2015 SWAN Business & Professional Women of the Year

2015 Business & Professional

WOMEN OF THE YEAR

ERIN BALDWIN

JANIE BEASLEY

ALMA GARIBAY 2015 Rising Swan Award Winner A Supplement to the Skagit Valley Herald

KARI RANTEN

BECKY TAFT

LISA KNOWLES

Congratulations Becky Taft & Lisa Knowles Since 1980 Skagit Women in Business (SWIB) has offered members opportunities for growth on both a professional and personal level through monthly meetings, guest speakers, and other educational programs. Each year SWIB provides scholarships to women in Skagit County returning to school after a break in their education.

Join us at 7am the 1st Friday of each month at Copia Coffee Lounge & Gallery in Burlington. Visitors welcome!

SKAGIT WOMEN IN BUSINESS BOARD MEMBERS

Officers

Members Annette Booth

LAURA FLETCHER President RPH Shiraz Specialty Pharmacy

Allstate

BECKY TAFT Vice-President Skagit Bank

BEKKI COX Treasurer BC Accounting

Sterling Touch

Creative Celebrations

Deanna McDougle

Skagit Publishing

All About Hearing

Burlington Chamber CEO

Jenny Gehrke

Beth Grassi

Mary Kay

B. Grassi Imaging

Marjorie Plewinski

Tina Pullar

Karen Ray

Rebecca Shotten

Gerry Ellen Sleeth

LegalShield Independent Associate

COLLEEN SMILEY Co-Chair Fall Mingle

Diane Fox

Skagit Adult Day Program

JEANNE LAW Past President Jeanne Law Design

Committee Chairs

BARBRA DEVRIES Co-Chair Fall Mingle

Linda Fergusson

Garrison Engineering

Yulia Garrison

LISA KNOWLES Secretary Trident Seafoods

Deb Davis Bundy

REBECCA MURRAY Publicity/Website

Skagit Media Marketing

Skagit Publishing

Angel of the Winds Casino

Perfectly Posh

Speedy Automated Mailers

Sherri Stites BC Accounting

Not pictured: Rodan & Field Dematologists

STEPHANIE HOOPER Co-Chair Spring Fling

Bayside Specialties

KRIS TULLY Co-Chair Spring Fling

Business Bank

What’s Your Avocado?

LAURI LAURISEN Membership

Small Business Specialities

DANIELLE MARTIN Scholarship

Stacie Zinn Roberts

RACHEL YOUSLING Publicity

Skagit Publishing

Alyse Axford

Zig-Zag & Rags Clowns

Amanda Cook

Farmers Insurance

Jill Sprouse

CAbi Clothing

For more information visit: www.skagitwomeninbusiness.com

Mary Tacia Bella Ve’ Permanent Makeup

Skagit Valley Herald Publisher Heather Hernandez Skagit Valley Herald Editor Colette Weeks Contributing Writers Kimberly Cauvel, Evan Marczynski, Aaron Weinberg, Kera Wanielista, Brandon Stone Photographers Scott Terrell, Brandy Shreve Design & Layout Patricia Stowell, Greg Fiscus Advertising Director Duby Petit Display Advertising Manager Deb Bundy

SKAGIT PUBLISHING

1 2 1 5 An de rs o n Ro ad M oun t Ve rno n, WA 98274 P : 3 6 0 .424.3251 F : 360.424 .5 3 0 0 © 2 0 1 4 by Sk agit Publis hing L L C A ll r ig h ts re s e rv e d.

INSIDE celebration of women’s 4 Aaccomplishments in Skagit County Bios 6- Winner Baldwin 11 Erin Janie Beasley Kari Ranten

SWAN 12 Rising Alma Garibay

13 Past Winners 14 Scholarship Winners On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of the Economic Development Association of Skagit County we would like to congratulate this year’s nominees.

Each and every one of you should be proud of your inspiring achievements!

Thank you for all you do for our community.

Mary Anstensen President, Board of Directors goskagit

Skagit Publishing LLC

SWAN / October 2015

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SKAGIT Women’s Alliance and Network celebrates 31 years WHAT 31st annual SWAN Women of the Year award banquet WHEN 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 22 WHERE Swinomish Casino & Lodge, Anacortes TICKETS $50, swan skagit.com/ events MORE INFO swanskagit. com

By AARON WEINBERG

The Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network continues to spread the accolades.

Three Women of the Year awards will be handed out Oct. 22 at SWAN’s 31st annual banquet, a change that was put in place last year. Previously, only one woman Dodge was honored.

“There are so many women in Skagit County that are doing amazing things that we didn’t just want to honor one,” board President Janey Dodge said. “We received a lot of positive feedback about last year’s changes.”

This year’s winners are Erin Baldwin, Janie Beasley and Kari Ranten. The recipients will be honored in three categories: professional achievement, mentorship of women and community engagement. The winners will learn their category of achievement at the banquet.

Under the selection process, nominees are pared to 10 finalists by SWAN board members.

Prominent businesswomen serve as judges to pick the three winners.

A fourth award will also be announced. Alma

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SWAN / October 2015

Garibay will receive the Rising SWAN honor as an up-and-coming woman in the business community.

About 150 to 200 people are expected to attend.

One of the most important benefits of the banquet is fundraising for scholarships. Last year, it raised $4,500. This year, $6,000 is the goal, board member Julie Blazek said.

“It’s different from other scholarships in that they are furthering their education and doing it under difficult circumstances,” Blazek said. “In general, these women have gone back to school, and most of them are working and still raising families.”

Scholarship money is raised through ticket sales and raffles.

The event’s guest speaker is author and motivational speaker Stacie Zinn Roberts of Mount Vernon.

Board member Ada Snyder said SWAN welcomes everyone in the community to attend.

“This is a great time for a lot of people to come together and celebrate what is being achieved and to celebrate the accomplishments of women,” Snyder said.

Congratulations to the 2015 SWAN Women of the Year Finalists

FRONT ROW: Mary McGoffin, Skagit Community Foundation; Lisa Knowles, Trident Seafood; Becky Taft, Skagit Bank; Janie Beasley, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community; Alma Garibay, Sunsational Hair & More. BACK ROW: Kari Ranten, Skagit Regional Health; Jill Rohrs, Skagit’s Best Salsa Company; Barbara Leander, Skagit County; Erin Baldwin, Camp Fire Samish

2015 SWAN Scholarship Recipients: Corrin Hamburg, Austyn Hine, Sindie Howland, Sarah Mickelson, Daisy Padilla-Torres

SWAN winner ERIN BALDWIN

Investing in youths for the future inated and having people who have worked for you, or you’ve touched Erin Baldwin, executive director of their lives in some way, that they went Camp Fire Samish, believes investing through the trouble of nominating in today’s youths is the best way to me,” she said. “And then the outprepare for the future. pouring of people when they see the “The youngest generation now are announcement of (saying) ‘Oh, you going to be our doctors, policemen, deserve this so much.’” whoever in our community, and ensurAs director, Baldwin handles ing they have the skills they need to be administrative tasks such as budgeting, successful is the best investment you human resources and compliance with can make,” she said. local, state and federal laws. She also Her job is providing the best posdoes fundraising, works closely with sible camp programs for children in the board of directors and does some Skagit, Whatcom and Island counties. hands-on work with Camp Fire Clubs Staff and the community agree that and education programs.

Baldwin has gone above and beyond, “It keeps it busy and interesting,” and now she is being recognized this she said. year by the Skagit Women’s Alliance Hearing participants’ stories makes and Network. all the hard work and long hours “The most touching part of this worth it. whole thing to me was just being nom“(Camper parents) literally will

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SWAN / October 2015

say ‘You saved my child’s life, you changed my child’s life,’” she said.

Supporting local Camp Fire programs is personal for Baldwin, who attended Camp Kirby herself and whose two daughters followed in her footsteps.

“Anything my kids are involved in or my kids’ friends are involved in, I tend to jump in and take a leading role because I strongly believe that investing in our kids is what’s going to ensure that we have a strong, working community,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University in Bellingham, then went to New York University for a master’s in philosophy.

She later spent time in Hawaii, New Jersey and other parts of Washington before returning to Skagit County in

SWAN winner ERIN BALDWIN

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Congratulations to the amazing homewomen lending, locally gro nominated for re local experts equipped with an array and winners se, refinance or new construction. Plus,of the SWAN Award. tep 1992ofto raise the way—because that’s staff,” Baldwin said. “We turned that what good her daughters.

good neighbo

Brandy Shreve photo

“I had a child and knowing the community, knowing the school systems, having a network of people that I trusted … I was living in Seattle, and I didn’t feel I had that there,” she said.

In December 2007, Baldwin was hired as director of Camp Fire Samish.

Staff say she has made significant improvements since taking the reins.

“When I came on board, we were in the middle of multiple lawsuits … the organization was significantly in debt, they had laid off a majority of the

all around.”

Camp Fire Samish is now financially stable, campers have increased 35 percent, the number of nonprofit groups using the camp’s resources has doubled, and the organization is accredited by the American Camp Association.

“We’ve invested heavily in increasing the number of people that we’re touching and ensuring that we’re offering top quality programs,” Baldwin said.

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SWAN / October 2015

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SWAN winner JANIE BEASLEY

She’s not one to pass up a chance to serve

By KERA WANIELISTA

Scott Terrell photo

The Port of Skagit is proud to salute all

2015 SWAN Business & Professional Woman of the Year nominees.

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SWAN / October 2015

Skagit Advantage

Education and culture are important to SWAN winner Janie Beasley, and she shows it through service and participation in area schools and with her tribe.

One of 10 children, Beasley grew up on the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and graduated from La Conner High School.

“I remember growing up very, very poor,” Beasley said. “So when I started making money, I would buy things for my younger brothers and sisters.”

After high school, Beasley joined the U.S. Navy Reserve. She worked for a time as the manager of the Longhorn restaurant, but left to work in Anacortes. She returned home to La Conner and the tribe in 1994.

Growing up, she remembers the tribe being very different; at the time, only about a half-dozen people worked for the tribe.

Now there are about 500, including employees of the Swinomish Casino and Lodge, of which 23 are her family members.

She has worked for the tribe for some 20 years, many of those in the planning office. She took over the position of land buy-back program coordinator this year.

In addition, Beasley serves on the Skagit Valley College Foundation Board of Governors and is a member of the Leadership Skagit Curriculum

SWAN winner JANIE BEASLEY Committee and the Tribal Leaders Congress on Education.

She also is just the second tribal member to serve on the La Conner School Board, replacing her late sister.

Previously, she served as a board member of Skagit Rape Relief and Battered Women’s Services and has served on the tribal veterans committee, the recreation committee and the health education and social services committee.

“When opportunities come up and people ask me if I’d like to be involved, I always think ‘Somebody should,’” Beasley said. “And I say ‘yes’.”

Education and environment are important topics for Beasley, but so is her culture.

“I think the important part is people learn more of who we are and what we do,” she said.

The most important people in her life are her husband of 40 years, her son and her extended family, she said. Her daughter died in a fishing accident in

Congratulations to all the SWAN nominees

1997, just two weeks after she was married.

“The things that I’ve learned, I can pass on to family members,” Beasley said. “You just try and teach them things. The most important thing I can do is pass it on.”

The 63-year-old Beasley isn’t ready to consider retirement and has no plans to slow down. In the past few years, she’s gone para-sailing, zip-lining, skydiving, and has plummeted some 850 feet off the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas.

While Beasley’s husband may have aspirations to retire, pack up and do some traveling, she isn’t quite ready yet. There’s more work to be done at home.

In her retirement, she dreams of becoming certified and teaching the Lushootseed language, perhaps at La Conner High School or Northwest Indian College in Bellingham.

“It’s important because it’s been almost lost,” she said. “I feel like the

language and culture are part of identity. And kids need to know.”

Of her SWAN nomination, Beasley said she is humbled and honored. She knows she’s in good company.

“There are so many women out there that are just amazing,” she said.

“They just keep going and keep giving.”

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SWAN / October 2015

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SWAN / October 2015

When Kari Ranten received word of her recognition this year by the Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network, memories of her first experience with the organization came roaring back, she said.

Thirty years ago, Ranten covered the first Business and Professional Woman of the Year Awards as a reporter for the Skagit Valley Herald, where she spent 20 years before joining Skagit Regional Health in 2000.

“I know that this is a very high-caliber group of people,” the heath provider’s director of planning and marketing said of SWAN. “I’m just humbled to be included in that list.”

Ranten’s two decades at the Skagit Valley Herald included stints as city editor and publications manager. She joined the staff after graduating from Washington State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Not being one to shy away from change, Ranten said she felt ready in the summer of 2000 to start not just a new job, but an entirely new career.

Well, almost entirely new.

Ranten said many skills she learned as a journalist transferred over to her role at Skagit Regional Health. Along with strategic planning and legislative advocacy duties, Ranten serves as the media spokesperson for Skagit Valley Hospital and manages its external communication, including marketing and advertising, as well as the hospital’s social media presence and its Health Quest magazine, which is distributed to 70,000 households.

She also oversees communication among hospital staff and chairs the

SWAN winner KARI RANTEN Service Standards Team made up of 10 Skagit Regional Health leaders who focus on organizational culture and development.

Health care and journalism may be different professions, but Ranten said that through working in both, she’s learned there is great power in developing relationships. The importance of developing people’s trust and respect crosses all walks of life and all careers, she said.

In the health care world, Ranten said a major aspect of her role today is to keep up with an industry in a perpetual state of change.

Ranten said she is proud of the growth and development of Skagit Regional Health’s communications team in adapting to new technology and the rise of social media. She said she still remembers writing the first content for the organization’s website.

“We’ve come a long way, and I’m very proud of that,” she said. “But it’s a constant challenge, as well.”

Along with her profession, volunteerism is an important part of her life, Ranten said.

She has served on the board of directors of United Way of Skagit County since 2009, including time as president and a member of the executive and communications committees. She has also led communications and marketing for the Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees fundraiser since 2000.

Ranten encouraged women seeking to become journalists or communications professionals to first ask themselves what it is they enjoy doing the most. She said that while her own professional life involved a significant transition midway through, she’s always felt it is important to delight in one’s work.

“I would encourage anyone to enjoy what they do and really follow their heart,” she said. “It’s really about knowing what you really want to do, because you’re going to spend a lot of time doing it.”

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SWAN / October 2015

Twenty-six years ago, when Alma Garibay moved to Skagit County, she didn’t speak a word of English.

“I didn’t have a place to live,” she said. “I remember spending a couple nights in the car.”

Now, Garibay owns Sunsational Hair and More in Mount Vernon and is the recipient of the 2015 Rising SWAN award. She said the award is a great honor and privilege, and it shows the community that hard work and determination can create great opportunities. “(This recognition) is letting people know that if you work hard, you can succeed,” she said.

Garibay graduated from Evergreen Community College in Everett with a cosmetology certificate in 2007. She started working in Skagit County as a hair stylist soon after and purchased Sunsational Hair and More about six years ago. Since then, she’s moved and expanded a few times, and about a year ago she opened a second location on Riverside Drive. Garibay has been a member of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce for five years.

“Alma Garibay is deeply involved and committed to the well being of her greater Skagit County community,” said Jim Duffield, a friend and former president of Skagit Habitat for Humanity, in a SWAN nomination for Garibay.

Duffield met Garibay in 2005, when she was convinced to apply for a Habitat for Humanity home because she was living in a small, converted garage with her two children, he said. She worked with volunteers to build her home, which gave her some of the skills she used in remodeling her salon.

Garibay volunteers with the Oasis teen shelter, giving free haircuts to teenagers. She regularly supports the Skagit Valley Herald Christmas Fund with donations of thousands of free haircuts.

She is also involved with Habitat for Humanity, Duffield said, and was an active participant in building a womenled home in Sedro-Woolley.

“I am personally deeply proud of her as a business woman and as a person of high character and integrity,” he said.

Past SWAN WINNERS 1997 Lola Lang

2014 Kathryn Bennett Mary June Curtis Jeanne Youngquist

1996 Maureen Dickson

2013 Debbie Allen

1994 Dorothy Bluhm Urbick

2012 Kristia Poppe

1993 Judy Montoya

2011 Valerie Stafford

1992 Nanette Hough

2010 Liz McNett-Crowl

1991 Pat Hyatt

1995 Judi Knutzen

2009 Sue Krienen

2003 Mary Arendse

1990 Carol Kirkby

2008 Jan Ellingson

2002 Debra Lancaster

1989 B.J. Kendall

2007 Pam Nelson

2001 Laurie Gere

1988 Cheryl Bishop

2006 Maureen Harlan

2000 Susan Cook

1987 Geneva Sasnett

2005 Laura Cailloux

1999 Shirley Osborn

1986 Judy Menish

2004 Lisa Janicki

1998 Linda Freed

1985 Carol Pritchard Poppe

Congratulations to all the nominees and finalists of the Women of the Year!

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SWAN / October 2015

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2015 SWAN SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Daisy Padilla Torres

Corrin Hamburg

MOUNT VERNON

Pursuing a master’s degree to sharpen her skills in a job she already holds — helping others get an education.

Padilla Torres is the liaison for the Skagit Valley College Maestros Para el Pueblo program, which works with other schools and organizations to help Latinos pursue education careers. She’s a first-generation college graduate, and while her parents never had the benefit of higher education, she credits her mother for one of the most important lessons she ever learned.

“Thanks to my mother’s teaching, mentoring and positive reinforcement, I’ve strived to obtain a higher education. She has taught me to work for what I believe in and to endeavor success.”

Her goal now is to pay it forward as she prepares for a leadership role to help other adults continue their education.

SEDRO-WOOLLEY

Seeking a master’s degree in water resources and professional science.

Hamburg is an environmental conservation lab manager at Skagit Valley College. When she was a student there, she was the youngest to complete the highest level of chemistry the college had to offer. She went on to Washington State University for a degree in environmental science.

In a letter of reference, one of her professors said: “She will lead with grace. Corrin will make a difference and will never forget those who have helped her to do so.”

Austyn Hine MOUNT VERNON

Pursuing a master’s degree in teaching from Western Washington University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in history and

SKAGIT COUNTY Serving with pride

social studies.

Hine’s goal? “It is my dream to become a high school history teacher,” she wrote in her scholarship application. She also wants to become ESL and AP certified.

“All my life, I’ve had a passion for helping people. For almost as long, I have had a love for history,” she said.

“It only seemed perfect to mix the two.”

Sindie Howland SEDRO-WOOLLEY

Working on her bachelor’s degree at Washington State University, and eventually, a master’s in higher education leadership.

A lifelong Skagit County resident, Howland and her husband raised three boys. She’s worked at Skagit Valley College for over 17 years, starting as a cashier and climbing the ranks to her current position of manager of Enrollment Services. She started the college’s Staff Mentor Program three years ago to help encourage professional growth of employees.

Sarah Mickelson MOUNT VERNON

The Skagit County Board of Commissioners Kenneth A. Dahlstedt, Lisa Janicki, and Ron Wesen Congratulate the Professional Women of the Year and SWAN Scholarship Recipients. www.skagitcounty.net

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SWAN / October 2015

Pursuing a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders from Western Washington University.

Mickelson’s goal is to become a speech-language pathologist. She was inspired by working with children at the Skagit Preschool and Resource Center (SPARC). She earned a bachelor’s in theater at WWU and says the skills she developed will help her work with children.

“I believe that artistic expression and creativity are paramount in creating confidence in children and guiding them to find their voice,” she said in her application.

She has participated in theater camps for children in Mount Vernon and Anacortes, is a founding member of Shakespeare Northwest and has volunteered for the Skagit Special Olympics since 1996.

Puget Sound Refinery

Congratulations

SWAN FiNAliStS!

Puget Sound Refinery recognizes the positive impact the SWAN Finalists are making in our community.

Each year, the Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network (SWAN) recognizes finalists for the “Business and Professional Women of the Year” award. These women are chosen for their extraordinary contributions to women, business, and Skagit County.

Please join us in congratulating these remarkable women!

We would also like to take the opportunity to recognize the women of Shell Puget Sound Refinery. Whether Technicians, Engineers, Equipment Operators, Assistants or Managers, the women of PSR have one thing in common: ThEY ExCEl. These professionals face the demands of work, family and community involvement head-on, and they deserve to be celebrated.

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