Vol. 23 No. 4
April 2015 Lincoln Street student housing project revived [Page 6]
The Buzz New downtown office Phase one is almost done. Two houses across the street from Aslan Brewing Co. could be moved to make way for mixeduse buildings in later phases. DOWNTOWN OFFICE, 9
Your money matters Save money with tax season personal finance advice. MONEY, 14
Vaporized
Changes for small businesses C.J. Seitz, interim director of the Small Business Development Center, discusses raising capital, breweries and other changes to business in Bellingham.
local e-cig industry employing 150 could vanish if tax bill becomes law
Q&A, 22
Business toolkit Tame your inbox today. PATTI ROWLSON, 16
Tyler Kamp, store manager at Mount Baker Vapor’s retail store in Lynden, demonstrates a personal vaporizer.
OLIVER LAZENBY PHOTO | THE BBJ
Engagement killers come in all shapes and sizes. MIKE COOK, 21
E-cig bill targets teen use but could nudge adults back to cigarettes BY OLIVER LAZENBY The Bellingham Business Journal Electronic cigarettes went from obscurity to a $2.5 billion industry in the U.S. in the last five years, and Mount Baker Vapor has followed a similar trajectory. The Bellingham company’s website went live in August 2011, hit 100 orders three months later, and reached 1,000 orders
the next spring. Now, Mount Baker Vapor has more than 130 employees and ships nicotineinfused liquid and other products as far as Australia, Europe and Japan. The industry is mostly unregulated, but more than 20 states are currently considering bills regarding e-cigarettes or “vaping” products. Washington legislators are con-
sidering several bills, including one proposed by Gov. Jay Inslee aimed at curbing the increase in teenagers using e-cigarettes. The bill would tax the products at a rate that Mount Baker Vapor and other local companies say would kill the local industry and have the unintended effect of making vapor
products harder to get for adults who use them as an alternative to cigarettes.
Vapor, PAGE 10
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