Vol. 24 No. 1
Feb. 2016 The end of Boeing’s 747? [Page 7]
The Buzz Layoffs Whatcom County experiences a string of bad luck with layoffs and potential layoffs at several major employers. What is being done about it? JOB LOSSES, 3
Canadian dollar A new firm hopes that the falling Canadian dollar will entice manufacturers to head south of the border. Here’s the reason why. CANADA, 7
Haggen future An auction scheduled for early February should give a clear picture of the future of the troubled Bellingham-based grocery chain. HAGGEN, 8
Development spark? Washington voters ended the government monopoly on the liquor business in 2011. One of the worries was that it would trigger a deep cut in revenue to state coffers, but that hasn’t happened. [Ian Terry | For BBJ]
Who won, lost with liquor privatization BY JIM DAVIS For The Bellingham Business Journal People are buying more bottles of booze in Washington, and, in many cases, paying more for it four years after voters took the state out of the liquor business.
Washington consumers are buying 5 million more liters a year of vodka, gin and whiskey and other spirits since voters passed Initiative 1183, which ended the government monopoly on hard liquor. Those same consumers are paying a couple of dollars more per liter post-privatization — up to $24.52 in 2014, compared with $22.28 in 2011, according to a report from the state Office of Financial Management. That’s a little more than a 10 percent increase per liter. “Prices went up, so you’d expect consumption would go down, but conWE
PERMITS, 9
sumption has gone up, too,” said John Guadnola, executive director of the Washington Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, which fought the measure. “That tells me that the relative ease of availability has prompted peo-
LIQUOR, 4
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WE REPAIR (touch screens, LCD, battery replacement and more):
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1519466
Consumers paying more for liquor, but state is seeing an increase in liquor tax revenue
Bellingham makes several changes to stimulate development in downtown and other areas of the city.