whidbey Island branches, including those in Snohomish and Whatcom counties, will be called Heritage Bank.

Port meetings: Coming soon to a webcast near you Starting May, meetings of the Port of Bellingham Commission will be viewable via live streaming on the Web. During their April 15 meeting, the port’s three commissioners unanimously agreed to hire Spinner LLC of Bellingham to provide live streaming video of their meetings on the port’s website. Copies of the meetings will also be saved to a backup hard drive kept at the port’s headquarters.

The port will pay Spinner $425 per meeting for its video streaming service. Assuming that the live streaming begins with the port’s next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, May 6, the total cost of streaming meetings through the rest of 2014 will cost $6,375. Meetings that exceed four and a half hours will cost extra.

Marie Duckworth, a communications coordinator for the port, told commissioners that the port received four responses to a request for proposals seeking video services. Spinner LLC, owned by David Brown, submitted the most competitive price and had the best experience, she said.

Reference Media to host anniversary celebration, May 14 Reference Media, located at 1200 Old Fairhaven Parkway, Suite 104, will host a 10th anniversary celebration from 5-9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14.

The company specializes in audio-video systems.

It moved to its current location in the 12th Street Village on the corner of Old Fairhaven Parkway and 12th Street in 2008.

Skagit Bank unveils rebrand Skagit State Bank is rebranding itself as Skagit Bank and moving ahead with plans to open a new downtown Bellingham branch at 128 E. Holly St. in June.

The bank’s Burlington-based parent company, Skagit State Bancorp, announced the news following its annual stockholders meeting on April 22.

For the past several months, Skagit Bank has run billboard ads in Whatcom and Skagit counties that feature nothing but curved lines of green, black and white along with text reading “04.23.14.”

In addition to the rebrand, Skagit Bank announced it will open a new loan production office in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood in May. “We never want to forget our roots here in Skagit County, however we believe the fresh new look and name change will resonate well with customers in other areas as we expand,” Russ Lee, Skagit Bank’s president and chief operating officer, said in a news release.

Skagit Bank operates two branches in Bellingham, one that includes a business banking center, as well as a third branch and business center in Lynden. Its Skagit County operations include six offices and two business banking centers.

The bank did close its branch in Stanwood this year, with a bank spokesman citing a lack of growth in the market there. A Skagit Bank branch in Arlington remains open.

The bank apparently decided to rebrand in November of last year, but its executives wanted to wait until after their annual shareholders meeting to make an official announcement.

May 2014 17

The Bellingham Business Journal

Business Toolkit

Facebook marketing: It’s not what it used to be Did you know that today only about 6-12 percent of the people who “like” your Facebook page will see the information you post?

That number is expected to decline further in the coming months unless you pay for posts to reach more people.

How can that be? If people like your business page, they will receive all of your status updates, right?

Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

A new reality Gone are the days of posting a status update and having it be seen by every person who follows your page.

A study published by Edgerank in April 2014 showed that organic, non-paid posts were being seen by just 6.51 percent of page followers. Those numbers were a shock to many small businesses using Facebook as their main tool for online marketing.

When it comes to Facebook marketing, it’s more important than ever to understand the difference between organic and paid reach.

Here’s Facebook’s definition of these two terms: ▶Organic reach (free): The number of unique people who saw your post in their news feed or on your page, including people who saw it from a story shared by a friend when they liked, commented on or shared your post, answered a question or

responded to an event. ▶Paid reach: The number of unique people who saw your post through an ad.

Think about those Edgerank statistics again.

If your page has Patti 500 followers, it’s possible that an Rowlson average of only 30 will be shown On Social status updates Media & organically (without paying FaceMarketing book to show the updates to more people). These numbers are the new norm.

Business reactions Since its inception, Facebook has continually made changes to its algorithm, which determines how computers carry out specific tasks via input and output of data.

In the case of Facebook, its algorithm controls whether your status updates are shown to page followers or not.

Its latest algorithm update on December 2013 has led page managers around the globe to research how the changes work, edit their social-media marketing strate-

gies and adjust their advertising budgets to include more paid advertising on Facebook.

One company, a national food delivery business, became so frustrated with the never-ending changes at Facebook that they wrote a very public break up letter threatening to leave the social media platform for good. The letter touched a chord with businesses and consumers—it went “viral” on the Web.

Impact to consumers Not only are businesses frustrated by algorithm updates, but so are consumers.

The reason consumers follow a page in the first place is to be notified about events, sales and new products. Consumers opt-in to follow pages and assume they will be shown all status update, because they want to see them.

Again, that is no longer the case.

Today, consumers need to visit a company’s page if they want to read all status updates shared.

Test this out by hopping over and looking at some of pages you personally like on

Facebook. Do you see status updates on those pages that you didn’t see in your news feed?

Moving forward Experts say that, in 2014, it’s not possible to only use Facebook for social-media marketing. Companies need to diversify their online marketing efforts by incorporating other social sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Some also suggest revisiting email marketing.

Others are advising everyone to keep in mind that, even though Facebook keeps changing and their ad rates are increasing, it’s still an affordable option to reach a large audience of potential customers.

What do you think? Are your Facebook marketing efforts still effective? Will you make some adjustments, or will you look for alternatives?

Patti Rowlson is a marketing consultant and social media manager at PR Consulting, Inc. She helps Whatcom County small businesses identify, implement and consistently maintain marketing-related programs. Learn more about small-business marketing by connecting with PR Consulting on social media sites or by visiting www.pattirowlson.com.

Get your daily business news online at BBJToday.com.

When you are the problem in your own business Bringing about change in any organization or business is usually not an easy task.

It is especially difficult when the leader of the organization is not able to imagine that they might be a part of the problem they are interested in solving.

In my experience, business leaders will often do many things, including spend lots of money replacing employees before they will consider that the problems they are facing have something to do with themselves.

There you are, you own the business, you have the best of intentions, you have a great work ethic, and you work long hours, yet you cannot get people who can either perform or will perform in the manner you need. I mean, it is obvious you know what you are doing. It is they who are the problem.

What are you supposed to do about them?

You may think I am being a bit over the top here, but maybe not.

As the business owner, finding out that you are not the right person to be in charge, and you are in fact creating as many problems as you are solving can be a rude awakening.

Many years back, when I owned my consulting business, I was sure that it was my responsibility to make the important decisions and run the business day to day. We had our ups and downs for several years.

We survived.

About the best I was ever able to do as the person in charge was get everything to level before it went under again.

But getting the business to grow was simply not something I was Mike able to accomplish beyond a certain Cook point.

Fortunately for On me and for my Managers & employees, I was not one to autoEmployees matically blame others (I might get around to it eventually), and I constantly looked at what I might do to make better decisions.

On a recommendation from a friend, I read a small book by Michael Gerber titled “The E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.” From reading the book I learned that the most common mistake many smallbusiness owners make is thinking that just because they own the business, they should be running it.

It dawned on me at that time that my talents were valuable, just not right for

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18 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

Public Records Business licenses Listings, which feature both new and renewed licenses in Bellingham, include business name, licensee name and the business’ physical address. Records are obtained from the City of Bellingham.

14th Adams LLC, 14th Adams LLC, 600 14th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

2 Red Pony Productions, Selena Lee Burgess, 5135 Bellwether Lane, Bellingham, WA 98226.

A&E Landscaping, Antonio Esteban Jr., 139 Prince Ave., Bellingham, WA 98226.

ABC’s Of Bookkeeping Inc., ABC Bookkeeping Inc., 4004 Cedarbrook Court, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Acme Ice Cream LLC, Acme Ice Cream LLC, 306 W. Holly St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Act West Property LLC, Act West Property LLC, 3100 Brandywine Way, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Amazing Painting, Jesse Lee Eisses, 2297 Mount Baker Highway, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Angela M. Belcaster, Angela M. Belcaster, 307 Willow Court N., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Angels Cleaning Service, Maria Carmona, 336 36th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Appleseed Plumbing And Heating LLC, Appleseed Plumbing And Heating LLC, 2215 Wildflower Way, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Ashley A. Owens, Ashley Anne Owens, 1121 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Balanced Books & Payroll Solutions, Kari HydornLarsen, 2808 Xenia St., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Banana Can, Martin & Hoag, 2025 James St. #102, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Basaraba IT Services, Metro Allen Basaraba, 570 Manley Road, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Becky’s Hair Design, Rebecca J. Classen, 321 Telegraph Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Ben Fuller Plumbing And Heating Inc., Ben Fuller Plumbing And Heating Inc., 753 E. Smith Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Bradley Haggen, Bradley Haggen, 114 W. Magnolia St., Suite 505, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Brahma Consulting, Kyle William McMurtry, 230 S. Ashley St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Budget Overhead Door, 5562 Guide Meridian Investments LLC, 5562 Guide Meridian, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Calvert Street Group LLC, Calvert Street Group LLC, 114 W. Magnolia St., Suite 429, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Candy’s Productions, Cantrice Hiler, 1130 12th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

CE Group, CE Group LLC, 4165 Hannegan Road, Suite B, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Cesco New Concept Products Inc., Cesco New Concept Products Inc., 2227 Midway Lane, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Click To Call Mobile, Heidi Powell, 3797 Magrath Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Cookie Trust Working Group Inc. dba Cookie Trust Working Group, Cookie Trust Working Group Inc. dba Cookie Trust Working Group, 2211 Rimland Drive, Suite 422, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Cool Runnings Construction LLC, Cool Runnings Construction LLC, 1235 Raymond St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Corax LLC, Corax LLC, 1608 E St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Core Physio Physical Therapy, Core Performance LLC, 1514 12th St., Suite 102, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Corewise, Elizabeth Hampton PT, WCS, LLC, 504 16th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Dan Brady Attorney At Law, Daniel J. Brady, 1009 Kenoyer Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Daniel P. Gore, Daniel P. Gore, 501 Meador Ave., Suite 104, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Derby, Jenny Rosa Lara, 1318 Bay St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Digital Koma, Roman Komarov, 1218 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

DMK One LLC, DMK One LLC, 2954 St. Paul St., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Dream Big Apparel LLC, Dream Big Consulting LLC, 1313 E. Maple St. #201-604, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Dutch Window Cleaning, Adam Ward, 1000 Harris Ave., Unit 319, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Dwellings Consulting LLC, Dwellings Consulting LLC, 3832 Kansas St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

E Fresh Design LLC, E Fresh Design LLC, 2016 St. Clair St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Ellgi LLC, Ellgi LLC, 1801 Roeder Ave., Suite 174 , Bellingham, WA 98225.

Everybody’s Gym, Bosch Enterprises LLC, 923 Iowa St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Fairhaven Builders Inc., Fairhaven Builders Inc., 1106 Franklin St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Fine Detail, Greenway Sener Fisheries Ltd., 4302 Academy St., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Furlong Construction, Paul Furlong, 2116 W. North St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Ginger Boat, Gingerboat1 Corporation, 240 36th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Go 2 Ave LLC, Go 2 Ave LLC, 2519 Iron St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Goji, Goji1 Corporation, 4260 Cordata Parkway, Suite 105, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Grant Lyle Collmann, Grant Lyle Collmann, 1 Bellis Fair Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Gray Management, Douglas T. Gray, 1846 Iron St. #201, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Gray Management, Crimson Hills Rentals LLC, 1846 Iron St. #201, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Gray Management, Lakeway Rentals LLC, 1846 Iron St. #201, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Gray Management, Finnegan Way Rentals LLC, 1846 Iron St. #201, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Gray-I.C.E. Builders Inc., Gray-I.C.E. Builders Inc., 1 Bellis Fair Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Green Connect LLC, Green Connect LLC, 2809 Grant St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Green Truck, Green Truck General Partner LLC, 921 Cornwall Ave. #S108, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Guadalupe De La Mora Agency, Guadalupe De La Mora, 104 Prospect St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Hamsters Do It In The Rain, Reisa Latorra, 2615 Jefferson St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Hand Up Not Hand Out, Hand Up Not Hand Out, 101 E. Mcleod Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Hands Of Olympus Massage, Cody Schuler, 1155 N. State St., Suite 612, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Healing Path Massage Therapy, Nataliya Dubrava, 610 Dupont St., Suite 128, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Health In Practice, Health In Practice LLC, 914 12th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Heart Of The Forest Acupuncture, Cadie Lynn Federmeyer, 1810 Broadway St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Heather Ann Falkenbury, Heather Ann Falkenbury, 1901 Broadway St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Heather Lane RN LLC, Heather Lane RN LLC, 138 Harbor View Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Heather Souve, Heather Souve, 705 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Immaculate Perception Cleaning, Amanda L. Cargile, 2059 E. Smith Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Indi Thai Restaurant, Indi Thai Inc., 505 32nd St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Industrial Credit Union Services Inc., Industrial Credit Union Services Inc., 3233 Northwest Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Intuito Web Design, Robert Allyn Haskell, 1707 Texas St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Iwanowycz Enterprise, Angela Iwanowycz, 725 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Jess Construction & Management LLC, Jess Construction & Management LLC, 3207 Greenwood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Jessica Willis LMP, Jessica A. Willis, 1229 Cornwall Ave., Suite 213, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Judith Page Life Coach, Judith D. Page, 535 W. Kellogg Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Kelly L. Tessitore, Kelly L. Tessitore, 1050 E. Axton Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Kennedy Homes, Frederick J. Kennedy, 2936 Leeward Way, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Kenneth D. Chovil LICSW MSW LLC, Kenneth D. Chovil LICSW MSW LLC, 816 36th St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Kickstart Law, Kickstart Law PS, 1155 N. State St., Suite 426, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Laughing Buddha Body Piercing, The Empire Inc., 1409 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

LJ’s Handyman Service Inc., LJ’s Handyman Service Inc., 1201 15th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Logan One Enterprises LLC, Logan One Enterprises

LLC, 112 Ohio St., Suite 108, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Love To Move Studioz, Alicia Kennemer, 311 E. Holly St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Mackenzie Unick, Mackenzie Lee Unick, 2404 Mill Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

MAL USA Inc., MAL USA Inc., 2200 Rimland Drive, Suite 115, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Margaret J. Wettergreen, Margaret J. Wettergreen, 1104 Grant St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Mark Harfenist dba Mark Harfenist LMHC LMFT, Mark Harfenist, 2628 Donovan Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Mark Porcello Inc., Mark Porcello Inc., 714 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Master House Cleaning, Alicia Magallanes-Valdez, 343 Meadowbrook Court, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Melissa Roberts Birth Services, Melissa Roberts, 319 S. Forest St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Merla LLC, Merla LLC, 2216 Victor St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Mexican Bakery, Victor Apreza-Reyes, 2612 W. Maplewood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Mind Body Integrative Therapy LLC, Mind Body Integrative Therapy LLC, 1200 Lakeway Drive, Suite 3, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Miracles And More, Shakti Chionis, 3801 Briarcliffe Court, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures, Kristina Kucera, 2784 W. Indiana St. #101, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Motel 6 #44, G6 Hospitality Real Estate LLC, 3701 Byron St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Mountain Bay Massage, Sari Russell Seegmiller, 4303 Academy St., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Movement Mortgage LLC, Movement Mortgage LLC, 12 Bellwether Way, Suite 110, Bellingham, WA 98225.

MTS Enterprises, MTS Enterprises LLC, 4205 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

MW Soapworks, Andrea Mae Warren Lawson, 1211 Bancroft St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

New Grounds Espresso, Kailee R. Winterburn, 2095 E. Smith Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

New Moon Therapy, Mark Lee Tucker, 1116 Key St., Suite 101, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Next Generation Legal Services, Next Generation Legal Services PLLC, 215 W Holly St., Suite G-18, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Northwest Keyboards, Marvin Alton Johnson, 301 W Holly St., Suite D4, Bellingham, WA 98225.

OLC Global, On-Line Communications Inc., 103 E. Holly St., Suite 423, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Op & Associates Ltd. H2so4 Consultants, Op & Associates Ltd. H2so4 Consultants, 1401 Woodstock Way, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Outside Insights LLC, Outside Insights LLC, 228 E. Champion St., Suite 104, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Pacific Crust Pizza Company, PCPC LLC, 1420 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Peter Andrew Rust, Peter Andrew Rust, 2505 Fir St., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Plain Vanilla, Plain Vanilla LLC, 3140 St. Clair St., Suite C, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Planet A Inc., Planet A Inc., 910 Mason St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Play It Again Electronics, Richard A. Akers Jr., 1407 Marietta Ave., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Play Lab, Allison Pasquier, 1200 Chuckanut Drive N., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Plum Chic, Carolyn Hansen, 436 W. Bakerview Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Prime Supply Corp., Prime Supply Corp., 114 W. Magnolia St., Suite 400-132, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Pro Tec Construction, Scott Schenk, 2287 E. Hemmi Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Product Assurance LLC, Product Assurance LLC, 6 Morning Beach Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

RE Olson Construction, Richard Earl Olson, 4806 Lost Creek Lane, Bellingham, WA 98229.

RK Enterprises, Richard Merle King, 3421 Alabama St., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Rebecca’s Tangolife, Rebecca Niemier, 2610 Likely Court, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Reuse Works, Reuse Works, 1421 N. Forest St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

RFTM Copywriting Services, Ralph Lewis Myers, 4752 Corona Court, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Right Writing, Joanna Marie Littlefield, 1218 Kenoyer Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Romantics By Juliet, Vanessa Joanne Bell, 1026 Brighton Crest Lane, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Sakonnet Passage LLC, Sakonnet Passage LLC, 2623 S. Harbor Loop Drive, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Sea-Mar Community Health Center, Sea-Mar Community Health Center, 3350 Airport Drive, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Seed2Oil, Seed2Oil LLC, 706 16th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Solution Based Engineering, Solution Based Engineering LLC, 1313 E. Maple St., Suite 201-609, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Southside Trends, Catherine Ann Lee, 910 Harris Ave., Suite 107, Bellingham, WA 98225.

Spero Services LLC, Spero Services LLC, 1253 Puget St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Spice India And Sweets, SBN Enterprises LLC, 428 W. Bakerview Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Spicy G Jewelry, Gingerlee Ann Walters, 239 Friday Creek Road, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Stratnav Marine Consulting Inc., Stratnav Marine Consulting Inc., 485 Whitecap Road, Bellingham, WA 98229.

Super Windows, Shawn Ryan Laughlin, 2205 H St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Tammy L. Connors, Tammy Connors, 1155 N. State St., Suite 614, Bellingham, WA 98225.

The Cat Walk Salon, Andrea Michelle Bird, 714 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

The Dog House, The Dog House, 2224 Donovan Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

The Romping Needle, Judyth Shaughnessy, 1611 W. Connecticut St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

The T Shack, Custom World LLC, 1 Bellis Fair Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98226.

The Top Shelf Collective, The Top Shelf Collective, 2119 Lincoln St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Three Sixty Step LLC, Three Sixty Step LLC, 1412 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

TJ Cleans, Tami Jo Gilmore-Mcmains, 1207 E. Laurel Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Toosh LLC, Toosh LLC, 231 Terrace Pl., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Toubaelec, Djibril Sy, Bellis Fair Mall, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Touch N Go Massage, Cindy Leigh Maxwell, 1305 W. Clearbrook Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.

UGO Staging, UGO Real Estate LLC, 2519 Iron St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Unknown Board Shop, Zachary Scott Garza, 105 Grand Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Unlimited Stache, Thomas Fields Mooney, 1334 Humboldt St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Up Stage, Rhonda Renee Sherrer, 401 16th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Victoria Cheney, Victoria Cheney, 3613 Alderwood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Vuez Gallery, David R. Vladez, 1209 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Whatcom Computer Repair Services, Sal Services LLC, 1019 Iowa St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Whatcom Radiator, Kenneth A. Rier, 1800 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Yew Street Properties LLC, Yew Street Properties LLC, 1329 King St., Bellingham, WA 98229.

Building permits Includes commercial building activity in Bellingham with an estimated valuation listed at $10,000 or more.

Records are obtained from the City of Bellingham’s Permit Center. Status updates on permits are available on the city’s website at http://pnw.cc/sVCen. 4/21/14 TO 4/28/14 ISSUED PERMITS 702 Kentucky St., $14,144 for commercial: construct free-standing carport of west side of property. Permit No.: BLD2014-00123. 4/24/14.

PENDING APPLICATIONS 4051 Meridian St., $9,311,746 for commercial: new five-story, 99-unit hotel: Oxford Suites. Permit No.: BLD2013-00581. 4/21/14.

233 W. Kellogg Road (Whatcom Community College), $540,000 for commercial: interior remodel of approximately 5,988 square feet in Baker Hall

classroom/lab space. Permit No.: BLD2014-00153.

4/24/14.

1815 Ellis St., $275,000 to demolish existing structure and install new prefabricated bridge and chain-link fence. Permit No.: BLD2014-00154. 4/25/14.

714 Lakeway Drive, $250,000 for tenant improvement: remodel of hotel lobby and dining room/ coffee shop areas on main floor. Tenant: Best Western Lakeway Inn. Contractor: Credo Construction. Permit No.: BLD2014-00149. 4/21/14.

222 36th St., $126,667 for tenant improvement: interior renovation to an existing Starbucks. Permit No.: BLD2014-00140. 4/23/14.

521 Kentucky St., $40,000 for commercial: 480-square-foot prep room and bathroom to support existing restaruant. Permit No.: BLD2014-00155.

4/25/14.

4/14/14 TO 4/21/14 ISSUED PERMITS 114 Grand Ave., $1.2 million for commercial: secondfloor and roof demolition; new apartments on second floor and new roof installation, and other second-floor upgrades. Contractor: Pearson Construction Corp. Permit No.: BLD2014-00038. 4/16/14.

351 York St., $282,029 for commercial: rebuilding electrical substation and improve access to site: PSE. Contractor: Pottle & Sons Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2014-00026. 4/16/14.

PENDING APPLICATIONS 557 W. Bakerview Road, $2,083,200 for new mixeduse development with 42-unit apartment building and three commercial spaces. Permit No.: BLD201400057. 4/14/14.

3016 Lindbergh Ave., $390,000 for tenant improvement: interior remodel of classroom to dental reception and waiting area; addition of mechanical room and exterior doors. Permit No.: BLD2014-00148.

4/18/14.

516 High St. (WWU Ross Engineering Technology), $250,000 for commercial alteration: remodel of electronics lab and classroom on third floor.

Permit No.: BLD2014-00144. 4/17/14.

3110 Newmarket St., $215,600 for tenant improvement: build out space for new dental office.

Permit No.: BLD2014-00141. 4/17/14.

516 High St. (WWU Biology building), $130,000 for commercial alteration: upgrades to existing biology lab in Room 461. Permit No.: BLD2014-00145. 4/17/14.

222 36th St., $126,667 for tenant improvement: interior renovation to an existing Starbucks. Permit No.: BLD2014-00140. 4/15/14.

1500 Cornwall Ave. 201-203, $75,000 for tenant improvement: second-floor interior changes for preparation of three new tenants; no change of use.

Permit No.: BLD2014-00142. 4/17/14.

102 Samish Way 107, $58,000 for tenant improvement: interior alteration to walls, ceilings and finished: AT&T Dealer Store. Permit No.: BLD201400138. 4/14/14.

4/8/14 TO 4/14/14 ISSUED PERMITS 516 High St. (WWU Performing Arts Center), $700,000 for commercial: exterior building repairs (stucco and masonry); window replacement, handrail replacement; replace roof drains, gutters, waterproofing system at planter. Contractor: Dawson Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2014-00104. 4/11/14.

516 High St. (WWU Old Main), $143,000 for solarium refurbishment and replacement of glazing with new insulated units. Contractor: CDK Construction Services. Permit No.: BLD2014-00066. 4/10/14.

4182 Cordata Parkway, $40,000 for tenant improvement: construct ADA restroom and storage room for new retail smoke shop. Applicant and contractor: Braam Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2014-00091. 4/7/14.

PENDING APPLICATIONS 4131 Meridian St., $2.3 million for tenant improvement: interior remodel, facade renovation and new entry vestibule: Burlington Coat Factory. Permit No.: BLD2014-00133. 4/8/14.

516 High St. (WWU Old Main), $37,000 for commercial: modification of second-floor offices and cubicles. Permit No.: BLD2014-00134. 4/9/14.

516 High St. (WWU Humanities Building), $10,000 for commercial alteration: repair retaining wall. Permit No.: BLD2014-00135. 4/9/14.

4/2/14 TO 4/8/14

recOrds, pAge 19

May 2014 19

The Bellingham Business Journal

records, 18 Issued permIts 1 Bellis Fair parkway 616, $182,000 for tenant improvement: remodel existing retail space for new tenant: Christopher & Banks. Contractor: Horizon Retail Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2014-00036. 3/31/14.

2005 division st., $100,530 for tenant improvement: interior alterations to produce and process marijuana: Trail Blazin’ Productions. Contractor: PCS. Permit No.: BLD2014-00020. 4/2/14.

1825 Cornwall Ave., $15,000 for tenant improvement: interior renovations for new retail tenant. Permit No.: BLD2014-00125. 4/1/14. pendIng ApplICAtIons 6 Bellis Fair parkway, $1.25 million for tenant improvement: new restaurant tenant; includes new storefront: Buffalo Wild Wings. Permit No.: BLD201400129. 4/4/14.

4051 meridian st., $9,311,746 for commercial: new five-story, 99-unit hotel: Oxford Suites. Permit No.: BLD2013-00581. 4/3/14.

1189 e. sunset drive., $394,026 for commercial: construct new fuel center including 697-square-foot sales kiosk building, 5,245-square-foot canopy and associated site improvements. Permit No.: BLD201400127. 4/2/14.

Liquor Licenses

Records include license activity in Whatcom County.

They are obtained from the Washington State Liquor Control Board, online at www.liq.wa.gov.

4/2/14 to 4/16/14 new lICense ApplICAtIons main street Bar & grill, JJ’s Frontier Inc.; John Thomas Wirts applied for a new license to sell beer/wine/spirits in a restaurant lounge at 2005 Main St., Ferndale, WA 98428. License No.: 355130. 4/8/14.

Bellwether market, Bellwether Market Inc.; Ann M. McEvoy applies for a new license to sell beer/wine in a grocery store at 8 Bellwether Way, Bellingham, WA 98225. License No.: 417800. 4/8/14. reCently Approved lICenses Allegiant Air at 4223 mitchell way, Bellingham, WA 98226, received approval on a change of location on an existing license to sell alcohol as an interstate common carrier. License No.: 417815. 4/7/14. walton Beverage Co. at 1350 pacific pl., Ferndale, WA 98248, received approval for a new license to operate as a beer distributor. License No.: 409303.

4/4/14. dIsContInued lICenses perfectly paired at 1200 old Fairhaven parkway #101, Bellingham, WA 98225, has a license to operate as a direct-shipment receiver (in/out of WA) discontinued. License No.: 402048. 4/9/14.

3/19/14 to 4/2/14 new lICense ApplICAtIons the green Frog, Green Frog Cafe LLC; Nathan Eric

cook, 17 running the operations of the business. It wasn’t going to matter how hard I worked at it. My strength was consulting and coaching, not business operations.

In a matter of months I found a new partner—someone who had considerable management experience and was very interested in seeing what he could bring to the business to make it grow, since he really believed in what we were doing.

Simply put, this was the best single decision I ever made as the owner. Within a short period of time, the business was both stabilized and on a solid footing for

Carlson, James Leland Hardesty and Thomas L. Morisset applied to make changes to an existing license to be able to be sell beer/wine/spirits in a restaurant lounge and sell kegs to-go at 1015 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225. License No.: 408276. 3/27/14. portal way station, MSJM Enterprises Ins.; Lakhwinder S. Malhi and Rajvinder Kaur Malhi applied for a new license to sell beer/wine in a grocery store at 6000 Portal Way, Ferndale, WA 98248. License No.: 350284. 3/26/14. milt’s pizza, Windows Unlimited Inc.; Keith Bryant Heutink and Kristy Lynn Heutink applied to assume a license from Milt’s Pizza Place, Milt’s Pizza Place LLC to sell beer/wine in a restaurant and for off-premises consumption at 8122 Washington 539, Lynden, Wa 98264. License No.: 401224. 3/25/14. rX-mart pharmacy, RX-Mart Pharmacy LLCl Kamalpreet S. Dhami, Manmeet K. Dhami, Sanjeev K. Nagpal and Namita Nagpal applied for a new license to see beer/wine in a grocery store at 300 E. Sunset Drive, Bellingham, WA 98225. License No.: 417695. 3/19/14. reCently Approved lICenses none reported. dIsContInued lICenses none reported.

Bankruptcies No business bankruptcies were reported in Whatcom County last month.

growth—and I slept much better at night, and so did the employees.

You know what? If you are the source of the problem, your employees know it. They just may not have much room to bring it to your attention.

All of this came to mind again last week when I ran across an article in the McKinsey Quarterly Newsletter titled “Change leader, change thyself,” which focuses on the necessity of understanding why you have the problems you have before you start solving them.

Now when you hear the name, McKinsey, you may think that its work applies to larger organizations. I would say that yes, it does primarily work with larger organiza-

FederaL tax Liens Liens of $5,000 or more issued by the Internal Revenue Service. Listings include business name, lien amount, document number and filing date.

Records are obtained locally from the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office.

Big Fat Fish Company Inc., $21,565.96, 2140401673, 4/21/14. main street Bar and grill Inc., $16,340.95, 2140401016, 4/14/14. reference media Inc., $14,790.85, 2140400486, 4/7/14.

CdI Custom design Inc., $100,204.40, 2140302710, 3/31/14. la vie en rose Bellingham llC, La Vie En Rose, $60,925.80, 2140302705, 3/31/14. wildwest express Inc., $11,395.47, 2140301943, $11,395.47, 3/24/14.

reLeases oF FederaL tax Liens Liens that have been paid and lifted.

Family Foot Care ps, $9,779.05, 2140400492, 4/7/14.

Kestrel Homes Inc., $18,509.45, 2140400490, 4/7/14.

state tax judgments Judgments of $5,000 or more issued by Washington

tions, but that is more an issue of its business model than of whether the knowledge it has applies to smaller businesses too.

Here are a few quotes from the article I am referencing: “Taking accountability as a leader today includes understanding your motivations and other inner drives.”

“Simply put, change efforts often falter because individuals overlook the need to make fundamental changes in themselves.”

“A new strategy will fall short of its potential if it fails to address the underlying mind-sets and capabilities of the people who will execute it.”

I think you can see from these few words that the article focuses on you knowing yourself better as a business owner, leader

state government agencies and filed locally in Whatcom County Superior Court. Listings include business name, judgment amount, the state agency filing the judgment, originating case number and filing date. Judgments can later be paid and lifted.

Listings are only current as of their filing dates.

Records are obtained from the Whatcom County Superior Court Clerk’s Office. whatcom windows & gutters Inc., $5,363.02, Revenue, 14-2-00887-9, 4/21/14. nw Choice Construction Inc., $8,626.53, Revenue, 14-2-00873-9, 4/15/14.

Jason murphy llC, $5,728.58, Revenue, 14-2-008356, 4/10/14. wright marketing Inc., $5,167.27, Revenue, 14-200837-2, 4/10/14. gabe 5 llC, $5,993.52, Revenue, 14-2-00843-7, 4/10/14.

Aiki Homes Inc., $7,321.56, L&I, 14-2-00821-6, 4/9/14.

Claassen enterprises llC, $6,095, Revenue, 14-200795-3, 4/3/14.

Kiniski & Company, $9,169.37, L&I, 14-2-00777-5, 4/1/14. dykstra Construction services, $15,235.54, Revenue, 14-2-00781-3, 4/1/14.

View more public records online at BBJToday.com.

or manager.

In the business world today, and in the world in general, the more you know yourself—how you think, your strengths, your limitations, biases, preferences, beliefs and much more—then the better able you are to recognize how you have something to do with the problems you see in front of you.

But you need an outside perspective to help you see yourself. Read the article. Buy Gerber’s book. It’s a start.

mike Cook is a management developer who lives in Anacortes, Wash. He publishes a weekly blog at www. heartofengagement.com.

Get your daily business news on the Web... ...including company profiles, breaking news reports, industry trends, commercial real-estate development, business-building advice from local experts, regularly updated business licenses, liquor licenses, building permits, bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, local roadwork reports, major property sales and more...

...all online at BBJToday.com.

20 May 2014

The Bellingham Business Journal

NONPROFIT NOTES

New format for Future of Business conference

Sustainable Connections turns its popular annual business conference into three speaker engagements throughout the year

BY EVAN MARCZYNSKI The Bellingham Business Journal Sustainable Connections is splitting its popular daylong Future of Business conference into three separate speaker events between May and October.

Michelle Grandy, the nonprofit’s communications director, said the change was made to be more accommodating to Sustainable Connections members in the small-business community. Grandy said that while many small-business owners have found the annual conference useful and engaging, having to break away from their businesses for an entire day to attend has been difficult.

This year, Sustainable Connections will host speaker events on May 22, July 31 and October 16.

Toby Barazzuol, owner of Eclipse Awards in Vancouver, British Columbia, will be the keynote speaker in May. Barazzuol was recognized in the Small Business B.C. Awards in 2012, as B.C.’s Best Employer, and in 2014, as B.C.’s Best Green Business.

The May event will also include a panel discussion featuring Sheryl Hersey of Bellingham Cold Storage, Ben Scholtz of Mallard Ice Cream, Micke Hammes of RAM Construction and Colleen Unema of Q Laundry.

The iscussion will be moderated by Mike Cook of Vitalwork. Cook is also a frequent contributing columnist to The Bellingham Business Journal.

Future speakers include Aaron Fairchild, chairman and CEO of Green Canopy Inc., who will talk on July 31, and Vincent Stanley of Patagonia, who will speak Oct. 16.

Each speaker event will be held from 4-7 p.m. at Broadway Hall, located at 1300 Broadway St. in Bellingham. Tickets vary in cost depending on membership status in Sustainable Connections.

More information is available online at www.sustainableconnections.org.

Whatcom County Medical Society turns 125 The Whatcom County Medical Society, a nonprofit organization that promotes public health and physician education, celebrates its 125th anniversary this month.

The professional association, made up of local physicians, provides a variety of services to its members and the community, including a physician referral line for patients (360-676-7630) and information on Washington’s Death with Dignity Act, the state law that allows terminally-ill people to voluntarily end their lives with physician-prescribed lethal medication.

The association also provides scholarships for pre-med students at Western Washington University, and collaborates with local health organizations such as the Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement and Chuckanut Health Foundation (formerly known as St. Luke’s Foundation) to address health care issues in the region.

Brigid Collins gets grants for services in Skagit County The Brigid Collins Family Support Center has received two emergency

Derek Long, executive director of Sustainable Connections, speaks during the opening reception of last year’s Future of Business conference, held in the Depot Market Square in downtown Bellingham. To the right of Long is Whatcom County Executive Jack Louws and Port of Bellingham Executive Director Rob Fix. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | THE BBJ grants to improve access to child sexualabuse treatment and prevention services for children in Skagit County. The two grants were awarded by the United Way of Skagit County.

The first, a $5,560 grant, will cover equipment and training costs for a new colposcope for the Skagit County Children’s Advocacy Center in Mount Vernon, which is coordinated by Brigid Collins. Colposcopes are used during sexual-abuse investigations to examine and gather evidence from survivors. Another $2,000 grant will allow the Mount Vernon office to upgrade its phone systems.

Downtown Sounds seeks crowd funders, business sponsors The Downtown Bellingham Partnership is running a crowd funding campaign to support the annual Downtown Sounds summer concert series, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

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Five consecutive weekly shows are scheduled to begin on July 9. Concerts will be held on Wednesday evenings in downtown Bellingham.

The partnership is seeking financial support to help pay for the concert’s rising production costs. Downtown Sounds has consistently grown over the past decade and generally attracts thousands of weekly attendees.

The Downtown Sounds crowd funding page can be accessed at https://fundly. com/downtownsounds. Contributions will be accepted until July 9. The partnership’s crowd funding goal is $10,000.

Lindsey Payne, events manager of the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, said business sponsorships for the concert series are also still available, including the title sponsor ($5,000), four stage sponsor spots ($1,500 for each show), and a talent sponsor (covering shows’ band fees).

For details on sponsorships, contact Payne at 360-527-8710.

3.5 percent); total homes sold, 451 (up 6.6 percent); average days on the market, 121 (up 5.2 percent)

(down 0.8 percent); average price, $253,417 (down 4.5 percent); total homes sold, 65 (up 8.3 percent); average days on the market, 108 (down 3.6 percent)

$214,000 (up 12.6 percent); average price, $215,176 (down 14.5 percent); total homes sold, 17 (up 30.8 percent); average days on the market, 192 (up 5.5 percent)

Bellingham: Median price, $268,500 (down 0.5 percent); average price, $323,018 (up 7.6 percent); total homes sold, 196 ( up 8.9 percent); average days on the market, 97 (up 14.1 percent)

Lynden: Median price, $249,950 (down 5.2 percent); average price, $253,125 (down 2.4 percent); total homes sold, 38 (down 13.6 percent); average days on the market, 83 (down 30.8 percent)

Sudden Valley: Median price, $199,900 (down 3.4 percent); average price, $217,920 (down 0.4 percent); total homes sold, 37 (up 48.0 percent); average days on the market, 129 (up 17.3 percent)

Blaine/Birch Bay: Median price, $227,000 (up 18.2 percent); average price, $265,453 (up 19.6 percent); total homes sold, 53 (up 3.9 percent); average days on the market, 184 (up 32.4 percent)

Mount Baker: Median price, $125,000 (up 5.0 percent); average price, $179,440 (down 12.6 percent); total homes sold, 31 (down 3.1 percent); average days on the market, 168 (down 15.6 percent)

Percentages compare change between Q1 2014 and Q1 2013. Source: Lylene Johnson, The Muljat Group.

Ferndale: Median price, $249,990

Nooksack Valley: Median price,

Evan Marczynski, associate editor of The Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360647-8805, Ext. 5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.

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The Bellingham Business Journal

People On The Move Automotive service Dan Raske has joined the service team at Keith Cox Autobahn as parts manager and associate service writer.

Raske has been in the mechanical parts industry for 27 years, both in the U.S. and Canada. Most recently, he managed the parts departDan Raske ment at Brim Tractor’s south Mount Vernon store for 10 years.

During that time, he also managed the tractor dealership’s opening and operation of a Carquest Parts Store Keith Cox Autobahn specializes in European automobile service and repair, including Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and MINI Cooper. It also offers a select number of used vehicles for sale.

Banking

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Cathy Griffith and Kristi Hennessy have both been promoted at Business Bank, which operates in Whatcom and Skagit counties.

Griffith has been promoted to SBA lending manager and vice president. She will lead Business Bank’s SBA lending department.

Griffith earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts/political science from the University of Arizona.

She has spent 35 years in the banking industry.

Hennessy, who serves as Business Bank’s controller, has been named a vice president. She has worked at Business Bank since 2006, and also

previously held a variety of positions at US Bank, Bank of Bellingham, Bank Northwest and Bank of the Pacific.

Hennessy earned a bachelor’s in accounting from Western Washington University.

Construction Brian Smith of IMCO General Construction in Ferndale has been promoted to director of technology, a newly created position at the company.

Smith was hired by IMCO in 2013 as a senior BIM/modeling designer.

In his new role, Smith will oversee IMCO’s technology department, Brian Smith including its GPS, BIM, and IT areas.

Smith has more than 16 years of experience working as a designer in the energy, water, wastewater and structural engineering markets. He also has experience in residential and commercial design and as a construction inspector.

He previously worked in the renewable-energy sector for Whitewater Engineering in Bellingham.

Finance Cassandra Spitzer has been hired as a financial adviser at Waddell & Reed in Bellingham.

Spitzer previously worked for Edward Jones in the same capacity.

Her resume also includes experience at LPL Financial, Taylor Industries and Lenhoff Senior Planning.

Spitzer earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA, and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Food processing Murry R. Park has been named president of Trans-Ocean Products Inc., a Bellingham-based surimi seafood producer.

Park has served as vice president and general manager of the company since 2012.

In his new role, he will continue to lead TransOcean’s retail Murry R. Park surimi seafood category and its smoked salmon and shrimp product lines. He will now also be responsible for the company’s surimi seafood Itaru Kawada processing facility in Bellingham.

Prior to joining Trans-Ocean, Park was a vice president and general manager at Westward Seafoods facility in Kodiak, Alaska. He also served as a strategic planning manager at Westward’s Seattle office.

Westward is a sister company of Trans-Ocean. Both are part of the Maruha Nichiro North American Group.

Park takes over the Trans-Ocean presidency from Yasuaki Kawakita, who is now general manager of Maruha Nichiro’s Hokkaido Regional Branch in Japan.

Along with Park’s promotion, Itaru Kawada has been named executive vice president as TransOcean.

Kawada was previously the vice president of operations at Westward Seafoods, where he was in charge of the company’s processing facility in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

He also has prior experience as the surimi sales manager in Maruha Nichiro’s Tokyo office.

Law enforcement Darin Rasmussen has been hired as the new director of public safety and university chief of police at Western Washington University.

Rasmussen has served as an interim police chief for WWU since September 2013, and has also previously served as assistant chief. He succeeded Randy Stegmeier, who left to take over as manager of security for the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority in Seattle.

Rasmussen earned a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University and graduated from Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command in 2007.

He served with the Marysville Police Department for more than 22 years, including as lieutenant, detective sergeant and accreditation manager.

Law firms Michael Kleps has joined the Zender Thurston P.S. law firm in Bellingham, as an associate.

Kleps practices in the areas of estate planning and elder law. He earned his law degree from Gonzaga

University School of Law. He has several years of experience working as a sole practitioner.

Nonprofits Sommer Cronck, the executive director of the Technology Alliance Group for Northwest Washington, has accepted a new position as chief operating officer of Red Rokk, a Bellingham-based digital marketing company.

Cronck began Sommer Cronck her new job at Red Rokk May 1.

A search for a new executive director for TAG began April 7.

Tyler Ryan, the executive director of financial services at Multop Financial in Bellingham, has been appointed to the board of directors for the Northwest Associates Chapter of the Western States Petroleum Association.

The WSPA is a nonprofit petroleum industry trade group representing 26 companies in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Ryan has worked closely with executives and employees at local refineries through his role at Multop Financial.

Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County has hired Fred Sheppard as its resource development manager, and Cynthia Poppe as its

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COFFEE, FROm 10 will be at 2000 Franklin St., Suite 101, a block east of Bellingham High School. Hammerhead will share the space with its current occupant, Maniac Coffee Roasting.

Alexarc Mastema, Maniac’s coowner and roaster, said Hammerhead has been friendly competitor in the local coffee business for years.

He admitted that sharing space with a rival company is an odd idea.

But having already established a cooperative business relationship with Hartwich and Burwell, Mastema said his new neighbors will be welcomed. “[The space is] more than big enough for both of our businesses,” he said.

Gaining additional room is a major reason for the move, Hartwich said.

Hammerhead is set to expand its production area from the 260 square feet it has now to about half of the available 2,700 square feet at Franklin Street.

Along with more room, the move will give Hartwich and Burwell better control over the safety, security and design of Hammerhead’s physical location, something they have not had at Greene’s Corner.

Hartwich said that aspect will be particularly important in order to get Hammerhead’s coffee roasting process certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which

Coffee beans cool in Homer’s hopper. evan marczynski pHOTO | THe BBJ has been a longtime business goal.

Raw ingredients for the company’s roasts are already sourced from organic suppliers, but a lack of control over production space has kept Hammerhead from getting USDA certification.

“Even though everything we bring in is organic, we can’t certify because we don’t control ingress and egress,” Hartwich said. “That’s a huge thing.

That will be a big step toward credibility.”

Burwell said the move will also

“We were a lot busier last year.

I’m not expecting that type of growth this year, but we’ll see.”

SCOTT HARTWICH cO-OWner HammerHeaD cOFFee rOasTers

bring Hammerhead closer to the bulk of its client base. She hopes it will increase their visibility in the community, she said.

About 80 percent of Hammerhead’s current business is in wholesale, Hartwich said, and much of it is local.

Hammerhead coffee is sold and served in more than 20 grocery stores, restaurants and food trucks in Bellingham and Whatcom County. It also supplies two out-of-state clients: one in Michigan, the other in Hawaii.

Hartwich said the business has grown 20-30 percent annually since he and Burwell first opened in 2007.

For its first two years, Hammerhead operated in a warehouse on Guide Meridian Road, which Hartwich said wound up being too large for their purposes.

“We were a lot busier last year,” he said. “I’m not expecting that type of growth this year, but we’ll see.”

Both Hartwich and Burwell said they are excited to move to the Sunnyland Neighborhood, although Burwell added that it will be difficult to leave the close-knit community they’ve been part of at Greene’s Corner.

“We’ll miss it, but it’s time,” she said.

Evan Marczynski, associate editor of The Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, ext. 5052, or evan@bbjtoday. com.

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PEOPLE, FROm 21 new publicist.

Sheppard arrives in Bellingham from Houston, Texas.

He has more than 17 years’ experience working in nonprofit education, and also has a background in fundraising.

Sheppard previously served as director of education at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas.

Poppe has more than 20 years’ experience in freelance writing, travel writing and photography.

Public service Brian Henshaw has been appointed the new finance director for the City of Bellingham, and William (Bill) Newbold will serve as the city’s new fire chief.

The Bellingham City Council approved Henshaw’s appointment on March 24 on recommendation from Mayor Kelli Linville. Henshaw has served in the position in an interim role for seven months.

He took over the job when the city’s former finance director, John Carter, left Bellingham to become chief financial officer at the Port of Everett.

Henshaw has held several jobs in the city’s finance department since April 2006.

He assumed deputy finance director responsibilities in May 2013.

The finance director oversees financial stewardship of the city’s resources and runs the city’s finance and business operations.

Like Henshaw, Bill Newbold previously served in his new role in an interim capacity. He assumed fire chief responsibilities in January 2014, when former chief Roger Christensen retired.

Newbold was hired in January 2013 as assistant fire chief with the anticipation that he might take over for Christensen, whose retirement plans were well known at the time.

New bold previously worked for the City of Redmond Fire Department, holding jobs there that included firefighter, lieutenant, captain, battalion chief and deputy chief of emergency medical services.

Real estate Samantha Abbott has been hired as a new agent in the Bellingham office of RE/ MAX Whatcom County.

Abbott will focus as a buyer’s agent with Cicchitti Real Estate of RE/MAX Whatcom County, specializing in residential and new construction properties.

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The Bellingham Business Journal

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May 2014

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