NEW HOTEL PROJECTS EXPECTED TO FINISH

Year 21 No. 6 $1
June 2013
TEDx BELLINGHAM | PAGE 16
DAVID WIGGS PLANS TO TURN
A GLOBAL EVENT LOCAL
A BREAK FOR SPIRITS | Federal tax cut could help craft distillers
NEW HOTEL
PROJECTS
EXPECTED tO
FINISH BY
YEAR’S END
Annual travel, tourism
spending in Whatcom
County up more than
10 percent in 2012
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
T
Jake Fowler, operations manager of BelleWood Distilling, examines equipment in the company’s production facility. Fowler said a
break on federal taxes could help small craft distilleries in Washington state offer products at more competitive prices.
EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
Lawmakers push for lower taxes on small craft distilleries | SEE STORY ON PAGE 12
Commerce, trade expected to slow with I-5
bridge collapse in Skagit County | PAGE 3
A temporary replacement span should be installed over the
Skagit River this month, and Amtrak plans to add an extra
Bellingham-Seattle train route. But travel and commerce are still
likely to face delays along the Interstate 5 corridor.
ON THE
WATERFRONT
Total retail sales rose 7.75 percent in
Whatcom County last year | PAGE 17
Whatcom County retailers had a strong year in 2012, bringing
in more than $3.2 billion all together. Border towns, including
Sumas and Blaine, saw significant year-over-year growth. Sumas’
retail sales rose more than 40 percent from 2011.
wo new hotel developments
less than one block from
each other in north Bellingham should be completed
this year, including one that will
eventually feature more rooms
than any other hotel in Whatcom
County.
While the projects have faced
delays over the past several years
due to financing troubles tied
to the economic recession, both
construction sites are now bustling with activity.
On Northwest Avenue, the first
phase of a Marriott hotel project
should be finished by late August
or early September, said Shaiza
Damji, managing director of
the Lynnwood-based 360 Hotel
Group, the project’s developer.
The first phase features a 122room SpringHill Suites, and once
HOTELS | Page 23
Port offers waterfront property for development, including historic
Granary Building once slated for demolition | PAGE 6
Space reserved for mailing label
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June 2013
BBJPLANNER
Upcoming business and community events
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.
“Green Drinks”
with Land Trust
Kulshan Community Land
Trust will host Bellingham
Green Drinks at an
open house
of its newly
JUN constructed
Indiana Street
Homes,
located at 2784
and 2788 Indiana St. in
Bellingham’s Birchwood
neighborhood.
The event will take
place from 5-7 p.m. on
Wednesday, June 5. Home
tours and beverages by
donation will be provided.
The event, co-hosted by
RE Sources for Sustainable
Communities, is free and
open to all members of the
community.
5
Cross borders
with expo at
Silver Reef
Anndi Pena
Branch Sales
Manager
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Home Mortgage
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Home Mortgage
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Scott Ask
Home Mortgage
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The Ferndale Chamber
of Commerce and Silver
Reef Hotel Casino Spa
present the first annual
Cross-Border
x p o, w h i c h
JUN Ewill
showcase
more than 60
exhibitors and
feature two
educational sessions aimed
at cross-border business,
marketing and distribution
and cross-border real
estate investment.
Vendor exhibits will be
housed in the new Event
Center at Silver Reef,
and the seminars will be
conducted in the adjoining
theater.
The expo will also be the
6
CORRECTION
Reah Dewell
Home Mortgage
Consultant
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Brad Roen
Home Mortgage
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Susan Templeton
Home Mortgage
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Mortgage is a division of
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NMLSR ID ������.
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An article in our May
2013 edition, titled, “Recession Proof: Brisk business
helping salon and spa
industry at a time when
other services struggle,”
contained several errors.
Statements attributed to
Heather Gauf-Perrin referring to negativity surrounding the tanning industry
and her staff setting time
limits on tanning to minimize potential risks were
inaccurate and have been
omitted in the online version of the article at BBJToday.com.
A statistic reporting the
number of people who visit
tanning salons annually
relied on out-of-date information and has also been
removed.
focal point of a CrossBorder Weekend Getaway,
which will cater to the
new 24-hour ($200) and
48-hour ($800) customs
exemptions for returning
Canadian residents.
Tourists will be provided
with a variety of suggested
visits and tours courtesy
of Bellingham Whatcom
Count y Tour ism, and
investors will be provided
with similar opportunities
by local real estate and
economic development
representatives.
The evening portion of
the expo will feature an All
Chamber Business After
Hours event providing
networking opportunities
for local chambers of
commerce on both sides
of the border.
More information and
a schedule of events
a r e o n l i n e a t w w w.
CrossBorderExpo.com.
vendors.
Wilson Motors will close
its dealership for the day
and utilize its adjacent
property to make all of
these activities possible.
Admission is free, but
attendees may donate
to Whatcom Hospice,
which serves terminally
ill patients through home
visits and its Bellingham
residential facility.
A r t i s t s, ve n d o r s, c a r
enthusiasts and others
interested in participating
in the Bellingham Fete and
Car Show can contact Pete
Nelson of Wilson Motors at
360-676-0600.
Support hospice
care at car show
17-19
B ellingham Fete and
C a r S h o w, f e a t u r i n g
activities for all ages, will
be presented Father ’s
Day, June 16 by
Wilson Motors
JUN as a fundraiser
for Whatcom
Hospice.
Bellingham
Fete and Car Show will run
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at
Wilson Motors, 1100 Iowa
St. It will include live music
from multiple bands, a
wine tasting with 13 local
wineries, a car and truck
show, displays from local
artists, children’s activities,
a silent auction and food
16
Get THE handle
on hazardS
The Bellingham/Whatcom
Chamber of Commerce
and Industry will hold
three seminars
conjunction
JUN in
with American
Hazmat
addressing new
regulations for
businesses that handle
hazardous substances.
From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
on Monday, June 17,
attendees can learn about
new regulations and
requirements in Hazcom
2012 (GHS – Global
Harmonization System) for
$35 per person.
From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. on Tuesday, June
18, attendees will receive
training on 49 CFR Hazmat.
Registration begins at 8
a.m. This event is for any
person involved with the
PLANNER | Page 3
The Bellingham
Business Journal
A division of Sound Publishing Inc.
TONY BOUCHARD
EVAN MARCZYNSKI
MICHELLE WOLFENSPARGER
ADINE CLOSE
Advertising Sales Manager
tbouchard@bbjtoday.com
Production Manager
Staff Reporter
evan@bbjtoday.com
Creative Artist
BBJToday.com
1909 Cornwall Ave. Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone (360) 647-8805 Fax (360) 647-0502
Circulation: (888) 838-3000, circulation@bbjtoday.com
Publisher: publisher@bbjtoday.com
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BBJToday.com (ISSN 21620997) is published monthly by Sound
Publishing Inc. at 1909 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Periodicals Postage Paid at Bellingham, WA and at additional
mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
BBJToday.com Circulation, PO Box 130, Kent, WA 98035.
June 2013
PLANNER | FROM 2
movement of hazardous
materials by ground,
including shippers, freight
for warders, handlers,
carriers and receivers.
The cost is $235 per
person. Attendees will
receive a copy of the 49
CFR Regulations and a
certification of completion.
From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. on Wednesday, June
19, attendees will receive
training on International
Air Transport Association.
This event is designed for
those who ship dangerous
goods via commercial
air or courier ser vice.
Registration begins at 8
a.m. The cost is $235 per
person. Attendees must
possess the current IATA
Regulations, which can
be pre-ordered for $289,
and they will also receive
a student package and
certification of completion.
The seminars/training will
be held at the Building
Industry Association
of Whatcom County at
1650 Baker Creek Place,
Bellingham.
Register at w w w.
americahazmat.com or by
calling 877-452-5447.
Meet candidates at
Bill Mize forum
Th e K i w a n i s C l u b o f
Bellingham, in conjunction
with the Rome Grange, will
hold its 49th
annual Bill Mize
JUN Political Forum
from 7-9 p.m.
on Wednesday,
June 19, at the
Rome Grange, 2821 Mount
Baker Highway.
The event is a nonpartisan
presentation of local
candidates for the offices
of Bellingham City Council,
Whatcom County Council,
Mount Baker School
District and the Port of
Bellingham. It includes
some open forums for
public dialogue, and the
event will be broadcast live
on KGMI AM 790.
The Grange Women’s
Auxiliar y will provide
refreshments following
the forum and attendees
will have the opportunity
to talk with the candidates.
For more information,
contact Russ Weston at
360-671-7862.
19
Safety first with
Safteypalooza!
T h e U n i t y G ro u p, i n
partnership with Safeco
Insurance, will host the
first-ever Safetypalooza!
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on
Saturday, June 22, in the
Bellingham Flea Market’s
parking lot at the corner of
Forest and Ellis streets.
BBJToday.com
Each family in attendance
will receive one
complimentary goodie
bag with safety education
materials to discuss with
their children and gifts
from local businesses.
Admission is free.
Entertainment will
be provided by local
musicians. Other activities
include a coloring contest,
prize drawings and a
variety of safety-related
displays.
For more information, visit
www.safewhatcom.com.
Donate For The
Kids in Ferndale
The Fer ndale B oys &
Girls Club will host its
25th annual For The Kids
Auction on Saturday, June
22, at the Ferndale Boys &
Girls Club.
Funds raised will serve
the youth in the local
community.
The evening will begin
with the
auction
JUN silent
bidding and
hors d’oeuvres
at 5:30 pm. The
dinner will start
at 7 p.m., to be followed by
a live auction.
Tickets are $60 per person,
which includes dinner and
2 drinks. Table reservations
of 8 or 10 people are
available.
Contac t Molly Simon
by email at msimon@
whatcomclubs.org or
by phone at 360-3840753 for information on
sponsorship, donating
items, or purchasing
tickets.
22
Commerce to suffer from bridge collapse
3
Alternative routes expected to slow freight traffic along Interstate 5 corridor
Although Gov. Jay Inslee
has announced a plan to
have temporary spans
installed across the Skagit
River in mid-June, after the
collapse of an Interstate 5
bridge span there on May
23 that sent cars and people
plunging into the water, the
alternative routes needed in
the meantime are expected
to slow freight traffic significantly in western Washington.
Fortunately no fatalities
were reported from the
incident, caused when a
tall truck carrying a load
of drill equipment hit several overhead trusses on
the bridge just before the
collapse, sparking a chain
reaction in the bridge’s
structure and causing the
bridge’s deck to fall into
the river, according to the
Washington State Patrol.
Interstate 5 is a main
commercial artery for the
region. Up to $20 billion
in freight travels to and
from Canada and along the
north-south corridor each
year, according to the Associated Press.
Additional Bellingham-Seattle passenger
train route to be added, Amtrak says
Amtrak Cascades
will add one round
trip route between
Bellingham and Seattle
in the coming weeks to
assist travelers affected
by the Interstate 5
bridge collapse in Skagit
County.
Amtrak is working
with the Washington
State Department of
Transportation, BNSF
Railway and Sound
Transit to add a morning
departure from Seattle
to Bellingham, with an
early evening return.
More details will be
released as they become
available. Amtrak
currently provides four
trips each day over the
Skagit River Rail Bridge,
which is fully functional.
Amtrak Cascades
is online at www.
amtrakcascades.com.
Foreclosure Defense
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with your lender and failed,
there is GOOD NEWS for you.”
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100 East Pine St., Suite 205 • Bellingham, WA 98225
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BBJPEOPLE
BBJToday.com
Chamber picks interim leader,
plans search for new president
Who’s news in Bellingham & Whatcom business
Wells Fargo names new businessbanking executive
Bruce Clawson has been named senior
vice president and commercial banking team leader by Wells Fargo, for its
commercial-lending and
banking services in Whatcom, Skagit, and Island
counties.
Clawson, who is based
in Bellingham, previously
served as president of The
Bank of Washington in
Lynnwood from 2011 to
Bruce Clawson
April 2013. From 2002
through 2010, he was
senior vice president and division manager
for Banner Bank in northwest Washington.
He has more than 30 years’ experience in
corporate lending and community banking.
Clawson earned his bachelor’s degree in
economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also graduated from
Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.
Whatcom Symphony Orchestra
appoints new music director
After a 17-month process to find a new
music director, the Whatcom Symphony
Orchestra has appointed Yaniv Attar to
take over the position in time for the 2013-
2014 concert season.
Attar has studied and conducted across
the world, including in Jerusalem, New
York and Montreal, where he earned his
doctorate of music at
McGill University. Most
recently, he served as the
assistant conductor for
the Alabama Symphony
Orchestra in Birmingham. His awards include
recognition from the
Solti Foundation and the
Yaniv Attar
Bruno Walter Memorial
Foundation.
With a search committee of players, board members, staff and community members, the Whatcom Symphony
Orchestra recruited 120 applicants from
around the world and selected four finalists
to audition in Bellingham during the 20122013 concert season. The committee drew
on the collective experience of the orchestra and audience to recommend Attar as
the final candidate.
“We could not be more pleased,” WSO
Board President Becky Elmendorf said.
“This is the start of a new era of growth
and excellence for the orchestra. Dr. Attar
brings international experience, incredible
musicality, and great community spirit that
will take the orchestra to its next level of
achievement.”
Longtime local businessperson Bill Gorman will step in to lead the Bellingham/
Whatcom Chamber of Commerce &
Industry while the organization seeks to
replace its outgoing president and CEO,
Ken Oplinger, according to an announcement from the chamber.
Oplinger announced in April that he
would leave his position at the end of May
to take a similar post at the Santa Barbara
(Calif.) Region Chamber of Commerce.
He has served as president and CEO of the
chamber since October 2003.
Gorman, a former local sales manager
for Comcast Spotlight, will assist the chamber and its membership as it evaluates
its services, programs and initiatives and
begins the process of finding a new president. Gorman has also previously served as
a board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs
of Whatcom County and as a past president of Bellingham Bay Rotary Club.
Bellingham interim fire chief
plans to stay at post
Bellingham Interim Fire Chief Roger
Christensen will remain in his position for
up to another year, rather than retire in
June as he had planned.
The fire chief told his staff on Friday,
May 10, that he will stay at the department
after coming to an agreement with Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville that due to a
range of pressing public safety issues, it will
be best for him to remain as interim chief
for at least another year.
Christensen was appointed last fall to
replace the city’s former fire chief, Bill
June 2013
Boyd, who retired in October.
Local issues Christensen is involved
with right now include ongoing Whatcom
Medic One negotiations with Whatcom
County and fire area districts, City Council
deliberations about personal-use fireworks,
consolidation of fire and EMS-related services with neighboring departments and
discussions with the Whatcom County
Sheriff and Port of Bellingham about collaborating on emergency management
services, according to a press release from
the city.
WWU names director of new
nursing degree program
Casey Shillam has been named director
of Western Washington University’s new
bachelor’s degree program in nursing.
Shillam, who was
hired after a nationwide
search, will begin at
WWU in July.
The nursing program,
offered through the university’s Woodring ColCasey Shillam
lege of Education, begins
fall 2013. It is designed
to allow associate-degree nurses who have
completed their pre-licensure registered
nurse studies to complete their bachelor’s
degrees in nursing .
Shillam, who will be a tenured faculty
member at Woodring College, has experience in clinical nursing practice, health
care policy and nursing education.
She has bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in nursing from the Oregon
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June 2013
PEOPLE | FROM 4
Health & Science University in Portland.
She was also a postdoctoral fellow at the
Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the
University of California, Davis.
Shillam is currently an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School
of Nursing in Baltimore, and was previously an assistant professor of nursing at
the University of Portland.
Shillam is a registered nurse, and her
clinical nursing experience includes nursing case management for clients in assisted
living facilities, home health care nursing
and staff nursing in a skilled nursing facility.
WWU is collaborating with a number
of partners in its new nursing program,
including PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical
Center, Whatcom Community College,
Bellingham Technical College and Skagit
Valley College.
Bellefeuille hired at RMC
Architects in Bellingham
Nicole Bellefeuille has joined RMC
Architects in Bellingham as an intern
architect.
Bellefeuille is currently aiding with
computer-assisted design modeling for
a number of the firm’s
projects at Western Washington University. She is
also working with RMC
principal Jeff McClure on
the master plan development strategy for the Port
of Everett.
Bellefeuille holds a
Nicole Bellefeuille
bachelor’s in environmental design and a master’s
in architecture from Montana State University in Bozeman.
Before moving to Bellingham, she
worked as a freelance architect on residential, hospitality and commercial projects in
Montana. She also worked as a volunteer
for the City of Bozeman Planning Department, compiling historic data on existing
buildings and performing field work analysis.
In addition to her skills as an intern
architect, Bellefeuille has experience with
graphic and Web design and will assist
RMC with presentations and other projectrelated graphics. She is currently studying
for her Washington State architectural
licensing exams, which she will take this
fall.
Garcia joins Minergy as project
superintendent
John Garcia has been hired as a new
project superintendent with Minergy Inc.
of Ferndale.
Garcia brings more than 25 years of construction management experience to the
company. His primary duties will include
project oversight, operations and customer
relations.
Minergy Inc. consists of three primary
divisions: Land Development & Utilities,
Building Services and Grounds Maintenance. The company recently received its
EPA DBE, Washington State MBE and
Pacific NW Region TERO certifications.
WWU professor earns award for
CO2 breakdown research
John Gilbertson, an assistant professor of chemistry at Western Washington
University, has been awarded a five-year,
$470,000 Early Career Development Award
5
BBJToday.com
from the National Science Foundation for
his research into breaking down harmful
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide
and transforming them into useful compounds.
The award was one of only a handful
given out to master’s-granting institutions,
such as WWU, and it is the university’s
third such award in three years.
Gilbertson and his team of students are
investigating how to use cheap, Earthabundant metals to transform the typically
unreactive carbon dioxide molecule into
useful chemicals and fuels, such as syngas
and methanol.
One practical application of Gilbertson’s
research is a parallel use of the existing
coal-to-liquids process that turns coal into
syngas. But Gilbertson’s processes eliminate
the need to use coal altogether.
Gas-to-liquids technology, using the
current boom on natural gas production
in North America, also offers similar paths
for Gilbertson and his researchers.
The research component of his award
will fund two undergraduates and one
graduate student per year as research assistants.
Besides the research component to the
grant, the award also funds a curricular/
outreach effort that Gilbertson is tentatively calling “Scientist Citizen.” Gilbertson will be working with a student team
to produce a series of videos focused on
science-education topics of regional and
national interest through traditional and
digital media outlets such as YouTube and
public television.
Dispute resolution center
director given Liberty Bell Award
The nonprofit Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center’s executive director, Moonwater, has been awarded the Liberty Bell
Award by the Whatcom County Bar Association.
The Liberty Bell Awards, which are
awarded by bar associations across the
country, are given to community members
who promote better understanding of the
rule of law, encourage greater respect for
law and the courts, stimulate a sense of
civic responsibility and contribute to good
government.
Moonwater received the award “for her
many years of service promoting the rule
of law and amicable dispute resolution,”
according to a press release.
#1 in Washington.
#30 in the USA.
For two years running, Columbia Bank has been the
top-ranked bank headquartered in Washington state on
Forbes’ list* of America’s 100 Best Banks. Nationally, we placed
ahead of Key Bank, Chase, US Bank, Wells Fargo and Bank of
America. Thanks to our customers for making it possible.
If you’d like to join them, drop by or give us a call.
Bellingham-based railway
engineers honored by BNSF
Three BNSF Railway employees in Bellingham have been honored by the company as among its 2012 Employees of the
Year.
Rob Owen, Matthew Smith, and Jeffrey Whitehead were recognized by BNSF
during a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas,
where the company’s headquarters are
located. Owen, a roadmaster; Smith, a
machine operator; and Whitehead, a signal maintainer, are part of the company’s
northwest division engineering and signal team. BNSF said the three played an
integral role in clearing mudslides and
restoring train operations during the recent
holiday season.
“The success of BNSF is dependent upon
every person who works here,” said Matthew K. Rose, BNSF chairman and CEO.
“The 2012 Employee of the Year awards
honor the employees who best demonstrate BNSF’s Vision and Values through
their commitment, leadership and focus on
working safely and efficiently to meet our
customers’ expectations.”
© 2012, Forbes Media LLC. Used with permission. *Data for the list provided by financial data
provider SNL Financial, based on regulatory filings of public banks and thrifts through third quarter
of 2012. The study gauged the health of the 100 largest publicly traded banks and thrifts based on
eight key financial metrics: return on average equity; net interest margin; nonperforming loans (NPLs)
as a percentage of loans; nonperforming assets as a percentage of assets; reserves as a percentage of
NPLs; two capital ratios (Tier 1 and risk-based); and leverage ratio.
Find out more at columbiabank.com
or call 360.671.2929. Member FDIC.
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BBJToday.com
Developers get first chance at waterfront
Port of Bellingham wants
development proposals
submitted by July 10
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
C
ome summer, we might have a better
idea of the potential that developers
see in Bellingham’s future Waterfront
District.
The Port of Bellingham issued a “request
for proposals” on Wednesday, May 15, for
a 10.8-acre portion of the central waterfront property formerly home to a Georgia
Pacific pulp and paper mill.The request
offers three parcels of land near Bellingham’s current downtown district that are
expected to be zoned for mixed use in a
sub-area plan still under consideration by
waterfront planners.
The request includes an offer to redevelop the waterfront’s much beloved, yet long
abandoned, Granary Building, which has
been a source of controversy since the port
suggested last year that the structure might
not be fit to save.
According to the request, the building is
being offered for sale by the port for adaptive reuse.
One local development group already
presented a plan in October 2012 to
remodel the Granary and turn it into a
mixed-use building, with offices, restaurants and apartments, for an estimated cost
of $5 million to $6 million. John Blethen, a
member of the group, has said the development proposal would only be feasible if the
Granary was offered as a stand-alone deal,
and not lumped in with surrounding land
on the property.
Port officials say they will consider
proposals for the building that “meet the
Waterfront District goals for this area and
that would be financially viable without a
Port subsidy,” according to a press release.
The three parcels selected for this development request were chosen due to their
proximity to Bellingham’s downtown,
according to the port. Connecting the new
Waterfront District and the downtown
area has been identified as a key goal of the
waterfront development project.
Responses to the request for proposals
are due by Wednesday, July 10.
The request can be viewed on the port’s
website at www.portofbellingham.com/
WaterfrontRFP.
The following Q-and-A on the request
for proposals is provided courtesy of the
Port of Bellingham:
What is the Request for Proposals?
A solicitation for developers interested
in being: the master developer for the initial 10.8-acre site adjacent to Downtown
Bellingham, the developer in undertaking
the adaptive reuse of the Granary Building,
or a project specific developer for a project
within the 10.8-acre site.
What is the timing in connection with current master planning process?
The Port and City agree that attracting
a developer or developers at this stage is
important because we want to get their
input before the final plans are adopted.
Complicated infill and brownfield projects
like this are most successful when developers are part of the team to ensure a final
plan works well for the
new development.
What property is
being offered now?
The land area available through this RFP
comprises approximately
10.83 total developable acres of land in the
Downtown Area of the
Waterfront District. The
entire District is 237
acres. The 10.83 acres
can be broken down into
three (3) development
areas
- Parcel 1: a 6.7-acre
development area generally located between the
Roeder Avenue viaduct
and the future Granary /
Bloedel Avenue
- Parcel 2: a 3.6-acre
development area generally located west of the
future Bloedel Avenue,
adjacent to the Whatcom A waterfront map showing the three parcels that are being
Waterway; and
offered to developers through the Port of Bellingham’s recent
- Parcel 3: a 0.63 acre request for proposals. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE PORT OF BELLINGHAM
site under and supporting the Granary Build- Seeks to hide parking by minimizing
ing.
surface parking and employing approaches
to place it in structures, below grade,
Will the developer be required to take the
or wrapping/tucking it with pedestrian
Granary Building?
friendly uses.
The Port will give preference to respon- Demonstrates pedestrian orientation
dents proposing to serve as Master Develand provides and enhances coordinaoper for the Parcel 1 and Parcel 2 develoption and connectivity both among indiment areas (see above), however will also
vidual uses in the Waterfront District
consider proposals for development of
and between the Waterfront District, Old
smaller parcels within these larger sites if
Town, Downtown, and other surrounding
those proposals support a master developareas.
ment. The Granary Building – Parcel 3
– may be pursued by respondents either in
Will the community have a say in this?
tandem with or independent from the rest
The Port will keep the community
of the Initial Development Opportunity.
informed about the selection process and
will share information as it is available.
What is the expected zoning for the Down- Some parts of the real estate negotiations
town Area property?
will occur in private, but approvals of any
The draft subarea plan now being
transactions will be public
reviewed by the City’s Planning Commission proposes the Downtown Area of the
Will the property be sold or leased?
site be zoned for mixed use development
The Port will evaluate the responses we
with an urban level of density.
receive and will look at the entire transaction in evaluating whether the property
How will the Port choose a developer?
should be sold or developed with a longThe Port will have a selection committerm lease. The final decision will be
tee that will include representation from
made by the Port Commission and will be
the City, the Port, the County, Western
dependent upon the real estate transaction
Washington University and our developproposed by the developer.
ment consultants. This committee will
evaluate the RFP responses to determine:
What about the Granary Building?
the capacity and ability of the developer,
The Request for Proposals includes an
the development concept, the proposed
offering for redevelopment of this building.
financing plan, and the proposed transacThe Port will consider proposals that meet
tion itself. Then the committee will make
the Waterfront District goals for this area
a recommendation to the Port Commisand that will be financially viable without a
sion. Ultimately, the Commission will be
Port subsidy. The Granary Building could
charged with approving the selection and
proceed independently of the development
all transactions.
of Parcels 1 and 2, however it must have a
The goals for the type of development
timeline for development that precedes the
concept are:
master development because it is the entry
- Encompasses most or all of the Initial
to the Waterfront District.
Development Opportunity.
- Defines phasing plan for investment
Will local developers get special considerand project build-out, including criterion
ation?
and/or factors that will be used to activate
All proposals will be equally treated.
each phase.
This is a legal requirement and it also
- Strives to achieve a high level of susmakes the best sense for this project. We
tainability, not only for individual buildare seeking the best developments and
ings, but on a Waterfront District-wide
developers for this site and welcome all
level.
developers who have an interest in our
- Strives for enduring and high-quality
WATERFRONT | Page 7
job creation.
June 2013
Halibut Henry’s
to expand in
airport terminal
Restaurant’s Bellingham
Cruise Terminal location
has also reopened
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
W
hen Halibut Henry’s first opened
in the Bellingham International
Airport in 1999, the facility looked
nothing like it does today.
But now inside an airport with more
than half a million travelers passing
through annually and a three-year commercial terminal build-out nearing the end
of its final phase, the cafe and gift shop is
set for a sizable expansion.
The Port of Bellingham Commission
approved a new five-year lease for Hailbut
Henry’s during its May 7 meeting, which
will give the business a larger, fixed space
in the secure gate lobby of the airport’s
terminal. It will replace a temporary booth
Halibut Henry’s has been operating in the
secure side of the airport.
“It will be a far cry from what we’ve had
for the past 11 years,” said owner Vicki
Rogers.
Halibut Henry’s also runs a separate
shop in the main terminal area of the airport, selling a variety of food, drinks and
gifts. That shop will continue its operation.
“It will be a far cry from what
we’ve had for the past 11
years.”
—Vicki Rogers, Halibut Henry’s
owner
Rogers said the gate-lobby location will
focus on easy, “grab and go” options for
customers waiting to catch flights. She
added that Halibut Henry’s sandwiches and
other food items will be made fresh daily.
The retail side location, which will be
nearly 130 square feet in size, will also sell
espresso, juices and other items. The retail
space will include several coolers, but no
seating.
The remaining 690 square feet of the
leased space will be used to consolidate
Halibut Henry’s behind-the-scenes operations at the airport, including office, storage and food-preparation functions.
Rogers said the newly consolidated space
could be ready to open by August of this
year.
Halibut Henry’s will complete tenant
improvements on the retail side of the new
space at its own cost. Rogers anticipates
investing up to $100,000 in remodeling
costs. The port will handle basic improvements to the back-area space, which is
expected to cost about $87,000, said port
engineer Adam Fulton.
Along with its airport expansion, Halibut Henry’s also recently re-opened its cafe
at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. It
provides food service there seven days per
week.
Rogers also owns and operates the cruise
terminal’s gift shop, Inside Passage.
June 2013
7
BBJToday.com
A DIGITAL POUR
Vinostrology Wine Lounge & Merchant
offers glasses at the push of a button
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
H
aving grown up in Bellingham, Katie
Bechkowiak remembers the city’s
downtown as the local commercial
core it was decades ago.
So when looking for a location for her
new wine bar, called Vinostrology Wine
Lounge & Merchant, Bechkowiak knew
exactly where she wanted to be.
“I want to be supportive of downtown,
because I think it has a lot of potential,” she
said.
Vinostrology celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday, May 22. The wine bar
is located at 120 W. Holly St., in the former
location of the Bandito’s Burritos restaurant, which closed in 2012.
The new business follows another downtown wine shop that opened in early May,
Seifert & Jones
Wine Merchants,
which is located at
19 Prospect St.
Not surprisingly, the focus at
Vinostrology is on
wine.
Bechkowiak
offers wine by
the glass, by the
bottle, and also
provides customers a chance to
sample more
expensive varieties
before purchase.
In addition, the bar carries some limited
food options, as well as beer.
Bechkowiak plans to employ a staff of
five to six people.
For customers, what will likely be the
most intriguing aspect of Vinostrology is
the bar’s five electronic wine-dispensing
machines, built by Napa Technology, a
company from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Napa’s machines, called WineStations,
can hold up to four bottles at
once. They allow users to dispense wine in different quantities,
including an one-ounce tasting
size, a half glass and a full glass.
As a bottle is drained, spent
wine is replaced with argon gas.
This is to prevent the remaining
wine from oxidizing and prolong
the life of the bottle—Napa says
an opened bottle placed in one of
its machines can stay fresh for up
to 60 days.
With their digital controls, the
Katie Bechkowiak, owner of Vinostrology Wine Lounge & Merchant in downtown Bellingham, demmachines can also dispense wine
onstrates how to operate one of her bar’s WineStation dispensing machines. (Inset) Vinostrology Wine
more consistently than a manual
pour, which will help cut down on Lounge under construction in early May. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTOS | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
waste, Bechkowiak said.
the winemaking industry that attracted
The Northwest Women’s Business CenWashington state liquor laws will
Bechkowiak to the business in the first
ter, in turn, put her in touch with Comprohibit Vinostrology from offering self
place. She has worked in the wine field for
munity Capital Development, a nonprofit
service to customers using the machines.
more than a decade and a half, she said,
group in Seattle, that helped her secure a
spending time in both retail and distribuloan from the Seattle Economic Develoption environments.
ment Fund.
As wine is a common element of celebraBechkowiak had to make financial sactions and life milestones, being in the busi- rifices to get her loan, she said, including
ness is exciting and vibrant, she said.
cashing out a retirement fund in order to
But when Bechkowiak began developing cover a down payment.
the concept for Vinostrology more than a
Once she had cash, her bar’s future Holly
year ago, she wasn’t sure where her starting Street location received some updates.
funds were going to come from.
Although the wall colors and other decor
Banks were out of the question. Resare different, locals who remember Bantaurants and other establishments dealing
dito’s Burritos will still recognize the space.
with food and beverages carry high levels
The room’s focal point is a new wood bar
of risk—many don’t survive longer than a
that sits in front of the row of dispensing
few years before running out of cash—and
machines.
Bechkowiak said she didn’t feel confident
Bechkowiak hopes strong sales will let
asking a commercial lender for a business
her quickly expand.
loan.
She said she would like to eventually add
So, the dispensers will stay behind the bar,
“I knew a bank probably wasn’t going to
two additional wine-dispensing machines,
and customers will order their wine from a
be my go-to financing place,” she said.
which would allow the shop to offer sambartender.
Instead, she turned to a team of nonples of up to 28 varieties at once.
The machines provide a new gimmick
Vinostrology will be open from 11 a.m.
to set her shop apart from competitors, but profit business-development organizations—including Western Washington
to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays through Saturthe stations also let her offer a great array
University’s Small Business Development
days, from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and
of wine samples, including those from
Center and the Northwest Women’s Busifrom 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays and
more expensive varieties that might pique
ness Center—to get help developing a busi- Tuesdays.
the tastes of dedicated oenophiles.
ness plan and find financing.
It’s the vast variety of products within
With new lease, Maritime Museum will stay open
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
The Bellingham Maritime Museum has
reached a new lease agreement with the
Port of Bellingham, which will allow the
facility to continue its operations, albeit in
a much smaller capacity.
The new lease, which port commissioners approved unanimously during a May
7 meeting, is for one year at $1,500 per
month and gives the museum 6,000 square
feet of space in a port-owned warehouse at
800 Cornwall Ave.
The museum had previously been leasing 3,000 square feet inside the same building since 2005, although on a month-tomonth agreement with the port for $750
per month. However, over the years, the
museum’s exhibits began to fill more of the
warehouse, eventually using about 25,000
square feet.
In March, port staff said the museum
would not be allowed to continue using the
larger space, leading the museum’s director,
Mike Granat, to say the facility might have
to shut down entirely.
With the new agreement, the museum
will remain open. Yet curators and volunteers will need to vastly reduce the size of
its boat collection. Some of its most popular military watercraft will stay, including a
Vietnam War-era Patrol Boat River, commonly called a PBR, which built in 1966
by United Boat Builders of Bellingham,
according to the museum’s website.
Granat said, in a press release from the
port, that the lease arrangement was made
possible with help from a surge of new
sponsorship from local individuals, businesses and foundations.
Shirley McFearin, the port’s real estate
director, said a major challenge in the
agreement was finding a lease arrangement that would reflect the market value of
the museum. Compared to standard port
rental rates, the museum’s agreement “is on
the very low end,” McFearin said.
Yet considering the limited alternatives
for the port’s warehouse on Cornwall Avenue, the leasing rate met agreeable terms,
she said.
Along with its military watercraft, the
Bellingham Maritime Museum offers a collection of civilian vessels, as well as exhibits
reflecting the area’s waterfront heritage,
including Native American canoes and
antique maritime compasses and telescopes.
The museum is open to the public from
noon to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
More information is online at www.bellinghammaritimemuseum.org.
WATERFRONT| FROM 6
Three land parcels offered
for development proposals
community and in this project.
Will the public get to see all of the responses? The responses to the RFP will be public
documents.
How quickly will a developer be selected?
The Port will receive proposals in midJuly and anticipates the evaluation and
review of these proposals will take about a
month. If all goes according to the schedule, a preferred developer or developers
would be announced by the end of the
summer. After that an exclusive negotiations period would begin and would take
about four or five months to complete.
8
BBJToday.com
BBJBUZZ
Local business briefs, tips and leads
Canadian eyewear retailer opens
shipping center in Blaine
A Vancouver, British Columbia-based
company that sells eyewear and other
vision-care products online has opened a
new production and shipping facility in
Blaine.
Coastal Contacts Inc., which operates
the retail website Coastal.com, plans to
run the 13,000-square-foot warehouse 24
hours a day to ship glasses and contactlens orders to various locations in the
continental U.S. The facility employs about
70 people, according to the company, but
more workers will be added if consumer
demand fuels growth.
The Canadian company’s founder and
CEO, Roger Hardy, said the U.S. is Coastal.
com’s fastest-growing market, according
to a press release. With the new facility in
Blaine, the company reports it will now be
capable of shipping orders less than one
day after they are received online.
As one of the world’s largest online
retailers of eyewear and related products,
Coastal.com posted sales of $196.1 million
in 2012, according to the company.
More information is online at www.
coastal.com.
Big Brothers Big Sisters in
financial struggle, seeks support
The nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Northwest Washington is asking local
donors for help as the organization, which
provides volunteer mentors for at-risk
youth in Whatcom and Skagit counties,
Fairhaven
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NMLS# 487446
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says decreased funding has put its programs in difficult financial straits.
A loss of funding has forced the nonprofit to cut its programs, lay off full-time
staff and shrink its operating budget. The
organization now reports that to remain
financially viable, it needs at least 100
people to donate at least $80 on a monthly
basis.
Directors with the organization said one
of its most significant yearly grants, which
totaled $84,696 in 2009, dropped to $4,689
in 2012. Another major grant, which averaged $184,879 annually, ended in 2010,
according to the organization.
Individual contributions have also dwindled. Last year, the nonprofit brought in
$14,947 from individual donors.
The combined losses were deciding factors in the organization suspending its
well-regarded “School Buddies” program
this year. The program offered mentorship
to more than 100 children in nine local
schools.
“While we don’t have a facility to showcase our program, the impacts to our community are profound,” Colleen Haggerty,
the nonprofit’s executive director, said.
“What we do changes lives. When a child
thrives as they do with a mentor, the effects
ripples into the community in positive
ways. I don’t think this community wants
to see us close our doors.”
For more information, call Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Northwest Washington at
360-671-6400, or visit www.bbbs-nw.org.
The nonprofit plans to host a pledge
drive from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday,
June 8, in the beer garden at Boundary Bay
Brewery in downtown Bellingham. The
event will feature entertainment, raffles
and food.
PeaceHealth announces new
alliance, gets approval for
Skagit partnership
PeaceHealth has signed a letter of intent
with UW Medicine to form a strategic alliance between the two nonprofit health care
systems.
The deal is expected to be finalized by
Sept. 30.
PeaceHealth operates nine medical
centers, laboratories and other medical services and facilites in Washington, Oregon
and Alaska. That includes the St. Joseph
Medical Center in Bellingham, Whatcom
County’s only hospital and the county’s
largest employer.
UW Medicine’s facilities include Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital
and Medical Center, Valley Medical Center,
University of Washington Medical Center,
UW Neighborhood Clinics, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine and Airlift
Northwest.
The two organizations will remain legally separate and independent, according to a
press release, and each group’s governance
will not be affected. No government regulatory approval is required for the alliance.
The PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical
Center also received approval from the
Washington State Department of Health
for its planned alliance with United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley.
State approval is required whenever certain health care providers, including hospitals, plan to build certain types of facilities
or offer new or expanded services.
A long-term deal between PeaceHealth
and United General was announced last
November after approval by commissioners of Public Hospital District 304 in Skagit
County. Under the plan, PeaceHealth will
lease and operate the hospital, but the facil-
June 2013
ity will still be owned by the Public Hospital District.
Draft rules issued on state’s
future marijuana market
Washington state’s road to a recreational
marijuana marketplace is getting shorter, as
the state Liquor Control Board issued initial draft rules on Thursday, May 16, that
the agency says reflects its initial thoughts
on what such a market might look like.
The board will accept public comment
on the rules until June 10.
Voters approved the legalization of recreational marijuana use through the passage
of Initiative 502 last November.
Liquor board officials plan to begin a
formal rule-making process in June.
The rules are available for download
online at pnw.cc/llprs.
Hoagland Pharmacy to open new
location in Sedro-Woolley
Hoagland Pharmacy will open a new
location in Sedro-Woolley on June 3.
The new pharmacy, located at 640 State
Route Highway 20, will offer a variety of
products and services, including prescription filling, over-the-counter medication,
respiratory supplies and services, diabetic
shoes and insoles, lift chairs, medical
equipment and more.
“We intend to bring personal and caring
customer service to Sedro-Woolley and the
surrounding areas,” said co-owner Mike
Hoagland (who runs the company with his
wife, Rosa Hoagland).
Hoagland Pharmacy has operated in
Bellingham for more than 32 years, providing health, educational and veterinary
medication services. The company employs
a staff of more than 70 people.
The Sedro-Woolley pharmacy will be
open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays
through Fridays. The durable medical
department will operate during the same
days and hours, but will also be open from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The pharmacy can be reached at 360503-1676; the durable medical department
can be reached at 360-503-1670; and the
respiratory department can be reached at
360-503-1675.
Airporter Shuttle moves central
Bellingham pickup location
Airporter Shuttle, which offers bus service to the Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport from a variety of western and central Washington locations, has relocated its
central Bellingham pickup location next to
the GuestHouse Inn on Lakeway Drive to
the McDonald’s restaurant at 112 S. Samish
Way.
The company said the move will give
residents on the south side of Bellingham,
as well as students at Western Washington
University, better access to the Airporter
Shuttle.
Company officials also said they are
working with a nearby business to work
out a future parking arrangement for passengers. There will be no parking for Airporter passengers available at the McDonald’s or surrounding businesses when the
move takes effect.
Airporter Shuttle’s other Bellingham
stop, at Bellingham International Airport,
remains unchanged. The company is
online at www.airporter.com.
Bellingham officials offering
new low-income housing funds
BUZZ | Page 9
June 2013
BUZZ | FROM 8
Bellingham city officials have announced
four new funding opportunities designed
to address housing needs for low-income
households in the community.
Officials are accepting proposals through
July 1 for projects to be funded by the Bellingham Home Fund, approved by voters
last November.
The four programs are expected to help
248 households obtain affordable housing
or supportive services. The Home Fund is
expected to generate $3 million per year
for 7 years.
“The voter-approved home fund and the
programs we are developing with them will
go a long way toward meeting our commitment to supporting safe, affordable housing and services for lower-income residents
of our community,” Bellingham Mayor
Kelli Linville said.
Proposals are being accepted for:
production of new multi-family rental
housing; rental assistance and supportive
services when combined with proposals
for new multi-family rental housing; preservation of existing multi-family housing,
including shelters and transitional housing;
and programs that create ownership and
rental opportunities.
Applications are due by 5 p.m. on July
1. Funding awards are expected to be
announced by the end of September.
City officials will host a workshop from
10 a.m. to noon at the Bellingham Library
Lecture Room, to review program requirements and help connect people and organizations that may be interested in partnering on project applications.
Potential applicants may also schedule a
pre-application meeting to learn more.
More information about these and other
funding opportunities can be found on the
city’s website.
For information, contact the city’s
Planning and Community Development
Department at 360-778-8300.
Whatcom Community Foundation awards $124K to
local charities
The nonprofit Whatcom Community Foundation has awarded more than
$124,000 to 22 local charities and nonprofit
organizations.
The grants include funding for the
Intercommunity Mercy Housing Bilingual
Afterschool Program to provide educational and social support for children of
low-income Latino agricultural workers
living at Sterling Meadows Apartments in
Bellingham, as well as the Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement’s End of Life
Choices program to develop, pilot, print
and distribute an advance care planning
tool called “My Workbook,” part of a comprehensive outreach and education strategy
on how to do advance care planning.
Grants are also funding North Cascades
Institute’s Mountain School to support
Whatcom County students in projects
focused on eradicating invasive species,
introducing native plants and contributing to other activities that conserve and
restore neighborhood green spaces, and
The Neighborhood Playhouse for the performance of a play for three classes from
Roosevelt Elementary School complete
with transportation and a follow-up visit
by a teaching artist to their classrooms.
“We know that giving here makes living
here even better,” said Whatcom Community Foundation President and CEO Mauri
Ingram. “Thanks to our local donors over
the past year alone, the foundation has
9
BBJToday.com
invested nearly $2 million into vital Whatcom County programs.”
Other organizations receiving grants
include: Allied Arts of Whatcom Count,
ARC of Whatcom County, FACES Northwest, Friends of Island Library, Intercommunity Mercy Housing, Kulshan Community Land Trust, Kulshan Middle School,
Lydia Place, Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, Northwest Educational
Service District, Northwest Indian College,
Northwest Youth Services, Project Homeless Connect, Pacific Arts Association,
South Fork Valley Community Association, Dorothy’s Place and Whatcom Museum Foundation.
The Whatcom Community Foundation
is online at www.whatcomcf.org.
Peoples Bank opens financial
center in Everett
Peoples Bank has opened a new financial
center in Everett, which will provide personal and business banking, commercial
lending and real-estate lending services to
clients in Snohomish County.
The bank, with headquarters in Lynden,
plans to develop its new Everett site into a
flagship financial center by 2016.
“Great communities like Everett need
solid, client-focused community banks to
grow and thrive,” said Anthony Repanich,
executive vice president for Peoples Bank.
“During the financial downturn a number
of local financial institutions were lost and
now more than ever we believe there is an
opportunity for Peoples Bank to make a
difference in this community”.
The bank’s Everett Financial Center is
located 2733 Colby Ave., at the corner of
Colby and California.
Dashi Noodle Bar hosting downtown “parklet” this summer
The nonprofit Sustainable
Connections and the city of
Bellingham have selected Dashi
Noodle Bar as the new host
for a temporary “parklet” that
was introduced downtown last
summer.
Dashi Noodle Bar has provided
the funds necessary to clean up,
install and permit the parklet,
as well as cover parking fees to
have it located in the parking
space in front of the restaurant
at 1311 N. State St.
Parklets are temporary structures that
convert on-street parking spaces into
mini parks. Developers in Bellingham
have designed the city’s first parklet
to demonstrate green-building and
smart-growth techniques.
The temporary parklet was installed
during summer 2012 outside of La
Fiamma Pizza on Railroad Avenue,
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Lynden’s Homestead country club
gets new restaurants
Two new restaurants opened in May at
the Homestead Golf & Country Club in
Lynden.
Steakhouse 9, under the direction of
executive chef Joseph Merkling, has a
menu featuring a variety of steaks, as well
as prime rib, lamb, pork chops, chicken,
halibut, albacore tuna and seafood fettuccine Alfredo.
Merkling, a graduate of the California
Culinary Academy in San Francisco, has
served as a chef in several local restaurants,
including the Bellwether Harborside Bistro
and the Scotty Browns Restaurant in Barkley Village.
Bistro 9 features burgers, sandwiches,
salads, seafood and pizza, as well as beer,
wine and spirits.
Both restaurants are located above the
golf course’s clubhouse at 115 E. Homestead Blvd., and owned by Rick Kildall, his
fiancée Wendy Cimoch, and David and
Tracy Frear of Lynden. When the previous
operation closed at the end of 2012, the
new ownership group signed a lease and
began remodeling in January
“We’re all foodies,” Kildall said. “When
this location became available, we wanted
to fill a north-county void so local residents wouldn’t have to travel far for a great
steakhouse.”
Steakhouse 9 will be open from 5 p.m.
to 10 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays.
More information is online at www.Steakhouse9.com.
Bistro 9 will be open daily from 11 a.m.
to 11 p.m.
Homestead Golf & Country Club also
has banquet and special-event facilities
available for reservation.
BUZZ | Page 10
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This spring, Downtown businesses
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reviewed the applications and
selected Dashi Noodle Bar. The parklet
will remain at Dashi until fall.
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BBJToday.com
BUZZ | FROM 9
Tree Frog Night Inn
plans reopening
The Tree Frog Night Inn,
a luxury “eco-inn” at 1727
Mount Baker Highway, will
host a grand reopening
event from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
on Sunday, June 9.
The facility has a newly
created Forest Room, in
addition to the existing
Coast Salish Native American and Mediterranean
Suites, which will be open
for viewing during the
event.
A short film about the
inn, created by internationally known art chef and photographer Roberto Cortez,
will be screened. The event
will also include appetizers,
drinks from Boundary Bay
Brewery and live music by
Fisher Street Celtic Band,
Deux Duos Quartet, Daniel
Sobel, and Kurt Yandell of
the Walking Catfish.
More information about
the Tree Frog Night Inn
is online at www.treefrognight.com.
Bellingham Farmers
Market in Fairhaven
to begin June 5
The Wednesday Fairhaven edition of the Belling-
ham Farmers Market begins
on Wednesday, June 5.
More than 25 vendors
will offer local produce, arts
and crafts, as well as other
products.
The June 5 kickoff will
feature live music by local
singer-songwriters, Amber
Darland and Lucas Hicks.
The Fairhaven markets
will take place from noon
to 5 p.m. every Wednesday until Sept. 25, on the
June 2013
Fairhaven Village Green at
1207 10th St.
More information can be
found at www.bellinghamfarmers.org.
Inslee signs new law
hitting “zapper”
tax-cheat software
Washington state Gov.
Jay Inslee has signed a bill
that penalizes businesses
involved in the distribution
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or use of “zapper” software,
which erases sales from
cash registers so retailers
can avoid reporting sales
tax they collect from customers.
The new law makes it
illegal for anyone to “sell,
purchase, install, transfer,
manufacture, create, design,
update, repair, use, possess,
or otherwise make available” software or hardware
that deletes transactions.
The state’s Department
of Revenue supported passage of Senate Bill 5715 to
combat the spread of zapper software, which also is
used to avoid paying business and occupation tax
and commit employment
tax fraud and corporate
embezzlement.
“People expect the sales
taxes they pay to finance
state and local services such
as schools and police protection, not to pad the profits of dishonest businesses,”
Inslee said, in a statement.
“This legislation should
deter retailers from using
zappers to evade taxes
while giving the Department of Revenue stronger
tools to go after those who
sell or use them.”
Zappers selectively delete
transactions from cash
registers so those sales can’t
be tracked later by auditors
and compared to reported
sales. Businesses using zapper software are businesses
that are frequently paid
in cash, but new evidence
shows that credit and debit
card transactions are also
being zapped.
Senate Bill 5715 makes it
a class C felony to commit
electronic tax fraud using
an automated sales suppression device, or phantomware. Retailers already are
subject to felony charges if
they fail to remit sales tax,
but in addition to the felony charge, the bill subjects
anyone who manufactures,
provides or services zappers
to a mandatory fine that
is the greater of $10,000
or the amount of tax that
wasn’t paid.
The bill was unanimously passed by both the
House and Senate.
The new law also authorizes the Department of
Revenue to revoke the
business licenses of any
business found using such
devices, seize those devices
and not reinstate a business
unless it agrees to five years
of electronic monitoring.
Canada’s Revenu Quebec,
whose economy is similar
in size to Washington, estimates zappers cost it more
than $200 million annually.
Thirteen other states have
passed legislation targeted
at sales suppression software.
June 2013
11
BBJToday.com
MAKING THE MOVE
Labels Women’s Consignment opens new
store as resale industry remains strong
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
A
s shoppers began picking up new
bargain-hunting habits during the
economic recession, consignment
retailers experienced a boon. And now,
even as money begins returning to consumers’ pockets, resale businesses, including Labels Women’s Consignment Store in
Bellingham, are still seeing success.
“I think the habits are here to stay,” said
Sage Bishop, owner of Labels. “My view is I
just want to stay flexible.”
Labels recently
moved its original
Bellingham location, which opened
in 2004 at 1512 Ellis
St., to a new, larger
space at 2332 James
St., next to Trader
Joe’s and the Sunnyland Square shopping
center.
Bishop also runs
Labels Northwest, which opened last year
at 3927 Northwest Ave.
The new, 4,000-square-foot James Street
location doubles the space Labels had in its
original spot. Bishop believes the store will
benefit from the increased traffic nearby.
With several new business additions in the
past year and a Trader Joe’s popular with
Canadian shoppers, James Street is emerging as one of Bellingham’s busier retail
areas.
“There’s a flavor here, for sure,” Bishop
said, about the James Street area. “There’s a
lot of unique businesses.”
The available parking lot at the James
Street location was also a determining
factor for Bishop when she was deciding
where to move. Bishop said offering accessible parking to customers at her Labels
Northwest location can be challenging,
especially when the store is busy.
The James Street store features an
attached spa, called Polished, which offers
manicures, pedicures, facials and waxing
services. Polished is managed by Christie
Raper.
Bishop said Polished has been designed
to give customers a quick, drop-in spa
experience, meant to
energize more than
relax.
Labels former Ellis
Street location has
been transformed
into the new Labels
Plus, which offers
plus-sized women’s
clothing and accesories. That store is
managed by Erin Buchanan.
Bishop said she expects that, for her
regular customers, the difference between
Labels and Labels Plus—which is not run
as a consignment store—might take a little
extra time to catch on.
The consignment system, where customers bring in their own merchandise to have
a consigner sell it for them in exchange for
a percentage of the sale, has brought big
business to Labels within the past decade.
Bishop’s stores have accepted items for consignment from more than 26,000 people
since the first location opened in 2004.
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Growth continues in the U.S. resale
industry, which includes consignment
shops, thrift stores and other resale businesses.
NARTS: The Association of Resale Professionals, a resale trade group based in
Michigan, counts more than 25,000 stores
nationwide within the industry, which has
total annual revenue close to $13 billion.
Bishop believes consignment fever
should continue, even as the economy
improves and people find themselves with
more disposable income. Customers today
are more driven to find good deals and
prices, she said.
Labels’ business model has slowly
evolved with customer demand, but the
main aspects remain the same.
The target audience is women ages 30-50
(although Bishop said Labels gets a share
of customers both younger and older).
In addition to clothing and accessories,
housewares have become a steady feature
at Labels stores, and the new James Street
location devotes an entire section to lamps,
wine glasses, artwork and a variety of other
non-clothing items.
Bishop said she thinks hiring good
employees has been a major key to her
success. With the growth and expansion of
her company, she can only be in one of her
stores at a time, so it’s important to have
talented staff capable of grasping her business’ identity, she said.
Another key has been listening to customers and adapting to their needs and
suggestions, Bishop said.
The James Street Labels store, which is
managed by Shayla Jones, is open from 9
a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Polished is open from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. daily, and Labels Plus is open from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays.
More information is online at www.
labelsconsignment.com.
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Owner Sage Bishop in the housewares section of the Labels Women’s Consignment Store’s
new James Street location. (Inset) Household items have become a featured retail component
at Labels’ stores in Bellingham. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTOS | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
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BBJToday.com
June 2013
LEVELING THE
PLAYING FIELD
Lower federal taxes seen as way for
small distillers to stay competitive
with larger producers
By Bill Sheets
The Daily Herald (Everett)
L
ocal craft liquors springing up on
store shelves could get a little cheaper,
and the distillers would have a better
chance to survive and thrive, if a new bill is
approved in Congress, proponents say.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Rick
Larsen, D-Wash., would cut federal taxes
for distilleries that produce fewer than
60,000 gallons per year. Freshman Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene, who represents
eastern Snohomish County as part of the
state’s 1st Congressional District, is a cosponsor.
Small distilleries currently pay the same
federal tax as larger distillery companies
that mass produce their liquor, while small
breweries and wineries pay a significantly
smaller tax rate than their larger competitors, Larsen said.
It’s important here because Washington
state now has more than
60 craft distilleries. That’s
the most of any state in the
nation, Larsen and DelBene
said at a press conference at
Bluewater Organic Distilling in Everett on Thursday,
May 2.
A fifth of vodka made by
Bluewater currently retails
BelleWood Distilling, located on Guide Meridian Road near Lynden, is on track to potentially produce up
for about $29.50, owner John to 10,000 proof-gallons within its first year, according to its operations manager, Jake Fowler.
Lundin said. The change
EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
could knock between $2 and
$3 off the price per fifth, he
“It’s like everything handmade -- it tastes
said. This would cut his costs at the outset
better,
it costs more,” said David Hopkins,
and potentially increase sales, he said.
co-founder
of Skip Rock Distillers of Sno“The market even for high-quality prodhomish. The company makes vodka, white
ucts is very much price driven, and being
more competitive and being able to present whiskey and liqueurs.
Hopkins said the tax cut could help his
a high quality product at a lower price is
business “tremendously.”
By Evan Marczynski
huge for us,” Lundin said.
The
bill
would
cut
the
current
federal
evan@bbjtoday.com
Craft distilled spirits are generally more
tax of $2.14 per fifth of hard liquor down
expensive than the name brands.
n Whatcom County’s small yet
to about 64 cents. Because the tax is levied
growing craft distilling industry,
at more than one distribution point along
local producers echo the sentiments
the way, the savings would likely be greater
of distillers in other areas of Washingthan the reduction of $1.50 per bottle,
ton.
Lundin said.
Jake Fowler, the operations manager
Also, “it could mean the difference
at BelleWood Distilling, located at
between signing a distribution deal or not,
BelleWood Acres farm near Lynden,
and this is really a volume game,” he said.
said lower federal taxes on his products
“Our margins are always going to be tight.
could be a big help to business.
It’s a huge difference for us.”
Since craft distillers generally work
Larsen said the matter came to his attenwith higher-quality, and therefore more
tion last year when he visited Bluewater,
expensive, ingredients than large-scale
located next to the Scuttlebutt brewery on
producers, it can be difficult to offer
the Everett waterfront, on a tour of small
competitive prices on store shelves,
businesses.
he said. BelleWood Distilling makesThere are 12 small distilleries in his
vodka, brandy and gin at its facility on
district, he said. The 2nd Congressional
Guide Meridian Road.
district stretches from the Snohomish
“We’re doing everything from
County-King line to Bellingham along the
scratch, which puts our cost of goods
water.
Whatcom distillers see
positives in tax proposal
I
TAX CUT | Page 13
LOCAL SPIRITS | Page 13
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BBJToday.com
TAX CUT | FROM 12
DelBene, of Medina, said
there are nine craft distilleries in her district, which
runs from King County to
the Canadian border, east
of Larsen’s.
Most of the craft distilleries fired up after a new
state law in 2008 cut the
annual license fee to $100
a year for small distilleries,
compared to $2,000 for
larger ones. A distillery
must obtain at least half its
ingredients from within the
state to receive the break.
That’s all the more reason
to help those businesses,
said DelBene, former director of the state Department
of Revenue.
“It’s the multiplier effect
when many of the ingredients they’re using are from
right here in Washington
state,” she said.
Neither Larsen nor DelBene said they’d received
much feedback from their
colleagues in Congress
regarding the prospects of
the bill, but have no reason
to believe it wouldn’t pass.
A similar bill recently
failed in Congress but it set
the threshold for small distillers at a higher volume,
Larsen said.
He said it might take
awhile to get the bill
through.
“It takes longer to pass a
bill than it does to make a
bottle of gin here at Bluewater,” he said.
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Business Journal.
LOCAL SPIRITS |
FROM 12
and production really
high,” Fowler said.
Troy Smith, owner of
Mount Baker Distillery in
Bellingham, said the federal
tax-cut proposal could help
Washington’s craft distillery
industry to expand in much
the same way the state’s
wineries and microbreweries did after getting similar
tax reductions.
Smith said the federal tax
liability for Mount Baker
Distillery’s production
winds up costing the company more per bottle than
it spends on the production
process itself.
Lower taxes would help
the Bellingham distillery,
which produces moonshine
and vodka, be more competitive with companies
able to mass produce spirits
and offer them for cheaper
prices, Smith said.
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BBJToday.com
Best Practices
Ask Red Rokk
Business cards: Still relevant in
today’s digital world
How can a small business find time to
stay competitive in online marketing?
Guest commentary by Ed Munro,
Red Rokk Interactive
S
tart by creating a realistic schedule,
and then sticking with it.
Making time for online marketing and participating in social media has
become a reality for many small businesses, while others are still watching
from the sidelines. As a result, there has
been much discussion from the small
business community expressing concern
about the time it takes to be successful
with their online marketing efforts.
Your customers are online—you
should be there to greet them.
For some perspective, ask yourself:
When was the last time you used Google
for a search query? Now ask the same
question about the last time you reached
for the Yellow Pages.
June 2013
Not surprisingly, you and most businesses are likely using Google most of
the time while searching through the
Yellow Pages is declining rapidly.
Now ask yourself this question: Are
you putting enough time and effort into
promoting your company’s online activities? After all, this is where everyone is
“gathering.”
The most common issue we find is
that many businesses continue treating their websites, and to a lesser extent
their social media activities, more like
a static ad rather than an active portal
where the flow of information and conversation with customers happens on
a regular basis. Yet, despite this reality,
there are still many businesses that do
not actively use social media.
ASK RED ROKK | Page 22
T
hink business cards aren’t relevant in
today’s digital world? Think again.
Even in the age of social networking
and smartphones, there is still a need for
traditional printed business cards.
According to the Small Business Administration, the average business owner in
the U.S. reportedly hands out 40 business
cards a month. Consumers still expect to
find business cards handed out at meetings, sent with correspondence, shared at
networking events and more.
Because they are a valuable marketing
tool, company employees should have
access to professionally designed business
cards, especially if they attend events or
engage with consumers on any level.
Don’t get stuck in a rut with business
card design
It can sure be fast and easy to reorder
the same cards year after year, but before
placing another order, consider whether
it’s time to freshen up and modernize your
company’s business card design. You may
be able to leverage the cards to further
market and promote your business.
Here’s how to tell if business cards need
a design update:
- Logo, fonts and colors no longer coordinate with other marketing materials
like the company website and other print
materials
- Profile photos were taken more than five
years ago
- Contact information has changed
- Website addresses and social media icons
are not included
- Nothing is printed on the back
When it comes to updating business
cards, make sure to incorporate the com-
Guest coMMENTARY by
PATTI ROWLSON
PR Consulting Services
pany’s logo and branding colors, choose
high quality cardstock, use fonts that are
easy to read (no calligraphy or font sizes
less than 10pt) and take advantage of the
space on the back of the card. This is valuable real estate that can be used for a variety of purposes.
Use the back of business cards to market
and promote your business.
Not sure what to put on the back of the
card? Here are a few suggestions:
- Coupon offers that can be claimed when
the card is presented
- A map to the business’ location
- Referral or reward program information
- Social media icons or a QR code
- Product photographs
- Customer testimonials or a company mission statement
- Information about a favorite charity
With fresh business cards in hand,
employees will be better prepared to get
out there and use them as a solid marketing and networking tool.
Ready for a bit of design inspiration?
Check out this board on Pinterest: http://
pinterest.com/pattirowlson/businesscards/.
Patti Rowlson of PR Consulting Services is
online at at www.pattirowlson.com.
Viewpoint
Labor waits for its ship to come in
Global expertise.
Local delivery.
Guest commentary by Aaron Careaga,
Courtesy to The Bellingham Business
Journal
struggle in igniting substantive economic
recovery post-Great Recession.
Some opine that a stagnant economy
and chronically higher level of unemployment is the new normal and that America
should expect a European-type scenario.
Education is intended to be a direct
channel to meaningful employment and
prosperity at the individual, state and
federal levels, but the U.S. continues to
VIEWPOINT | Page 22
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June 2013
RESIDENTIAL
SALES STILL
climbing in
whatcom
Local closings up
30 percent in April
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
Whatcom County saw a
significant increase in combined sales of single-family
homes and condominiums
in April, according to the
latest statistics from the
Northwest Multiple Listing
Service.
NMLS brokers in the
county reported 212 closed
residential sales in April,
up 30 percent from the 163
closings during the same
month one year ago.
From January through
April of this year, brokers
have reported 684 closed
sales, up from 595 during the comparable time
period in 2012, according
to NMLS statistics.
The median-sale price
of single-family homes and
condominiums in Whatcom County was $248,250
in April, up from $245,000
during the same month in
2012. Average-sale price
in the county in April was
$276,733, up from $268,898
during the same month
last year, according to the
NMLS.
Real-estate brokers
across the region—the
NMLS operates in 21 counties in Washington—noted
an increased volume of
new listings on the market,
reaching the highest level
seen since July 2011.
NMLS members added
10,351 new home listings in
April, a gain of 12.9 percent
from the 9,166 new listings
during the same month last
year.
Whatcom County had
447 new listings of singlefamily homes and condominiums added in April,
up nearly 19 percent from
the 376 reported during
the same month in 2012.
The county’s 1,303 active
listings in April was down
from the same month last
year, when active listings
totaled 1,375. Despite the
jump in new listings across
the region, inventory shortages continue, prompting
what the NMLS describes
as “bidding wars” in some
areas.
Region-wide, closed residential sales increased 20
percent from 5,177 in April
2012 to 6,209 last month.
15
BBJToday.com
County’s latest jobless rate at 6.9 percent
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
W
hatcom County’s
unemployment rate
in April followed
similar trends seen in late
spring over the past several
years and fell to 6.9 percent,
according to preliminary
estimates from the Washington State Employment
Security Department.
The jobless rate from
March 2013 was also revised
from an initial 7.9 percent
down to 7.7 percent.
The county’s private sector added an estimated 500
jobs in April 2013 since
the same month one year
ago, and added 600 since
March 2013. Year-over-year
growth in April was particularly strong in retail (up
500 jobs or 4.9 percent),
manufacturing (up 300 jobs
or 3.4 percent) and leisure
and hospitality (up 200 jobs
or 2.3 percent).
Construction employment in Whatcom County
took a hit in April, similar
to reports from the sector in
March. The industry shed
100 jobs between March
2013 and April 2013, and
700 jobs from April 2012
to April 2013, a loss of 10.6
percent, according to the
preliminary estimates.
Whatcom County’s total
labor force shrunk by 3 percent between April 2012
and April 2013. State economists counted 103,540
people in the county’s labor
force in their estimates for
April 2013. Of those people,
96,420 are employed.
In the government sector, state agencies added
200 jobs between April 2012
and April 2013, an increase
of 3.5 percent. Local agencies added 100 jobs in April
2013 from March 2013,
according to the estimates.
Year-over-year job growth
in local government—and
federal government—has
been flat.
Jobless rates appear to
have fallen around the state
compared to earlier in the
year. Out of 39 counties in
Washington, 24 now have
unemployment rates under
9 percent, and 10 are under
7 percent.
In northwest Washington, San Juan County post-
State unemployment at lowest level since Dec. 2008
Washington state’s unemployment
rate is continuing its recent decline,
hitting an estimated 7 percent in
April—the lowest point the jobless
rate has been at since December
2008, according to the state’s
Employment Security Department.
The state added an estimated 3,800
jobs in April, seasonally adjusted.
Economists also revised the March
job numbers upward by nearly 4,000
jobs, from a preliminary estimated
loss of 5,500 to a loss of 1,600.
“The labor market is continuing
to improve at a moderate but
accelerating rate, somewhat faster
than the nation,” said Scott Bailey, a
state labor economist.
Industries with the most estimated
job gains in April were retail trade,
up 3,800; leisure and hospitality, up
1,600; professional and business
services, up 1,500; other services,
up 600; manufacturing, up 400; and
ed an initial jobless estimate of 6 percent in April,
Island County posted 7.4
percent and Skagit County
had unemployment at 8.3
percent. The state’s low-
financial activities, up 300 jobs.
Industries showing the most
job losses last month included
education and health services, down
2,500; construction, down 1,100;
transportation, warehousing and
utilities, down 500; and wholesale
trade, down 300.
So far, Washington has regained
about 78 percent (160,100) of the
205,000 jobs it lost during the
recession.
In April, an estimated 243,100 people
(seasonally adjusted) in Washington
were unemployed and looking for
work. That includes 130,792 who
claimed unemployment benefits
last month. Also in April, 3,230
unemployed workers ran out of
unemployment benefits, bringing
the total to 138,997 since extended
benefits were activated in July 2008.
—BBJ Staff Reports
est jobless rate was in King
County, at 4.4 percent. Snohomish County posted a 4.9
percent estimate.
The highest rate in the
state was 12.1 percent,
found in Grays Harbor
County, which straddles
the southern border of the
Olympic Peninsula.
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16
BBJToday.com
June 2013
“HERE BY CHOICE”
Q&A: TEDx Bellingham organizer hopes event
will bring an array of perspectives
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
M
ore than one billion people on the
Web have watched a TED Talk, the
popular offerings of the TED organization that invites speakers to its annual
global conferences to share new ideas and
perspectives melding technology, entertainment and design.
Now, local marketing executive David
Wiggs wants to take TED’s famous tagline—“ideas worth spreading”—and give it
a Bellingham flavor.
Wiggs is the organizer behind TEDx
Bellingham, a small-scale version of the
worldwide conference that will take place
in the Pickford Film Center on Nov. 12.
As independent offshoots of the main
TED conference, TEDx organizers have
held more than 5,000 such events in more
than 130 countries.
With nearly five months to go before
lighting up the stage at TEDx Bellingham,
Wiggs is still seeking locals interested in
speaking, attending or volunteering. More
information can be found at www.tedxbellingham.com, or by emailing Wiggs at
info@tedxbellingham.com.
BBJ: For someone who has never experienced a TEDx event, how will this work?
Wiggs: TEDx Bellingham will include a
full day of interaction and engagement
held live for 100 audience participants,
an on-site viewing party for another 75
attendees, and we’ll be streaming the event
free online for anyone to watch.
Our goal is for it to be an experience
from the time you walk through the door
until the after party wrap-up.
There will be 18 to 25 talks and performances ranging from three to 18 minutes
in length with ideas to challenge the audience to more broadly consider their world,
inspire action and create connection and
community.
BBJ: What inspired you to bring this event
to Bellingham?
Wiggs: I read a WIRED magazine article
last year about how individuals could apply
to host a local independent TEDx event,
and the thought of TEDxBellingham literally kept me up all night.
I’ve always trusted my gut and something told me that Bellingham needed a
TEDx event.
This community is such a unique place.
Bellingham is an ecosystem of thinkers,
doers, innovators, visionaries, artists, musicians and philanthropists, and I want more
of us to hear from more of them.
BBJ: The event’s theme is “Here By
Choice.” Can you explain that?
Wiggs: An organizer from a different
TEDx event said to leave room for the
undiscovered, so I want to be sure that all
the speakers don’t feel compelled to tie
everything so tightly to the theme. “Here”
can be anywhere.
David Wiggs, organizer of TEDx Bellingham, which will take place at the Pickford Film
Center on Nov. 12, said the event’s “Here By Choice” theme has been left broad to allow
speakers to approach it from any angle. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTO | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
Yes, it can be place, and based on the
kinds of speaker applications we’re getting,
the theme of this place will come through
loud and clear. But the theme is broad
enough so speakers and performers can get
to it from any angle.
“Here” is where I am in my life, the
choices I’ve made and the reasons I’ve
made them. The lessons learned, and not
learned.
It’s very broad intentionally.
Some elements include concepts that
make you a little uncomfortable, challenge
your thinking, connect emotionally, make
you mad, laugh or cry and best of all, tell
a story.
I think people are fed on stories.
Everyday genius inspires me, and I think
will inspire others. Thankfully for TEDxBellingham, it’s not just me deciding about
speakers and content. We have a curation
committee.
BBJ: When you hear an idea like the ones
shared at TED conferences, how do you
judge its value?
BBJ: Has there been a TED Talk you’ve
found particularly inspiring or interesting?
Wiggs: I think good ideas should make an
emotional connection with the audience
and inspire them to act. Good ideas have
no life if they don’t inspire action, but that
action can be a lot of things.
Wiggs: I’ve seen a lot and like many for
different reasons. I would challenge folks
to find the TED talks that inspire them.
TEDx | Page 17
June 2013
Local retail sector shows
strong annual gains
Sumas led in overall growth, with its total
retail sales up more than 46 percent
By Evan Marczynski
evan@bbjtoday.com
Whatcom County’s total retail sales in
2012 topped $3.2 billion and increased 7.75
percent over sales from 2011, according
to new figures released by the Washington
State Department of Revenue.
The county posted $3,260,649,241
in total retail last year, up from
$3,026,147,797 in 2011.
In the retail-trade sector only, a subset
that excludes industries such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, wholesale
trade and several others, Whatcom
County saw an increase of 7.18 percent to
$1,618,479,895 in 2012.
Washington state’s total taxable retail
sales increased 5.1 percent to $109.1 billion
in 2012, compared to the sales in 2011. The
state’s retail-trade subset rose 5.3 percent to
$50.5 billion.
Sumas, the small border town about
25 miles north of Bellingham, had the
strongest retail sales growth in the county,
with total retail increasing 46.04 percent to
$7,570,271 in 2012, and its retail-trade sec-
17
BBJToday.com
tor increasing 46.07 percent to $4,247,674.
Bellingham rose 7.95 percent to
$593,750,784 in total retail, and 5.94 percent to $359,175,406 in retail-sales only.
Compared to Skagit County to the
south—both counties compete for Canadian shoppers and commerce from traffic
on Interstate 5—Whatcom County had
better total retail sales growth in 2012, but
its growth in the retail-trade sector lagged
behind.
Skagit’s total retail sales increased 6.89
percent to $2,214,983,279 last year, and its
retail-trade sector increased 7.94 percent to
$1,198,127,779.
One stark trend in Washington showed
sales by book stores and news dealers
across the state falling by more than 30
percent last year compared to 2011, while
at the same time e-commerce and mailorder sales increased more than 20 percent.
Also within the statewide retail-trade
sector, sales of new and used cars, auto
parts, as well as sales of RVs, boats and
motorcycles all increased by between 10
percent and 12 percent last year compared
to 2011.
Whatcom County retail sales, 2011 to 2012
Entire county
Total retail: Up 7.75 percent to
$3,260,649,241
Retail trade: Up 7.18 percent to
$1,618,479,895
Lynden
Total retail: Up 3.18 percent to
$50,393,780
Retail trade: Up 2.36 percent to
$22,090,745
Bellingham
Total retail: Up 7.95 percent to
$593,750,784
Retail trade: Up 5.94 percent to
$359,175,406
Nooksack
Total retail: Up 1.37 percent to
$1,694,935
Retail trade: Up 2.86 percent to
$828,479
Blaine
Total retail: Up 12.43 percent to
$36,511,843
Retail trade: Up 28.22 percent to
$16,063,534
Sumas
Total retail: Up 46.04 percent to
$7,570,271
Retail trade: Up 46.07 percent to
$4,247,647
Everson
Total retail: Down 6.07 percent to
$5,311,400
Retail trade: Down 5.55 percent to
$2,098,257
All other areas of county
Total retail: Up 8.18 percent to
$152,372,880
Retail trade: Up 4.51 to $37,563,922
Ferndale
Total retail: Up 1.10 percent to
$43,911,467
Retail trade: Up 23.37 percent to
$18,786,144
Source: Washington State Department
of Revenue
Do you own a business in Bellingham or Whatcom County?
Then you can take advantage of our limited-time offer and
receive a single-year free subscription to
The Bellingham Business Journal.
Call 888-838-3000 or visit BBJToday.com to sign up and start
receiving monthly editions of the BBJ.
TEDx | FROM 16
Event will highlight local
flair, emphasize ideas of
innovation, futurity
The talks are as diverse as are the people
presenting them.
If you talk to fans of TED, the topic of
favorite talks inevitably comes up.
Some of my favorites have been shared
by others, like Simon Sinek’s talk on how
leaders inspire action—the gist being that
people don’t buy what you do, they buy
why you do it. As a marketer, that inspired
me.
Also, Jojo Mayer’s talk on at TEDxZurich about the distance between zero
and one. His talk speaks to the real place
human music is made—and that’s the
spaces in between the beats, improvisation
and instinct in music.
BBJ: What are some of the major challenges to organizing an event like this?
Wiggs: We’ve been very much embraced
and supported by the community already
just in the early announcements. There’s a
lot of excitement and dialogue happening.
A lot of people have stepped up to volunteer their time and skills, which just
reinforces my belief of what a special place
Bellingham is. This is, after all a 100 percent volunteer effort.
TEDx Bellingham is all about the content, which has to be stellar and has to be
developed and presented well. That’s a lot
of pressure.
So, although we’ve had great speaker
applications come in, several that I am
personally very excited to see presented,
we need more to deliver 18-20 of them that
hit all the right buttons and deliver on that
promise.
We’re also looking for partners to help
make TEDxBellingham a reality, but
through in-kind and monetary sponsorships. We’ve had some community-minded
businesses ask how they could get involved,
but there are still deficits.
My vision is for TEDxBellingham to
grow every year. I want to fill the Mount
Baker Theater in 2014 and I believe we can
do it.
But for now our energy and focus is on
11/12/13.
with active transportation
Let us help you get started.
everybodyBIKE offers guided bus rides, customized walking routes, and
comfortable bicycles to test ride—for free! Try getting there a new way.
Call 671-BIKE, or email info@everybodyBIKE.com.
18
BBJDATA
BBJToday.com
Recently filed public-record information
Public record information is obtained from a variety of sources. Business licenses and building permits are from
the city of Bellingham. Liquor licenses are from the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Bankruptcies are
from the U.S.bankruptcy court in Seattle. Tax liens are from the Whatcom County Auditor. Judgments are from
the Whatcom County Superior Court. Listings are subject to change and are only current as of their filing dates.
Due to space constraints, some public records might be omitted in print. All public records can also be found online
at BBJToday.com. Building permits appear weekly, usually on Tuesdays. Liquor licenses appear every other week,
usually on Thursdays. All other records appear monthly. For more information, please email editor@bbjtoday.com.
BUSINESS LICENSES
ACI Northwest Inc., ACI Northwest Inc., 800 Lakeway Drive,
Bellingham, WA 98229.
Aeon Longboards, Jacob Verge Delgado, 420 17th St., Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Aline Design Inc., Aline Design Inc., 3200 Carrington Way,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Amanda L. Sanderson, Amanda Lynn Sanderson, 5240 Graveline
Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Archer Portrait Couture, Cory Jacob Hamm, 1101 Woodstock Way,
Apt. B1A, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Arnason Appraisals, Arnason Inc., 3610 Meridian St., Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Atlas Computer Works, Jason Russell Nix, 1305 Cornwall Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Auto Collision Repair, Alexander Samoylenko, 5560 Guide
Meridian, Bellingham, WA 98226.
B&B Paint Co., Terry E. Bell, 3006 Bennett Drive, Bellingham, WA
98225.
Bayview Pain and Primary, Bayview Pain and Primary, 12
Bellwether Way, Suite 219, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Beauty Sweep, Beauty Sweep LLC, 2205 H St., Apt. 1, Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Becca’s Fine Gardening, Rebecca Elizabeth Steinkamp, 3024 Elm
St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Becki Walker Photography, Becki Marie Walker, 360 Tremont Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Bellingham Massage Works LLC, Bellingham Massage Works LLC,
2101 Cornwall Ave., Suite 101, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Beneficial Massage Therapy, Jamie Eileen Gerity, 1402 E. Sunset
Drive, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Bravo Fighter, David Neal Bradshaw, 1112 40th St., Bellingham,
WA 98229.
Brian Michael Wokich, Brian Michael Wokich, 1305 11th St., Suite
302, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Bright Light Kids, Jennifer Newlin Duett, 2809 Donovan Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Buddha Food LLC, Buddha Food LLC, 2185 Alpine Way, Unit A,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
C. Jackson Photography, Caitlyn J. Daniels, 838 E. Kellogg Road,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Carla Benson Accounting LLC, Carla Benson Accounting LLC, 3969
Hammer Drive, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Carpet Pro Care, J. Felix R. Cordova, 1302 Birchwood Ave., Apt. B10,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Cerise Noah Inc., Cerise Noah Inc., 515 W. Bakerview Road,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Chow Dogs LLC, Chow Dogs LLC, 4054 Hammer Drive, Unit 103A,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Commercial Fishing, Ante Ivcevic, 200 Bayside Pl., Bellingham,
WA 98225.
CompsNW LLC, CompsNW LLC, 2119 Huron St., Bellingham, WA
98229.
Crooked Tooth Productions, Tyler Thomas Swank, 3119
Cottonwood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Daniel Mark Brocker, Daniel Mark Brocker, 400 W. Hemmi Road,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra, Daniel Robert Anderson, 103
Underhill Road, Bellingham, WA 98225.
David Bermudez Inc., David Bermudez Inc., 153 Celtic Lane,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
De-Construction Services LLC, De-Construction Services LLC, 2421
St. Clair St., Bellingham, WA 98229.
Dog’s Life, Christopher David Smithson, 275 Sudden Valley Drive,
Bellingham, WA 98229.
Drechsel Consulting Inc., Drechsel Consulting Inc., 811 Carolina
St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Elena M. Lipson, Elena M. Lipson, 336 36th St. #424, Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Elite Signers, Lynne D. Derry, 191 Polo Park Drive, Bellingham, WA
98229.
Elite Signs & Graphics, Michael Anthony Forsythe, 5394 Northwest
Drive #1, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Eric Gillett, Eric Gillett, 1231 Chuckanut Drive, Bellingham, WA
98229.
Erm-West Inc., Erm-West Inc., 2211 Rimland Drive, Suite 210,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Fairhaven Storage LLC, Fairhaven Storage LLC, 2715 Mill Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Famous Uncle Media, James Oscar Lloyd, 2005 Alpine Way,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Fine Things, Shelley Edwards, 5021 Guide Meridian, Bellingham,
WA 98226.
Finish Line Auto Finish & Detail, Adam T. Secundus Inc., 1619
Birchwood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Frank Repanich DDS PS, Frank Repanisch DDS PS, 2814 Flint St.,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
G&L Dari Distributors, Thomas Gerald De Forrest, 3948 Lakeway
Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Gentri Watson, Gentri Dee Watson, 2656 N. Shore Road, Bellingham,
WA 98226.
Girodisc, Matella LLC, 1971 Midway Lane, Suite G, Bellingham, WA
98226.
Great Blue Heron Investigations LLC, Great Blue Heron
Investigations LLC, 4606 Parkhurst Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Hamster Endurance Running, Hamster Endurance Running, 1825
Lakeside Ave., Bellingham, WA 98829.
Hawthorne Learning Solutions LLC, Hawthorne Learning
Solutions LLC, 716 14th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Heidi K. Pickering, Heidi K. Pickering, 3779 E. 16th Pl., Bellingham,
WA 98226.
Henderson Lawn Care, Douglas Edward Henderson, 1688 Sapphire
Trail, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Hoffman Insurance Inc., Hoffman Insurance Inc., 4202 Meridian
St., Suite 102, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Home to Home, Bellhaven Unlimited LLC, 117 W. Chestnut St.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
J&G Fashion, Urban Manifesto Inc., 1 Bellis Fair Parkway, Suite 370,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
J.E. Dunn Construction Company, J.E. Dunn Construction
Company, 2901 Squalicum Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98225.
JCM Slipper Skipper, John Cook Mitchell, 41 Strawberry Pt. Ct.,
Bellingham, WA 98229.
JL2 Construction, Jay L. White, 2917 Birchwood Ave., Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Jodie Sonnon Design, Jodie Good Sonnon, 2915 Madrona St.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Josh Feyen, Joshua Marc Feyen, 1905 J St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Joshua C. West, Joshua Charles West, 242 W. Bakerview Road,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Kathy Wefer, Kathleen Ann Wefer, 3730 Canterbury Lane, Apt. 63,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Keerti’s Green Cleaning & Family Care, Kirsten Nicole Oelke,
1205 Lenora Court, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Khanh-Linh Cao, Linh Khanh Cao, 4440 Meridian St., Bellingham,
WA 98226.
King’s Janitorial Services, Kristina May Johnson, 3000 W.
Maplewood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Kleensweep, Christine Suzanne Mackinnon, 2419 Huron St.,
Bellingham, WA 98229.
Klein Product Development LLC, Klein Product Development LLC,
2322 Victor St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Kristin Costanza Consulting, Kristin Dale Constanza, 1311
McKenzie Ave., Apt. B, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Linda’s Lending Hand, Linda Raye Wiebusch, 4298 King Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Livingood Gardens, Laura Frances Osterberg, 3780 Britton Road,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Mackenzie Leigh Vanlaar, Mackenize Leigh Vanlaar, 115 W.
Magnolia St., Suite 202, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Maria Theresa de Jesus Cruz, Maria Theresa de Jesus Cruz, 37 Deer
Run Lane, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Marrano’s, Marrano’s LLC, 15 Marigold Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Mehar Express LLC, Mehar Express LLC, 1313 E. Maple St., Sutie
201, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Motivation, Allan Arthur Highley, 1 Bellis Fair Parkway, Bellingham,
WA 98226.
Nathan Pasma IT Professional, Nathan Paul Pasma, 1411 E.
Maryland St., Bellingham, WA 98226.
Nature’s Little Helpers Vegan Family Child Care, Denise Michele
McFarlane, 2412 Spruce St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
New Destinies, Tracy Don Atwood, 5801 Pacific Rim Way, Apt. 132,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
New Worc (VI) Development and Management LLC, New Worc
(VI) Development and Management LLC, 1305 11th St., Suite 301,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Shaw Braun, 1057 Kenoyer Drive,
Bellingham, WA 98229.
Nina Alexandria Hromyk, Nina Alexandria Hromyk, 2921 Haggin
St., Bellingham, WA 98226.
Nomad, Jennifer Marie Dranttel, 1915 H St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Nuu-Muu LLC, Nuu-Muu LLC, 1715 Ellis St., Suite 102, Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Olive Mountain Publishing, Bobby Wilson Dowell, 3455 Robertson
Road, Bellingham, WA 98226.
One Body Massage and Restoration, One Body Massage and
Restoration LLC, 1106 Harris Ave., Suite 312, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Orion Holdings Inc., Orion Holdings Inc., 1310 G St., Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Pak Mail #665, Kurz Enterprises LLC, 2950 Newmarket St., Suite 101,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Panda Express, Panda Express Inc., 1 Bellis Fair Parkway, Suite 500,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Personal Touch Nail Salon & Spa, Minh Hy Tran, 4440 Meridian
St., Bellingham, WA 98226.
Prism ASC Management, Prism ASC Management, 4705 Bedford
Ave., Bellingham, WA 98226.
Procon Mining and Tunnelling (U.S.) Ltd., Procon Mining and
Tunnelling (U.S.) Ltd., 1313 E. Maple St., Suite 160 #237, Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Prosudio LLC, Prosudio LLC, 215 W. Holly St., Suite G15, Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Ramona Laird Photography, Ramona Rachel Laird, 3380 Opal
Terrace, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Refresh Personalized Skin Care, Amaris R. Benjestorf, 112 Ohio
St., Suite 220, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Results Driven LLC, Results Driven LLC, 578 Whitecap Road,
Bellingham, WA 98229.
Riderpak, Nancy K. Braam, 4672 Van Wyck Lane, Bellingham, WA
98226.
Rising Son Concrete Artisan LLC, Rising Son Concrete Artisan LLC,
3717 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Rizal Enterprises, Michael Dean Miller, 1225 E. Sunset Drive, #145
Suite 670, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Robinson Real Estate LLC, Robinson Real Estate LLC, 3262 Spyglass
Drive, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Ryan Chace Life Coaching, Ryan Alan Chace, 1236 W. Racine St.,
Bellingham, WA 98229.
Sai Constructions LLC, Sai Constructions LLC, 2116 Wildflower
Court, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Saturna Brokerage Services, Saturna Brokerage Services Inc.,
1300 N. State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Seattle Sun Tan, SST Group LLC, 1317 W. Bakerview Road, Suite
103, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Seattle Sun Tan, SST Group LLC, 1062 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham,
WA 98229.
Secret Papers, Cynthia Catherine Crinnion, 3110 Racine St. #110,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
SF Yoga, Shultzie Fay Willows, 2400 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA
98225.
Signoras, Dana Elizabeth McCarthey, 2633 N. Shore Road,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Spartan Espresso, Spartan Espresso LLC, 700 Ohio St., Bellingham,
WA 98225.
Special-T Window Films, Alan Christopher Donnelly, 3625
Westridge Pl., Bellingham, WA 98226.
Speer Massage Therapy, Amber Jean Speer, 1344 King St., Suite
102, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Staveman, Sadie Jane Acker, 2512 Toldeo St., Bellingham, WA 98226.
Stephanie Fletcher Smith, Stephanie Fletcher Smith, 51 Louise
View Drive, Bellingham, WA 98229.
Superior Painting & Home Repair LLC, Superior Painting & Home
Repair LLC, 2223 Williams St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Susan Anderson, Susan Joan Anderson, 1128 Finnegan Way #1,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Swan Designs, Melanie Montano Swanson, 2839 Cedarwood Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Sweat On Fitness LLC, Sweat On Fitness LLC, 613 Linden Road,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Sydney Paige Inc., Sydney P. Cole, 2712 Kentucky St., Bellingham,
WA 98229.
Techatrane Lawn Care, Chad D. Zavada, 621 32nd St., Apt. 29,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Terra Heating, Anthony Nicholas Depaulo, 2928 Leeward Pl.,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Thu Anh Thi Pham, Thu Anh Thi Pham, 1 Bellis Fair Parkway, Suite
128, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Top Nails, BT Salon LLC, 3206 Orleans St., Suite 102, Bellingham,
WA 98226.
Trevor Michael & Spencer Music Group, Trevor Michael & Spencer
Music Group LLC, 701 N. Forest St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Turn Over Professionals, Cascadia Craftsmen LLC, 2730 Grant St.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
June 2013
Twigg Advisory Services, Benjamin Ryan Twigg, 239 N. Garden
St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Two Crows Media LLC, Two Crows Media LLC, 903 W. Oregon St.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Unity205, Christopher Shain King, 205 Unity St., Bellingham, WA
98225.
VikingFood, The NM Group LLC, 3711 Beal St., Bellingham, WA
98225.
Vinostrology Wine Lounge & Merchant, Vinostrology Inc., 120
W. Holly St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
Vizual Junkie LLC, Vizual Junkie LLC, 1206 Cornwall Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
Waaga Industries, Waaga Industries, 2323 Queen St., Bellingham,
WA 98229.
Whatcom Creek Archery, Ronald D. Danville, 703 W. Holly St.,
Bellingham, WA 98225.
WinCo Foods, WinCo Foods LLC, 300 E. Bellis Fair Parkway,
Bellingham, WA 98226.
Ziziandco LLC, Ziziandco LLC, 1200 Harris Ave., Sycamore Square,
Suite 111, Bellingham, WA 98225.
BUILDING PERMITS
HIGHEST-VALUED PERMITS ISSUED
2230 Cornerstone Lane, $17,676,939 for new mixed-use building:
112-apartment units, ground-level commercial lease space and twolevel parking garage. Applicant and contractor: Dawson Construction
Inc. Permit No.: BLD2012-00510. Issued April 24.
1010 Railroad Ave., $2,475,264 to construct partial parking garage
for future multifamily building (see BLD2013-00114 for remainder of
building): Morse Square Development Building 3. Contractor: Dawson
Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2013-00207. Issued May 10.
20 Bellis Fair Parkway, $1,368,787 for commercial tenant
improvement for new sports retail store: Sports Authority. Contractor:
James E. John Construction Co. Inc. Permit No.: BLD2013-00034.
Issued April 25.
2227 Midway Lane, $920,421 for new commercial building:
Offices, warehouse and hazardous materials mixing area for chemical
company (foundation-only previously issued at BLD2013-00023):
Cesco Solutions. Contractor: Credo Construction. Permit No.: BLD201200120. Issued May 7.
1 Bellis Fair Parkway, $262,500 for commercial alterations: interior
remodel of common restrooms in mall. Contractor: Culp Construction
Co. Permit No.: BLD2013-00111. Issued May 6.
1 Bellis Fair Parkway 707, $197,000 for tenant improvement:
remodel existing retail space into new retail store: Hallmark.
Applicant: HC Klover. Contractor: Cloutier Building Corp. Permit No.:
BLD2013-00116. Issued April 22.
300 E. Bellis Fair Parkway, $83,432 to install pallet racking in
retail store: WinCo. Contractor: Engineered Structures Inc. Permit No.:
BLD2013-00163. Issued May 3.
516 High St. (WWU Haggard Hall), $67,500 for interior
alterations: Reconstruct former juice bar into new copy center in Room
110 (using equipment from former copy center on second floor).
Contractor: Western Washington University. Permit No.: BLD201300150. Issued May 2.
193 Telegraph Road, $50,000 for commercial alteration: relocate
demising wall between tenant 189 and 193, update toilet rooms. No
tenant. Applicant and contractor: Oracle Contracting Services. Permit
No.: BLD2013-00152. Issued May 16.
4173 Meridian St., $37,000 for commercial alterations: interior
remodel to convert janitor’s closet to children’s restroom; remodel
group area for classroom and check-in area (represented as worship
areas for kids, not a full-time school or daycare): Christ The King.
Contractor: Pearson Construction Corp. Permit No.: BLD2013-00151.
Issued April 26.
1421 N. State St., $36,500 for commercial re-roof: remove asphalt
roofing, install new insulation and TPO roofing. Applicant and
contractor: Topside Roofing & Construction. Permit No.: BLD201300201. Issued May 15.
1801 Roeder Ave. 120, $25,000 for tenant improvement: remodel
existing restaurant: replace windows with three new overhead doors,
remove interior non-load bearing wall and install new bar area: Loft
Restaurant. Applicant: Latitude Restaurants. Contractor: Tagbuild LLC.
Permit No.: BLD2013-00124. Issued April 26.
1505 G St., $20,000 for commercial alterations: replace Dumpster
enclosure and repair exterior stairways on existing multifamily
building. Tenant: BHA-Harborview Apartments. Contractor: Dawson
Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2013-00147. Issued May 17.
3960 Meridian St. 101, $15,267 to install racking system in stock
room. Tenant: Guitar Center. Permit No.: BLD2013-00226. Issued May
16.
RECENTLY ACCEPTED PERMIT APPLICATIONS
3347 Northwest Ave., $400,000 for new multifamily eight-unit
townhouse building: Northwest Avenue Apartments. Permit No.:
BLD2013-00062. Accepted May 13.
3353 Northwest Ave., $200,000 for new multifamily four-unit
townhouse building: Northwest Avenue Apartments. Permit No.:
BLD2013-00063. Accepted May 13.
3343 Northwest Ave., $200,000 for new multifamily four-unit
townhouse building: Northwest Avenue Apartments. Permit No.:
BLD2013-00061. Accepted May 13.
1600 Iowa St., $76,000 for tenant improvement: interior remodel
of existing open offices into private office space/meeting room.
DATA | Page 19
June 2013
DATA | FROM 18
Applicant: Cascade Natural Gas. Contractor: GK Knutson. Permit No.:
BLD2013-00202. Accepted May 17.
101 E. Stuart Road, $25,000 for tenant improvement: medical
equipment supplies retailer. Applicant: Carletti Architects, P.S. Permit
No.: BLD2013-00218. Accepted May 13.
2075 Barkley Blvd. 110, $16,500 for commercial: interior
demolition of partitions and casework in preparation for future
tenant improvement. Contractor: Allied Clinic Builders LLC. Permit
No.: BLD2013-00020. Accepted May 13.
119 N. Commercial St. 165, $12,000 for commercial: addition of
mezzanine within existing office suite. Permit No.: BLD2013-00220.
Accepted May 13.
LIQUOR LICENSES
New license applications
Beaver Inn, Beaver Inc.; Brian J. Waller applied for a license change
to sell beer/wine/spirits and kegs to go in a restaurant lounge at 115
E. Holly St., Bellingham, WA 98225. Filed May 15.
Nami Japanese Restaurant, Nami Japanese Restaurant Inc.; Ruth
Leeann Kim and Adoune Inthavong applied for a license change to sell
beer/wine/spirits in a restaurant lounge at 8862 Bender Road #103,
Lynden, WA 98264. Filed May 15.
Birch Bay Teriyaki and Cafe, Edward Hong Kim and Hee Young
Kim applied to assume a license from Birch Bay Teriyaki and Chinese
Cafe, Yong S. Kim and Young S. Kim, to sell beer/wine in a restaurant
at 8036 Birch Bay Drive, Blaine, WA 98230. Filed May 9.
The Cabin Tavern, Cabin Tavern Inc.; John Thomas Wirts applied for
a license change to sell beer/wine/spirits in a restaurant lounge and
sell kegs to go at 307 W. Holly St., Bellingham, WA 98225. Filed May 9.
Date and Paint, Lorea Hokanson applied to sell beer/wine in a
tavern at 4071 Hannegan Road, Suite R, Bellingham, WA 98226.
Filed May 8.
Hannegan Speedway, Mount Baker Motorcycle Club Inc.; Jack
Cammack, Cheryl M. Duronso, Howard O. Mills, Wilbur Richard Moeller
and Stephen G. Peterson applied to for a license change to sell beer/
wine in a restaurant and beer at a racetrack at 4212 Hannegan Road,
Bellingham, WA 98226. Filed May 7.
Acme Farms + Kitchen, Acme Farms + Kitchen LLC; Cara Piscitello,
Jason Todd Williard, Joy Rubey and Dustin Aaron Rubey applied for a
license to sell beer/wine in a restaurant and for catering at 1309 N.
State St., A101, Bellingham, WA 98225. Filed May 6.
Eagle’s Roost, Diversified Holdings LLC; David J. Bernstein applied
to sell beer/wine in a restaurant at 8124 Birch Bay Drive, Blaine, WA
98230. Filed April 29.
Winco Foods, Winco Foods LLC; Steven Lee Goddard, Lana B.
Goddard, Richard L. Charrier, Jodi L. Charrier, Phillip A. Dabill and
Linda G. Dabill applied to sell beer/wine/spirits, be a direct shipment
receiver (in/out of WA) and offer beer and wine tastings in a grocery
store at 300 E. Bellis Fair Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98226. Filed April
26.
Honey Moon, Honey Moon LLC; Robert Sherman Arzoo, David
Murphy Evans, Anna Landsdell Hall-Evans and Nana Marie Thebus
applied for a license change to operate a domestic winery (<250,000
liters), make farmers market wine sales and sell alcohol in a snack
bar at 1053 N. State St. (in the alley), Bellingham, WA 98225. Filed
April 25.
Boston’s Restaurant & Sports Bar, Belcana Inc.; Peter Joseph
Haffner and Ronald George Haffner applied for a license change to sell
beer/wine/spirits and kegs to go in a restaurant lounge at 70 Bellis
Fair Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98226. Filed April 24.
Recently approved licenses
Honey Moon at 1053 N. State St. (in the alley), Bellingham,
WA 98226, was approved for a license change to operate a domestic
winery (less than 250,000 liters). Filed May 15.
Asian 1 at 4285 Meridian St., Suite 101, Bellingham, WA 98226,
was approved for a license assumption to sell beer/wine/spirits in a
restaurant lounge. Filed May 10.
Honey Moon at 1053 N. State St. (in the alley), Bellingham,
WA 98226, was approved for a change of LLC member on a license to
operate a domestic winery (less than 250,000 liters). Filed May 10.
Blaine Tank N Tote at 321 D St., Blaine, WA 98230, was approved
to sell beer/wine in a grocery store. Filed May 9.
Colophon Cafe at 1208 11th St., Bellingham, WA 98225, was
approved for a change of corporate officer on a license to sell beer/
wine in a restaurant. Filed May 9.
Neto’s Market & Bakery at 2612 W. Maplewood Ave.,
Bellingham, WA 98225, was approved to sell beer/wine in a
BBJToday.com
restaurant. Filed May 7.
Vinostrology Wine Lounge & Merchant at 120 W. Holly St.,
Suite H, Bellingham, WA 98225, was approved to be a direct shipment
receiver (in WA only). Filed May 7.
Homestead Golf and Country Club at 115 E. Homestead Blvd.,
Suite C, Lynden, WA 98264, was approved for a license assumption to
sell alcohol in a snack bar. Filed May 3.
Bellewood Distilling at 6140 Guide Meridian Road, Lynden,
WA 98264, was approved for a license change to operate a craft
distillery. Filed April 30.
The Big Fat Fish Co. at 1304 12th St., Bellingham, WA 98225, was
approved for a license change to sell beer/wine/spirits in a restaurant.
Filed April 26.
M.V. Salish Sea at 355 Harris Ave., Suite 104B, Dock A Berth
2, Bellingham, WA 98225, was approved to sell beer/wine in a
restaurant. Filed April 25.
Seifert & Jones Wine Merchants at 19 Prospect St.,
Bellingham, WA 98225, was approved to be a direct shipment receiver
(in WA only). Filed April 25.
Deming Speedway at 4605 Deming Road, Everson, WA 98247,
was approved to change privileges on a license to sell alcohol in a
sports entertainment facility. Filed April 23.
Pickford Film Center at 1318 Bay St., Bellingham, WA 98225, was
approved for a change of corporate office on a license to sell beer/wine
in a restaurant at 1318 Bay St., Bellingham, WA 98225. Filed April 19.
Discontinued licenses
Homestead Golf and Country Club at 115 E. Homestead
Blvd., Suite C, Lynden, WA 98264, had a license to sell alcohol in a
snack bar discontinued. Filed May 8.
Cheese Meat(s) Beer at 250 Flora St., Bellingham, WA 98225,
had a license to be a direct shipment receiver (in and out of WA)
discontinued. Filed April 26.
BANKRUPTCIES
Chapter 7
Kristina Karen Engen, case no. 13-14868-KAO. Filed May 24.
Steven Scott Moeller and Lisa Lynn Moeller, case no. 13-14849KAO. Filed May 24.
Anthony Ray Schols, case. 13-14845-KAO. Filed May 24.
Cristal Lynnette Lace, case no. 13-14758-KAO. Filed May 22.
Steven Daniel Reece, case no. 13-14745-KAO. Filed May 22.
Nancy Diana Norris, case no. 13-14711-KAO. Filed May 21.
Lora Lynn Shanahan and James Lee Shanahan, case no.
13-14708-KAO. Filed May 21.
Zeva Capri Pierce, case no. 13-14696-KAO. Filed May 21.
Reinier Eisses and Terri Marie Eisses, case no. 13-14694-KAO.
Filed May 21.
Rodney Lee Haller and Susan Velma Haller, case no. 13-14655KAO. Filed May 20.
Fernando Ramierez Fernandez and Mariadejesus Fernandez,
case no. 13-14610-KAO. Filed May 17.
Jeffery Wanye Adams and Ramona Marie Adams, case no.
13-14592-KAO. Filed May 17.
Dean Lawrence Hendrickson and Kimber Lee Barbara
Hendrickson, case no. 13-14567-KAO. Filed May 16.
Jessie Alexandra Payne, case no. 13-14559-KAO. Filed May 16.
Christopher Lloyd Neil, case no. 13-14545-KAO. Filed May 16.
Erin Kathleen Maier, case no. 13-14523-KAO. Filed May 15.
Susan Helen Estabrook, case no. 13-14467-KAO. Filed May 14.
Fedor Vladimirovich Dudar and Alina Alekseyevna Dudar,
case no. 13-14457-KAO. Filed May 14.
Steven Marion Vanko, case no. 13-14426-KAO. Filed May 13.
Angela Joy Kayton, case no. 13-14423-KAO. Filed May 13.
Diana Virginia Young, case no. 12-14345-KAO. Filed May 9.
James Alpha Brown and Geraldine Lynn Brown, case no.
13-14333-KAO. Filed May 9.
David Wayne Robinson, case no. 13-14292-KAO. Filed May 9.
Jared Douglas Hanson and Rachel Nicole Hanson, case no.
13-14201-KAO. Filed May 6.
Dallas Eugene Mills and Norma Jean Mills, case no. 13-14196KAO. Filed May 6.
Eric Wayne Brown, case no. 13-14090-KAO. Filed May 1.
Carol Jean Haynes, case no. 13-14058-KAO. Filed April 30.
John Michael Wynstra, case no. 13-13979-KAO. Filed April 30.
Sandra Emilee Marcus, case no. 13-13960-KAO. Filed April 29.
Michael F. Lane, case no. 13-13921-KAO. Filed April 29.
Chapter 11
None reported.
Chapter 13
Dmitriy Victorovich Chernomorets, case no. 13-14314-KAO.
Filed May 9.
Catherine LeFleur, case no. 13-14012-KAO. Filed April 30.
TAX LIENS
Assembly-Plus Inc., $49,079.34 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed May 3.
B&J Fiberglass LLC, $34,442.25 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 30.
Rollan Woodward and Edith Woodward, Classic Cleaners,
$5,271.25 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 30.
Reinkes Fabrication Inc., $9,835.07 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed
April 30.
Max Management LLC, Kevin Faris MBR, $46,809.96 in unpaid
IRS taxes. Filed April 30.
Jessica A. Bucklin, $24,670.96 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 30.
Ian C. Bennett, $11,053.88 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 30.
Billy McIntyre, $14,432.79 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 23.
Edward Devaney and Katherine Hutchison, $5,868.99 in unpaid
IRS taxes. Filed April 23.
Edward Devaney, $11,145.71 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 23.
Reinkes Fabrication Inc., $193,043.90 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed
April 23.
Alvaro Vicente-Ortiz, $19,432.02 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 23.
Wildwest Express Inc., $80,272.01 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April
23.
Copper Hog LLC, Aaron Matson MGR MBR, $19,415.97 in unpaid
IRS taxes. Filed April 23.
B&J Fiberglass LLC, $15,599 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 23.
Brookline Properties, as nominee of David A. Gould, $173,871.56
in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 16.
Brookline Properties, as nominee of Jane C. Polinder, $142,576.90
in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 16.
NW Technology Services LLC, $6,857.96 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed
April 15.
B&J Fiberglass LLC, Keith R. Olsen MBR, $155,101.03 in unpaid
IRS taxes. Filed April 9.
Juan Agustin and Maria M. Vicente, $22,385.98 in unpaid IRS
taxes. Filed April 9.
Century Mining, $2767.33 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 5.
NW Technology Services LLC, $78,423.67 in unpaid IRS taxes.
Filed April 5.
Chris Crawford, $164,071.01 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 5.
Donovan R. Danna, $427,160.11 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 5.
Peter P. Logrande, $3,816.93 in unpaid IRS taxes. Filed April 3.
Robert L. Eastman and Luz E. Eastman, $11,539.59 in unpaid
IRS taxes. Filed April 3.
JUDGMENTS
Accusearch LLC, $3,579.23 in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes.
Filed May 22.
Raymond T. Bol and Trina D. Bol dba TR Pacific NW Dental,
$3,401.60 in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 22.
Pegasus Corporation, $1,658.03 in unpaid Department of Revenue
taxes. Filed May 22.
Richard K. Yeater and Cindy M. Yeater dba Airco Services,
$1,431.75 in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 22.
Joyce K. Wittenberg dba Stop N Go Expresso, $14,660.26 in
unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 22.
GNA LLC dba Martin Plumbing & Heating, $1,945.09 in unpaid
Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 21.
Ted Blackford dba TLB Construction LLC, $16,672.45 in unpaid
Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 21.
Vernon Dean O’Brine dba Barb’s Homemade Pies & Pastries,
$550.06 in unpaid Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May
21.
Barbara A. O’Brine dba Barb’s Homemade Pies & Pastries,
$1,350.41 in unpaid Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed
May 21.
Doeden Enterprises LLC dba Golden Dreams Adult Family
19
Home, $1,884.11 in unpaid Department of Labor & Industries taxes.
Filed May 21.
Sunset Seafood Diner LLC dba Bay City Fish & Chips, $547.46 in
unpaid Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 21.
Hagen’s Faster Freight Inc., $2,673.13 in unpaid Department of
Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 21.
Hagen’s Faster Freight Inc., $1,142.71 in unpaid Department of
Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 21.
Remove My Junk! LLC dba 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, $1,551.88 in
unpaid Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 21.
Steel Frame Wall & Ceiling Inc., $17,802.38 in unpaid Department
of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 21.
Max Management LLC dba Eagle Ridge Assisted Living,
$5,661.83 in unpaid Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed
May 21.
Kimble L. Lukenbill, $3,213.96 in unpaid Employment Security
Department taxes. Filed May 20.
Auction House LLC, Paul A. Sanchez, Shelly R. Sanchez dba Save On
Furniture Liquidation, $1,581.77 in unpaid Department of Revenue
taxes. Filed May 20.
BR Crew Inc., $604.82 in unpaid Department of Labor & Industries
taxes. Fied May 16.
Chad A. Parson and Renee L. Parson dba Parson Homes &
Renovations, $1,352.39 in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes.
Filed May 16.
John Lane and Carrie Lane dba JClane Enterprises, $2,328.90
in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 16.
Janell S. Kortlever dba JanellSummer Co., $1,625.78 in unpaid
Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 16.
Guadalupe J. Cortes and Lori L. McCarthy Cortes, $35,840.43
in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 16.
Bryan W. Bruner and Lisa R. Bruner dba Big B’s Land
Maintenance, $2,844.62 in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes.
Filed May 16.
Bellingham Whatcom Radiator & Battery Repair, $1,159.80
in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 16.
Jason Murphy LLC, $5,534.44 in unpaid Department of Revenue
taxes. Filed May 15.
Halldorson Homes Inc., $8,425.86 in unpaid Department of
Revenue taxes. Filed May 13.
Rachel Lynn Cox, $474.95 in unpaid Department of Labor &
Industries taxes. Filed May 13.
Claassen Enterprises LLC dba Book Fare Cafe, $5,896.72 in
unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 8.
Adan G. Baldovinos dba Baldovinos Landscaping, $2,111.44
in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 8.
Al’s Mower & Saw Inc. dba Al’s Honda, $561.51 in unpaid
Employment Security Department taxes. Filed May 8.
Chuckanut CR Enterprises Inc., $318.85 in unpaid Employment
Security Department taxes. Filed May 8.
Saul Ramirez and Alfredo Ramirez dba Pacific NW Roofing,
$10,084.54 in unpaid Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed
May 7.
C&H Management Services Inc., $8,617.57 in unpaid Department
of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 7.
Altus Industries Inc., $747.85 in unpaid Department of Labor &
Industries taxes. Filed May 7.
Al’s Mower & Saw Inc. fka Al’s Honda, $1,642.61 in unpaid
Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed May 7.
Tec Quest Electric Inc., $258.23 in unpaid Department of Labor &
Industries taxes. Filed May 7.
Hans S. Kleinknecht dba HSK Construction, $2,527.07 in unpaid
Department of Revenue taxes. Filed May 6.
El Amigo Mexican Restaurant Inc., $1,366.72 in unpaid
Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed April 29.
David W. Bredman and Saroeut Voeut, $943.33 in unpaid
Department of Labor & Industries taxes. Filed April 29.
Southside Chiropractic Inc., $112.67 in unpaid Department of
Labor & Industries taxes. Filed April 29.
B&J Fiberglass LLC, $5,105.39 in unpaid Department of Revenue
taxes. Filed April 30.
El Amigo Mexican Restaurant Inc., $5,459.79 in unpaid
Department of Revenue taxes. Filed April 30.
Tac Systems LLC, $1,508.97 in unpaid Department of Revenue taxes.
Filed April 25.
Find public-record information on the Web...
...including regularly updated business licenses, liquor licenses, building permits,
bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, local roadwork reports, major property sales...
...all online at BBJToday.com.
20
BBJToday.com
June 2013
June 2013
PORT
NEWS
Port Partnerships Promote Tourism Industry
Sponsored content provided by Port of Bellingham
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
Scott Walker, 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
W
hile visitors are relaxing
on their vacations, local
businesses are benefiting
greatly from the things they buy, the
meals they eat, the activities they enjoy
and the places they sleep. Bellingham
Whatcom County Tourism estimates
that visitors spent over $595 million
last year. That spending generated
over 6,000 local jobs.
So what is the Port’s role in all of
this? To start with, the Port operates
the Bellingham International Airport,
the Bellingham Cruise Terminal,
Squalicum Marina, Blaine Marina,
and the Fairhaven Transportation
Station. The Port works to provide
tourists with a positive experience
by operating quality facilities and by
providing good customer service.
This year more than 600,000 travelers
will fly out of the Bellingham airport,
enjoying the $38.5 million upgrade
to the commercial facility there. This
expanded terminal now includes a
restaurant, efficient baggage handling
and less crowding. That’s in addition
to 12 non-stop destinations. Over
700 people are employed in airport
operations and businesses – thanks to
all those visitors.
Building a quality facility isn’t enough
to meet visitor needs. This year the
Port also contracted with Bellingham
Whatcom County Tourism to fund
an Airport Ambassador program.
This brainchild of the bureau brings
tourism information services directly
to our visitors, providing them with
ideas and inspiration about enjoying
local activities, businesses and
services. The Port also is providing
significant space at the airport for
tourism displays to showcase our
area.
The Port was honored to have
Tourism Bureau award the Bellingham
International Airport its Destination
Marketing Partnership Award at the
annual tourism meeting in May.
In addition to partnering with the
Tourism Bureau at the airport, the
Port also contracts with the bureau to
have on-site visitor services available
to our 27,000 customers who take the
Alaska State Ferry out of Bellingham.
We are the only port in the “Lower
48” with Alaska Marine Highway
service and our community benefits
from the visitors and commerce it
generates. In addition to the ferry,
the Cruise Terminal also is home to
San Juan Cruises, the Zodiac charter
schooner, Leap Frog Water Taxi and
Gato Verde charter sailing. A lot of
visitors experience Bellingham Bay
through that terminal
But that’s not all. The Port has
about 2,000 marina moorage slips
in Bellingham and Blaine. The vast
majority of those slips are occupied
by our resident boaters, but in the
Squalicum Marina alone, last year
about 1,200 visiting boats came here
with an average stay of three nights.
Most of these visitors enjoyed dining
and shopping during their visit. A
nearby port surveyed their boating
visitors and found that they spent over
$500 during a weekend visit.
And we can’t forget the more than
64,000 annual Amtrak passengers
who come and go at the Port’s
Fairhaven Station each year.
The Port recognizes the value of
each and every tourist and focuses
helping attract them, serve them and
encourage them to spend time and
money in our community.
June 2013
21
BBJToday.com
Serving: Bellingham, Blaine,
Birch Bay, Ferndale, Lynden,
Lummi Island and all of
Whatcom County...
more to explore.
Arts & Culture • Dining
Bicycling • Fishing • Wildlife
Water Adventures• Casinos
Lodging• Winter Activities
Shopping • Spas • Health
A Refreshing Change
Tourism Awards and Announcements
Sponsored content provided by Loni Rahm, Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.
Randi Axelsson, Board Chair, Wes Herman, The
Woods Coffee, and Loni Rahm, President & CEO
N
early 200 people attended the Bellingham
Whatcom County Tourism Annual Meeting on
May 22nd. Held at the Port of Bellingham Cruise
Terminal, the event included the 5th Annual Taste of
Tourism – a networking luncheon showcasing 19 local
restaurants, caterers, beverage suppliers and spirits
producers.
A highlight of the annual meeting is the recognition
awards ceremony, presented in honor of outstanding
partnerships, creative marketing and community spirit.
This year’s Chairman’s Award was given to Wes
Herman of The Woods Coffee. Chairman of the Board,
Randi Axelsson, praised the entrepreneurial success
of this locally owned, multiple location business.
“The Woods has extended beyond serving coffee and
embraced the community and our visitors where they
congregate on a daily basis,” she stated.
The Annual Destination Marketing Partnership Award
was presented to the Port of Bellingham and specifically
to Bellingham International Airport. “BLI has become
an increasingly vital partner in tourism marketing,” said
Loni Rahm, President & CEO of Bellingham Whatcom
County Tourism. Their support of the new Airport
Ambassador Program demonstrates their commitment
not just to moving people around, but making sure the
travel experience is as informative and enjoyable as
possible.”
Bookended by the awards and the luncheon, the
Tourism Bureau’s formal program included an
unveiling of the “BE” campaign and an announcement
that surprised and delighted attendees.
Rahm presented background information and process
leading up to the versatile and compelling components
of the Bureau’s destination marketing campaign. “BE
is an active verb that allows travelers to build their own
experience expectations based on their own interests
and level of engagement,” said Rahm.
BE Driven, BE Daring, BE Adventurous, BE
Transported….and a variety of other thematic examples
and adaptations were presented for use in print, electronic
and online outlets, social media, merchandising and
more.
The conclusion of the campaign presentation included
the unveiling of four dramatic 10-foot banners hung
from the Cruise Terminal’s upper balcony during
the event. The banners will soon find their way to
Bellingham International Airport as a visual introduction
(or reinforcement for returning visitors) to Whatcom
County’s attractions and amenities.
Randi Axelsson, Loni Rahm, and Port of Bellingham
Commissioners Jim Jorgenson & Scott Walker
Rahm presented the most recent visitor spending
figures and revenue projections, indicating that with
nearly $600 million in annual visitor revenues, there
isn’t a business in Whatcom County who doesn’t impact
or isn’t impacted by tourism. “Everyone is a tourism
partner in some way,” she stated. “But not everyone is
a tourism bureau member.” She then announced that
the Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism board of
directors had voted unanimously to make membership
available to every business located in Whatcom
County…for FREE!
“There will continue to be marketing programs and
Coming Spring 2013
services that some businesses will want to invest in, but
our priority is to provide comprehensive information to
visitors,” Rahm stated. “We can’t do that if we aren’t
representing every business in the County.”
A special link will be established on Bellingham.org
for businesses to enter their contact information. In the
meantime, if you would like additional information,
please contact Mike Mors, Member Services Director,
at mike@bellingham.org.
And welcome to BWCT Membership!
May Events
Visit our website or call for more details:
www.bellingham.org (360) 671-3990
June 1
June 2
June 5
June 6
June 7
June 8
June 9
June 10
June 12
June 13
June 15
June 16
June 19
June 22
June 23
June 25
June 26
June 28
June 29
• 10:00 am 2nd Annual Bridge of Aloha Festival
• 7:00 pmNorthwest Ballet Theatre’s Cinderella
• 8:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 10:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 2:00 pm Fly A Kite, Help A Child
• 10:00 am Toddler Art
• 6:30 pm AHA! After Hours Art: Exhibition Expedition
• 5:00 pm Commercial Street Theatre Open House
• 8:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 10:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 11:00 am PFC’s Opera in Cinema Series: The Magic Flute
• 5:30 pmPhrasings in Word + Dance
• 8:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 10:00 am Toddler Art
• 8:00 am Monthly Brew Workshop: Time Management
• 12:45 am Writers in the Limelight: David Eisenhower, “Going Home to Glory”
• 8:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 10:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 5:30 pm Phrasings in Word + Dance
• 8:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 10:00 am Toddler Art
• 8:30 amPadden Triathlon
• 10:00 am International Art Festival at Peace Arch Park
• 6:30 pm Dancing For Joy presents Out of the Box:
When Worlds Collide
• 8:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 10:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 11:00 am International Art Festival at Peace Arch Parkv
• 7:00 pm 1964 The Tribute: A Tribute to the Beatles
• 10:00 am Toddler Art
• 12:00 pm Golf Tournament
• 4:00 pm Girls Night Out
• 8:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
• 10:00 pm Improv Comedy - Upfront Theatre
We’re taking reservations for the newest
expansion in the Pacific Northwest!
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( 8 6 6 ) 3 8 3 - 0 7 7 7 • I-5 Exit 260 • 4 Min. West • Haxton Way at Slater Road
Events subject to change without notice. Management reserves all rights. ©2012 Silver Reef Casino
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.–5 p.m.
22
ASK RED ROKK | FROM 14
For instance, USA Today recently
reported the following: According to a
recent survey from Manta, a social network
for small businesses, about 61 percent of
small businesses don’t see any return-oninvestment on their social-media activities.
Yet, almost 50 percent say they’ve increased
their time spent on social media, and only
7 percent have decreased their time.
So ask yourself another question: What
are the main reasons preventing you from
dedicating more effort into promoting
your company’s online activities when this
is the place where everyone is?
Do any of these reasons to not market
online look familiar?
- Too busy/not enough time.
- Not sure where to begin.
- Not sure social-media marketing
works.
- Online marketing doesn’t apply to my
business.
These are indeed legitimate concerns,
but they can be resolved.
1. I am too busy. It’s true, being busy
with everything else will always prevent
VIEWPOINT | FROM 14
Yet corporate profits are soaring and hiring
managers exhibit strong demand for those
looking in the right spaces.
Recovery driven by greater productivity
is greatly inhibited by employee-skill mismatch, more of a structural problem then
necessarily cyclical as portrayed by much
of mainstream news. Exorbitant costs of
BBJToday.com
June 2013
you from dedicating the necessary time for
online marketing. However, if you sit down
and look at your weekly schedule and see
where you’re spending your time, you can
begin to figure out where opportunities
exist to engage with social media, write
blogs, send emails and create inbound
marketing promotions.
Many online sources can help you
become more organized and set your priorities. The main point is to set up a schedule where you will write blogs, engage with
Twitter and develop inbound marketing
campaigns.
2. I’m not sure how to get started. The
first step is set your goals and work from
there. Do you want to increase your website traffic, increase brand awareness or
have more people call? Ultimately your
goal is to acquire more repeat customers
(whether you’re an e-commerce website,
driving people to your physical location or
having more B2B business).
So, what is the best online marketing
approach that will attract these potential
customers? Start by using Google Analytics
to see who is coming to your website and
from where. These stats will also show you
the bounce rate and what pages are most
popular (or not) and a lot more.
Then take another look at your website,
and ask if it is up to date. What are you
asking the viewer to do? Look at how many
areas on your homepage are trying to gain
the viewer’s attention. Ask yourself if any
of these items can be prioritized and put
into tabs, because keeping your home page
simple and focused on one or two call-toaction items is best.
Also, be sure that your website is fully
compatible on mobile platforms, as these
are quickly becoming the preferred screens
for online viewing.
3. I’m not convinced that social media
marketing even works. True. However,
the same can be said about getting a gym
membership. Having a gym membership
does not guarantee success. You need to
invest the time to see any results, and the
same is true for social media marketing.
The main thing is to listen and engage
with people online and to start making
this a habit. The fact is, results do come to
those who make social media an important
part of their business procedures. It may
seem difficult at first, but once you start
getting customer reactions on Facebook,
Twitter and LinkedIn, you will find that
the chore of participation becomes a habit.
4. Online marketing doesn’t apply to
my business. Sure, we hear this often and
to varying degrees, this is true, as some
businesses are more predisposed to online
marketing than others. Remember, the
example of who is using the Yellow Pages
still applies to those who believe online
marketing doesn’t fit their marketing plan.
Most people under the age of 45 are
using online search as their primary tool
for gathering information. This means
even if your business is a specialized
business-to-business enterprise with an
established network of people who are not
heavily involved with online activities, that
will trend not remain forever. Again, look
at the younger generation and you can
be sure whatever industry they are in will
involve social media and online marketing.
The answer is yes, social media marketing
is applicable to all businesses and will only
become more so in the near future.
So, stop procrastinating and make online
marketing a part of your business routine
and if you do it right (like a good workout
program at the gym), you will see results.
higher education, paired with diminishing
return on invested capital and time, create a dire scenario for current and future
generations that are supposed to, in some
sense, become the economic saving grace.
From 2000 to 2010, the real cost of
tuition and fees to attend a public fouryear college have increased 72 percent (5.6
percent annually) while the average earnings for a full-time worker, age 25-34 and
with a bachelor’s degree, have declined 14.7
percent (a decline 1.6 percent annually),
according to Business Insider.
With consumers who can’t afford to
purchase products and services (electronics, cars, homes, etc.) because they barely
earn enough to cover necessities and student loan payments, the longterm outlook
for the United States isn’t cheery. But this
doesn’t have to be the country’s fate.
As Einstein stated: “Insanity is doing
the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results.”
Preparing students at all levels of education with outdated and unnecessary skills
only prolongs the pain. Instead of continuing down the current path, communication between the general public, academia
and public and private industries needs to
evolve. Everyone should be taught a wellrounded basis of knowledge with greater
importance placed on high-demand skills
that prepare students for meaningful
careers.
Lisa Kahn, a labor economist at the Yale
School of Management, studied the earnings of men who left college and joined the
work force during the deep recession of the
early 1980s. Unsurprisingly, she found that
the higher the unemployment rate upon
graduation, the less graduates earned right
out of school. But those workers never
really caught up.
“The effects were still present 15 or 20
years later,” she said. “They never made
that money back.”
The average net worth of someone age
29 to 37 has fallen 21 percent since 1983;
the average net worth of someone age 56
to 64 has more than doubled. Thirty or 40
years from now, young millennials might
face shakier retirements than their parents.
For the first time in modern memory,
according to Anne Lowrey of The New
York Times, a whole generation might
not prove wealthier than the one that preceded.”
Counterarguments that “you never know
exactly where the jobs are needed,” and
“it’s impossible to predict the future,” fail to
realize the shortfalls of the current system.
Business Administration and MBA
graduates were more valuable 50 years ago
because of limited supply. Similarly, software developers, miners, welders, mathematicians, accountants, machinists, health
care and engineering graduates are in high
demand today, because relatively less students are encouraged to venture into more
specialized fields.
Instead of churning out generalist
degrees, academia’s focus should target
competitive and skilled careers, as influenced from actual industry demand.
A recent report from the Society for
Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration
stressed the economic challenges arising
from decreased research funding and weak
public interest with the mining sector.
SME noted that, “The main competition
comes from countries with ongoing mining booms. Australia projects a need of
86,000 new miners by 2020. Canada needs
100,000.” Today’s international mining
demand is similar to past employment
trends and public interest seen in the U.S.
that peaked in the early 1980s.
Patrick Taylor, director of the Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines, finds that “research
funding is at an all-time high, as is our
enrollment in extractive metallurgy… due
to a combination of company support and
government support.” With the majority of
society unknowing to these programs, and
research funding highly dependent upon
private industry, domestic competiveness
in similarly profitable spaces remains vulnerable.
Traditional routes engrained in society,
going from high school straight to college, are not the only option. Few choose
to attend training programs and specialty
boot camps that can lead to well paying
jobs at a fraction of the capital and time
invested.
An April 2013 Associated Press article
by Terence Chea told the story of Ken
Shimizu, a 2010 marketing and public
relations graduate from UCLA Berkley,
who recently quit his job and spent his
savings to enroll at Dev Bootcamp, a new
San Francisco school that teaches students
how to write software in nine weeks. The
$11,000 gamble paid off: A week after
he finished the program last summer, he
landed an engineering job that paid more
than twice his previous salary.
Dev Bootcamp is just one of the many
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Ed Munro is a marketing and communications consultant at Red Rokk Interactive, a
marketing and advertising agency located in
Bellingham. Send questions to the Red Rokk
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VIEWPOINT | Page 23
June 2013
HOTELS | FROM FRONT PAGE
Marriott, La Quinta
developments to add to
local hotel offerings
that’s completed, work on an 83-room
TownePlace Suites next door should start
within six months, she said.
Within sight of the Marriott development, a La Quinta Inn on Bakerview Road
should also finish up later this year, said
Dale Sweeney, a Bellevue-based architect
connected with the project.
Damji said 360 Hotel Group began scoping out sites for a new hotel development
in Bellingham in 2007. They purchased the
Northwest Avenue property in 2009.
“We picked Bellingham because we felt it
had a strong leisure and corporate market,
and there hadn’t [yet] been a new sort of
business-class hotel,” Damji said.
Business for hotels and motels in Whatcom County has risen over the past decade.
In 2012, travelers to the county spent
about $163 million on accommodations,
an increase of 52 percent from the amount
spent in 2002, according to a March 2013
report compiled by Dean Runyan Associates for the Washington Tourism Alliance.
Total travel-related spending in Whatcom County hit $595.5 million last year.
That’s up more than 10 percent from 2011.
In terms of visitor spending, the county
now has the fifth-highest travel industry
revenues in the state.
The county’s hotel market took a hit last
December, when the 200-room Semiahmoo Hotel in Blaine closed, putting 300
people out of work and complicating event
and travel plans for others.
But Damji said good business opportunities exist for new hotels in Bellingham.
The SpringHill Suites and the TownePlace Suites, both Marriott hotel brands,
are distinct from one another, although in
Bellingham the two facilities will be oper-
VIEWPOINT | FROM 22
alternatives that a majority of students are
rarely exposed to, let alone encouraged
toward.
Americans are a hardworking and resilient group, yet society in general seems
to have become detached from economic
reality.Discouraged and underemployed
workers struggle to recover while future
23
BBJToday.com
ated jointly by 360 Hotel Group.
When factored together, the hotels will
feature 205 total rooms once both phases
are complete. Combined, they could eventually employ up to 80 people.
Damji said SpringHill Suites features
large rooms with separate work and sleeping areas. TownePlace rooms, on the other
hand, cater to the extended-stay market,
and resemble small studio apartments or
condos with attached kitchens.
The TownePlace Suites will likely be
marketed to corporate travelers and people
relocating to Bellingham from other areas
of the country, Damji said. SpringHill
Suites will support travelers from both the
business and leisure markets, she added.
Damji said Canadian travelers will likely
be a significant component of the hotel’s
customer base. 360 Hotel Group also plans
to take advantage of the nearby Bellingham International Airport by operating
an extended stay “park-and-fly” program,
allowing overnight guests to park their cars
at the hotel and take a shuttle bus to the
airport’s terminal.
The growth of the Bellingham airport
was not a factor initially when the company picked the Northwest Avenue site for
the new hotel, Damji said. But traffic at the
airport is expected to drive business, she
said.
The airport will be an integral component for another planned hotel project in
Bellingham away from the location of the
Marriott and La Quinta developments.
A Mount Vernon-based company called
Hotel Services Group LLC plans to build a
Holiday Inn across the street from the airport’s commercial terminal.
In June, commissioners of the Port of
Bellingham, which owns the property
the Holiday Inn would be located on, are
expected to vote on a lease agreement for
the new hotel.
The Holiday Inn would feature 156
rooms, a full restaurant with a separate
entrance, an indoor pool, underground
and surface parking, as well as about 7,000
square feet of conference rooms and meeting space.
(Above) Construction has
picked up on the future La
Quinta Inn on Bakerview
Road in Bellingham. (Right)
The first phase of 360 Hotel
Group’s Marriott development will feature a 122room SpringHill Suites. An
adjacent 83-room TownePlace Suites will follow.
EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTOS | THE BELLINGHAM
BUSINESS JOURNAL
generations continue to be led down a
similar path.
Public awareness of high-demand fields,
effectively communicated from public
and private industries through academia,
needs government support for our country
to achieve a more prosperous economic
future.
Aaron Careaga is a research analyst at
WealthMark LLC in Bellingham.
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BBJToday.com
June 2013
THANK YOU TO OUR LEADERSHIP SOCIETY!
Peggy A. Onustack, Leslye & Dennis O'Shaughnessy, Diana Redwine Kelli J. Holz, Mary Hudson, Kathy M. Hughes, Kathy G. Humble, Katie
TOCQUEVILLE SOCIETY ($10,000+):
Claude Blackburn, Joseph & Anne McClain, Charlotte Pros
Calhoun, Steve & Tara Sundin, Steve & Barbara Swiackey, Jim Turner
& June Jaeger, Shawna M. Unger, Robin Van Den Berg, Burton & Dr.
Carletta Vanderbilt, Bruce Veale, Eli & Elizabeth Vignali, Jim & Karen
Wakefield, Bob Wallace, Nancy Webster
WE ARE PLEASED TO RECOGNIZE THE 391* MEMBERS OF OUR & Deb Ragon, Hans Rensvold, Robert A. Rienstra, Gordon W. Rogers, Welch & Rob Hysell, Jeffrey M. Irving, Jason & Traci James, Guy &
2013 LEADERSHIP SOCIETY ($1,000+ CONTRIBUTORS): Theresa & Stan Salstrom, Michael Shenkin, Peter Stark & Judith Kathy Jansen, Julie Johansen & Bob Moles, Polly Jones, Judith Joyner,
PLATINUM LEVEL ($7,500 - $9,999): Dennis Schrank
Lisa & Kacy Kadow, Nancy M. Keel, Rob Kilbourne, Michael McGowan
& Bette Kish, Mark & Shawna Kitzan, Aaron & Janell Kortlever,
Valerie Lagen, Eugene & Celeste Larson, Ken & Marjorie LaValley,
Charles LeCocq, Irwin & Frances LeCocq, Craig & Stacie Lee, Bruce
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Cheryl Macpherson, Cindy Madigan, Byron Manering, Ken & Lilian
Marzocco, Darrel & Alison Mason, Colleen A. McKee, Daniel W.
McKitrick, Charles Sylvester & Kathy McNaughton, Craig Miller,
Matthew W. Miller, Jim & Roberta Mladenik, David C. Morse, Jr.,
Benjamin & Meridith Mossman, Tim & Janet Murphy, Colin & Sarah
Naylor, Cabin Furnishings, Tim & Shannon Nevarez, Chris & Astrid M.
Newell, Lori Nichols, Neal & Carol Nicolay, Maureen O'Brien, Fumio
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Clark Parrish & Tina Cummings, Kathleen Pennington, Ashley
Petronella, Chris Phillips, Greg & Mimi Poehlman, Patrick & Renetta
Pollock, Herbert G. & Mona M. Porter, Cody & Tasha Repp, Ken &
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Charles & Phyllis Self, Josh & Rachel Sheets, Dean Shintaffer, Chris
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& Barbara Stiner, Deb Strom, Diane M. Strout, David & Janet
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Lisa Langei, Louie & Tamara Palmer, Peter & Holly Telfer Deidre O'Shea, Ken & Karen Bachenberg, Brad & Margie Backstrom,
Sheri Baker, Cheryl Baker, Patrick Baker & Holly Hinman, Wayne
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Caldwell, Royce & Brandi Civico, Bob & Dianna Gay, Terry Hinz & Leon & Vickie Barry, Linda McClain & Michael Beal, Geoff D.
Paula Kobos, Brian D. Jones, Staci Blow & Amy Kennedy, Jim & Beaumont, Karen Beebe, Terry Belcoe, Randy & Lori Bellville, Brent
Christine Krell, Jennifer & Michael Kutcher, Preston Lamp & Wendy & Slavica Belsher, Matthew Bennett, Mike Bergen, Kristi & Gunnar
Movat, Nils & Michelle Landis, Jeff Linscott, Jackie Lynch, Carole Birkeland, Dr. Michael Geist & Dr. Nancy Bischoff, Leroy & Yoshie
McMains-Donaldson & James Donaldson, Michael Melcher, Tim & Blakeslee, Kenneth Block, Ria D. Bordian, David & Kathleen Boyer,
Diane Miller, Travis & Kara Millhollin, Robert Morgan, Chase Palmer, Harte & Jan Bressler, Tom Burkland & Jacqueline Nicolai, Dan
Spencer T. Palmer, Jeff & Karen Pitzer, Michael & Betsy Schneider, Burrow Jr., Glenn & Janice Butler, Rachel Lucy & Jason Cecka,
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Catherine Conahey, Amanda & Jeff Cook, Tom Cooke & Nancy
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Janis Ban, Tracy A. Barnard, Doug Bestle & Alyson Batchelder-Bestle, Community Foundation, Scott Corzine, Steve & Sylvia Crockett,
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