Business Pulse magazine May|June 2018

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Industrious

INNOVATors

UNIQUE PRACTICES THAT SET WHATCOM BUSINESSES APART

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 1 The PULSE of Whatcom County

Invest Sustainably, Globally.

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Learn more about our unique approach: www.saturnasustainable.com

The Lightcatcher Building at the Whatcom Museum, located in Bellingham, WA, is the first museum in Washington State to meet LEED Silver-Level specifications.

Please consider an investment’s objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing.

For this and other important information about the Saturna Sustainable Bond Fund, please obtain and carefully read a free prospectus or summary prospectus from www.saturna.com or by calling toll-free 1-800-728-8762.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Generally, an investment that offers a higher potential return will have a higher risk of loss. Stock prices fluctuate, sometimes quickly and significantly, for a broad range of reasons that may affect individual companies, industries, or sectors. When interest rates rise, bond prices fall. When interest rates fall, bond prices go up. A bond fund’s price will typically follow the same pattern.

Investments in high-yield securities can be speculative in nature. High-yield bonds may have low or no ratings, and may be considered “junk bonds.”

Investing in foreign securities involves risks not typically associated directly with investing in US securities. These risks include currency and market fluctuations, and political or social instability. The risks of foreign investing are generally magnified in the smaller and more volatile securities markets of the developing world.

The Saturna Sustainable Funds limit the securities they purchase to those consistent with sustainable principles. This limits opportunities and may affect performance.

Distributor: Saturna Brokerage Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saturna Capital Corporation, investment adviser to the Saturna Sustainable Funds. Saturna Capital proudly sponsors occasional events and programs at the Whatcom Museum, but is otherwise unaffiliated with the Museum 2 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018 and the City of Bellingham.

That New Branch Smell Now Open | 1910 Broadway We’ve opened a brand new branch in Bellingham—just across the street from the old branch. And once you get there you’ll experience the same banking and financial expertise that brings long-term success to our clients. It’s who we are down to the core.

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The Wise Choice Burlington 360.707.2272 1854 S. Burlington Boulevard Bellingham 360.685.0080 1910 Broadway

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Oak Harbor 360.720.2202 390 NE Midway Blvd B-107 Anacortes Loan Production SaviBank.com 360.755.3436 MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM |3 1015 14th St Suite B

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VOL. 43 | NO. 3 PUBLISHER | Tony Larson

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER | Melissa Vail Coffman EDITOR | Mike McKenzie LIFESTYLE EDITOR | Danielle Larson COPY EDITOR | Larry Coffman CONTRIBUTING WRITERS | Crai Bower, Dave Brumbaugh, Larry Coffman Sherri Huleatt, Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy, Kristine McKay, Mike McKenzie, Mary Louise Van Dyke GUEST COLUMNISTS | Fred Likkel, Mary Kay Robinson ART DIRECTOR | Scott Book PHOTOGRAPHY | Scott Book, Tiffany Brooks SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE | Jon Strong ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE | Ashley Butenschoen AD TRAFFIC | Maggie Stafford SUBSCRIPTIONS | Amanda May ADMINISTRATION | Danielle Larson

— WBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS — BOARD CHAIR | Doug Thomas, CEO, Bellingham Cold Storage EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE | Jane Carten, President/Director, Saturna Capital; Pam Brady, Director NW Government & Public Affairs, BP Cherry Point; John Huntley, President/CEO, Mills Electric; Doug Thomas, President/CEO, Bellingham Cold Storage; Josh Turrell, Partner, Larson Gross PLLC BOARD OF DIRECTORS | Ken Bell, President, Best Recycling; Janelle Bruland, President/CEO, MSNW; Tyler Byrd, Founder/ President, Red Rokk Interactive; Jeremy Carroll, Vice President, Dawson Construction; Andy Enfield, Vice President, Enfield Farms; Guy Jansen, Director, Lynden Transport; Sandy Keathley, Founder, K & K Industries; Tom Kenney, NW Regional President, Washington Federal; Ben Kinney, Operating Principal/Founder, Keller Williams, NVNTD; Tony Larson, President, Whatcom Business Alliance; Lynn Murphy, Sr. Government Affairs Rep, Puget Sound Energy; Laura McKinney, NW Regional Government & Public Affairs, Alcoa Intalco Works; Becky Raney, Co-owner, Print & Copy Factory; Sarah Rothenbuhler, Owner/CEO, Birch Equipment; Billy VanZanten, President, Western Refinery Services, Josh Wright, VP/Broker, Bell-Anderson Insurance For editorial comments and suggestions, write editor@ businesspulse.com. Business Pulse magazine is the publication of the Whatcom Business Alliance. The magazine is published bi-monthly at 2423 E. Bakerview Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.

360.746.0418. The yearly subscription rate is $30 (U.S.). For a free digital subscription, visit businesspulse.com. Entire contents copyrighted © 2018 Business Pulse. All rights reserved.

POSTMASTER Send address changes to Business Pulse, 2423 E. Bakerview Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.

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"Wow Thank You�

FEATURES leading edge PHILANTHROPY

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around the world), Firehall Café and Lounge, Piano Lounge (which offers free music performances every Thursday night), a Fine Art Gallery, and touring art exhibits displayed throughout the building.

Vin Quenneville moved from Vermont a year ago after Jansen Art Center hired him as its new executive director. “My wife and I only took a few steps into the building when I knew this was for me—this was it,” he said. Quenneville said there’s a feeling people get when they walk in. “I love going around to each studio and seeing how people interact with each other—everyone works together and wants to show off what they’re doing. It’s a gift to be around that all day long.”

The Jansen Art Center opened in 2012—a time when the Recession had shuttered much of downtown Lynden’s businesses.

According to Doornenbal, The J was the catalyst for downtown Lynden’s revitalization. In fact, it was The J that inspired the historic Waples Building owners to renovate that burned-down structure into a new city center, complete with an inn, a restaurant, a book store, and a tap house. In 2016, Lynden’s Front Street was voted “Best Main Street in America.”

Photos: Sherri Huleatt

bout eight years ago, Heidi Jansen Doornenbal, founder of the Jansen Art Center, drove past Lynden’s old City Hall and thought, “That would make a good art center.”

This passing thought blossomed into a big vision, and today the Jansen Art Center, widely known as The J, is a hub of creativity.

Originally designed to become a small art center, The J now offers six separate studios for music, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, fine art and painting, and dance.

Walk up to the textiles studio and you’ll find a group of ladies chatting, weaving, and felting away—excited about the recently donated Pendleton fabric for a denim rug they’ve all taken shifts to weave.

Sheri Ward, a weaving instructor, will happily take time to tell you the history and the projects underway at each of the studio’s 19 wooden looms—half of which were donated.

Go to the jewelry studio, and you’ll find Judy Gauthier—thrilled about another recent donation of some enameling equipment—who’s showing off some of the studio’s newest creations. In the ceramics studio, groups of artists are busy glazing, shaping, and putting the

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“It’s not a gallery, it’s about the experience of creating art.”

—Heidi Jansen Doornenbal, Founder of the Jansen Art Center

Art in the Heart of Lynden: The J

By Sherri Huleatt

Photo: Scott Book

Executive director, Vin Quenneville with Heidi Jansen Doornenbal.

finishing touches on their latest masterpieces.

In music rooms, children pluck away at instruments—many of which are free for anyone to use. “We wanted to create a place where anyone, whether they could afford it or not, can learn music,” Doornenbal said. Each studio offers a unique opportunity to learn and experiment. “It’s all about the process. It’s not a gallery, it’s about the experience of creating art,” she explained.

Doornenbal, who’s not an artist but has always appreciated art, said The J was founded out of a community need for a place for artists. The center cultivates artists and allows them to cross over into other disciplines; it also gives them a chance to showcase their work.

For example, pianist Yilang Zhou, at age 10, trained himself to perform in front of an audience at The J. He went on to win a piano competition in Vancouver, B.C., and subsequently was invited to play at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall.

The Jansen Art Center’s creativity thrives through a “bottom up” approach: Instead of the executive director establishing topdown initiatives, each studio gets creative freedom to offer its own programs and workshops. “This is how we stay ahead—by having the artists determine what each studio offers,” Doornenbal said.

“There’s no other art center like ours.”

In addition to art studios, The J also offers a large chamber hall with a grand piano (which attracts pianists and musicians from

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(The award came from a nonprofit organization called Independent We Stand, operating out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Its website states: Rebuilding America one main street at a time…. inspiring small businesses to celebrate their locally owned status and helping consumers find them.”)

The City of Lynden, collaborating with the project’s Visioning Committee, donated the old City Hall in 2011 to the Eleanor and Henry Jansen Foundation, founded in 1995 by Doornenbal’s parents. The foundation purchased the adjacent Steinhauer Building and, after completing renovations, gifted the building to the newly formed nonprofit Jansen Art Center.

The J offers spacious, airy rooms with beautiful wooden floors—coupling modern art and architecture with the original historic charm of both buildings. Nearly all of the art supplies and equipment have been donated from the community.

Doornenbal said that if she knew how large and successful The J would become, she would have been too scared to start it. “The fun, excitement, and vibrancy in the studios—that was the whole vision,” Doornenbal said. “…Engaging people and children in art—letting them get their hands wet in the clay, their fingers into a weaving, making their own jewelry, playing music with others.

People are painting and dancing. We’re giving them a place to find their creative self.”

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 29

BY SHERRI HULEATT

The J—a gem of a Lynden philanthropic landmark

“Our DNA is all about creating partnerships with suppliers and customers.”

—Rick Anderson, President, Anderson Paper & Packaging

Photo: Scott Book

inside

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Industrious

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Innovators

UNIQUE PRACTICES SET THESE WHATCOM BUSINESSES APART IN SIX KEY AREAS

BY CHERYL STRITZEL MCCARTHY

WHAT ARE OTHER COMPANIES DOING THAT YOU’RE NOT? HOW ARE BUSINESS LEADERS THROUGHOUT WHATCOM COUNTY INNOVATING IN THEIR INDUSTRIES? BUSINESS PULSE ASKED SIX AREA BUSINESSES WHAT THEY’RE DOING THAT’S FRESH AND INVENTIVE. EACH ADDRESSED INNOVATION IN ONE OF THESE AREAS: RECRUITING, SALES AND MARKETING, TECHNOLOGY, DISTRIBUTION, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AND STRATEGY. HERE’S WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY. Strategy: A Trio of ‘Firsts’

The first non-GMO-verified manufacturer of animal feed in North America in 2012. The first feed manufacturer in the nation to hold that certification, plus Certified Organic, in 2013.

And the first and only feed company in the nation to be B-Corp certified in 2017 (a certification of for-profit companies that satisfies environmental and social standards).

Scratch and Peck Feeds is all of the above.

It has embraced innovation in its industry ever since Diana Ambauen-Meade started the company in her backyard in Bellingham with a borrowed cement mixer in 2009.

After seven years in Bellingham, the company needed much more space. So, recently they moved from their 15,000-square-foot facility in the Irongate industrial area into a 40,000-square-foot plant in Burlington. The three owners—Diana Ambauen-Meade, husband Dennis Meade, and son Bryon Meade—plus most of the company’s 29 employees still reside in Bellingham and commute.

34 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

Scratch and Peck produces feed for poultry, pigs, and goats.

“We use our business as a force for good,” said Marketing Manager Caroline Kinsman.

At the heart of the company’s unique strategy are exclusively regional sourcing and self-milling. “We source all of our grains from organic farmers in the Pacific Northwest, and we mill all of our feeds here, too,” Kinsman said.

“This is virtually unheard of in the feed industry, which is largely international, with sourcing from the commodity market.

We’re doing some pretty cool things for our industry. All are near and dear to our mission.”

Distribution: Win-Win Partnerships

Innovation in working with their customers’ supply chains is the lifeblood of Anderson Paper & Packaging’s (AP&P) approach to wide distribution. The 72-employee company is headquartered in Ferndale, and operates branches in Renton, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 35

BY CHERYL STRITZEL MCCARTHY

Inventive ways six thriving companies push their boundaries

Island Hopping

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By Crai Bower

ellingham has long enjoyed a special relationship with the westerly archipelago dating back to the Coastal Salish people, and including such historical highlights as when rumrunners hid in the island coves before slipping into Bellingham Bay come nightfall, during prohibition.

With annual features in The New York Times travel section and reliable positions on most travel publication “Top Ten” lists, the San Juan Islands are hardly a secret anymore. Still, their bucket-list popularity should not deter the local traveler from catching up on island time, especially given the convenience of a short commute via Bellingham’s airport, weekday excursions, and inside knowledge about where to go and what to do.

As urban Bellingham continues to grow, the thought of a couple days cycling on Lopez, crabbing off San Juan, and kayaking along the Orcas shoreline becomes even more appealing. Add a country-market stroll, tidepooling, and an exquiste Sunday supper from no less a chef than Christina Orchid and it’s easy to see why having a backyard with the San Juan Islands in it distinguishes Bellingham from just about every other coastal city in America.

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BY CRAI BOWER

Cabin fever? Three charm-filled getaways to the San Juans

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DEPARTMENTS leading edge NEWSMAKERS • NUMBERS • OUT AND ABOUT • BUSINESS OF RECREATION ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP • PHILANTHROPY • GUEST COLUMNS

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Photo courtesy of Mayor’s Office

inside

Downtown Bellingham’s New Revitalization Leader

By Business Pulse Staff

The drive to revitalize the downtown Bellingham business district got a shot in the arm with the hiring of Jennifer Walters at the Retail Advocate for the Downtown Bellingham Partnership (DBP).

Walters, who will be responsible for executing the downtown Bellingham retail strategy, brings a wealth of experience to the new role. She has held multiple retail-management positions with both local and regional brands—including Jay Jacobs in the Pacific Northwest and Tesoros Trading Company in Austin, Texas. Besides retail management, Walters also has worked in various roles in sales and event coordination and has extensive experience in the design industry.

DBP Executive Director Alice Clark said, “Jennifer knows the business side of retailing and will use those skills and her enthusiasm to execute a new vision for downtown. We’re super excited that she’s joined our team.”

Born in Seattle and raised throughout the Pacific Northwest, Walters first came to Bellingham in 1986. After calling

the city home for eight years, she left to pursue career opportunities in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Bend, Oregon, Palm Springs, California, Boise, Idaho and Austin, Texas. She moved to Seattle in 2012, before returning to Bellingham last year.

“I’ve come full circle and I’m excited to be back in Bellingham,” Jennifer said, “Our community is truly a great and unique place to call home. Downtown is full of charm and great shops. But we also have plenty of opportunity to grow and bring in new life as well.

I’m beyond excited to join the DBP and help lead this effort.”

The Retail Advocate position received more than 60 entries.

The finalists were selected by a panel of City of Bellingham, DBP and Downtown Works staff. The revitalization effort is a joint venture between the City of Bellingham and the DBP. The new retail strategy was completed in late March and is available to review on the City’s website at www.cob.org/downtown. The strategy provides the foundation for Walters’ new position and outlines responsibilities in the revitalization effort.

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 13

Newsmakers, Out and About, Environmental Stewardship, and much more...

With Tax Cuts, Time to Start Planning Carefully VSH ACCOUNTING PARTNER KATHY HERNDON

QA and

Interview by Mike McKenzie

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fter graduating from Sehome High, I earned a degree in accounting from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, and I’ve been in the business now for 28 years.

VSH was formed in 1998—we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary. I lived in Seattle 16 years, but moved back home and became a partner in VSH. New tax cuts: How big a deal?

The most important thing to know about federal taxes in the new tax legislation is that the last time Congress reduced taxes was in 1986. So we’ll experience the lowest tax rates we’ve seen in a long, long time, beginning this year. That presents a lot of opportunities for both businesses and individuals.

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Spreading the word?

At VSH, we’ve been doing a major educational push. So far, we’ve put on 10 seminars to let people know how the changes affect them. The impacts will be significant across-the-board, on the international, large-corporation, small-business, and individual levels.

We began the seminars with more than 100 of our own clients. But I know many more people who need the education. That also goes for organizations, too, like the Bellingham/ Whatcom Chamber, the Skagit Chamber, real estate organizations, independent professionals in every field, and even nonprofits.

Your opinion—positive or negative?

My overall assessment of the tax reform: It’s great. Start with global, for 48 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

New tax cuts: Good deal? Here are some cues to the answers you seek

PULSE

AFTER HOURS BEVERAGES / CLOTHING /

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BOOKS + MORE

LOTS OF WHEE! IN SKI TO SEA A spectator’s guide

By Mike McKenzie Time to head out to watch Ski to Sea, coming right up—May 27, just like every Sunday of the Memorial Day Weekend over the last 45 years. But, with seven relay events and hundreds of participants, what and where is best to watch? The prevailing thought is—so many choices, so little parking.

Let’s start where it ends, lured by one little descriptor on the event website in the Kayak section: “It is great fun to watch a kayaker hop out of his kayak and try to run up the hill to the finish after his legs have fallen asleep.”

Seriously, try start-to-finish: “Zuanich Park at Squalicum Harbor for the start of around 500 colorful kayaks.” Or, Boulevard Park as they float past (as their legs fall asleep). And/or, Marine Park for the grand finish of the whole kit-and-kaboodle. If you’re on the water yourself to watch, you could create a wake, bad for a kayak, so stay back.

Speaking of colorful, check out the CycloCross Bike action at

Photos by: Kenneth Kearney, Burke Hovde, Steve Christofferson, Dylan Hart, Travis Church, Scott Melnik

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one of the easiest venues for watching any of the seven legs, Hovander Park in Ferndale, with lots of parking.

Another strange notation by event organizers says of the Canoe race, “One of the most hazardous parts of the river is the whirlpool near the north end of Noon Road.” Who doesn’t love a good whirlpool hazard. Otherwise, good vantage points for watching canoes: the river crossings on Hannegan and on Guide Meridian, Ferndale parks overlooking the river, and the exchange area in Hovander Park.

And there’s yet another little, devilish tease: “The (canoe) finish is fun because the exhausted canoeists must carry their canoe across the finish line before they hand the (relay) chip to the mountain biker.”

For details on observing one or multiple facets of Ski to Sea, go to that voluminous, aforementioned website, skitosea.com.

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 51

Your guide to post 9-to-5 living What to wear, read, and sip—in beery terms—and where to go for tee time

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Environmental stewardship is part of our business

BP Cherry Point Wetland Preserve

BP believes that we can balance providing energy with protecting the environment. That’s why we focus on being good stewards of the 2,500 undeveloped acres around our Cherry Point Refinery. Through our partnership with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, we’ve helped restore salmon habitat along Terrell Creek where we’re seeing coho salmon return for the first time since the 1940s. We also sponsor their program to teach streamside science to 4th graders throughout Whatcom County. We’ve constructed 220 acres of wetlands, too, that provide critical habitat for a variety of species, including the great blue heron and the red-tailed hawk.

For more on BP’s environmental stewardship efforts in Washington, go to bp.com/Washington

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publisher’s note

Your TRANSITION PLANNING EXPERTS

ALMOST SUMMER: HERE’S WHAT’S COMING...

TONY LARSON

President, Whatcom Business Alliance

From starting your first business to an acquisition, merger, or sale — VSH CPA’s seasoned experts will guide and advise you through the process, minimizing stress and maximizing results.

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Memorial Day weekend and Ski to Sea always have symbolized the beginning of Summer for me. I love it. The big party in Fairhaven as the kayakers finish the event has come to represent the transition to the time of year we all live for. I know Summer doesn’t officially arrive for another few weeks after, but the days are longer and the sunshine begins to tease us here and there about what’s coming.

While many are daydreaming of vacations and weekend getaways, a number of industries begin to kick into high gear: Agriculture, fishing, processing and cold storage, and everything tourism—including boating, golfing, hiking, and taking day trips to the San Juan Islands.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed Business Pulse’s reboot since the beginning of the year. I certainly have. Our new Associate Publisher, Melissa Vail Coffman, and Art Dirctor, Scott Book, have brought new energy, expertise, and creativity to the publication. Not only will you continue to learn about the people, businesses, issues, and trends that shape our local economy and community, but in every issue you’ll also learn more about what makes Whatcom County a unique and desirable place to live, work, and play—and how best to do that.

In this issue of Business Pulse, we report on industrious innovators you can learn from— companies that have set themselves apart in six key areas. We also report on a business that’s converting cow waste into an environmental success story. This story is important

12 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

because dairy farms rarely receive credit for their environmental stewardship and, here locally thanks to Andgar and its Regenis spinoff, we have a company with the most advanced manure-treatment facility of any dairy farm in the United States, Edaleen Dairy.

In other valuable content, we look at the golf industry in Whatcom County, share the do’s and don’ts (mostly don’ts) of cross-border shopping, and feature a piece by national travel writer Crai Bower that we call Island Hopping, which provides great Summer ideas for exploring Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan Islands.

On another note, the Whatcom Business Alliance (WBA) is pleased to announce the addition of Brett Bonner and Lin Nelson to our staff. Brett is keeping you informed of public policy and regulatory issues that impact your business and our local economy.

We encourage you to reach out to Brett if you become aware of any issues of concern.

And we’re Stepping Up in Research, Analysis, Education, and Advocacy.

Lin is leading the second phase of our Youth Engagement Initiative. At our last board meeting, the WBA directors authorized $50,000 in funding for the next phase of a very exciting program that soon will build a bridge between local youth and employers.

If you have a passion in any of the areas in which the WBA is involved, please connect with us. We’d be very pleased to add you to our growing leadership network.

Enjoy the issue.

Breaking the mold in breaking ground.

When you’ve specialized in construction lending for 100 years, you learn what builders and their clients need throughout the process.

At Washington Federal, we know that your work reflects your experience, commitment to quality and the professional follow-through of your team.

We couldn’t agree more.

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Contact Ian, Grace or Bryan to start a conversation about your Commercial Lending needs; Acquisition & Development loans, Spec Construction, Multi-Family financing, and business lines of credit.

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Bryan Lutz

VP/Relationship Manager

360-756-2641

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360-756-2630

ian.crawford@wafd.com

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Regional President Northern Washington bryan.lutz@wafd.com

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And then there’s everything else.

Either it has the precision and speed of a Porsche transmission, or it doesn’t.

Either it has legendary handling, or it doesn’t. Either it has an unmistakable engine note, or it doesn’t. Or in fewer words, either it is a Porsche, or it isn’t. Porsche.

There is no substitute.

The 718 Cayman GTS. Time to get in.

European model shown. Some options may not be available in the U.S. ©2018 Porsche Cars North America, Inc. Porsche recommends seat belt usage and observance of traffic laws at all times.

Porsche Bellingham 2200 Iowa Street Bellingham, WA 98229 Tel: (360) 734-5230 www.porschebellingham.com

leading edge

Downtown Bellingham’s New Revitalization Leader

By Business Pulse Staff

The drive to revitalize the downtown Bellingham business district got a shot in the arm with the hiring of Jennifer Walters as the Retail Advocate for the Downtown Bellingham Partnership (DBP).

Walters, who will be responsible for executing the downtown Bellingham retail strategy, brings a wealth of experience to the new role. She has held multiple retail-management positions with both local and regional brands—including Jay Jacobs in the Pacific Northwest and Tesoros Trading Company in Austin, Texas. Besides retail management, Walters also has worked in various roles in sales and event coordination and has extensive experience in the design industry.

DBP Executive Director Alice Clark said, “Jennifer knows the business side of retailing and will use those skills and her enthusiasm to execute a new vision for downtown. We’re super excited that she’s joined our team.”

Born in Seattle and raised throughout the Pacific Northwest, Walters first came to Bellingham in 1986. After calling

the city home for eight years, she left to pursue career opportunities in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Bend, Oregon, Palm Springs, California, Boise, Idaho, and Austin, Texas. She moved to Seattle in 2012, before returning to Bellingham last year.

“I’ve come full circle and I’m excited to be back in Bellingham,” Walters said, “Our community is truly a great and unique place to call home. Downtown is full of charm and great shops. But we also have plenty of opportunity to grow and bring in new life as well.

I’m beyond excited to join the DBP and help lead this effort.”

The Retail Advocate position attracted more than 60 applicants. The finalists were selected by a panel of City of Bellingham, DBP and Downtown Works staff. The revitalization effort is a joint venture between the City of Bellingham and the DBP. The new retail strategy was completed in late March and is available to review on the City’s website at www.cob.org/downtown. The strategy provides the foundation for Walters’ new position and outlines responsibilities in the revitalization effort.

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 15

Photo courtesy of Mayor’s Office

NEWSMAKERS • NUMBERS • OUT AND ABOUT • BUSINESS OF RECREATION ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP • PHILANTHROPY • GUEST COLUMNS

leading edge NEWSMAKERS

People on the Move...

McEntee

Ashinhurst

Kevin McEntee has been appointed Sales Manager at Four Points by Sheraton Bellingham Hotel & Conference Center.

He comes to the full-service hospitality property from previous hospitality-industry management positions in Chico, California and Boise, Idaho. He will be responsible here for assisting corporate, government, medical, manufacturing, financial, petroleum, and national accounts with group-lodging needs.

“The Bellingham community has been very welcoming,” McEntee said. “It’s easy to see why so many people are involved in community events throughout the year. With all of the hotel renovations now complete, I’m excited to share Four Points and all it has to offer with our community members and visitors to Bellingham.”

Four Points General Manager John Burns said, “We’re excited to have Kevin as part of our sales team and believe his background will be very beneficial in developing the local corporate market.”

Four Points recently was completely renovated by Providence Hospitality Partners.

It offers 132 guest rooms and two restaurants: Chinuk and B-Town Kitchen & Raw Bar. For more information, call 360-671-1011 or visit www.FourPointsBellingham.com.

Network Technician William Ashinhurst and Marketing Assistant Nicole Cortines have joined the team at Litzia, LLC, a provider of tailored information services for small- and medium-sized businesses .

Ashinhurst provides computer-network consulting, design, and support services. He has worked as an engineering technician in Seattle and a network administrator in Bellingham.

Cortines provides image promotion, product and service awareness, and campaign management. An undergraduate working toward her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing at Western Washington University, she has done marketing

Cortines

Leavitt

analysis projects for Microsoft and North Coast Credit Union.

For information on Litzia’s IT and cloud services, and hardware/software, security, and business-collaboration solutions, call 360-7140565 or visit www.litzia.com.

Bellingham business owner Nancy Leavitt celebrated her 10th anniversary as an agent for American Family Insurance in April.

To mark the milestone, Leavitt again hosted her “Quotes for Community” campaign that donates $1 to charity for each insurance quote issued through the month of June. The tally is updated each week on the office’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

Nonprofits who benefited from previous campaigns include Support Officers of Whatcom County, Animals as Natural Therapy, and the Technology Alliance Group of Northwest Washington Scholarship Fund.

Also, each September and October, in recognition of National Life Insurance Awareness Month, Leavitt donates $100 to the client’s charity of choice for each life-insurance policy issued.

Leavitt, a Lynden native, said, “Supporting local charities is near and dear to my heart.

We’ve worked so hard and loved every minute of it, knowing it would bring security to policy holders and funds to needy Whatcom County charities.”

Daun Botta Pillo has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Snapper Shuler Kenner Insurance (SSKI), where she has been a commercial-lines agent since 2000.

With 20 years of insurance experience, Botta Pillo will oversee approximately 30 employees, while splitting time between SSKI’s Bellingham and Lynden offices. She will continue to serve as a commercial-lines agent, particularly with construction accounts needing insurance and bonding.

Botta Pillo, a University of Washington graduate, said, “One of my priorities now is

16 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

Botta Pillo

Honcoop

finding more top-notch professionals so both of our offices can continue to grow. I’m grateful to my colleagues, including Paul Kenner, the long-time head of SSKI, for the mentoring they have provided me. And I’m glad that Paul will continue to serve his accounts for us.”

An independent agency with origins dating back to 1925, SSKI has offices at 2115 Barkley Blvd., Suite 201, in Bellingham and 501 Front St. in Lynden. For more information, call 360354-4488 or visit www.sskinsurance.com.

Gary Honcoop has been named 2017 Builder of the Year by the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County (BIAWC).

Honcoop founded Roosendaal-Honcoop Construction (R-HC) in 1979 with a fellow lifelong Lynden resident, Roger Roosendaal, who retired a year ago, leaving Gary as the sole owner.

The company’s most notable residential project is Semiahmoo Shore, a 46-unit development in Blaine with 14 different floor plans. It was featured in the BIAWC Showcase of Homes. Recent commercial construction projects include a high-tech propagation building for Enfield Farms/Northwest Plant Co. of Lynden and structures for Innotech Process Equipment of Bellingham, Pacific Tire Co. of Ferndale, Sarbanand Farms of Sumas, and T.C. Trading Co. of Blaine.

The company has wide-ranging experience, including design-build, high-end residential, commercial, food-processing, cold-storage, public-works, industrial, and pre-engineered steel construction. It also assists clients with pre-construction services, such as design and permitting.

Under Honcoop’s leadership, R-HC has been an active BIAWC member, supporting programs such as the annual Home & Garden Show and the Whatcom County Showcase of Homes. And the company’s employees have worked more than eight years without a timeloss injury, for which it has received several safety-record awards. P+

leading edge MORE NEWSMAKERS Rectors Vacuum Shop Celebrates 75 Years

A mainstay in Bellingham for 75 years, Rectors Vacuum Shop on Meridian offers a unique “try before you buy” policy.

“We are so proud to be celebrating our 75th year in business and honoring our loyal customers,” said Steve McCallum, Co-Owner of Rectors Vacuum Shop. “We believe that our unusual brand of personalized customer service and customer education that we offer has kept us in business for all these many years.”

Two milestone events will mark this special year for Rectors Vacuum Shop. A Miele vacuum May raffle for customers and a Sebo vacuum September raffle are

two such events planned for the community this year. The public will have opportunities to visit Rectors, operate their vacuums, and ask questions about their vacuum cleaners and enter raffles to win one.

“It’s always been a tradition at Rectors to consider our customers as part of our family,” Steve McCallum added. “That is why we want to celebrate this milestone year with them and provide them with chances to win free vacuums.”

Rectors will also be offering discount specials on vacuums and vacuum accessories throughout the year to commemorate their 75th anniversary.

Groundbreaking for Phyllis & Charles Self Learning Commons at WCC

Governor Jay Inslee (at right in photo) led the groundbreaking ceremony for the Phyllis & Charles Self (next to Inslee) Learning Commons at Whatcom Community College April 11. It’s the first state-funded campus building at WCC since 2004.

The 65,000-square-foot structure will open in 2020 at the corner of Kellogg Road and Cordata Parkway. It will house WCC’s library, writing and math centers, tutoring and media services, testing, and other critical academic support services. The college is working with Schreiber Starling Whitehead Architects of Seattle and Colacurcio Brothers Construction of Blaine.

The college also plans to break ground on a 250-unit residence hall this Fall. For more information, visit whatcom.edu.

Community Food Co-op Wins National Co+op Grocers Climate Collaborative Award GROCER NAMED OUTSTANDING COMPANY FOR ENERGY AND FARMING FEATS The Community Food Co-op (CFC-O) received the Outstanding Company Award in a new national competition for improving energy efficiency in a retail-grocery setting and fostering resilient, regenerative farming communities.

The Co-op was the only retail business honored in the inaugural National Co+op Climate Collaborative Awards. The award was presented during Climate Day in Anaheim, California, at the Natural Products Expo West and Engredea 2018, the largest natural-food trade show in the U.S. The Co-op won the award for offsetting 102% of its electricity use as a result of the energy generated by a 126-panel solar array at its Cordata store and the purchase of renewable-energy certificates. The award also noted that the Co-op earned the only

From left: Lara Dickinson, Climate Collaborative Co-Founder; Melissa Elkins, Co-op Sustainability Coordinator, and Robynn Shrader, National Co+op Grocers CEO.

2017 EPA EnergyStar Certificate issued to a grocery store west of the Rockies.

Melissa Elkins, CFC-O Sustainability Coordinator, said, “Being recognized for our dedication on a national level is incredibly rewarding for both our organization

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and for the ongoing work I do every day on behalf of the Co-op.” The only other Whatcom County member of the Climate Collaborative is Nature’s Path in Blaine. For more information, visit www.communityfood.coop.

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MORE NEWSMAKERS Unity Care NW announced plans to break ground this Summer on its new North Whatcom Health Center in Ferndale, with anticipated opening in the Summer of 2019.

The new facility will expand access to primary medical, dental, behavioral, and pharmacy services in the Ferndale area. Located off of Portal Way, the 23,000-square-foot center will serve 9,500 patients and include 12 dental operatories. It also will have the most comprehensive behavioral services in the the county, outside of Bellingham, and employ 60 full-time staff.

Construction originally was planned for last year, with an anticipated opening this year. However, uncertainty over the future of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion caused the board to delay the project. But with the award of a capital grant from the State Legislature, New Market Tax Credits, and other fundraising support, the project will move forward.

Ask us about sponsoring the campaign!

20 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

Two Bellingham auto-body shops have been officially certified by Assured Performance, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization, for their capabilities to repair participating Automaker-brand vehicles according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

No. 1 Automotive Body Repair and Olsen Auto Body & Collision are now members of the most advanced body-repair network in the world. Adding to their credentials, both also are officially recognized by Assured Performance, FCA, Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia. To become Certified and officially recognized by the various Automakers, both shops had to pass the rigorous Certification process essential to help ensure a proper and safe repair of the new generation of advanced vehicles.

Fewer than 5% of body shops across the nation are able to meet the stringent requirements to become officially Certified and recognized. The Certified network is made up exclusively of best-in-class collision-repair businesses that have met or exceeded the

strict requirements of the Certification program.

“Consumers need the confidence and peace of mind to know their vehicle is being repaired by a shop that has what it takes to ensure the vehicle safety,” Scott Biggs, CEO of Assured Performance Collision Care, said. “These two shops represent the standard by which all other body shops are measured.”

Logistics for the fresh and frozen food industry!

Temperature-controlled trucking

Bellingham community station KMRE 102.3 FM announced both its new location and formation of a nonprofit organization.

Daylight Properties and Bob Hall are sponsors of the station’s new home in the Bellingham National Bank 103 Holly St., Suite B-4, beginning in May. The community rallied behind the station to raise more $15,000 for the transition to new space, including a $5,000 donation from the SPARK Museum, as a founding underwriter.

“This would not have happened without a strong outpouring of support from volunteers, donors, and the local community,” said KMRE General Manager Suzanne Blais. “We were thrilled with the response and encouragement from so many people who believe it’s crucial to have a station like KMRE to provide local media and perspectives.”

KMRE had to part ways with its former home at the SPARK Museum, due to space constraints. As part of its relaunch, KMRE has formed a nonprofit organization, Kulshan Community Media, to take over the license and operate the station.

KMRE is home to more than 35 local radio shows produced by some 60 volunteers. Those interested in supporting KMRE through sponsorship, donations, volunteerism, or production of a community show can find more information at kmre.org. P+

From fresh vegetables to frozen fish, Lynden moves temperature-sensitive commodities while maintaining the product in top quality condition. We offer scheduled service from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska to points throughout the Lower 48.

Lynden provides solutions and expertise in handling even the most complex logistics challenges. lynden.com | 1-888-596-3361

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 21

leading edge NUMBERS

HOLY COW!

THE IMPACT OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY ON THE WHATCOM ECONOMY WHOA, MAN! THAT’S A LOT OF COWS

There are approximately 48,000 milk cows in Whatcom County.

(2017 USDA Stats)

In 2017, Whatcom County dairy farms produced $205,330,214.40 worth of milk.

(Federal Milk Market Administrator Office)

Price of a pound of milk: In 1950 dairy farmers received an average of $3.48 per pound of milk.

1967 the average price was $4.93 1987 the average price was $12.01 2017 the average price was $17.96 (Federal Milk Market Administrator Office)

The annual average amount of milk a cow produced in 2017 was 23,818 pounds.

(USDA)

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leading edge OUT AND ABOUT 2

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Photos by Radley Muller Photography, radleymullerphotography.com

Business Pulse magazine’s 2018 Business Person of the Year Awards Banquet 1. Lifetime Achievement award winner, Andy Vitaljik of American Canadian Fisheries 2. John & Bridget Rauvola, right, and friends 3. Business Person of the Year winner, Anne-Marie Faiola, CEO, Bramble Berry 4. Semiahmoo Resort staff 5. Wes Herman, CEO of Woods Coffee, and Superfeet’s Director of Outreach & Fit, Jeff Gray and guests, Erica Howard and Bridget Rauvola 6. Title Sponsors: Whatcom Center for Philanthropy represented by Tim McEvoy, left, and Heritage Bank represented by Bob MacIsaac 7. Whatcom Business Alliance & Business Pulse magazine staff 8. Dining table 9. Co-Sponsors, left to right: Troy Muljat,The Muljat Group; Josh Turrell, Larson Gross CPAs; Jane Carten, Saturna Capital; Amanda Gambino, JP Morgan Chase; Jon Sitkin, Chmelik, Sitkin & Davis PS, and Nicole Newton of Semiahmoo Resort 24 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

POWER THROUGH YOUR AGENDA. CELEBRATE WITH S’MORES. TEAMBUILDING ACCOMPLISHED. Just 30 minutes from Bellingham, Semiahmoo is a convenient meeting location with a penchant for fun. So after you’ve knocked out your serious business, kick back and relax on the beach with s’mores, play a round of golf, or race through our photo scavenger hunt. Come to work, stay to play.

For more information, call 360.318.2060 or email sales@semiahmoo.com

semiahmoo.com

leading edge BUSINESS OF RECREATION

Where Do You Think Golf Rank$?

By Larry Coffman The latest study of the economic impact of golf in Washington revealed some surprising statistics. For starters, would you even consider Golf in the same league as Frozen-Food Manufacturing, Data-Processing, and Cattle/Agriculture in its contribution to the state’s economy?

The study, working with the most recent available data (circa 2015), listed the economic impact of Golf a surprising third, behind Frozen-Food Manufacturing and Data Processing, in our state that is home to high-tech giants. The comparative annual impacts, in billions, were $2.74, $1.95, $1.16 for Golf and $1.03 for Cattle/Agriculture. Who knew?

Bolstered by the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in 2015, golf continued to grow as a key contributor to the economic vitality of Washington. Besides revenue from the rounds of golf, the game brings visitors to the state, spurs new residential construction, generates retail sales, and contributes to demand for myriad services, as the report points out.

It goes on to note that the overall industry growth has been hindered by contractions in golf course capital investments and golf real estate because of the lingering effects of the recession of 2007 to 2009. The golf industry’s total direct economic impact in 2015 contracted marginally, relative to when the impact was measured in 2007.

Looking at just the golf-facility portion of the economic pie, Washington’s 246 golf courses, 31 stand-alone ranges, and 22 miniature golf facilities generated $473.5 million in revenue during 2015. And here’s another startling statistic: Golf revenues were comparable to the combined revenues of all other spectator sports—football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer, according to the study.

The study also pointed out that golf course principals serve as key access points for fundraising by local service organizations, 26 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

and that the industry makes substantial contributions to a variety of charities.

For example, the annual Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Course has raised more than $6 million over the last 11 years for various local charities, including the main beneficiary—the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

Other charities supported by the tournament include First Tee and A Better Seattle.

All of this information led Business Pulse to conduct a survey of the economic impact of the 12 operational golf courses in Whatcom County, in terms of rounds played and average revenue per round in 2017, compared with 2016. (Bald Eagle Golf Club at Point Roberts was under renovation all of last year and will reopen on May 20. Also see the section on Whatcom and Skagit County Golf courses on Page 58.)

The biggest takeaway is that the number of rounds played on Whatcom County courses in 2017 was lower at every course compared with the year before. The main reasons given were the snowy winter and rainy spring last year, coupled with the weakened buying power of the Canadian dollar.

The total number of rounds played in 2016 was just over 360,000, or an average of 30,000 per course. This compares with the 2017 total of 325,000 rounds and an average of 27,000 per course. The median was 32,000 rounds in 2016, and 28,000 in 2017.

Despite this, the average revenue per round was up across-theboard. Several sources said the need to increase greens fees was driven by a combination of the bad weather and an increase in the minimum wage for course employees. One course manager said the wages increase “cost us $46,000 right out of the gate.”

The average revenue per round in 2016 was $36, compared with $39 in 2017. And the median for the 2016 and 2017 seasons was $41 and $46, respectively.

Other information gleaned from our contacts with the club managers included: A mini-“scoop” from Head Golf Professional Nathan Vickers at North Bellingham Golf Course: Just after learning that the course had instituted a perpetual $10,000 prize for a hole-in-one on Par 3 No. 16, Vickers called to say that they had their first winner on April 11—Mark Zaslow, used a 7 iron from 145 yards.

The feat was recorded on the permanent camera installed at No. 16, which Vickers said “will provide Mark with a video memory for the rest of his life.” A golfer needs only to add $5 to the greens fee to be eligible for the prize money.

As an example of the weather impact, one popular course was closed an aggregate 81 days the first three months of last year— due to snow, heavy frost or rain—when it’s usually closed an average of 10 days during the same period each year.

Raspberry Ridge Golf Course & Grill in Everson has partnered with the Washington State Golf Association to sponsor the Youth on the Course (YOC) program, which offers significantly reduced rates to YOC members to encourage them to take up the game at an early age, according to General Manager John Olson.

One owner pointed out quite forcefully that, beyond the weather and the fluctuating Canadian dollar, regulations also add to the challenges of operating a golf course. (Over-regulation is a complaint often voiced by many other sectors of the Whatcom County business community). The owner said the course in question had more gross revenue in 1997 than in 2017, and that expenses more than doubled in those two decades, adding, “I have to observe nine regulations just to sell a can of beer!”

The Washington Golf Economy study was commissioned by GOLF 20/20 for the Golf Alliance of Washington and prepared

by SRI International.

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 27

Regenis is Converting Manure into an Environmental Success Story “With the digester and the DAF installations, Edaleen has one of the most advanced manure-treatment facilities of any dairy in the United States. Our next main focus is making clean water…”

Eric Powell, Business Development Director, Regenis

By Dave Brumbaugh he consumer knows that dairy cows are the source of many delicious and nutritious foods, including milk, cheese, and ice cream. The farmer knows that they also produce a tremendous amount of manure—thousands of gallons daily on even the smallest dairy farms.

When not handled properly, the manure’s greenhouse gasses and bacteria are harmful to the environment—and the odor isn’t too pleasant, either.

A Ferndale company has stepped up (and not in!) to those problematic matters. Regenis has made the processing of cow pies and other organic wastes into an environmental success story, creating anaerobic digesters to generate renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gasses, and virtually eliminate fecal coliform bacteria, while dramatically lessening their odor.

Andgar Corporation, located in the Grandview Industrial Park just north of Ferndale off I-5, began making anaerobic digesters

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in 2004, with dairy farms as a target market. Four years ago, Andgar created a separate division—Regenis—to manufacture digesters. The offspring has constructed 13 anaerobic digesters and also operates and/or maintains digesters for some customers.

“They are not all on dairy farms,” said Eric Powell, Business Development Director for Regenis, “but all of them do process some amount of dairy manure. Most also process other organic waste, such as pre-consumer food waste from various food processors.”

The environmental benefits of the digesters, like the product they deal with, cover a lot of ground: • Electrical generation: A dozen of the 13 Regenis projects produce renewable electricity with a total capacity exceeding 15 megawatts an hour (MWh)—enough to power more than 9,000 homes. Unlike other forms of renewable energy that produce electricity only when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining,

Photo courtesy of Regenis

leading edge ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

anaerobic digesters can make electricity 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, except for short periods of time when the engine is down for maintenance.

• Greenhouse-gas reduction: Methane, a natural emission from cow manure, is 22 times more harmful to the environment than carbon monoxide, according to scientific studies. Digesters reduce the amount of methane emitted into the environment.

• Bacteria Reduction: Digesters reduce the fecal coliform in manure by 99.9%, allowing dairy farmers to use separated and dried manure (called digester fiber) as bedding for the cows, rather than having to purchase sawdust or use sand. The result is a significant cost reduction for a dairy. The farms then sell any excess fiber to soil companies that use it as a replacement for peat moss. Also, farmers store processed dairy manure without fecal coliform in lagoons on their farms until they can safely apply to crops for irrigation and fertilizer.

Regenis is in the process of expanding beyond the manufacturing, servicing, and operating of digesters. Last year, the company installed a Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) unit at Edaleen Dairy’s home-base facility north of Lynden that treats manure even more after it’s gone through the digester process.

“This system removes more than 85% of the phosphorus and roughly 35% of the nitrogen,” Powell said. “It concentrates those nutrients into a solid that can be hauled to fields farther away at a lower cost. With the digester and the DAF installations, Edaleen has one of the most advanced manure-treatment facilities of any dairy in the United States.”

Potential customers, other than dairy farms, include swine and poultry farms, food-waste producers, composting facilities, municipalities, breweries, and anyone who has a large volume of organic waste. “We want to be an agricultural wastewatertreatment provider and help our dairy, foodprocessing, and other agriculture customers with solutions,” Powell said.

Next on the broad horizon for Regenis, as a stalwart model for environmental stewardship? Powell said: “…Making clean water from a variety of agricultural wastes, such as dairy manure.” P+

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MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 29

leading edge PHILANTHROPY

Photo: Scott Book

Art in the Heart of Lynden: The J

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By Sherri Huleatt

Executive director Vin Quenneville with Heidi Jansen Doornenbal.

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around the world), Firehall Café and Lounge, Piano Lounge (which offers free music performances every Thursday night), a Fine Art Gallery, and touring art exhibits displayed throughout the building.

Vin Quenneville moved from Vermont a year ago after Jansen Art Center hired him as its new executive director. “My wife and I only took a few steps into the building when I knew this was for me—this was it,” he said. Quenneville said there’s a feeling people get when they walk in. “I love going around to each studio and seeing how people interact with each other—everyone works together and wants to show off what they’re doing. It’s a gift to be around that all day long.”

The Jansen Art Center opened in 2012—a time when the Recession had shuttered much of downtown Lynden’s businesses.

According to Doornenbal, The J was the catalyst for downtown Lynden’s revitalization. In fact, it was The J that inspired the historic Waples Building owners to renovate that burned-down structure into a new city center, complete with an inn, a restaurant, a book store, and a tap house. In 2016, Lynden’s Front Street was voted “Best Main Street in America.”

Photos: Sherri Huleatt

bout eight years ago, Heidi Jansen Doornenbal, founder of the Jansen Art Center, drove past Lynden’s old City Hall and thought, “That would make a good art center.”

This passing thought blossomed into a big vision, and today the Jansen Art Center, widely known as The J, is a hub of creativity.

Originally designed to become a small art center, The J now offers six separate studios for music, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, fine art and painting, and dance.

Walk up to the textiles studio and you’ll find a group of ladies chatting, weaving, and felting away—excited about the recently donated Pendleton fabric for a denim rug they’ve all taken shifts to weave.

Sheri Ward, a weaving instructor, will happily take time to tell you the history and the projects underway at each of the studio’s 19 wooden looms—half of which were donated.

Go to the jewelry studio, and you’ll find Judy Gauthier—thrilled about another recent donation of some enameling equipment—who’s showing off some of the studio’s newest creations. In the ceramics studio, groups of artists are busy glazing, shaping, and putting the

“It’s not a gallery, it’s about the experience of creating art.”

—Heidi Jansen Doornenbal, Founder of the Jansen Art Center finishing touches on their latest masterpieces.

In music rooms, children pluck away at instruments—many of which are free for anyone to use. “We wanted to create a place where anyone, whether they could afford it or not, can learn music,” Doornenbal said. Each studio offers a unique opportunity to learn and experiment. “It’s all about the process. It’s not a gallery, it’s about the experience of creating art,” she explained.

Doornenbal, who’s not an artist but has always appreciated art, said The J was founded out of a community need for a place for artists. The center cultivates artists and allows them to cross over into other disciplines; it also gives them a chance to showcase their work.

For example, pianist Yilang Zhou, at age 10, trained himself to perform in front of an audience at The J. He went on to win a piano competition in Vancouver, B.C., and subsequently was invited to play at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall.

The Jansen Art Center’s creativity thrives through a “bottom up” approach: Instead of the executive director establishing topdown initiatives, each studio gets creative freedom to offer its own programs and workshops. “This is how we stay ahead—by having the artists determine what each studio offers,” Doornenbal said.

“There’s no other art center like ours.”

In addition to art studios, The J also offers a large chamber hall with a grand piano (which attracts pianists and musicians from

(The award came from a nonprofit organization called Independent We Stand, operating out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Its website states: Rebuilding America one main street at a time…. inspiring small businesses to celebrate their locally owned status and helping consumers find them.”)

The City of Lynden, collaborating with the project’s Visioning Committee, donated the old City Hall in 2011 to the Eleanor and Henry Jansen Foundation, founded in 1995 by Doornenbal’s parents. The foundation purchased the adjacent Steinhauer Building and, after completing renovations, gifted the building to the newly formed nonprofit Jansen Art Center.

The J offers spacious, airy rooms with beautiful wooden floors—coupling modern art and architecture with the original historic charm of both buildings. Nearly all of the art supplies and equipment have been donated from the community.

Doornenbal said that if she knew how large and successful The J would become, she would have been too scared to start it. “The fun, excitement, and vibrancy in the studios—that was the whole vision,” Doornenbal said. “…Engaging people and children in art—letting them get their hands wet in the clay, their fingers into a weaving, making their own jewelry, playing music with others.

People are painting and dancing. We’re giving them a place to find their creative self.”

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 31

leading edge GUEST COLUMN | ENVIRONMENT

Three Steps to Help Puget Sound Orca Recover TODD MYERS

Washington Policy Center | Environment The population of Puget Sound southern-resident orca is declining, and this year it reached its lowest level since the 1980s. Just 76 members remain, and recently many orca calves have died before reaching maturity.

We have identified at least three significant, achievable, and generally (but not totally) agreed-upon steps we need to take to help the Puget Sound orca population recover.

1. Give them space; reduce the noise (power boats).

2. Increase their food through hatchery productivity.

3. Reduce the spate of sea lions preying on salmon (controversial).

The first step simply would make sure orca have space to eat and are not impeded by noise. There is a measurable decline in the amount of foraging orca do when power boats are around.

Keeping boats at a distance can help orca echolocate their prey without conflicts. This step alone would not make a huge difference for orca, but it would help. And, quieting motor traffic can be done in conjunction with whale-watching boats, so they can continue their business in a way that helps orca recover.

Other steps would make a much bigger difference for orca.

The primary problem facing the southern-resident orca pods is lack of prey, primarily Chinook salmon. The most immediate way to address that problem would be to increase hatchery-fish production.

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Improving the natural salmon habitat is a long-term strategy to help create sustainable populations, but it would do little for the immediate problem of increasing fish populations. Increasing hatchery production, however, would begin to increase total numbers of salmon virtually immediately, providing the source of prey the orca badly need now.

Additionally, hatchery production is good for those who fish, either commercially or for sport, by providing them with increased stock. State Representatives Brian Blake (D, 19th District) and Vincent Buys (R, 42nd District, which includes Whatcom County) co-sponsored a bill this year that would have increased hatchery production, specifically increasing forage for the southern-resident orca. Unfortunately, that bill failed to pass, despite bipartisan support.

In his executive order on southern-resident killer whales, Governor Jay Inslee did mention increasing hatchery production as a important tool of recovery, although he did not allocate funding to support that effort.

Some environmental activists oppose hatchery fish, arguing these fish reduce genetic biodiversity in salmon, making them more susceptible to future diseases. There is scientific debate about how true that is. But at a time when orca are starving, it’s a bit like saying a starving person can’t have a tomato because it isn’t organic.

Finally, there is one problem that scientists agree upon, but

politicians have been wary of addressing: While the southern-resident orca population is declining, the seal and sea lion population is increasing. Sea lions are, quite simply, out-competing orca for prey. As the Puget Sound Institute at the University of Washington notes, “From 1975 to 2015, the number of Chinook salmon (mostly small, juveniles) consumed each year by West Coast seals, sea lions, and killer whales has increased more than six-fold—from 5 million to 31.5 million fish.”

This also affects the fishing industry. Describing a study by Oregon State University scientists, the Institute notes, “A roughly 10,000-ton increase in consumption by marine mammals basically

RATHER THAN HELPING ORCA, A REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT BY FISHERS ONLY FEEDS A GROWING POPULATION OF SEALS AND SEA LIONS. negates a cutback in sport and commercial fishing for Chinook salmon over that same 40-year period.” Rather than helping orca, a reduction in the number of fish caught by fishers only feeds a growing population of seals and sea lions.

Washington Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler (R, 3rd District) is sponsoring legislation to change the Marine Mammals Act and reduce the number of sea lions preying on salmon in the Columbia River. Governor Inslee joined a bipartisan group supporting the bill. If the competition for salmon and steelhead is not re-balanced, many of the fish-conservation efforts to help orca will simply end up feeding sea lions.

Orca sightings are a wonderful part of living near Puget Sound. The good news is that we can take steps to ensure that they continue to be part of the natural environment and our region’s way of life.

We need the courage to take those simple steps, however, before we can put orca populations on the road to recovery.

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leading edge GUEST COLUMN | AGRICULTURE

Why the Cattlemen and the Farm Bureau are Suing the County BEN ELENBAAS

I

Second Vice President, Whatcom County Farm Bureau, and Vice President | Whatcom County Cattlemen’s Association

submitted a research paper in May of 2014 to finish my degree at Western Washington University. It was titled, “Is Planning and Zoning Helping or Hurting Whatcom County’s Pursuit of Preserving 100,000 Acres of Farm Land?” by Farmer Ben. The points in it remain relevant today.

Four years later, two groups I serve as a second vice president and vice president, respectively—the Whatcom County Farm Bureau and the Whatcom County Cattlemen’s Association— have filed a lawsuit against Whatcom County in response to the recent Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) update.

The Farm Bureau has taken the position that the CAO, as passed by the Whatcom County Council, is not compliant with the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA). We feel strongly that their version of the CAO is detrimental to the future of food and fiber production in Whatcom County, threatening the agricultural industry to the point of destroying our vital ag economy.

Farm land is just farm land without farmers. And, the high cost of regulations could cause many farmers to go out of business. The general purpose of protecting resource lands is to benefit all the citizens of the county.

Farmers historically have been the best stewards of Whatcom County’s agricultural lands for more than 100 years. I’m a fourthgeneration farmer here, for example. We farmers have proven a desire to continue to care for the land in a way that’s mutually beneficial to both soil and water health, as well as to preserve habitat and allow wildlife to flourish.

We’re not like a Third World country. We’re lucky we actually 34 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

are in a position to care about the environment, and we do. Protecting the environment is somewhat of a luxury; environmental compliance is not something Third World countries do. They worry about surviving first, then they manage their resources. In countries that aren’t producing enough food, they’re not worried about where their runoff ’s going. They’re worried about surviving.

A vibrant ag economy is essential to keeping environmental stewardship in the forefront of everyone’s mind. The bottom line is, the bills need to be paid or we won’t have farmers left to manage the agricultural resource lands that the GMA seeks to protect. Some say that is exactly the outcome some of the environmental activist groups seek, and they seem to be using county government, county ordinances, and manipulation of state law to implement their goals.

Whatcom County Farm Bureau believes, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the best way to achieve environmental health in the ag lands is to foster a vibrant, healthy agricultural economy. My personal feeling (not the Farm Bureau’s), as a producer of registered black Angus livestock in the Nooksack Valley south of Lynden, is that many of the people who write planning and zoning regulations, including writers of the CAO, would rather not have any hooved animals in Whatcom County.

Frankly, a lot of local government regulations just make you scratch your head and wonder. Regulations place the burden on the farmers to prove that they’re not hurting water quality. Instead, farmers should be able to implement best management practices as they see fit, practices that have kept Whatcom counties farmlands

productive and healthy for well over 100 years, without local government telling us how to do it—until they can prove we’re causing harm to the land and water. A bureaucrat is not the best person to tell us how to farm our land.

We certainly don’t want to protect anyone who’s doing things wrong. But a common belief among county farmers is that the new CAO will both harm our ability to farm and do nothing additional to protect Critical Areas. Farm Bureau believes that challenging the CAO, as passed, is the best way for Whatcom County farmers to continue to steward and maintain our valuable resource lands and the Critical Areas within them.

The farm community has not been as well represented on these issues as the environmental-activist community. That’s why the Farm Bureau allocated resources, hired a lawyer, and has made sure that more farmers attend public meetings to speak to best practices.

We in the ag community have presented workable solutions. Recent studies have shown that the finger may have been pointed unfairly at just the farmers.

Wherever we need responsibility taken, the ag community has proven that we are more than willing to step up to the plate.

Additional restrictions do nothing but threaten the ag economy.

Over-regulation hurts big producers, but virtually destroys the small producer.

There’s no good reason to put more regulations on us while there’s continued improvement in our best practices.

We’re providing benefits to water quality, shellfish, salmon, etc.,—and science shows it’s working. The science doesn’t point to a need to increase regulations and take away property rights from people that in some cases have been caring for their land since it was cleared and converted to farmland. We’re doing a fine job as it is.

The goal of the Farm Bureau, the Cattlemen’s Association, and other supportive ag groups is to find workable solutions for the good of everybody at the table—rather than have to rely on the lawsuit for relief. The County wants to hear more from us, and we’re working with its staff and lawyers toward workable solutions and an agreement. Talks have been friendly and productive recently. It’s just disappointing that the Ag community was forced to go to this legal extreme to have an equal voice with local government. P+

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Industrious

Innovators

UNIQUE PRACTICES SET THESE WHATCOM BUSINESSES APART IN SIX KEY AREAS

BY CHERYL STRITZEL MCCARTHY

36 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

“Our DNA is all about creating partnerships with suppliers and customers.”

Photo: Scott Book

—Rick Anderson, President, Anderson Paper & Packaging

WHAT ARE OTHER COMPANIES DOING THAT YOU’RE NOT? HOW ARE BUSINESS LEADERS THROUGHOUT WHATCOM COUNTY INNOVATING IN THEIR INDUSTRIES? BUSINESS PULSE ASKED SIX AREA BUSINESSES WHAT THEY’RE DOING THAT’S FRESH AND INVENTIVE. EACH ADDRESSED INNOVATION IN ONE OF THESE AREAS: RECRUITING, SALES AND MARKETING, TECHNOLOGY, DISTRIBUTION, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AND STRATEGY. HERE’S WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY. Strategy: A Trio of ‘Firsts’

The first non-GMO-verified manufacturer of animal feed in North America in 2012. The first feed manufacturer in the nation to hold that certification, plus Certified Organic, in 2013.

And the first and only feed company in the nation to be B-Corp certified in 2017 (a certification of for-profit companies that satisfies environmental and social standards).

Scratch and Peck Feeds is all of the above.

It has embraced innovation in its industry ever since Diana Ambauen-Meade started the company in her backyard in Bellingham with a borrowed cement mixer in 2009.

After seven years in Bellingham, the company needed much more space. So, recently they moved from their 15,000-square-foot facility in the Irongate industrial area into a 40,000-square-foot plant in Burlington. The three owners—Diana Ambauen-Meade, husband Dennis Meade, and son Bryon Meade—plus most of the company’s 29 employees still reside in Bellingham and commute.

Scratch and Peck produces feed for poultry, pigs, and goats.

“We use our business as a force for good,” said Marketing Manager Caroline Kinsman.

At the heart of the company’s unique strategy are exclusively regional sourcing and self-milling. “We source all of our grains from organic farmers in the Pacific Northwest, and we mill all of our feeds here, too,” Kinsman said.

“This is virtually unheard of in the feed industry, which is largely international, with sourcing from the commodity market.

We’re doing some pretty cool things for our industry. All are near and dear to our mission.”

Distribution: Win-Win Partnerships

Innovation in working with their customers’ supply chains is the lifeblood of Anderson Paper & Packaging’s (AP&P) approach to wide distribution. The 72-employee company is headquartered in Ferndale, and operates branches in Renton, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

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Photo courtesy of Cascade

“Our DNA is all about creating partnerships with suppliers and customers,” said President Rick Anderson, who founded the Whatcom Top 100 company in 1992. One way they do that, he said, is to standardize and consolidate a customer’s products.

An example: aerospace customers who were shipping items in a variety of different-sized boxes. “We standardized and consolidated their packaging so that their volume went up and their prices went down,” Anderson said. “That’s a double win-win— for them and their customers, and for them and us.”

One customer asked for two boxes for shipping of a two-part product. The company designed one box that held both parts; with a single, better-designed box they could buy in higher quantities, cutting costs. And, they could provide their customers savings and convenience (carrying home only one box). That solution also made it easier for their wholesale customers to fulfill orders and require less shelf space at retail.

Whatcom County-based The Woods Coffee, founded in 2002 by the Herman family of Lynden, is a long-standing customer of Anderson’s. “We sell Wes (Herman) a lot of packaging and supplies,” Anderson said. “We also haul some of his freight up to Canada, because I have two trucks a day going to Canada. That’s an example of the partnerships we create with customers.”

AP&P’s core business has three divisions: packaging (including its own paper manufacturing plant); janitorial; and workplace-safety supplies. For each division, Anderson created a six-segment optimization program. “Supply chain optimization wins business and keeps business going long-term,” Anderson 38 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

said. “That’s different than someone who just sells products online.”

Sales and Marketing: Design Your Own Brace

Cascade Dafo in Ferndale didn’t stop innovating after founder and owner Don Buethorn invented the DAFO, a patented flexible-plastic, lightweight, whole-ankle brace that changed the orthotics industry. Today, extraordinary approaches to sales and marketing keep them out front globally.

Their online presence is exceptionally rich: Social media meshes with their website to drive traffic to products and services. The company employs 280 and actually operates as two organizations: • Cascade Dafo manufacturing in Ferndale, just west of the I-5 Slater Road exit, where they make external support braces and Cascade Prosthetics and Orthotics.

• And clinics with locations in Ferndale (attached to the manufacturing facility) and Mount Vernon where clinicians provide orthotics and prosthetics from all makers.

Orthotists everywhere need continuing education to keep their certification. Cascadedafo.com offers those classes online— for free. “We are at the forefront of that as a manufacturer,” said Loretta Sheldon, Director of Business Development and Education. Cascade Dafo also offers online education for patients, parents, physical therapists, and clinicians around the

technology: valuable data from drones At BP Cherry Point Refinery, drones provide a set of up-close eyes, both inside and outside of the myriad vessels and tanks at the facility. This technology captures views not readily available from the ground, delivers instant information, and can “see” hard-to-reach places inside of its targets. The data that a drone captures in 20 minutes could take months to obtain using conventional methods, according to a BP source most familiar with their use.

During the course of a construction project, drone-collected data also allow more accurate engineering.

Without drones, a close-up inspection could require hours spent on building

scaffolding. “This helps mitigate risk, or helps you build scaffolding more specifically if you do need maintenance there,” said Pamela Brady, BP Cherry Point Refinery’s Director of Northwest Government and Public Affairs. “The interesting thing is how using them inside vessels improves safety and efficiency.”

Footage from drones allows the overlay of construction plans onto actual construction pictures, thus creating valuable documents for use in quality assurance and control.

BP Cherry Point Refinery has been using drones continuously for about a year.

Usage will increase as teams understand and plumb the data that drones provide.

Photo courtesy of BP

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 39

CUSTOMER SERVICE: THE ‘CHEERS’ OF FITNESS In 2000, it was a sleepy little tennis club with 150 members.

Now, Bellingham Training & Tennis Club is wide-awake and bustling with some 700 members. Doug and Robin Robertson, the husband and wife team who bought the business in the new millennium, are transforming the club through innovation in the customer experience.

New ideas in fitness and training, along with the original tennis offerings, have driven the club’s growth. For example, Robin, who wears numerous hats (co-owner, manager, personal trainer, and cycling coach), launched classes for what she calls “functional fitness.” That, she explained, is strength and cardio training that promotes health and independence without injury, even into extended older age.

She also created “Healthy Knees,” an eight-week, stationary-cycling program that preserves and improves joint health.

“No one else in the country is doing Healthy Knees,” Robin said.

It’s an insightful innovation, given the one million knee re-

placements performed every year in the United States—a number that’s expected to grow to 3.48 million by 2030 (source: American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons), with the most rapid increase among those ages 45-64.

Besides a creative approach to fitness, Robin said it’s key to have systems in place that ensure a smooth, enjoyable, and personalized customer experience, leading to repeat business.

“We strive to be the ‘Cheers’ of fitness,” she said, invoking the theme song chorus of the popular TV comedy in a Boston bar, “…where everybody knows your name.”

Remodeling and expansion have factored in. Tennis courts were renovated in 2013; court lighting was upgraded to LEDs in 2016; lobby, locker rooms, cycling studio, and fitness studio were gutted and remodeled last year. A 2,500-square-foot addition and improvements of the building front will be completed by July.

“We want people to have the best experience of their day here,” Robin concluded.

Photo: Scott Book

40 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

“Resumes are lies. We don’t accept them.”

—Paul Akers, Founder and President, FastCap

Photo: Scott Book

world. “Education from the website helps the patient get a better brace,” she said.

The company’s social-media platforms engage users and lead to the website, where a “Creation Station” allows young patients to choose colors for the straps and padding of their braces, and create designs that technicians will embed into the plastic.

“Kids play with the interactive pages to try out different designs,” Sheldon said. “They can show Grandma, or email it to their clinician. No one else has done that. It helps ease any fear a child might have before the initial visit.”

Recruiting: A No-Resumes Approach

“Everything we’re doing is contrary to what everyone else is doing,” said Paul Akers, founder and president of FastCap, a woodworking and product-innovation company in Ferndale.

Founded in 1997, the has 48 employees.

Take recruiting, for example. “Resumes are lies. We don’t accept them,” Akers said. Instead, applicants are asked to speak into their smartphone for one to two minutes about who they are and why FastCap should hire them, and send it as a YouTube link. That might result in an invitation for a Test Day at FastCap. “Everyone here will watch you. If everyone agrees, we’ll offer a Test Week.”

After that, employees meet in a conference room. “If everyone agrees, we confirm: Keep or go home,” Akers said. “All of our people are involved in hiring. Our record is impeccable.”

Other companies have human resource departments, paperwork, processing. “It’s all bull,” Akers said. “Worthless. The only thing that matters is, can that individual work as a team member and contribute?” Employees know that, he said, but an HR director cannot.

“We have people applying from around the world. We have a man coming from Kazakstan; he’ll be here Sunday….”

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 41

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Island Hopping

B

By Crai Bower

Moran State Park, Photo by Mark Gardner

ellingham has long enjoyed a special relationship with the westerly archipelago dating back to the Coastal Salish people, and including such historical highlights as when rumrunners hid in the island coves before slipping into Bellingham Bay come nightfall, during prohibition.

With annual features in The New York Times travel section and reliable positions on most travel publication “Top 10” lists, the San Juan Islands are hardly a secret anymore. Still, their bucket-list popularity should not deter the local traveler from catching up on island time, especially given the convenience of a short commute via Bellingham’s airport, weekday excursions, and inside knowledge about where to go and what to do.

As urban Bellingham continues to grow, the thought of a couple days cycling on Lopez, crabbing off San Juan, and kayaking along the Orcas shoreline becomes even more appealing. Add a country-market stroll, tidepooling, and an exquisite Sunday supper from no less a chef than Christina Orchid and it’s easy to see why having a backyard with the San Juan Islands in it distinguishes Bellingham from just about every other coastal city in America.

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L

Lopez

opez Island itself feels isolated for many reasons. Though certainly one of the ‘Big Three’ and first stop on the Anacortes ferry, it lacks the luxury of Orcas’ Mansion Restaurant at Rosario Resort and the “urban” feel of Friday Harbor on San Juan. It is also the most agrarian of the easily accessed islands; you’ll pass more sheep than cars.

Make time to drive or pedal up-island to Agate Beach County Park, a perfect playground for bounding over rocky outcroppings and seeking out anemones, sea stars, and crabs. Tide pooling combines sleuthing and a keen eye, a perfect task for anyone who’s willing. Overturn a log or rock to watch small red rock crabs quickly wedge themselves between rock and driftwood before digging downward toward safety.

Depart with the rising tide and return to Lopez Village, the island’s sole town and home to its Farmers’ Market, an eclectic assortment of artisans ranging from hand-knit sweaters to a 13-year-old’s raspberry-lemonade stand. You can score fudge samples, listen to some fiddlin’, and laze about the green, soaking in a vibe more reminiscent of an open-air English market than the street markets on the mainland.

No need to schlep your Schwinn, Village Cycles offers the 44 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

widest selection of two-wheeled rides for rent or as part of twoto six-hour guided tours capturing farmland, forest, and Sound views. But before you ride, collect your picnic fare from Vita’s Wildly Delicious, a wonderful alchemy of wine merchant, deli (if balsamic-marinated portobello mushrooms smothered with a sun-dried tomato tapanade can be called deli fare), and delicious baked goods, including a wickedly good lemon tart. And don’t forget a bottle of Lopez Island Vineyard’s Sangiovese.

Keep an eye out for Horse Drawn Farm’s veggie stand while pedaling on Port Stanley Road. Regroup back at Vita’s, especially on Taverna Tuesdays when owner Bruce Botts fires up the wood-burning pizza oven. “Kids, grandparents, dogs, and cats come for fresh pizza and outdoor games,” he says.

“Everyone wants to play the three-feet-tall Jenga set I made out of two-by-fours.”

Like any bohemian enclave, bakeries abound in Lopez Village.

It’s an easy stroll to Holly B’s Bakery for a caffeine-plus pastry punch. Then there’s Isabel’s Espresso, as authentic an bohemian outpost as you’ll find in the state. Turn in at the quaint Edenwild Boutique Inn, a nine-suite former farmhouse, to fully embrace your pastoral pastime.

K

Orcas

ayaking is king on Orcas Island. East Sound and West Sound provide gentle waters ideal for novice kayakers. Several outfitters feature some variation of culinary kayaking excursion. Excursions of a lifetime await at Outdoor Odysseys and Discovery Sea Kayak, both feature 3-to-5-day beer- or wine-tasting trips throughout the 172-island archipelago, departing from Orcas.

Save an hour to scurry up Mt. Constitution, located in 5,252-acre Moran State Park. The 2,399-foot peak, highest in the islands, provides a 360-degree vista of this gorgeous archipelago, mainland’s Mt. Baker, and on a clear day, Mt. Rainier and other volcanoes in the Pacific Rim of Fire. Thirty miles of hiking trails wend their way through Moran, including treks to Cascade Falls, swimming lakes and through oldgrowth forest. Turtleback Mountain Reserve is also worth the visit, as is nearby Shaw Island, especially when taking a bike on the interisland ferry system.

Consider heading out into Strait of Juan de Fuca if your fortunate to visit Orcas during one of the four salmon runs. North Shore Charters offers an eclectic mix of options, from full-day fishing tours to crabbing and even private wildlife tours. Nobody sees as much wildlife as daily fishermen, so trust them to make

the most of a foray into the Marine State Park or just settle into a legendary San Juan Islands sunset cruise.

Back in Eastsound, you’ll find a mellow village somewhere between Lopez Village quiet and Friday Harbor bustle. There’s a lovely array of shops, Saturday Farmer’s Market and, in Doe Bay Wine Company and Island Hoppin’ Brewery, two lovely spots to launch your afternoon, leading up to a classic Orcas Island sunset on the west side of the island.

Orcas Island’s kitchen scene evolves annually, long considered one of the culinary hot spots in the entire Pacific Northwest. The New Leaf Café at Outlook Inn and the Inn at Ship Bay Restaurant purvey fresh takes on sustainably harvested seafood from the region. Do not miss the farm-to-table dinner on Sundays at Red Rabbit Farm. Orcas culinary legend Christina Orchid invites 60 very fortunate souls inside her barn for a 10-course feast, which may include wood-oven-roasted lamb leg, syrah braised short ribs, and all sorts of locally harvested shellfish and vegetables. Make a reservation early if you’re even considering Sunday supper on Orcas.

After dinner, sunset or both, repair to the quaint Outlook Inn or Inn at Ship Bay to cap off a perfectly romantic island day.

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San Juan

T

he biggest question you’ll face during your San Juan Island respite is whether to eat or paddle first. You’ll discover plenty of traditional dockside dining, featuring Dungeness crab and oysters grilled to order. You also can settle into a sea kayak just steps from the ferry terminal.

Numerous ice cream shops serve Lopez Island Ice Cream, further sweetening the island-life ambience.

Mornings here begin at the Rocky Bay Cafe, followed by exploration of the harbour village to check out the maritime aesthetic inside Mystical Mermaid, the lavender essence at Pelindaba Lavender, and kite selections at the eclectic Toy Box. Catch a white-truffle-oil slice of pizza at the Farmers’ Market. Should you miss this Saturday institution, open year-round at the Brickworks, make the effort to visit Bakery San Juan, located near the airport about five miles from town.

Located four miles outside of Friday Harbor, Lakedale Resort at Three Lakes provides every type of rustic lodging imaginable, from lodge rooms, log cabins, platform tents, and campsites to the newest addition—luxury yurts. Reminiscent of a 1950s resort, Lakedale features stocked lakes, self-powered boat rentals, and one of the best “king of the raft” platforms around.

No trip to San Juan Island is complete without exploring

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the great Salish Sea, aka Puget Sound. The University of Washington recognized the rich tidal-zone ecology when zoology professor Trevor Kinkaid established the Friday Harbor Laboratories in 1903. A visit to this marinebiology center provides an ideal introduction to the Cascadia marine biosphere. The San Juan Nature Institute also offers a profilic schedule of lectures, workshops, and other events.

Follow your inspired academic visit with a paddle, sail, or marine mammal tour from one of numerous island outfitters located in Friday Harbor. San Juan Safaris offers group and charter whale-watching excursions, boasting an excellent record for spotting orca. Outdoor Odysseys kayak tours will swoop you to San Juan County Park, the access point to Haro Strait, one of the most reliable habitats for orca in the archipelago. The tours typically break for a beachside brown-bag lunch, San Juan-style—smoked salmon and rhubarb apple crisp from a local farm.

Bluff Restaurant boasts great views and the best eats on San Juan, where flash-fried Washington bull kelp and calamari are served, while you overlook the coast. Rooms in the adjoining contemporary Friday Harbor House inn include a fireplace and two-person Jacuzzi, perfect for cozying up after a breezy Puget Sound paddle.

Getting There One virtue of the many virtues of living in Whatcom County is how ridiculously easy it is to travel to the San Juan archipelago. The Bellair Airport Shuttle conveys passengers 11-times daily from Bellingham to the Anacortes Washington State Ferries Terminal. After years of long ferry lines, the Washington State Ferries initiated a reservation system for the San Juans, so reserve early if you plan to travel by car during the busy season.

San Juan Airlines offers at least three daily scheduled flights—more during peak season—to five locations in the San Juans. Book early for Summer travel. Friday Harbor-based Island Air adds a charter service to meet your time frame. Many passengers ferry and fly one direction each way to carve out the most island time. Both air services depart from Bellingham International Airport.

Bellingham-based San Juan Sailing offers the most romantic passage to the archipelago. Explore each island by day and, but night, return to your berth in one of the many picturesque coves and harbors. San Juan Sailing and other charter-yacht companies offer single and multiday sail- and power-boating excursions.

Photos courtesy of San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, Outdoor Odysseys.

Photographers: Monica Bennett, Jim Maya, Carl Silvernail

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Duty-Free Bargain Hunting in Canada?

BEST ADVICE... EXPERT SAYS FORGET IT

By Mike McKenzie A birdie told you: Take a quick, turnaround trip up through Blaine, or Lynden, or Sumas and shop for some bargains at the duty-free shop in British Columbia, and whip on back home—taking advantage of the low exchange rate for the Canadian dollar.

Possibly a spray bottle of Bvigari Solid Perfume. Perhaps some Robert Mondavi Cabernet, and a couple of bottles of Dos Equis XX Lager while you’re at it. Or, make it a Ballentine’s day for some 30-year aged Scotch. And, in trying to create your little cache cow, it’s so small that, shoot, why even tell the customs agent?

Take a deep breath before you do. Look in the mirror and say, “Don’t. Do. It.” That shopping suggestion is for the birds, according to an expert we talked to at length about doing business and shopping transactions across the border. Never, he said, attempt to pull a fast one with a fast trip thinking that you’ll be okay.

Len and Marcia Beckett, a husband-wife team, have owned and operated Rugosa Trading Inc. in Blaine since 2007, and Len has been involved in cross-border, retail commerce for decades. They put the know in no-no when, as consultants, they’re advising clients about export and 48 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

import shipping and trade.

“That’s misguided advice,” Len Beckett said in a conversation about doing in-and-out business in Canada, individually or as a company.

“If you’re a savvy shopper,” he said, and if upon returning you “...answer questions honestly…”—i.e, declare whatever you purchased, and stay within the allowable limits for duty-free on certain products during a visit of 48 hours or longer, say a getaway to Victoria on Vancouver Island ($800 limit), or a quick day trip to White Rock or Fort Langley ($250)—then maybe, just maybe, you’ll strike a bargain here and there. Or certainly you can enjoy a good meal at 80 cents on the dollar.

Beckett said the key to that, or any casual shopping as a non-resident of Canada, is simple: “Do the math.” For example, he pointed out that a bottle of any given spirits might result in a cheap buy because at the duty-free shop it’s available in 40-ounce bottles, instead of the 27-ounce buy at your local retail store in the U.S. Things also can get tricky because of distinctions as to which agencies lord over which products. While most products, you would assume, fall under U.S. Customs

regulations, if you try to bring any beef or fruits and vegetables into the U.S. it’s a no-no, because you fall under scrutiny of U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations.

Worse, you might innocently try to sneak in a little bottle of a hardto-find perfume and get caught and suddenly find yourself dealing with ATF agents. “Perfume has alcohol in it,” Beckett reminded us. That’s alcohol, as in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms federal law enforcement. You thought you were just saving a few bucks on smellgood, and now you’re a moonshiner and in deep frou frou.

Well, not as deep as, say, a crate of firearms in a hidden compartment, but subject to a steep fine. Simply put, you don’t know what you don’t know.

“With careful research beforehand,” Beckett said, “you might go up on a short trip to find some good deals, especially in clothing, or alcohol beverages, or a few other items. But when you do the math, be sure to factor in the cost of gas and what your time is worth.”

When asked point-blank whether it’s usually worth the trip just to run up north across the border to bargain hunt, he didn’t mince words: “No.” In general, Beckett said, “Movement in retail trade across the border, both ways, is good. When the Canadian dollar is hurting, movement slows down coming south, even though Canadians can still find savings in commodities like gas, milk, and other dairy, etc.”

Assuming you’re reporting and answering Custom’s questions honestly about your trip, then “It’s all based on intent,” Beckett said, “such as how much you buy, whether you’re buying for personal consumption or to resell in retail, and how long you stay on your trip. If you don’t have a lot of experience with cross-border shopping, it’s not worth trying to save a few bucks.

“Basically, a turnaround at the flagpole doesn’t really work.” P+

A waterfront jewel on Bellingham Bay Exceptional Venue for Corporate Retreats Luxurious Guest Rooms | Fine Waterfront Dining Recently Voted #1 Luxury Hotel by Evening Magazine HotelBellwether.com | 360-392-3100 MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 49

With Tax Cuts, Time to Start Planning Carefully VSH ACCOUNTING PARTNER KATHY HERNDON

QA and

Interview by Mike McKenzie

A

fter graduating from Sehome High, I earned a degree in accounting from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, and I’ve been in the business now for 28 years. VSH was formed in 1998— we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary. I lived in Seattle 16 years, but moved back home and became a partner in VSH. New tax cuts: How big a deal are they?

The most important thing to know about federal taxes in the new tax legislation is that the last time Congress reduced taxes was in 1986. So we’ll experience the lowest tax rates we’ve seen in a long, long time, beginning this year. That presents a lot of opportunities for both businesses and individuals.

How have you spread the word?

At VSH, we’ve been doing a major educational push. So far, we’ve put on 10 seminars to let people know how the changes affect them. The impacts will be significant across-the-board, on the international, large-corporation, small-business, and individual levels.

We began the seminars with more than 100 of our own clients. But I know many more people who need the education.

That also goes for organizations, too, like the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber, the Skagit Chamber, real estate organizations, independent professionals in every field, and even nonprofits.

Your opinion—are the cuts positive or negative?

My overall assessment of the tax legislation: It’s great. Start with global, for example, because U.S. companies and individuals work all over the world. U.S. tax rates for corporations was a whopping 35%; that will come way, way down to

50 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

21%. Basically, everybody will feel the tax relief in a positive way.

The effects are especially significant in international business, and impact on global economics. We’re seeing many planning opportunities for our cross-border clients as they react to the impact of U.S. tax cuts.

“TWO DIFFERENCES (BETWEEN PERSONAL AND BUSINESS TAXES), PRIMARILY: CORPORATIONS WILL BE TAXED AT A 21% FLAT RATE. FOR INDIVIDUALS, EVERYTHING IS SMUSHED TOGETHER.” What’s the biggest fallout for business?

Many companies are responding by redistributing the savings as employee benefits.

Boeing, for example, announced it is putting $100 million into personnel training. Other companies are paying bonuses, reinvesting in IRAs, increasing minimum wages. In addition to helping employees, companies are buying more equipment, expanding, and so on. Essentially, tax cuts have made business competitive again, domestically and globally.

Describe your main message.

The biggest message we’re sending is that everyone has a lot of planning to do.

Study the new tax code, consider how it impacts your company and you, and how to plan strategies around it.

Is it simpler code, or complicated?

The new tax legislation got pushed through Congress very, very quickly.

There’s not a lot of thought process behind it. We still need a lot of clarification of definitions and rules. Some forms are not even available yet, even though new codes are effective now. Again, that’s why immediate planning is so important.

A big opportunity during the planning is defining what kind of entity a company wants to be. The four major types in the U.S. market are Limited Liability Corp Q&A Continued on Page 62 MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 51

Information You Pick, at the Locations You Pick, in One Daily E-Mail or online on your Smart Device all the time.

NO POP UP ad’s NO Banner Junk, NO Side Bar Pictures. Just the Info You Want and Need for your Day All in One Spot.

52 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

Location Bellingham: Business Annual Meeting • Business Weekly Meetings Business Monthly Meetings • Kiwanis Club Meetings Fine Dining • Baseball Games College West Coast League (BELLS) Location Safeco Field Seattle: Baseball Games Pro Teams

PULSE

HOURS AFTER BOOKS + MORE

LOTS OF WHEE! IN SKI TO SEA A curious spectator’s guide

By Mike McKenzie

Time to head out to watch Ski to Sea, coming right up—May 27, just like every Sunday of the Memorial Day Weekend over the last 45 years. But, with seven relay events and hundreds of participants, what and where is best to watch? The prevailing thought is—so many choices, so little parking.

Let’s begin where it ends, lured by one little descriptor on the event website in the Kayak section: “It is great fun to watch a kayaker hop out of his kayak and try to run up the hill to the finish after his legs have fallen asleep.”

Seriously, try start-to-finish: “Zuanich Park at Squalicum Harbor for the start of around 500 colorful kayaks.” Or, Boulevard Park as they float past (as their legs fall asleep). And/or, Marine Park for the grand finish of the whole kit-and-kaboodle. And if you’re on the water yourself to watch, you could create a wake, bad for a kayak, so stay back.

Speaking of colorful, check out the CycloCross Bike action at

Photos by: Kenneth Kearney, Burke Hovde, Steve Christofferson, Dylan Hart, Travis Church, Scott Melnik

BEVERAGES / CLOTHING /

one of the easiest venues for watching any of the seven legs, Hovander Park in Ferndale, with lots of parking.

Another strange notation by event organizers says of the Canoe race, “One of the most hazardous parts of the river is the whirlpool near the north end of Noon Road.” Who doesn’t love a good whirlpool hazard. Otherwise, good vantage points for watching canoes: the river crossings on Hannegan and on Guide Meridian, Ferndale parks overlooking the river, and the exchange area in Hovander Park.

And there’s yet another little, devilish tease: “The (canoe) finish is fun because the exhausted canoeists must carry their canoe across the finish line before they hand the (relay) chip to the mountain biker.”

Obviously, there’s much more. For additional details on observing one or multiple facets of Ski to Sea, go to that voluminous, aforementioned website, skitosea.com. P+

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 53

looks PULSE AFTER HOURS

It’s Summer Somewhere

At press time, we here at Business Pulse have dreams of whiling away sunny afternoons while bobbing on Lake Whatcom with a cold beer. Well, when fantasizing about the choices of flotation devices available, one must also consider a refresher to the old summer wardrobe. Of course casual and comfortable is the order of the season, so get out and get gussied up­—summer only comes once a year.

Shwood Canby Cone Wood Sunglasses with Polarized lens, $295 Paradise Key Tropical Print shirt, $34

Oakley Gravity polo, $65 Royal Robbins Active Traveler Stretch short, $65

Oakley Velocity pant, $90

SeaVees Flannel 3/4 top shoes, $108

Rumpl, The Original Puffy Blanket travel throw, $129 Photographer: Tiffany Brooks | Stylist: Maggie Stafford

54 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

SeaVees leather tennis shoes $98

Vivi Designs acrylic scarf, $19

Fjällräven Jacket, $225 Kavu “Cookies n Crème” tank, $55

Royal Robbins “Traveler Tank Dress,” $85

Sorel Joanie Lace shoes, $150 Wildfox sweatshirt, $80 Columbia Silver Ridge II sleeveless shirt, $43 Toad & Co. “Transition 21” skirt, $69

Chaco Abbey sandals, $70

Royal Robbins eco-“Traveler Pant,” $80

Special thanks to Jenna Wadkins

and her crew at Outbound in Fairhaven for providing all the items shown here.

All items available at outboundalways.com

Carve Designs, organic cotton blouse, $62

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 55

PULSE AFTER HOURS

LOCALS ONLY

T

he onset of Spring has a beer drinker’s fancy turning to the lighter side of the spectrum. We begin tasting consistent citrus notes and find smoother more session-friendly brews in our pints… some have even been described as flowery. The tasting panel at Business Pulse has taken on the arduous task of imbibing in some of our local favorites. Here are a half-dozen that will not disappoint.

Mo’s Rotating Saison, Atwood Ales (ABV 5.8%) A refreshing saison with mild spice and fruit, this seasonally influenced saison features rotating ingredients grown right on their farm, including 100% estate-grown hops.

Wonderale Belgian Blond, Wander Brewing (ABV 6.0%) Belgian Abbey yeast combines with imported malts and aromatic

56 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

hops, resulting in a flowery earthiness.

Doppel Bock Lager, Chuckanut Brewery (ABV 7.4%) Chuckanut’s Doppelbock is an extra-strong, dark-brown lager that’s aged for eight weeks at 29 degrees and is full flavored with a deceptively smooth finish. Be forewarned (note the ABV!), it’s dangerously easy to drink!

Ski to Sea Race Day IPA, Boundary Bay Brewery (ABV 6%) A very traditional American IPA. With a strong citrus-forward hoppyness, complemented with a touch of sweetness. Available now through the week of the race.

Frances Farmer Saison, Aslan Brewing Co. (ABV 5.8%) Made in the Dupont style, this classic representation of a farmhouse

ale is light in color. Faint notes of bubblegum are washed away with hints of naval oranges, making this beer quite refreshing.

Kulshan Pilsner German-Style Lager, Kulshan Brewing Co. (ABV: 4.9 %) Kulshan Brewing Co. raises a glass to the men and women who pioneered this classic session beer in 1842. Crisp and refreshing with clean and balanced bitterness from floral, bright, and spicy Noble hops, this lager is our tribute to their hard work, precision, and good taste. Prost. P+

Thursdays only!

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 57

reads PULSE AFTER HOURS The Value of Innovation: Knowing, Proving, and Showing the Value of Innovation and Creativity Jack J. Phillips and Patricia Pulliam Phillips Innovation is the life blood of practically every organization. It drives growth, development, and prosperity for many organizations and geographical areas. This book demonstrates how to measure the success of innovation in all types of organizations.

In the last decade, there have been tremendous investments in innovation by companies, cities, states, countries, universities, non-governmental organizations, and even nonprofits. With the magnitude of this emphasis, the sponsors and stakeholders demand to know the value of these programs. The Value of Innovation: Knowing, Proving, and Showing the Value of Innovation and

Creativity shows step-by-step how to measure their impact and return on investment (ROI).

The process involves six types of data: reaction, learning, application, impact, ROI, and intangibles. Data are collected, analyzed, and reported using a systematic logic model. Conservative standards create results that are both CEO and CFO friendly. This proven process has been used in 5,000 organizations and this new book adapts the process directly to this critical area of innovation, showing examples and case studies.

(January 16, 2018 Wiley-Scrivener) Hardcover from $54: Available to order Village Books, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

The New Science of Radical Innovation: The Six Competencies Leaders Need to Win in a Complex World Sunnie Giles Discover a groundbreaking, science-based approach to leadership that generates radical innovation for dramatic and permanent results.

Today’s business arena is undergoing a revolutionary transformation, equivalent in impact to the Industrial Revolution, that is defined by extraordinary levels of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity). While most traditional companies still are built for the oldworld economy, the new mandate from VUCA requires a fresh leadership approach. Today, businesses must strive for radical innovation game-changing practices that bring about stunning advances and financial gain; businesses that don’t could become irrelevant overnight.

Dr. Sunnie Giles is a new-generation expert on radical innovation who takes the mystery out of what it is and transforms organizations into ones fit to deliver it. Her in-depth research reveals that applying concepts from neuroscience, complex-systems approach, and quantum mechanics can help leaders catalyze radical innovation rapidly. Giles’ breakthrough leadership-development program, called Quantum Leadership, is the key to survival in the today’s VUCA market, with huge consequences for organizations’ bottom lines.

(April 10, 2018, BenBella Books) Hardcover from $19.65: Available to order Village Books, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Blue Ocean Shift W. Chan Kim (Author) and Renée Mauborgne Drawing on more than a decade of new work, the authors show you how to move beyond competition, inspire your team’s confidence, and achieve new growth. By combining the insights of human psychology with practical market-creating tools and realworld guidance, they deliver the definitive guide to lifting yourself, your team, and your organization to new heights of confidence, market creation, and growth. They also show why non-disruptive creation is as important as disruption in achieving new growth.

Blue Ocean Shift is packed with all-new research and examples of how leaders in di58 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

verse industries and organizations made the shift and created new markets by applying the process and tools outlined in the book.

Whether you’re a cash-strapped start-up or a large, established company, nonprofit or national government, you’ll learn how to move from “red” to “blue” oceans in a way that builds your people’s confidence and belief that they own and drive the process. Blue Ocean Shift is indispensable for anyone committed to building a compelling future.

(September 26, 2017, Hachette Books) Hardcover from $19.04: Available to order Village Books, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

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WHATCOM + SKAGIT COUNTY GOLF GUIDE Whatcom County Golf Courses ADDRESS

COURSE

WEBSITE

Bald Eagle Golf Club

1350 Pelican Place, Point Roberts

baldeaglegc.com

Bellingham Golf & Country Club*

3729 Meridian Street, Bellingham

bellinghamgcc.com

Birch Bay Village Golf Club

8169 Cowichan Road, Blaine

bbvgolfproshop.com

Dakota Creek Golf & Country Club

3258 Haynie Road, Custer

dakotacreekgolf.com

Grandview Golf Course

7738 Portal Way, Custer

golfatgrandview.com

Homestead Farms Golf Resort

115 East Homestead Blvd., Lynden

homesteadgolfclub.com

Lake Padden Golf Course

4882 Samish Way, Bellingham

lakepaddengolf.com

Loomis Trail Golf Club

9565 Semiahmoo Parkway, Blaine

semiahmoo.com

North Bellingham Golf Course

205 West Smith Road, Bellingham

northbellinghamgolf.com

Raspberry Ridge Golf Course & Grill

6827 Hannegan Road, Everson

raspberryridgegc.com

Semiahmoo Golf & Country Club

8720 Semiahmoo Parkway, Blaine

semiahmoo.com

Shuksan Golf Club

1500 East Axton Road, Bellingham

shuksangolf.com

Sudden Valley Golf Club

4 Clubhouse Circle, Bellingham

suddenvalleygolfcourse.com

* Private Course

Skagit County Golf Courses ADDRESS

COURSE

WEBSITE

Avalon Golf Links

19345 Kelleher Road, Burlington

avalonlinks.com

Eaglemont Golf Course

4800 Eaglemont Drive, Mount Vernon

eaglemontgolf.com

Gateway Golf Course

1288 Fruitdale Road, Sedro-Wolley

gatewaygolfandrestaurant.com

Overlook Golf Course

17523 State Route 9, Mount Vernon

overlookgc.com

Skagit Golf & Country Club*

16701 Country Club Drive, Burlington

skagitgolfclub.com

Swinomish Golf Links

12518 Christianson Road, Anacortes

swinomishgolflinks.com

* Private Course

Save on Golf Your pass to sweet deals on tee times at courses throughout Washington and beyond.

Sign up at wagolfpass.com. Play more golf.

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FREE WSGA member benefit!

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WHATCOM + SKAGIT COUNTY GOLF GUIDE North Bellingham Golf Course The 18 hole course has been designed to naturally integrate the open field qualities of the historic Wilder Ranch by Ted Locke. With the introduction of flowering meadows and gently rolling fairways. Golfers will enjoy the panoramic views of Mt. Baker while being challenged by the prevailing gale winds sweeping across the landscape of this “Real Scottish Style Links Course.”

205 W. Smith Road, Bellingham 360.398.8300 northbellinghamgolf.com

Signature Hole: Hole 16 is the longest and toughest par 3 on the course. It plays over a deep gully with a creek that wraps around the left side of a huge and undulating green.

A Hole-in-One will win you $10,000 if you pay a $5 entry fee at check-in!

Course Stats: Visit northbellinghamgolf.com/-scorecard(2)

Raspberry Ridge Centrally located in Whatcom County, Raspberry Ridge Golf Course Is the Pacific NW’s best year-round golf course! This 9-hole gem designed by Robert Overdorf Sr. is one the most respected & popular golf courses in the area! Please contact us for your next company golf outing or our corporate golf membership, available to share with your employees.

Course Stats: Tees Par Yards Rating Slope Men 68 5,650 67.6 122 Women 68 4,640 66.6 112

6827 Hannegan Road, Everson 360.354.3029 raspberryridgegc.com

Signature Hole: Hole 3 is a par 3 with a sand trap in the middle of the green and also sand traps surrounding green.

Swinomish Golf Links • • •

12518 Christianson Road, Anacortes 360.293.3444 swinomishgolflinks.com

• • • • • • •

55 new Yamaha golf carts Defined fairways with native grass accents Traditionally sized greens that are smooth and consistent Borders Similk Bay and Fidalgo Bay Beautiful views of Mount Baker Golfer-friendly layout PGA instructor with 30 years of experience Driving range with 11 stations Professional staff that values the golf experience TruGolf simulator that can analyze golf swings and allows the golfer to play virtual rounds indoors MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 61

Connecting to the Business World from Bellingham

By Mary Louise Van Dyke Pack your bag. You’re meeting with clients in Chicago and Los Angeles next month. No video conferencing. This requires faceto-face time.

You begin brainstorming travel solutions out of Whatcom County, other than perching on the wing in super-economy class. Or thumbing a ride on I-5, briefcase and laptop bag in hand. During your search for flights to Chicago and LA, you seek all options from three major airports in the area—Seattle-Tacoma (SeaTac), Bellingham (BLI), and Vancouver, B.C. (YVR)—and you even find another surprise option through Canada in the end (YXX).

Flying out of Bellingham International Airport is for the birds.

No non-stops to Chicago, neither O’Hare nor Midway, or daily to LA (neither LAX nor John Wayne Airport-Orange County).

Allegiant has some limited non-stop options to LAX. Later this year, Paine Field in Everett, with its new airport terminal, will offer other possibilities, via Alaska, United, and Southwest.

Fares vary wildly; an online service such as Kayak, Priceline, or Travelocity will sort through those for you. You’ll find many variables, and you’ll want to do the math on: • Comparative flight times, including layovers and arrivals; • Costs of getting dropped off vs. driving and parking at your chosen airport of departure; • Costs of parking in Bellingham and choosing between shuttle bus options; • Cost of parking in the departure airports’ garages; • Costs of park-and-shuttle lots near airports, with van or bus transport; • And—most expensive but most convenient, door-to-door— there’s Uber, Lyft, and taxicabs.

Dive in...

PARK AND TAKE A BUS OR CAB Airporter Shuttle charges $40 one-way, or $76 round-trip, from Bellingham to SeaTac. You can park at Bellingham Airport ($10 for 14-24 hours) or Four Points by Sheraton Bellingham 62 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

Hotel & Conference Center ($5 a day).

A great low-budget deal: If you don’t mind loading, unloading, loading, and unloading your bag(s), try BoltBus going from Bellingham Cordata bus station to Seattle, ranging from just $10-$15. But it leaves you off downtown. From there, you can get to SeaTac by Uber or Lyft (starting at $28), or, cheapskate-style, “Ride the Wave”—on the Sound Transit Express bus ($2.75-$3.75) or Link light rail ($2.25-$3.25). Fares depend on how far you travel, and discounts apply to youth, low income, senior, and disabled. Plan on about 45 minutes to an hour of travel once you’ve gotten off the BoltBus from Bellingham. Or another possibility: Sound Transit offers free parking for passengers at 60 locations.

Quick Shuttle transports travelers between Bellingham International and the Vancouver, B.C. airport. Fares are $29 (U.S.) one-way, and $49 (U.S.) round-trip. Rates for leaving your car at BLI vary.

Want door-to-door? Yellow Cab charges $2.50 for pick-up and $.30 for each additional 1/9th mile. That totals $249 to SeaTac and $199 to Vancouver. Similarly, Uber and Lyft fares start at $180 from Bellingham to SeaTac. Expensive? Maybe.

Maybe not. When you calculate the cost of parking for the work week, and cost of driving your own vehicle to SeaTac and parking there, and the perceived cost of time and convenience, hmmm….

Oh, and Whatcom Transit Authority’s Route 3 goes past the Bellingham airport. For $1 you can get to the airport without having to park. But do you live near a convenient bus stop? And, remember why bags are called LUG-gage.

FLY OUT OF BELLINGHAM BLI is convenient to begin travels on Alaska/Horizon, San Juan Air, and Allegiant. You’ll almost always have a change of planes in Seattle. The additional flight cost and/or layover times might negatively outweigh the convenience.

The exception: Allegiant Airlines can soar you directly from Bellingham to LA in about three hours, provided you fly on Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday.

DRIVE TO SEATAC First off, the drive either through or around Seattle is brutal much of the time. Then, you pay through the nose if you park at the SeaTac terminal garage at the daily rate ($24) or the discounted weekly rate ($130).

A search online for SeaTac-area, secured lots and hotels reveals bargain offers of parking only, or stay-and-fly, commonly requiring advanced reservations.

Pricing ranges from as low as $5.98 a day up to $13.95 and higher. They all shuttle you to the airport.

DRIVE TO VANCOUVER, B.C. YVR features 50-plus carriers. The airport website suggests you pre-book parking, which is often full. Parking for a week ranges from $96-$236.50 (U.S.).

Gentle reminder: If you route by way of Canada, remember to take proof of your U.S. citizenship.

Confused enough with all these options? Verizon’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa couldn’t help you?

Then, schedule by finger-tap.

Wow, check out this obscure, revealing site, Rome2rio.com, that provides a simple picture of your travel options: “There are five ways to get from Bellingham to Los Angeles by plane (LAX or Burbank), bus, train, or car,” it says. It compares travel time (3:51-38:15) and fares ($110-$730), and step-by-step directions to book.

Chicago? Nine ways, ranging from $154$874, and 7-48 hours. This included two flight connections out of Bellingham, and a couple of tempting routes through Canada.

One of those might never have crossed your mind—flying from Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) just across the border north of Sumas. You can choose from inexpensive flights to O’Hare and LAX, but only connecting flights with 7-9 hours of travel time, not counting the drive to Abbotsford (29 miles), the border wait, and parking ($54/week).

Or, you can relax on an Amtrak train from Bellingham to Vancouver International, and then fly to O’Hare for as low as $207 U.S. In the end, you find all this exhausting. Maybe even more so than the travel itself, right? Rather than sorting through all these options and consuming the amount of time it would take you to walk to Chicago—go old-fashioned: Call a travel agent….

MAY/JUNE 2018 BUSINESSPULSE.COM | 63

Q & A Continued from Page 49 (LLC), C-Corp, S-Corp, and Nonprofit.

You need to determine which is most favorable for taxation purposes.

What are the differences?

A C-Corp pays its own taxes while in an S-Corp the business isn’t taxed and the income is reported on the owner’s personal tax returns. We help clients determine which type is going to benefit the company the most.

It’s important for everybody to find out how it affects you personally. In business, ask yourself, “What type of entity should I be? How much income do I need?

Where am I going to see the most tax benefit within a given structure?”

How do business and personal differ?

Two differences, primarily. Corporations will be taxed at a 21% flat rate. For individuals, everything is smushed together. And there are distinct differences in partnerships, Schedule C, S-corp, C-Corp, LLC, and nonprofits.

The “postcard” narrative—really?

Yes, it’s been stated that you’ll be able to file your taxes on forms the size of a postcard. That might happen, but it’s going to take a while.

Are the changes easy to understand?

Teeny nuances have changed and make it very necessary to ask a lot of questions. For example, the standard deduction for married, filing jointly, doubled to $24,000, but the personal exemption of $4,050 for each individual is gone.

What is the result?

It means that fewer taxpayers—about an estimated 3%—now will itemize.

Cont #WHIRLS1090D9

What are some basic premises?

Property and state tax are limited to a $10,000 deduction. Moving expenses, gone. Mortgage interest deduction, limited. And some other past deductions have been capped, as well.

We keep hearing “simplified,” but is it...?

It is simplified overall, but still complicated. We have a history of defining “this

64 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM MAY/JUNE 2018

means this” through court cases determining clarifications. Now, with tax cuts, every day is new history. What we get every day from the IRS will change things as the forms are forthcoming.

What’s the big takeaway from this tax cut?

Planning, planning, planning.

The planning opportunities are exciting. Everything feels more exciting. People will save money. Individuals’ tax rates will go down, and paychecks will increase.

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MORE TAX CUT CONFUSION? Advisor Perspectives is the leading interactive publisher for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), wealth managers, and financial advisors. It published an article online April 16 stating that the new federal tax cuts “created a media frenzy and widespread confusion.” The article listed the following “individual tax changes at a high level” resulting from the new Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA): • Highest tax bracket is reduced to 37% versus the prior 39.6%.

• The standard deduction is doubled to $12,000 for singles and $24,000 for married couples.

• Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) exemptions are increased.

• The estate tax exemption is doubled to almost $11 million per person.

• Personal exemptions are eliminated.

• The mortgage interest deduction for new purchases of main and second homes is now limited to a maximum principal of $750,000—and deductions for home-equity interest are eliminated.

• Miscellaneous itemized deductions, including tax-preparation fees, investment-management fees, employee business expenses and professional dues, have been eliminated.

The article also offered practical tips for minimizing taxes. Here are the top three: • Watch withholding.

• Determine whether you will itemize or claim standard deduction.

• Consider bunching deductions…. every other year (alternating with taking the standard deduction).

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