Donnie Keltz - Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce

MARCH 2003
MOUNT
VERNON
P RPROMOTING
O M O T I NTHE
G BUSINESS
THE B U S I N E S S OF M O U N T V E R N O N
OF MOUNT VERNON
Joint Legislative Conference Call
7:30am – Cafe Burlington
March 17th
Tourism Committee Meeting
1:00pm – Chamber office
March 20th
Governmental Affairs Committee
10:00am – Chamber Office
March 25th
Joint Legislative Conference Call
7:30am – Cafe Burlington
March 26th
General Membership Meeting
11:30am-1:00 – CottonTree Inn
April 1-30
20th SKAGIT VALLEY TULIP FESTIVAL!
April 6th
The River” Biz Buzz event.
Taste of Downtown Mount Vernon
Call 336-9277 for details
May 14th
Small Business Awards Dinner
look for more information in the mail!
SPONSORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Patron Members
Corporate Sponsors
Haggen Food and Pharmacy
McDonalds of Mount Vernon
Regence BlueShield
Geiger’s Custom Cleaning
Skagit Ford Subaru
Puget Sound Energy
Wal-Mart
Skagit Valley Herald
VIC Sponsor
City of Mount Vernon
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March 11th
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Board of Directors meeting
7:30am – Chamber office
Welcome to 2003! Many exciting
things are happening. We’d like more
members to be active, both by email and
in person.
Legislative Update . We will be
partnering with the Burlington
committee to
speak
with
our
legislators every other Tuesday at
7:30 am at Cafe Burlington. The call
will start at 7:45 and run until 8:15 with
Legislators from Olympia. The next
three dates will be February 25th, March
11th, & March 25th .
At the end of the Legislative Session
we are hosting a program with the
Legislative
Officials
representing
Burlington and Mount Vernon. The
intent of the program is to learn first
hand what the issues are and the changes
made to enable business owners to work
with information.
We look forward to meeting with you soon!
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March 11th
Sunny Kobe Cook spoke to a
crowd of 104 business people from
Burlington and Mount Vernon’s
Chambers of Commerce for the first
“Hands Across the River” Biz Buzz.
This event will be held quarterly as
a joint event. Mrs. Cook spoke of her
years of experience as an employer
and how to inspire passionate, loyal
employees.
Each Biz Buzz event will have a main
speaker and will devote most of the
time to giving our members a chance
to network with fellow businesses.
If you would like more information
or would like
to sponsor a
meeting, please
call
either
Chamber
at
428-8547
or
Kristen Whitener, Sunny Kobe Cook, 757-0994.
and Dick Irwin at the “Hands Across
�
Executive Board Meeting
12:00pm – Chamber office
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March 5th
Another “Hands Legislative
Across The River” Update
From MV Chamber Legislative
Success!
Chair, Krishna Mathison
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SCHEDULE
of EVENTS
MOUNT
Tax Tips
Burlington Family
DENTISTRY
Serving all Your Dental Needs
Evening & Saturday appointments available.
New patients, emergency, and walk-ins welcome.
360-755-5600
1250 S. Burlington Blvd
Across from Cascade Mall
Your LOCAL information resource
for Northwest Washington State
MacGregor
PUBLISHING COMPANY
THE PLAID BOOKS
Phone Directories • Newcomers’ & Visitors’ Guides
All Available at your Chamber of Commerce.
Or our offices: 17869 SR 536 • Mount Vernon
(360) 336-6171 • www.PlaidNET.com
Providing you with information and web
based tools for managing your energy.
VERNON
By: Heidi Thomas
It’s tax time again and accountants have
already been swamped with appointments
since the first of the year. Are you one of
those people who waits until the last minute
to pull all your files together? If so, here
are some tips to keep in mind throughout
the year, from Jill Rouw, owner of Jill Rouw
Accounting, who has been in the business 21
years:
• Watch your labor costs and identify them
correctly. Keep time cards. If your industry
employs casual or contract labor, you may
be more subject to State Department of
Revenue or Employment Security audits. If
these workers are not employees, they’ll want
to know why not. This type of employment
also leaves your business more exposed to
problems if the person is hurt on the job.
• Make an appointment with your
accountant in November or December to
get an idea of what you could still do before
the end of the year that might impact your
upcoming tax return. You can also get a
list of documentation needed and compile
all the needed information before your
March or April tax appointment. If you
are well-prepared, rather than bringing
in documentation piecemeal at the last
minute, it not only eases the burden on your
accountant, but also will help keep your tax
bill down.
• Are you paying “use” or sales tax
on items purchased on the Internet or
through catalogs? This is required by the
State Department of Revenue for business
purchases.
a major equipment purchase. There are
ongoing changes
281in depreciation laws, which
could affect your
taxes.
1245
While the chances of getting a federal audit
are fairly slim, it is more likely to happen
on the state level for sales tax and labor
documentation issues, she advises.
Colors
• Check with your accountant before the
PMS
end of the year, if you are contemplating
• Keep documentation
throughout the year
CVU
on personal expenses that may be considered
business expenses. More record keeping is
2.5are a corporation or a
required,1.625
whetherxyou
proprietorship, to determine whether these
deductions will be allowed or not.
• Keep careful records of sales tax and
payroll taxes. Make sure the documentation
you have turned in to the state during the
year matches your federal return to the IRS.
• Detailed record keeping is crucial for a
business that could be perceived as a “hobby
business,” for example, very small farming
operations. The IRS looks for taxpayers who
use this type of business to write off as a loss
against other income.
All this is fairly clerical in nature, Rouw
says, but some of these items can blow up
and surprise you if you’re not aware.
“There are many more compliance issues
than ever before,” Rouw adds. “In this era of
government units in deficit spending, they’ll
look for the easy money. You are responsible
for legitimizing your deductions or you
won’t get them.”
Member of the Month
www.pse.com
Donnie Keltz
Donnie Keltz has been a lifetime resident
of Skagit County, where he attended school
in the Mount Vernon School District. He
has been a long time productive member
of the community as a board member of
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Mount Vernon,
a member of The Kiwanis Club, and a
member of the Mount Vernon Chamber of
Commerce. He has donated countless hours
of his time to help raise money for these
causes.
C H A M B E R C H AT
Donnie Keltz has been an Allstate agent
for nearly five years. Keltz helps families with
the things that are important to them - their
family, home, car, business, long-term care
and more. He offers guidance and counseling
about those products, educates customers so
that they can make the best choice on what
coverage meets their family insurance needs.
He is among more than 280 Allstate exclusive
agents in Washington State.
•
MARCH
2003
New
Members
Coldwell Banker /
American Real Estate
Rich Schleicher & Vicki Crook
120 East George Hopper Road
Burlington, WA 98233
(360) 424-1111
TNT Enterprises
Tim & Tami Walsh
13091 Thillberg Road
Mount Vernon, WA. 98273
(360) 848-5197
(360) 848-5207 fax
tntentnik@msn.com
Be sure to welcome our new
members; stop by and say hello!
Cindy Verge Named
Tulip Festival Executive
Director
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is very pleased
to announce that Cindy Verge has been selected as
the Executive Director of itʼs organization. Cindy will
officially begin March 1st and will shadow the current
director Audrey Smith. Verge and Smith will work
together through June 30th when Audreyʼs contract
is up. Cindy rose to the top when 32 applicants were
screened. She had very tough competition but her
skills and talents are just what the Tulip Festival needs.
Cindy is very familiar with the festival as she has been
sponsorship coordinator for the past 31/2 years.
Tulips Are Just Around
The Corner
Exciting things are happening in the Skagit Valley
Tulip Festival office, upstairs in the Grainery Building.
We are working with Gray Line of Seattle to bring
tours to the tulip fields – they are willing to hand out
coupons to your business, so if you have something
you would like to get to them, call us at 428-5959 and
weʼll give you the scoop.
We have a very special guest, Monique Martin,
coming from Canada to tell us all about painting
tulips. Call us for invites to her reception and Lecture
Series.
The Washington Mutual Country Market will be in
full swing April 18, 19 and 20 at Edgewater Park.
Lastly, if you need Tulip Festival brochures, please
stop by our office. We have lots on hand for you to
have at your business.
C H A M B E R C H AT
Tony Pickering Named
Mount Vernon Citizen
Of The Year
On Wednesday, February
5, 2003, Tony Pickering was
named the City of Mount
Vernon 2002 Citizen
of the Year by Mayor
Skye Richendrfer. Mr.
Tony Pickering
Pickering was selected
as the Citizen of the Citizen of the Year
Year for his community
involvement and support.
Mayor
Richendrfer said “I presented our Citizen of
the Year award for 2002 to Tony Pickering,
owner of Max Dales’ Restaurant. Tony is
a very active member of our City. He was
involved with the recent school bond issue,
does significant service club work, is on the
Hospital Foundation and much more. Tony
is a great person, and I felt a very appropriate
recipient of this recognition.”
The Citizen of the Year is a recognition
given by the Mayor annually to acknowledge
those members of the community who give
of their time, talent and often financial
resources to make this community a better
place to live. They all have in common
the desire to make Mount Vernon the best
community possible in which to live, play
and work.
April 6th –
Taste of Downtown
Mount Vernon
The Downtown Business Community
is pleased to announce the alliance of a
group of downtown restaurants and shops,
involved in a new event, called, “Taste of
Downtown Mount Vernon.”
The first event will be held on Sunday,
April 6, from 4:00 - 7:30PM. The 16
restaurants involved will be: Althea’s Tea,
Calico Cupboard, City Bakery, Draft Pic’s,
Gretchen’s, Il Granaio, Just a Bite, Lunchbox,
Mark’s On Pine, Pacioni’s, Porterhouse, Same
Ole Grind, Skagit River Brewery, Sweetwater
Bistro, Thai House, & Tokyo Teriyaki.
Questions- call Bonnie Anderson, Director
of the Downtown Business Community, 3369277 mornings, or 424-3237 afternoons.
Skagit County Foster
Parent Appreciation
On Sunday, March 30th, DSHS is hosting
an appreciation event for Skagit County
Foster Parents at Skagit Skate in Burlington.
If you are interested in sponsoring or
volunterring at this event, or if you have
an other questions about DSHS services,
contact Jeannine Fofca at (425) 339-3945 or
email her at fofj300@dshs.wa.gov.
•
MARCH
2003
O F F I C E S TA F F
President
Larry Clark
Executive Director
Kristen Whitener
American Express Advisor
Chamber Office Manager
Sue Sayer
Treasurer
Frank Tuzzolino
Claudine Joly
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rich Allen
Stephanie Hamilton
KAPS/KBRC
Collins Office Supply
Image by Stephanie
Carol Ledin
Bonnie Anderson
Brenda Harter
City of Mount Vernon
Anderson Electric
Best Western/
Cotton Tree Inn
Geiger’s Custom Cleaning George Feldman
Haggen Food &
Past President
Pharmacy
Visitor Information
Center Manager
Nancy Hubert
Pat Grenfell
City Bakery
Dr. Mack Armstrong
Mount Vernon
School District
Dottie Piazza
John Ruhlman
Mike Begley
Tim Price
Prime West, Inc.
Boomer’s Sewing/
Vacuum Center
Edward Jones
Georgiann Dustin
Karl’s Paints
Piazza Construction
Dale Ragan
Encore Events
© 2003 Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce
Doug Davidson
Need a place to meet?
The Chamber has a small
meeting room available for
up to 20 people.
For more info call: 428-8547
Post Office Box 1007
Mount Vernon, WA 98273-1007
PRESORTED
STANDARD
US POSTAGE PAID
MOUNT VERNON, WA
PERMIT No. 47