Business Pulse Magazine: Spring 2014

28TH Whatcom Business Person of the Year, March 26

WWU President Bruce Shepard: The business of academia

MAGAZINE Spring 2014

How to build an empire &

keep family first Windermere dominates: 40% market share

Dan Washburn, CEO Windermere Real Estate/Whatcom

Bringing home the bacon Hempler grows to $30 million

Teeing off in ‘14

Whatcom golf caters to Canadians and youth

Estimating environmental risk How it impacts you

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Table of Contents

Duane Scholten, CEO, displays one of the major-brand pieces of equipment that has helped his company grow from scratch on a 20% interest loan to $19 million in sales, with 9,000 customers. Scholten’s Equipment is one of four finalists for Whatcom Small Business of the Year. (photo by Joella Ortega)

Cover Story: Lifetime Achievement

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The pull of family trumped the pull of the corporate ladder for Dan and Sharon Washburn when he had a chance to move around within IBM as a young executive on the rise. Instead, he helped grow two businesses in hometown Seattle, then a magnet called first Grandchild drew the Washburns to Bellingham and into the real-estate business where their Windermere network now dominates the Whatcom County market. (Staff Photo)

The One

Start-up Upstarts

The prestigious Business Person of the Year nominee list glowed, and it narrowed to these four: builder of a thriving neighborhood family drugstore, Mike Hoagland; driving force behind the huge grant-giving Whatcom Community Foundation, Mauri Ingram; creator of a global business that manufactures electric equipment for boats, Scott Renne, and the second-generation dominator of the local automobile industry, Rick Wilson.

This year’s finalists for best businesses that opened since Jan. 1, 2011, include one taking a ‘Q’ from the environment in the Laundromat, one transforming $2 airport parking into a web of vehicle services (cab, limo, party bus, detailing), one brewing up a storm of quaffable pleasure, and one taking marketing and advertising to new digital realms of innnovation.

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Small Biz, Large Impact

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The final lineup of Small Business of the Year puts a spotlight on hot tubs and fireplaces, all-you-need insurance coverage, tractors and harvesters, and a tiny island inn with a large draw of foodies from all across America (and some abroad) to award-winning dinner.

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Table of Contents

Masters of Meat-making

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The Hempler’s brand of premium meats, bearing the family signatures, sizzles throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Their selectivity and excellence have spread them into national distribution with partners. They’re nit-picky about pure, natural ingredients. Grandpa would be proud of the heights the family has risen to in the world of bacon, sausage, and ham lovers during the last 80 years. (Photo courtesy of Hempler Foods Group)

Whatcom Golf: Loonie Tunes

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A substantial number of the golfers who tee it up at the county’s 13 courses drove across the border from B.C. to stretch their dollar, providing a huge boost to the economy of golf countywide. A visit with six golf operations revealed that the Canuck buck plays at anywhere from less than 10% at one course to upward of 80% at another, but they’re all looking for creative marketing to stimulate interest for every recreational golfer.

All-Vol, Standing Tall

Personally Speaking

Guest Columns

The Mt. Baker Chapter serves local Red Cross emergency needs, as designed – but its outreach stretches far and wide when disaster strikes.

Local volunteers take care of neighbors, yes, but also answer calls of distress in places like a bridge collapse on I-5, and a hurricane in New Jersey.

Dr. Bruce Shepard covers the business bases of serving as a university president, and how a strong economic approach strengthens Western Washington’s academia and its bond with the community at large. Good listening, he said, is the key….

The right to water in Whatcom County rests with some highcourt decisions, and is the topic of two columns this edition. Other topics range from teenagers’ minimum wage problems, to the environmental-correctness of beekeeping and of risk management, to the power of respect for workers in Lean operations. And, of course, our regular Tech in the Fast Lane insights.

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M A G A Z I N E The Publication of The Whatcom Business Alliance Managing Editor: Mike McKenzie Graphic Designer: Adam Wilbert

Tony Larson Ken Mann Todd Myers Mt. Baker Chapter/Red Cross Erin Shannon

Feature Writers: Pamela Bauthues Steve Hortegas Sherri Huleatt Lydia Love Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy Joella Ortega

Cover Photo: Mike McKenzie

Special Contributors: Roger Almskaar Big Fresh Randall Benson Don Brunell

Courtesy Photos: Blue Sea Systems (Scott Lechner) Hempler Food Group LLC LaserPoint Awards

6 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Photography: Lydia Love Mike McKenzie Joella Ortega

Todd Myers, Beekeeper Mt. Baker Chapter/Red Cross Red Rokk Interactive Sudden Valley G&CC Shuksan Golf Club WWU (Matthew Anderson) Ad Sales: Coni Pugh Randall Sheriff Subscriptions: Janel Ernster Administration: Danielle Larson

For editorial comments and suggestions, please write editor@businesspulse.com Business Pulse Magazine is the publication of the Whatcom Business Alliance. The magazine is published at 2423 E. Bakerview Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226. (360) 671-3933. Fax (360) 671-3934. The yearly subscription rate is $20 in the USA, $48 in Canada. For a free digital subscription, go to businesspulse.com or whatcombusinessalliance.com.

Entire contents copyrighted © 2014 – Business Pulse Magazine. All rights reserved.

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

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Troy Muljat Owner, NVNTD Inc. Managing Broker, Muljat Group

Jane Carten President/Director Saturna Capital Corp.

Board Chair Jeff Kochman President/CEO Barkley Company

Doug Thomas President / CEO Bellingham Cold Storage

Marv Tjoelker Partner/CEO Larson Gross PLLC

Dave Adams, President Emergency Reporting

Randi Axelsson, Sales Manager Silver Reef Hotel, Casino & Spa

Pam Brady Director, NW Govt. & Public Affairs, BP Cherry Point

Janelle Bruland President / CEO Management Services NW

Bruce Clawson Senior VP, Commercial Banking Wells Fargo

Scott Corzine Major Accounts Executive, Puget Sound Energy

Kevin DeVries CEO Exxel Pacific, Inc.

Greg Ebe President/CEO Ebe Farms

Andy Enfield Vice President Enfield Farms

John Huntley President / CEO Mills Electric, Inc.

Sandy Keathley Previous Owner K & K Industries

Paul Kenner Executive VP SSK Insurance

Bob Pritchett President & CEO Logos Bible Software

Brad Rader Vice President/General Manager Rader Farms, Inc.

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Leading Off Tony Larson | President, Whatcom Business Alliance The Whatcom Business Alliance is a member organization made up of businesses of every size and shape, from every industry. The WBA enhances the quality of life throughout Whatcom County by promoting a healthy business climate that preserves and creates good jobs.

Without business success, no community prosperity

A

t our most recent WBA board meeting we invited a panel of experts to discuss what could be the biggest issue facing Whatcom County over the next decade – water rights. Who has the rights, who needs them, and how will it impact agriculture, dairy, real estate, and all property owners?

WBA board member and land-use attorney Jon Sitkin moderated the discussion; he’s a partner at Chmelik Sitkin & Davis, P.S., Attorneys at Law. We just scratched the surface, but the WBA will plan many future opportunities to keep you informed on these pages and through various events.

Two guest editorials about water rights appear in this edition.

We invite you to join us at our board meetings for these lively discussions on issues important to business in Whatcom County. You can check our meeting schedule on our website.

We believe strongly that it’s also important to recognize businesses doing good things.

If you’re a Whatcom Business Alliance member, or you’ve attended one of the many WBA business events, you’ve probably heard a simple phrase that sums up how WBA members feel about our community: “Without business success, there is no community prosperity.” When local businesses 10 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

are successful, our community prospers. When they are not, our community suffers.

The WBA is committed to facilitating business success in every way possible. A small part of that comes from recognizing and lifting up the rising stars, pillars, and business icons of the Whatcom County business community. We do that at an annual event, in it’s 28th year, coming up March 26 in the Event Center at Silver Reef.

We will recognize and honor business people and companies for their successful efforts in creating jobs and enhancing the economic and civic vitality of our community.

The finalists in three different categories are profiled in this edition. The winners will be announced the evening of the

event.

The Start-up Business of the Year finalists consist of companies created within the last three years that have operated successfully and have great prospects for the future.

The Small Business of the Year finalists have operated successfully for many years and must have fewer than 100 employees.

Companies like these represent the backbone of our local economy.

The Business Person of the Year is an open category intended to recognize leaders from private or nonprofit organizations who deserve recognition for building their business, creating jobs, and taking leadership roles in making our community a better place to live and work. The size of their company doesn’t impact their eli-

At the WBA monthly board meeting a roomful of members and guests listened to a water rights panel discuss the hottest issue of the next decade: (from left) Doug Allen from the state Dept. of Ecology, Perry Eskridge representing the Whatcom County Association of Realtors, attorney and WBA board member Jon Sitkin (moderator), and berry producer Marty Maberry. (Staff Photo)

gibility to be recognized in this category.

In addition, we will crown the winner of the Whatcom County Lifetime Business Achievement Award. This annual award goes to a person who has made significant contributions to our community over a long period of time. This year, Dan Washburn, the CEO of Windermere Real Estate in Bellingham, receives that award.

We have a profile of him within these pages, as well.

If you were to read the names on the Lifetime Business Achievement Perpetual Trophy, it would read as a Who’s Who in Whatcom County business history.

Many of the companies they built continue with positive impact in the county today. Companies like Morse Steel, Lynden Transport, Haskell Corporation, Yeager’s, Allsop Inc., Wilder Construction, Brown and Cole Foods, Peoples Bank, Bellingham Cold Storage, what is now Cascade Radio, Unity Group Insurance, Haggen Foods, Hardware Sales, Walton Beverage, Diehl Ford, Jacaranda Corporation, Exxel Pacific, Hempler’s Meats, Westford Funeral Home, IMCO Construction and Saturna Capital, to name a few.

This special evening of recognition has been called the Oscars of Whatcom County Business. It is a special night with a special purpose. As a participant of every one of the 27 previous events, I’m always encouraged by the fraternity of business owners and leaders who come together because they understand the value of recognizing business people for the positive contributions they make.

Few outside this fraternity understand the risks, efforts, sacrifices, and costs required to start, operate, and grow a successful business. Few understand the weight of responsibility business leaders feel for their employees – the sleep they lose when things aren’t going so well, or when they have to make tough decisions that

impact their employees.

Many of the business owners I speak to feel as though fewer and fewer elected officials and people in the general public understand the valuable role that successful businesses play in creating community prosperity. Some don’t understand that without business success, our community cannot thrive.

The businesses and business people we honor bring us the products and services we need and desire. They help make us more efficient and effective and provide products and services that make our lives easier.

When businesses are successful, they provide jobs that allow people to support their families, and other businesses, and charitable organizations in the community. Successful businesses and their employees pay a significant portion of the taxes that allow our government to operate and to provide its services. They take

leadership roles on boards and commissions. They get involved in nonprofit fundraisers and provide funding and volunteers for organizations that serve the less fortunate among us.

The businesses in our community drive our economy and our quality of life. Because of them we have what we have. They raise the tide, and a rising tide raises all boats. The business leaders in our community deserve to be recognized, honored, and thanked. Join us in doing so on March 26.

Whatcom Business Alliance and Business Pulse Magazine happily invite you to the table on the evening of March 26 in the Event Center at Silver Reef. It will be a night of networking, fun, and celebration of business in Whatcom County. You can order a table of 8 or individual tickets online at WhatcomBusinessAlliance.com, or call 746-0410.

I hope to see you there.

Enjoy the Magazine!

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 11

Business Profile: Hempler’s

Hempler’s continues expansion brought by 22% growth rate to $30M in sales 80-year-old company bringing home the bacon, more than ever – 10 times more than just 8 years ago

By Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy

T

he story at Hempler’s is growth. Growth today, with their latest and largest expansion planned this year for their facility in Ferndale – and growth yesteryear, when the Hempler family pitched in and twisted sausages by hand at the original site on F Street in downtown Bellingham.

Consider their explosive growth of the last eight years of this nationally-distributed brand known mostly for its bacon and hams: During the year 2006, three major developments helped the 12 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

business start an upward trend that has multiplied the business 10 times its sales since then: 1. Stephen Bates, formerly with the company in a sales/management position, returned (in ’05) and bought into the business partnership along with Hempler Enterprises (the Hempler family, essentially).

2. Premium Foods in Vancouver, B.C., bought 51 percent interest and consolidated a company in Oregon into the operations that added clout to marketing, sales, and distribution.

3. Hempler’s built its new 30,000-square-foot Ferndale facility.

In 2008 they added another

Photo courtesy of Hempler’s

3,000 square feet to enlarge the production area. Just last year they expanded again with the purchase of $1.5 million in new equipment – smokehouses, a 200-horsepower boiler, increased compressor capacity for more chilling units – to boost production 25 percent.

The company, which prefers the name Hempler’s though it’s formally Hempler Foods Group LLC, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. “We’re 80 and going strong!”

Bates said. “That doesn’t happen for many companies.”

Hempler’s makes bacon, hams, franks, sausages, bratwurst, smoked poultry, and beef brisket.

Bacon accounts for 50 percent of all sales, with hams the secondbiggest seller.

A new 10,000-square-foot addition will accommodate new equipment that’s expected to increase capacity another 30 percent.

Specifically, Hempler’s will enlarge drying space needed to make sausage and pepperoni. Another 3,000 square feet, in addition to the 10,000, will provide better facilities for employees, including locker rooms, cafeteria, restrooms, and conference space. Hempler’s expects to break ground this spring.

Even just two years ago, more than three-quarters of Hempler’s sales took place in Washington.

“Today, our business is 45 percent Washington, and 55 percent outside the state,” Bates said, including California, Oregon, Arizona, Alaska, Utah, Montana, and

“Never go anywhere with empty hands. If you’re going toward the cooler, and there’s something that needs to go in, take it with you.”

—Richard Hempler, chairman, on managing people

FROM EUROPE WITH LOVE On page 15 read highlights of Hempler’s pork sourcing process.

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 13

Business Profile: Hempler’s Idaho. “I envision a day, not too distant, when less than 20 percent of our sales are in Washington.

That’s due to exploding population growth in other western states.”

Richard Hempler, company chairman, said, “The growth is all south and southeast. As our company continues to grow, our business outside of Washington increases. Our sales center 10 years ago was Seattle. Now that volume percentage is moving south.”

Hempler’s is a regional company, but through sales to Safeway their products can be found throughout the nation. Hempler enjoys hearing fisherman friends tell of buying bacon with his name on it in a tiny store on a tiny island at the tip of the Aleutians.

Hempler and Bates joke that they’d like to call on the Safeway stores in Hawaii – just to check on their product, of course.

It’s all a long, long way from

the company’s Depressionera beginning on F Street in downtown Bellingham. Richard Hempler’s father, Hans Hempler, worked in his family’s sausage business that started during the 1800s in Borken, Germany. Hans Hempler became a master sausage maker before immigrating to the U.S. in 1928.

The story goes that he didn’t speak much English, but chose Bellingham because it sounded like a belly and a ham, and he knew what those were. He worked and saved, and in 1934, with a partner, bought B.B. Meat & Sausage Company, 1401 F Street. The business operated at that original site through 2005.

“When I was 7 years old, after school I’d go down to the plant and help with clean up,” Richard Hempler said. “I don’t know how much help I was. If I wasn’t doing anything, my dad put a broom in my hand. I grew up in the family business. Summers during high school I worked in the sausage kitchen.

“It was hard work. You had to earn respect. I did; it took me a

“If I wasn’t doing anything, my dad put a broom in my hand. I grew up in the family business.”

—Richard Hempler, chairman

while. We used to twist the sausages into individual links by hand. You could do 75 pounds of sausage an hour. Today, we have machines do that 50 times faster, and more accurately.”

The old plant had its own retail outlet, which operated through the 1980s. The store included big butcher blocks, three meat cutters, and a 40-foot-long, fullservice glass case stocked with 14 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

WILSON TOYOTA Pork products – the fastest-growing market for Hempler’s – require travel afar, even abroad, for the company to meet its strict quality requirements.

(Photos courtesy of Hempler’s)

On Sourcing Pork: Ironically, while Hempler’s has grown an enormously popular brand locally, and throughout Washington and the entire Western U.S., it must go abroad to source some of its biggest sellers – an allnatural line of meats.

“We try to source as locally as possible,” said Kestin Hempler Liberato, the director of sales. “We get poultry, beef, and chicken from Washington and Oregon.”

However, she said, there’s not a pork market in the Pacific Northwest, so the company goes elsewhere in North America and Europe.

“People wonder why we’d go so far,” Kestin said. “Our product quality (for Hempler’s natural line) specifies no growth promoters, and no antibiotics, and the animals must be vegetarian-fed and humanely-raised.

“We created a differentiated product in the market. We have to go (far) to get that. That side of the business is far and away our fastest-growing segment.”

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WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 15

Business Profile: Hempler’s sausage and fresh and smoked meats. Hempler’s also supplied other stores. “Back then, every third block had its mom-and-pop grocery store, tiny stores,” Richard said. “We serviced stores throughout Whatcom, Snohomish, and Skagit counties.

“Nothing was refrigerated or wrapped. We’d run into a store with a little order pad. They’d order a bundle of franks, a pork loin, a slab of bacon. Some would order just three pounds of hamburger, or four pork chops. You’d run out to your truck, get it, go back in the store, put it on his scale, calculate the price, and collect the money. Everybody used us as their banker; sometimes they’d pay us with checks for $1.50 or 50 cents that customers had given them.”

At that time, a sausage made in Bellingham on Tuesday would be delivered to a store Wednesday, then sold and eaten that evening.

Richard remembered going to the

d i a n e p a d y s p h o t o g r a p h y. c o m

16 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Bloedel-Donovan Lumber Mill (now Bloedel-Donovan Park) for sawdust, and he told of reaching under whirring blades to collect fresh sawdust in barrels. Back in the plant and store on F Street, the thick layer of sawdust absorbed meat juices and kept slipping to a minimum. It had to be raked nightly and replaced weekly.

“I’d stand there with Dad and Opa (grandfather Hans Hempler) in a line.

We’d twist, and then hang sausages, and then put it all in the smokehouse.”

—Kestin Hempler Liberato, sales representative, who helped in the plant growing up

When Richard Hempler returned to Bellingham after college he started working his way up

through the company. In 1974 he bought his father’s partner’s share of the business.

Richard’s daughter, Kestin Hempler Liberato – now a sales representative – recalled working in the old plant, too. After Whatcom Middle School let out she’d walk to the plant to pitch in.

She spoke of an old machine that stuffed sausages.

“When the water pressure let out of the stuffer, you needed your boots on,” she said. “I’d stand there with Dad and Opa (her grandfather, Hans). We’d stand in a line and twist, and then hang (sausages), and then put it all in the smokehouse. You could grab a hotdog to eat, right out of the smokehouse. There is nothing better.”

Growth in the earlier decades was gradual. Hempler said, “Things evolved. We broadened our sales base into Seattle and Tacoma in the ‘80s.” As manufacturing equipment improved,

[visual exposure] photography that captures a sense of place

and when need and affordability intersected, Hempler’s updated its machinery.

“Through the ages, sausage was stuffed in a natural casing,” Hempler said. “They were not uniform, one end to the other. You’d end up with different sizes and lengths. Plus, they were harder to handle.” Methods progressed, and manufacturers moved to casings made of cellulose.

Congratulations to the Business Person of the Year Finalists!

“In any business, leadership helps; but Hempler’s is built on great products and good leadership, not the other way around.”

—Stephen Bates, president

But before a frankfurter is sold, its cellulose casing is removed (90 percent of hotdogs are sold skinless. “We used to take that off by hand. If you were really fast, you could do 80-to-100 pounds an hour. Now our machine does 3,000 pounds an hour.”

Hempler’s closed its on-site retail outlet on F Street in the mid-1980s to concentrate on sales to independent grocers. When sales gathered momentum the old plant – constructed in 1896 – was no longer big enough. The production area was less than 10,000 square feet. “We kept it up, and it was modern inside, but the structure wasn’t ideal for a food processing plant. There was no room around us; we couldn’t expand,” Hempler said.

If the company was going to keep bringing home the bacon, it would need a new home.

Richard, his wife Nancy, and the children knew they had to do something. “It was build a new facility, or quit,” he said. “And I’d be damned if I’d quit on my

Cont #WHIRLS1090D9

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 17

Business Profile: Hempler’s watch. The kids were with me on this, my wife was with me.

“I knew we didn’t have the personnel to take us to the next level, and the next, and the next. We were doing great at the level we were, but I was getting older, I was 68 then.”

That year, 2005, Richard sought out Stephen Bates, who’d previously worked for Hempler’s in the early ‘80s as sales and general manager, and then had been employed 20 years at Fletcher’s Fine Foods, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Premium Brands.

Hempler recounted the move: “I said to Steve, ‘Why not come help me?’ He called back and said, ‘How serious are you?’ I said, ‘Get your tail up here.’” Bates came back to Hempler’s in 2005, and Premium Brands became a slight majority business partner with Hempler Foods Group LLC the next year. Business skyrocketed “They’re a large company,” Hempler said. “They were able to help finance and grow us into the future. Steve orchestrated this (and the new Ferndale facility). It was monumental. A food processing plant is very expensive to build.”

Bates said, “This is a great place for making ham, bacon, and sausage. We know that if your products are successful, the financials pay off.”

In need of yet more space, last year Hempler’s moved its assembling and warehousing to a coldstorage facility in Blaine, and now contracts 20,000 square feet there.

Hempler, vibrant and active at 76, is moving the responsibility for guiding the family business to his daughter, Kestin, and her husband, Marc Liberato, the production superintendent. In 2010, Hempler joined a distinguished list of Whatcom County business icons when he was honored with the Whatcom County lifetime business achievement award by Business Pulse Magazine and the Whatcom Business Alliance. The 28th 18 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Kestin Hempler Liberato, sales representative, and her father Richard Hempler, chairman stand next to a framed photo of founder Hans Hempler with his business partner in the 1940s. (Photo by Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy)

awards celebration takes place this March 26.

“We put our personal guarantee on our product,” Kestin Hempler Liberato said. Kestin’s signature graces Hempler’s line of natural, preservative-free products. “Our meats have a very short ingredient list, ingredients you’d have in your own kitchen.”

Richard Hempler’s signature

appears on other products that boast a heritage tracing to original recipes from the family kitchen in Germany.

The keys to the company’s success, according to Hempler: “Be honest. Take care of your customers. Take care of your employees.

Know what it costs to produce and sell the product, you gotta know that. Never give up. Don’t quit.

Workers at Hempler’s process the hams that constitute the company’s second-fastest selling product next to bacon. (Photo courtesy of Hempler’s)

Don’t ask anybody to do a job you wouldn’t do yourself – though you should hire people to do things you’re not as good at.”

He also values the advice that his immigrant father instilled: “Never go anywhere with empty hands. If you’re going toward the cooler, and there’s something that needs to go in, take it with you.”

Bates credited Hempler’s 80 employees with keeping Hempler’s products “best in class.” Several

employees bought homes in 2013.

“It’s neat to see the employees fulfill their hopes and dreams. too.

Our business success is built on really good products and really good employees.”

Hempler’s products can be purchased in more than 2,000 stores and hundreds of restaurants across the country, plus on e-commerce sites such as AmazonFresh.com.

Stephen Bates (left), the company president, joins sales rep Kestin Hempler Liberato and chairman Richard Hempler outside their new facility standing next to a 1940s sausagestuffer from the original plant.

(Photo by Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy)

Business Box Score Hempler Foods Group LLC

• Ownership partners: Richard Hempler, chairman; Stephen Bates, president, with premium brands (Canada) as 51 percent majority holder.

• Start-up: 1934 (family bought an existing business that began in 1896).

• Annual sales revenue: more than $30 million.

• Growth indicators: a 22 percent increase in sales year-over-year the last eight years. Company has grown 10 times its size of eight years ago.

• Employees in 1934: 15.

• Employees now: 80, all in Whatcom County.

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 19

Business Person of the Year

From left, last year’s winners at the Whatcom Business Person of the Year Awards dinner: Randy Hartnell of Vital Choice Seafood & Organics (Small Business), Nick Kaiser of Saturna Capital (Lifetime Achievement), Bob Pritchett of Logos Bible Software (Business Person), and Mike Hughes of NextLevel Training (Start-Up). (Staff Photo)

The Oscars of Whatcom County business awarded at dinner banquet on March 26 By the Business Pulse Staff

A

dozen finalists in three categories and a Lifetime Achievement Award winner take the spotlight March 26 at the 28th annual Whatcom Business Person of the Year Awards, presented by the Whatcom Business Alliance, Whidbey Island Bank and Business Pulse Magazine.

The event, attracting a sellout crowd of more than 400, takes place in the Event Center at Silver Reef.

20 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

This is the longest-running event of its kind celebrating business success in Whatcom County.

The finalists among nominees this year represent a variety across several industries – including family-brand leaders in pharmaceuticals/medical equipment and in automobile and truck sales/service, plus boating, and one of the most prosperous and generous nonprofits in the region.

The four finalists for the Business Person of the Year Award include (alphabetically): • Mike Hoagland is a practicing pharmacist (RPh,

CPG) who owns Hoagland Pharmacy, which last year stood 43rd on the Business Pulse list of Top 75 Private Companies in Whatcom County. The Bellingham business started in 1981, and it approaches $20 million in revenues with about 80 employees in retail pharmacy, along with special medical equipment and services.

• Mauri Ingram serves as president of the Whatcom Community Foundation. It started 18 years ago, and as one of about 650 community foundations nationwide,

and 19 in Washington, that enhance the quality of life in their communities, the WCF has raised and distributed millions to causes in Whatcom County.

• Scott Renne, the founder, president and CEO of Blue Sea Systems in Bellingham, started and created another company (since sold) and both would have ranked in the county’s Top 75. Blue Sea Systems (ranked No. 35), which sprang from a seed idea Renne had while sailing to Asia and back, supplies electrical parts for boats to retailers worldwide.

• Rick Wilson is the son of the founder of Wilson Motors in Bellingham, No. 16 in the Top 75 with industry-leading sales in excess of $50 million. He purchased the business from his father, and then added a

partner a few years ago, and the business burgeoned in 2013 with the addition of a fifth line of new automobiles and the buyout of another dealership.

Dan Washburn, owner of the storied Windermere Real Estate territory covering Whatcom County, will join the long line of Lifetime Achievement Award winners. This is his third company that has grown to outstanding levels. Read his story in this edition.

The finalists in the other two categories (alphabetically): Start-Up Business of the Year: • I-5 Parking in Ferndale • Kulshan Brewing Company in Bellingham • Q Laundry in Bellingham • Red Rokk Interactive in

Bellingham Small Business of the Year: • Innovations in Quality Living in Bellingham • Rice Insurance Company in Bellingham • Scholten Equipment in Lynden • The Willows Inn on Lummi Island Tickets or tables of 8 for the dinner awards banquet are available for purchase. Go to www. whatcombusinessalliance.com and click on Business Person of the Year event, or call 360.746.0410 for more information.

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 21

Business Person of the Year Finalist: Mike Hoagland, Hoagland Pharmacy

Rosa and Mike Hoagland in front of the Yew Street pharmacy they started from scratch in 1981. (Photo by Joella Ortega)

A personal approach to pharmaceutical needs

By Joella Ortega

H

oagland Pharmacy opened for business 33 years ago with one employee. Now, with the opening of a new retail and multi-services storefront in SedroWoolley last year, that employee – founder Mike Hoagland – has become a finalist in the selection of Whatcom County’s Business Person of the Year.

A graduate of the pharmacy school at the University of Washington, he serves as president in the company that he and his wife, Rosa, began in 1981 on Yew Street in Bellingham. Hoagland was the only employee in the store 22 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

for the first 1½ years.

By the fourth year he had to double space, and in 2000 the company moved into its evenlarger current location which will add more space soon for one of its latest specialties, compounding injectable medications.

From the start, emphasis centered on individualized personal service at the pharmacy and additional specialized services, such as a niche market in medicinal compounding. The staff grew to 20 employees by 1988 and has continuously gained momentum with a staff now numbering about 75.

Hoagland said that they grew the business “through hard work, dedicated employees, and continued support from the community.”

Hoagland Pharmacy’s website declares, “We excel in providing custom solutions to individual

medication and health needs.”

Those needs include specialized medical equipment, respiratory services, over-the-counter medications, vaccinations, the popular Mediset weekly pill box program, compounding, and even delivery services. Last year, Hoagland’s added an automated prescriptionfilling machine.

Hoagland has successfully created a throwback to the era of the family drug store –beyond just having a prescription filled and a quick consultation. Until about seven years ago it even had an ice cream and soda shop.

That’s where Molly Greenleaf, who manages the company’s durable home-health equipment and marketing, got her start 11 years ago. “I managed the coffee bar and ice cream stand,” she said. “We had one-dollar cones. I remembered coming here as a kid when my family needed antibiotics and other things. It definitely has been your hometown drug store, thriving with relationships built on personalized service.”

Hoagland Pharmacy has successfully created a throwback to the era of the family drugstore (with) custom solutions to individual needs.

The Sedro-Woolley location stands as Hoagland’s proudest business achievement of 2013. It provides retail pharmacy, durable medical equipment, and sleep apnea equipment. “It’s a bit different,” Greenleaf said, “because it has a respiratory technician on board – something that was missing in the Sedro-Woolley market.”

The new store added four full-time employees to the Hoagland roster.

A target during 2014 involves expanding the organization’s loyalty program. Also, a plan is in

place to add space to the facility in Haskell Business Complex that houses Hoagland Pharmacy’s specialty services for long-term care.

Another goal, Greenleaf said, is to grow its market share in the durable medical equipment. Also, Hoagland’s Pharmacy has been recognized locally and elsewhere for its contributions in individualized compounded medications ever since Hoagland attended the Professional Compounding Centers of America in 1987. He also specializes in geriatric pharmacology.

The philosophy behind the organization’s charitable involvement is that the local community should not be served just

by Hoagland Pharmacy’s services but also supported by its resources. Mike Hoagland has worked with organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Society of Washington, Bellingham Food Bank, the National MS Society, and the Whatcom Hospice Foundation.

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Business Person of the Year Finalist: Mauri Ingram, Whatcom Community Foundation

Mauri Ingram leads an organization that awarded more than $2.1 million to the community last year. (Photo courtesy of Whatcom Community Foundation)

Nonprofit matchmaker: finding catches for donors and local nonprofit organizations

By Joella Ortega

M

auri Ingram first learned about the Whatcom Community Foundation when receiving one of its grants on behalf of a nonprofit she co-founded, now called the Downtown Bellingham Partnership (nee Downtown Renaissance Network).

A few years later the Whatcom Community Foundation asked her to join its board of directors.

Now she is its president and CEO coming off a banner year from which she has become a finalist for the most prestigious 24 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

award in the Whatcom business community.

A former co-owner of two local restaurants and an employee of Trillium Corp., Ingram leads the one of the state’s 19 community foundations on behalf of a 10-person board. “My career path has been anything but linear,” she said. “I knew I wanted to run a business. What I didn’t know was that I would want the community to own it.”

The foundation thrived in 2013, awarding more than $2 million in grants and $100,000 in scholarships, and ranking in the top 25 most active grant-makers among the approximate 650 nationwide community foundations for the fourth consecutive year. Ingram

said that the new Ferndale library was a highlight of 2013, culminating a seven-year process of helping to raise the funds that built it.

The Whatcom Community Foundation formed in 1996 on an anonymous gift. It has grown perhaps the largest benefactor footprint in the county. “We ended our last fiscal year with assets of more than $20 million,” Ingram said. “That’s 20 times our original assets.”

She said the foundation has made grants to hundreds of local nonprofits, expanding from about $100,000 a year in grant-making to over $3.8 million a year. Donors number about 4,900 and staff has grown from less that two full-time to five.

Ingram deflected credit for the successes. “Everything I’ve accomplished has been the result of working with others,” she said. “I don’t feel like I own any achievements independently.”

“My career path has been anything but linear. I knew I wanted to run a business.

What I didn’t know was that I would want the community to own it.”

In addition to the two nonprofits she served in Bellingham, she also has engaged in other community-service projects, such as the Campaign for the Arts, the Whatcom Coalition for Healthy Communities, and she’s a member of the YWCA’s Northwest Women’s Hall of Famem, The Whatcom Community Foundation mission works through donors and local organizations to properly channel monetary donations, and also assists community partners with information on business, education, and government.

“We help donors bring their philanthropic goals to fruition by providing counsel and information about the opportunities and the variety of ways they can make a difference through their giving,” Ingram said. “We assist nonprofit organizations through a range of investments in their success.

Lastly, we work with a wide range of community partners.”

Through her work with the foundation Ingram has left a lasting mark on the positive efforts that the Whatcom Community has made, and the recognition that the county has received for its efforts.

“Whatcom County is known well beyond our borders for our collaborative nature,” Ingram said.

“Many of the obstacles to opportunities are well-hidden. We work well to cultivate relationships with our funders, and create opportunities for our donors to collectively take advantage of the opportunities we have to be the community that we can be.”

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Business Person of the Year Finalist: Scott Renne, Blue Sea Systems

Scott Renne built two businesses on high-quality electrical parts for boats and trucks.

(Photo courtesy of Blue Sea Systems/Scott Lechler)

Scott Renne set sails based on his heart—and made port as world’s best retail supplier

By Steve Hortegas

S

cott Renne sailed into his future during a two-year ocean voyage around the Pacific. It was during this adventure that he realized electrical equipment on boats was of poor quality. Renne then moved forward, into the market of high-quality electrical products.

Renne is the founder, president and shareholder of Blue Sea Systems, an organization that manufacturers electrical system equipment for marine and specialty emergency vehicles, as well as alternative energy and industrial applications. More than 26 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

1,000 products, mostly made in Bellingham, are distributed to 44 countries. Last year, Blue Sea Systems earned a title as the nation’s best supplier.

“I followed my heart to start a business doing what I loved,” said Renne.

His father was a commercial fisherman, and Renne spent 10 years as an executive at the world’s largest retailer of marine equipment.

Founded in 1992, Renne has grown annual revenues to $25 million with 22 consecutive years of profitability. “[Whatcom County is] a fabulous home for Blue Sea Systems – high quality of life, diverse and talented workforce, and wonderful

mix of community, technical and university education.” Renne said.

The company employs about 75 people locally, with an additional 30 short-term contract employees expected for 2014. That’s more than $5 million in payroll injected into the local economy. Renne also provides millions of dollars in positive U.S. trade balance, with some $15 million to American suppliers.

But it’s a culture of continuous “Customer Experience” improvement that drives success.

“We treat every employee as a colleague and every customer as a friend,” Renne said. “Every action we take is in pursuit of improving our performance based on Ten Elements of the Customer Experience.”

Element 10 states: Products are supported by Blue Sea Systems as long as the customer owns them.”

The greatest satisfaction in business and life can be attributed to how one handles adversity, Renne said. His decision in 2003 to issue a voluntary recall could have bankrupted the company.

It cost more than $1 million, but customers appreciated the decision and worked with the company to minimize cost.

“If you are inclined to be an entrepreneur, and to grow and be successful at a company, I rank that as one of those defining aspects of life. Right up there with having children and the love of your life.”

“It was better than any team building exercise we could have devised,” Renne said. “Every challenge we have faced since then has seemed trivial.”

Employees rallied to notify

owners and replace products scattered across the world’s oceans.

The company emerged with a stronger management team and tremendous good will from customers.

“If you are inclined to be an entrepreneur, and to grow and be successful at a company, I rank that as one of those defining aspects of life. Right up there with having children and the love of your life,” Renne said.

Renne now focuses Blue Sea Systems’ philanthropy on challenges faced by young people.

Renne is a father of three and said the most influential charitable efforts are obtained by directing resources to those in the younger years of life.

“Following my heart and doing what I loved gave me the energy I needed in the early years of struggle,” Renne said, “and has made me eager to get to work every morning for 22 years.”

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Business Person of the Year Finalist: Rick Wilson, Wilson Motors

Putting family in the driver’s seat: Wilson Motors cruises

By Sherri Huleatt

W

hat’s the recipe for success behind the No. 1 car dealership in Whatcom County?

According to its president, Rick Wilson, it’s simple: Treat your customers like you’d treat your mother.

Fortunately for Wilson Imports Inc. this familystyle philosophy has paid off for Wilson in a big way.

For starters, Wilson experienced a robust 2013: • His company led Whatcom County in volume for inventory and new and used vehicle sales; • They won the Toyota President’s Award for Overall Operating Excellence for the fourth time in the last five years; • And, they added a brand by purchasing the former King Nissan dealership just down the street.

With two store fronts on Iowa Street in Bellingham, Wilson’s automobile dealership previously sold Toyota, Scion, and MercedesBenz. In the 2013 listing of Business Pulse Magazine’s Top 75 Whatcom County privately-owned businesses, Rick Wilson’s company stood No. 16 by topping $50 million in sales during 2012, and stands to rise in those ratings this year after a robust 2013.

Wilson Imports’ growth has been a family affair. Rick Wilson’s father Dick founded the business 28 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

as a Lincoln-Mercury dealership 54 years ago, and Rick Wilson joined the team in 1968.

The company gradually added more vehicle brands, and in 1986 Rick Wilson bought out his father and became president of the company. Seven years ago Julian Greening joined Wilson’s team Lynn and Rick Wilson: Business is thriving after “… as co-owner and gendidn’t know if we could make it,” Rick said.

(Photo courtesy of Wilson Motors) eral manager.

Wilson attributed their success to the opening their new Toyota store company’s dedication to “The in October 2008, the Dow Jones Wilson Way”—the idea that purIndustrial Average dropped 778 chasing a Wilson Motors vehicle, points. Just two weeks after that, it whether new or used, means sank another 732 points. “I really you’re driving the best, and should didn’t know if we could make it,” expect the best customer service.

Wilson said. However, the recession wasn’t enough to hold back “As much as my wife his company from thriving finanand I have traveled,” said cially, or philanthropically.

Last year Wilson Motors donatWilson, “I can’t think of a ed more than $45,000 to charibetter place to live and do ties. “We try to give back as much business than in Whatcom as we can in both community involvement and charities,” he County.” said.

Wilson serves on PeaceHealth —Rick Wilson St. Joseph Medical Center’s Finance Committee and he has Because of this philosophy chaired the Finance Committee of Wilson Motors has built up a St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for the loyal customer base and a strong last 15 years. reputation in the community – “As much as my wife and I although the story of Wilson’s rise have traveled,” said Wilson, “I isn’t told without its fair share of can’t think of a better place to live hiccups. and do business than in Whatcom Exactly one month before County.”

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Start-Up Business of the Year Finalist: I-5 Parking

Caleb and Melissa Bowe stay busy booking cabs, limos, buses, and vehicle detailing in addition to inexpensive airport parking. (Staff Photo)

Airport Parking is just the beginning for budding entrepreneur

By Sherri Huleatt

B

etween the growth at the Bellingham airport and the influx of Canadian travelers, Caleb and Melissa Bowe, co-owners of the newly opened I-5 Airport Parking, are capitalizing on the huge demand for affordable airport parking.

The Bowes set out to create a one-stop shop for travelers in need of an affordable place to park their car.

“Almost every person or family heading out for vacation is looking for ways to save money,” Caleb said. “What people sometimes forget is the costly parking fees. We’ve designed our lot to save people money even before they leave for vacation.”

By servicing the parking lot with their two other businesses 30 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

— Northwest Town Car Service and Northwest Limousine — the Bowes are able to offer personalized services to their customers, while growing their other businesses. Whether their customer is looking for an affordable place to park their car, a quick taxi ride to the airport, or a relaxing ride in a luxurious town car—I-5 Parking offers it all.

“While most businesses are building one step at a time, we’re building up our other businesses as well,” said Caleb. “We started our parking business to grow our other businesses, and utilize our entire facility to provide more services for customers.”

Although the Bowe’s business offers affordable pricing, starting at just $2 a day, with the recent airport expansion they face stiff competition from other airport parking lots.

“What sets us apart from the other off-site lots, [besides] cost, is the personalized service,” Caleb said.

Caleb argues that most other off-site airport parking lots have limited hours, only offers shuttle services, and are reservation only.

The Bowe’s, on the other hand, offer a more personalized service.

“We can accommodate any flight time, while offering a personal taxi, 24 hours a day.” Caleb said.

Their lot, which can accommodate upwards of 250 cars, parked about 50 cars a day when they first opened; now, they park about 100 cars a day. While this growth is a move in the right direction, for Caleb it’s not quite enough.

Caleb’s dream is to offer car services and repairs while customers are away.

“When our facility is 100 percent operational, we’ll have a multitude of businesses that parking customers can use while they’re away.”

–Caleb Bowe

“In today’s society, every car owner is in a hurry or too busy to get simple car maintenance done, like oil changes and car detailing,” Caleb said. “We would love to offer other entrepreneurs the opportunity to build their business at our location.”

I-5 Airport Parking is housed in a 15,000 square foot facility in Ferndale that used to be a school.

The business has about 10,000 square feet available to lease out to other businesses, Caleb said.

“Ideally, when our facility is 100 percent operational, we’ll have a multitude of businesses that parking customers can use while they’re away,” he said.

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CONGRATULATIONS 2014 Whatcom County Business Person of the Year Finalists: Start-Up Business of the Year I-5 Airport Parking Kulshan Brewery Red Rokk Q-Laundry Small Business of the Year Rice Insurance Scholten Equipment Willows Inn Innovations Stoves and Spas Business Person of the Year Scott Renne, Blue Sea Systems Rick Wilson, Wilson Motors Mauri Ingram, Whatcom Community Foundation Mike Hoagland, Hoagland Pharmacies Lifetime Achievement Award Dan Washburn

Start-Up Business of the Year Finalist: Kulshan Brewery

Chris Noskoff (left), systems manager, and owner David Vitt toast the tastes at Kulshan Brewery in Bellingham. (Photo by Joella Ortega)

The new brew on the block: Kulshan Brewery finds its niche

By Sherri Huleatt

T

here’s no question that Pacific Northwesters love their fair share of craft brews. But when the locals go so far as to start measuring the distance from their front doors to the entrance of their favorite brewery—all for the sake of bragging rights—you know you’ve come across something special.

32 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Kulshan Brewing Company burst onto the Bellingham brew scene in April 2012, and has since provided for plenty of thirsty customers. Between offering nine different locally-brewed beers and a laid-back atmosphere, Kulshan seems like it’s been here for several decades—rather than less than two years.

“The response from the local community has been astounding,” said David Vitt, Co-Owner of Kulshan Brewery, located on James Street in Bellingham. “We

have a ton of regulars that come in on a daily basis, most of which are from the Sunnyland neighborhood.”

Founding the company on a shoestring budget, their life savings, and an earnest love of beer, the men behind Kulshan pride themselves on offering the highest quality ales and outstanding customer service. When asked what inspired Co-Owners David Vitt, Mickey Vitt, Jon Greenwood, and Ralph Perona to open their brewery, David replied: “Simply the

fact that we love beer.”

With 12 full-time employees—all from Whatcom County—Kulshan is a 15-barrel brewery that offers a variety of rotating brews, including unique options like IPA and Kitten Mittens Winter Ale. Although Kulshan doesn’t have an on-site kitchen, they keep their customers well-fed by featuring a variety of rotating food trucks that set up shop outside the brewery.

This was a smart choice, David said.

“My father always said: ‘Beer has food value, but food does not have beer value,’” David said.”I think one of the best things I didn’t do was open a restaurant.”

Between wholesale purchases and the tap room, Kulshan sells about 205 gallons—or 13 kegs—per day. Between 2012 and 2013, they more than doubled the amount of barrels brewed—increasing from 1,150 to 2,400. With such rapid growth, David expects them to hit

upwards of 3,000 barrels in 2014.

Much of this success is due to their wholesale production. In just two years, Kulshan expanded its reach to nearly 80 different restaurants and stores across Whatcom

“I took a grungy old empty building, made it into a living room for the neighborhood and put people to work with jobs they love.”

–David Vitt

and Skagit Counties. Customers can also take home kegs and growlers, as part of their unique “growlers to go” program in which they clean, sanitize, and refill their customer’s growlers using a

counter-pressure filling machine that keeps beer fresh and fizzy for weeks, rather than just hours.

Between steady growth and a legion of loyal fans, David said one accomplishment outshines the rest.

“I’m most proud of what we’ve been able to give back to the community,” said David. “Not only the donations and fundraisers, but also the fact that I took a grungy old empty building, made it into a living room for the neighborhood and put people to work with jobs they love.”

Kulshan is just one part of an ever-growing market. The U.S. beer market is a $99 billion industry, with craft beer taking in over $10 billion annually—making it the most rapidly growing segment of the business. In fact, there are more than 2,600 craft breweries in the U.S., selling an estimated 13,235,000 barrels of beer and providing more than 108,000 jobs.

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Start-Up Business of the Year Finalist: Q Laundry

F

or most people, the Laundromat is a dreary place known for harsh, fluorescent lighting and long hours spent staring at various stages of the spin cycle.

Colleen Unema, owner of Q Laundry, holds a clothes rack in the midst of her eco-friendly laundry machines. (Photo by Joella Ortega)

An entirely new way to do laundry: Q Laundry takes efficiency and sustainability to new heights

By Sherri Huleatt

34 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

It’s hardly a place where you’d consider ecological sensitivity and the latest technology to merge, or where you would expect impromptu concerts from traveling folk musicians. But that’s exactly what Colleen Unema, Owner of Q Laundry, has created.

Opening their doors a mere 10 months ago, in June 2013, Q Laundry has turned the idea of the average Laundromat on its head.

“We designed this business to be as ecologically smart as possible,” Unema said. “From the hot water tanks, overhead LED lights, air-flow, sunlight—all the way to the machines themselves. We did everything we could to ensure that each washing machine and each dryer runs as efficiently as possible.”

Unema also factored in the efficiency of her customer’s time.

With advanced machines that wash and dry in record time, Unema says you can wash, dry, and fold your clothes all within one hour.

All of her machines also take credit and debit cards and can sync with smart phones so that customers receive a text message 10 minutes before their load finishes. Q Laundry, located on Alabama Street in Bellingham, also offers free WiFi, mending, and minor alterations services, and “drop and dash” laundry service.

After working as a teacher for many years and getting her master’s degree in Science Education, Unema founded the company on a loan and her savings, and now has eight part-time employees.

Unema became interested in the laundry industry because she saw so many opportunities for innova-

tion. “I kept saying, ‘I will push until I find the ‘no go’ in terms of equipment, sustainability, finances, funding, location, and business model,’” Unema said.”I just kept researching, studying and pushing the envelope.”

Q Laundry has grown every

“I kept saying, ‘I will push until I find the ‘no go’ in terms of equipment, sustainability, finances, funding, location, and business model,’” Unema said.”I just kept researching, studying and pushing the envelope.” month and is ahead of forecasts.

Unema’s goal is to build more Q Laundries, and extend her environmentally-friendly philosophy to

new communities.

More than anything, Unema takes sincere pride in her community. She said the customer response has been “fabulous.”

Because of this, giving back has been a major part of her business model.

“We are proud to be part of the community and neighborhood,” Unema said. “We donate services to Northwest Teen Services and various community events, as well as sponsor community events, like Muds to Suds and Bellingham Traverse.”

Unema also put a locals-first policy to work while building the Laundromat.

“This is the laundry that the local boys built,” she said. “It was incredible to watch all the different trades and specialty contractors build out the Q—they were all vital to this project and I am so proud of their work.”

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Start-Up Business of the Year Finalist: Red Rokk Interactive

Owners Tyler Byrd (above) and his wife Ana envisioned creative digital applications to marketing and advertising. (Photo courtesy of Red Rokk Interactive)

Red Rokk: An interactive approach to creating a new image

By Joella Ortega

W

ith technology continuously evolving, the face of business is changing.

Advertising and marketing is moving online and with it sales are skyrocketing as more people are able to connect to different markets all over the world for their individual needs.

Red Rokk Inc. is one local business that has taken advantage of technology by revolving their line of work around it.

Tyler Byrd, Red Rokk CEO and president, and Ana Sophia Byrd own Red Rokk, which has been in business since 2011.

“We are a full-service marketing and advertising agency that specializes in developing creative digital media campaigns targeted 36 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

towards consumers between the ages of 18-40 years old,” Byrd said. “This means we do everything from marketing strategy to video production, website development and corporate branding.”

With Red Rokk being so inter-

“Because we are the market, we know the market. We live the market.” active, a majority of their business comes from outside of Whatcom County, Byrd said. In three years of business, Red Rokk has served clients all over the world; including places such as South Korea and Europe.

“Due to the nature of our industry, we tend to work with customers across a wide range of industries,” Byrd said. “As a young company, we really find our niche

is working with companies that market to consumers between the ages of 18-40 years old.”

Red Rokk is comprised of employees that fit its demographic, Byrd said. Because the company aims to reach a younger demographic it consists of workers within its intended demographic.

“Because we are the market, we know the market,” Byrd said. “We live this market. As young professionals, we get bombarded every day with advertising; we play with all the new gadgets entering the market and at heart, we are passionately creative.”

This way, Byrd and his employees know what consumers are interested in, will pay attention to, and share. This inside knowledge helps Red Rokk achieve customer satisfaction, Byrd said. Using analytics, the team is able to track what is working, what needs to be adjusted, and in which areas campaigns could improve.

Even after their success, Red Rokk retains its humble philosophy: Work hard for your customers and they will love you. Though Red Rokk has focused on fulfilling their customers’ goals, they also focus on building the right team to bring their clients ideas to fruition.

“When you have a great team, and you work really hard for your customers,” Byrd said. “Your customers will see that, and appreciate it. This leads to not only a great portfolio and referrals, but also pride in what you do.”

Choosing the right people for the team makes a difference, Byrd said.

And choosing the right people has proven effective for Red Rokk.

With their team they have created a successful local business.

But the adventure doesn’t stop there. Over the next five years Red Rokk has the goal of making INC Magazine’s 500 list, Byrd said. The strive for greatness is just beginning.

Strength in numbers – Nimble in approach

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Small Business of the Year Finalist: Innovations for Quality Living family members serve homeowners, home-builders, and contractors in Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, Island, and Snohomish counties.

Besides the original Sundance Spas, most sales are in new construction. Such sales include wood burning, gas, electric and pellet fireplaces and the largest selection of gas, infrared, charcoal and pellet BBQ grills and accessories in Whatcom County.

Understanding those customers is key to sustaining the business, Thramer said.

“It’s about continuing to follow customers’ needs and wants to stay successful.” he said.

But the real accomplishment for Jerry was creating something for his sons’ families.

Owner Jerry Thramer (left) stands with his son Ryan Thramer, who serves as treasurer at Innovations for Quality Living. (Photo by Joella Ortega)

It’s all in the name A story of innovation, opportunity, and family… Oh yes, and hot tubs and fireplaces.

By Steven Hortegas

“

Innovations” is more than the first word in the company name. It is a way of life for Innovations for Quality Living owners Jerry and Kathy Thramer.

Consider how Thramer got his first hot tub: “It was the 80s, and hot tubs were very popular. But Kathy didn’t want one, and the company I worked for didn’t want to carry them,” he said. “So when a spa business offered us the business at next to nothing, we purchased it and I brought home a hot tub on day one.”

From there it was one innovation, opportunity, and family decision after the other.

That $20,000 purchase in 1989 has grown to more than $2 million in retail, wholesale, 38 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

and e-commerce sales per year.

Thramer credits their real success to wife Kathy. “We did not have much money in the bank,” he said.

“When the owner of a motorcycle shop on James Street decided to retire and offered us the building, I was against it, but Kathy pushed me. That was a bold step, but it gave us a real store. From then on, we were more professional and visible.”

Innovations stayed afloat during hard economic times by purchasing with cash and avoiding interest charges. To this day, Innovations has still never taken on debt.

“We never had a big boat or camper,” Thramer said. “Instead, [we] plowed our money back into the business.”

Innovations’ 12 employees and

“I am not the type of person who says I built a business and it has to stay on forever…But I love being here with my sons and their families and having something where they can make a living.”

–Jerry Thramer

“I am not the type of person who says I built a business and it has to [last]forever,” Thramer said.

“But I love being here with my sons and their families, and having something they can make a living [with].”

Manager RyanThramer likes it too. “We like working with Jerry, and enjoy going out to dinner a couple times a week as a family.”

Jerry said he is all about innovating, opportunities, and especially family.

“It’s just nice to see everyone, every day.”

Small Business of the Year Finalist: Rice Insurance

A five-partner ownership group operates the 52-person Rice Insurance group: Owners James Fritts (top left) and Roger Chamberlin (top right); (bottom left-to-right) Troy Haskell, Greg Gudbranson, and Tim Dickerson. (photo by Joella Ortega)

Doubling down Rice Insurance sustains growth while creating local jobs

By Pam Bauthues

W

ith sustained growth in recent years, Rice Insurance LLC doesn’t plan on slowing down.

And they have their work cut out for them—with the goal of doubling their sales in the next five years, they plan to keep their workforce primarily in the Whatcom area while expanding business both locally and beyond.

“Our core business is made up of both commercial and personal insurance and we are historically a generalist. Most all of our growth outside Whatcom and Skagit Counties has been niche busi40 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

ness in the healthcare, real estate, construction, and manufacturing industries,” said James Fritts, who currently owns Rice Insurance along with Greg Gubranson, Tim Dickerson, Troy Haskell, and Roger Chamberlin.

Rice Insurance was founded as a family business, and now involves second-generation family members. “Clyde Rice originally started this company with the intent on serving the people of Whatcom County with honesty, integrity, and a pursuit of creating a better experience for the community,” Fritts said.

Their aggressive, outside-thebox growth strategy includes workforce growth of over 35 percent in the past year, which generated a need for a main

office remodel and two additional leased spaces. Rice Insurance has also added an internship program for college students.

Their first intern was given a job directly out of school, and their two current interns plan to begin work full time after graduation.

Rice Insurance currently has 52 employees, 49 of which are local.

About 80 percent of current business is within Whatcom and Skagit Counties. However, out-ofstate business accounts for about 25 percent of new business— comparable to the amount of new business coming from these two counties. The other half of new business comes from other counties in the state of Washington.

Fritts attributes Rice Insurance’s success to their new and existing employees’ drive, work ethic, and willingness to buy into a culture that doesn’t accept complacency.

“Our goal is to continue to expand our presence here locally but at the same time continue to change and innovate so we can expand nationally as well.”

–James Fritts, Partner, Rice Insurance

“[We] focused on bringing new ideas to the insurance industry, which at times has lacked the ability to accept change, technology, and innovation,” Fritts said.

Moving forward, Rice Insurance plans to build off their current growth. Within the past year, commercial sales grew 30 percent and overall sales grew 20 percent. The company plans to keep the majority of their sales force in Whatcom County—creating jobs and sustaining a profitable bottom line.

“Our goal is to continue to expand our presence locally, but at the same time continue to change and innovate so we can expand nationally as well,” Fritts said.

Small Business of the Year Finalist: Scholten’s Equipment

Duane Scholten, owner, sits behind the wheel of one of the company’s Kubota vehicles in the recently-built shop housing Scholten’s agricultural equipment. (Photo by Joella Ortega)

Building a company from scratch Manufacturers award Scholten based on reputation with customers

By Lydia Love

D

uane Scholten wanted to be a farmer. He loved driving tractors while working at a dairy in Sumas. Later in life, he began tinkering with the equipment and buying and selling tractors. According to Scholten, the rest is history.

Duane and Arlene Scholten started Scholten’s Equipment, Inc. in 1980. Today, more than 30 years later, they have 31 full-time employees between their Lynden and Burlington facilities, and they 42 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

cater to dairy customers and agricultural needs.

A big achievement for the company this past year was finishing the new 10,200-square-foot building in Lynden, Scholten said.

The building houses equipment of various sizes, acting as a shop for merchandise.

“We had our company dinner in it a couple weeks ago,” Scholten said. “The spouses were all surprised how nice it was for a shop!”

In 2013, Scholten’s Equipment sales grew to $19 million, Scholten said.

“We are more productive today,” Scholten said. “Considering we are the only dealer in town [who]

started from scratch and without a major line, that sales level is very respectful.”

“In our business if you sell five of anything in a year you are beaming! In 2005, we sold [more than] 90 mini excavators!”

–Duane Scholten, President, Scholten’s Equipment, Inc.

At the Burlington location, 2,250-square-feet has been added to the space since 2004. That facility is now 7,500-square-feet covering four acres, Scholten said.

With their space growing, the company is able to reach more customers.

The customer base for Scholten’s Equipment, Inc. remains mostly in Whatcom and Skagit Counties, but the company’s reach extends farther.

“We have significant customer numbers in lower B.C., Northwest Oregon, and Eastern Washington,” Scholten said.“Wherever there are pockets of dairy farmers.”

One of the proudest achievements the company has seen so far is the product lines they’ve been awarded to carry, Scholten said. Other dealers want to carry products from lines like Kubota, JCB, and Claas, but Scholten’s Equipment, Inc. was awarded the lines based on their reputation with customers.

“That was a huge feather in our cap and still is,” Scholten said.

Claas is a German agricultural equipment company that had no presence in the area until they started carrying the line in 2004, Scholten said. Claas has since been one of their best-selling products, accounting for 80 percent market share in 2011, Scholten said.

Kubota equipment was new to North America as well, and Scholten said they jumped in with both feet.

“You have to understand, in our business if you sell five of anything in a year you are beaming,” he said.“In 2005, we sold [more than] 90 mini excavators.”

In 1980, Scholten started the company with nothing. He received his first loan from Rainier Bank in Lynden and paid more than 20 percent interest rate. From nothing, they now have more than 9,000 customers on their mailing list from the U.S. and Canada.

“It appears 2014 is going to be very good for us,” Scholten said.“Milk prices are at all-time highs, [and] feed prices are lower; 2014 should be a record year for us.”

AFTER 50 YEARS, WE’RE STILL SERIOUSLY EXCITED ABOUT NUMBERS Even after 50 years, one thing is for sure: Metcalf Hodges remains dedicated to delivering exceptional service and value to our clients.

More than a financial and tax compliance firm, we play an active role in helping small to medium sized businesses turn opportunities into fantastic results and build business value.

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WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 43

Small Business of the Year Finalist: The Willows Inn on Lummi Island

Award-winning Chef Blaine Wetzel (left) and Managing Partner John Gibb have created nationwide appeal for a getaway and premier dining experience. (Staff Photo)

Willows Inn places Lummi Island, Whatcom County in national spotlight with a $3 million year and stack of awards

By Business Pulse Staff

L

ast year the Willows Inn on Lummi Island and its widely-acclaimed restaurant attracted more than 3,000 guests and grossed almost $3 million – up from about $2.67 million in 2012. Moreover, The Willows Inn likely received more national (and some international) media attention than any other attraction in 44 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Whatcom County, except perhaps Mt. Baker.

While revenue rose into the black, the company’s managing partner, John Gibb, said the horizon looks even sunnier. “Our advanced bookings are up 35 percent over last year,” he said. “After significant growth last year, we expect to top $3 million this year.

“We have saved a legacy (the inn is 104 years old) and created more than 40 jobs.”

This occurred over just a twoyear period since Gibb, the head

chef Blaine Wetzel, and an investment group kept the doors open in November 2011 by purchasing the Willows Inn. The business soared on the impetus from numerous consecutive press raves, jumpstarted by The New York Times listing the restaurant as one of 10 places in the world worth flying to for dinner.

Every food specialty publication of note – Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, et al – and all the major travel, recreation, and dining sites on the Internet, a list too long for

this space, and specialty publications Modern Farmer and Outdoor Magazine have printed glowing articles and rankings of No. 1 this, and Top 10 that.

What’s all the fuss about? Food and Wine named Wetzel, 28, a Top New Chef in 2012 and last month he became a semifinalist as a Rising Star Chef (chefs under 30) in the most prestigious recognition bestowed in the industry, the James Beard Award – for the fourth year in a row. (Last year he advanced as one of five nominees for that award.)

All this for Wetzel’s creations for a once-a-night seating of less than 40, counting a 10-seat private dining room, in a tiny old inn on a tiny island (pop. about 900) at $165 a person for a farmto-table array of 15 to sometimes more than 20 servings.

Wetzel and Gibb are ownership partners in the inn’s operations that include two other Lummi Island eateries, the Beach Store

Café and the Taproot Café.

“A group of families were concerned that this long-time, iconic local business would close,” Gibb said, “and an emerging good story

“We saved a legacy…. took over a business losing half-a-million, retained the jobs (44), retained and enhanced the reputation, while turning it around and making it profitable.”

–John Gibb, co-owner/managing partner, The Willows Inn on Lummi Island

(the arrival of Blaine as a chef in his 20s from the world’s top-rated restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark) and many jobs would be lost in Whatcom County.”

He described the situation thus: “We took over a business losing

half-a-million, we retained the jobs (44 employees currently), and retained and enhanced the reputation, while turning it around and making it profitable. We didn’t slash costs or employees, and in fact did exactly the opposite, and that’s very difficult to do in this business.”

Though visitors come largely from afar, The Willows Inn remains loyal in every way possible to the island community where most of the employees reside. The restaurants all have contributed to island nonprofit organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Club, the Grange, the Heritage Land Trust, and others.

To expand business, Gibb said, the staff will create a new line of food goods in the Taproot and gift shop. “Our own amenities, complementary to our theme,” he said, “such as canned and preserved items that maximize what the island and county have to offer.”

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 45

Lifetime Achievement Award: Dan Washburn, CEO, Windermere Real Estate/Whatcom

Dan Washburn at his desk on West Bakerview in Bellingham, the home office for Windermere Real Estate in the county.

The guiding credo for a sterling career:

Family first, business second

Article & photos by Mike McKenzie

D

an Washburn, highly pleased about an impulsive trip to New Jersey he’d just come back from, placed some of the blue-and-green swag from that trip on his desk for a photo shoot. Seahawks’ stuff.

He grew up in Seattle, lived and worked in that area until purchasing the Bellingham/ 46 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Whatcom County agency rights for Windermere Real Estate in 1995, and he holds season tickets.

He and a friend, after having sold their Super Bowl tickets, couldn’t resist the lure of the possibilities that became reality.

They went on line and found flights three days before kickoff, and tickets in the end zone seats toward which the first snap of the game sailed over Peyton Manning’s head and into Seahawks’ lore forevermore.

Impulsive fun fits into Washburn’s family-centered life style, involving his three children and 11 grandchildren with his wife of 47 years and business partner, Sharon.

But strategic planning, Servant Leadership style, and methodical growth initiatives surface in an X-ray of his record of business success and community service.

On an earlier day at his desk in the 10,000-square-foot Windermere spread on West

Washburn Box Score:

Dan Washburn, Owner, Windermere Real Estate/Whatcom Track record: • • •

• •

University of Washington (’67), Accounting 1974-’79 IBM 1979-‘91: Exec. VP/equity partner, William Dieriekx Co., office machines, that grew from 20-25 employees and approx. $3M annual sales to 400-plus employees and $60M-$70M. Sold to IKON (’86).

1991-’94: Co-owner/CEO, Image Tech, copy machine distributor. Sold to Ricoh.

1995-present: , Windermere Real Estate for Bellingham/Whatcom County, grown from approx. 25 agents and 5 percent market share to around 150 agents and nearly 40 percent market share in dollar volume, with almost $700M in sales last year.

Bakerview Road in Bellingham, he spoke of values and operating principles that foster positive relationships and results with family, staff, affiliated sales agents, customers, and community.

Washburn’s achievements in business over the last four decades mounted around ownership stakes in three businesses, including the Windermere agency hereabouts during the last 19 years. Just as he has with Windermere, Washburn guided the other two small companies to exceptional performance levels – both within the office machines industry in hometown Seattle – and then sold them to huge corporations.

Planned, purposeful.

But impulse has had its place, too. He shared two quick-decision business transactions that became fundamental lessons early on for his operational methods in dealing with customers. They took place within a few weeks of each other when he was a partner and

•

Windermere dominates both commercial and home markets, and also includes a property management division. Last year about 900 homes sold in Whatcom County at $400,000 or more; Windermere sold about 48 percent of those.

Professional and community:

Past President of Realtors Assoc.; past Board of Directors and present Board of Governors, Whatcom Boys & Girls Clubs; Windermere community service day annually; Windermere Foundation ($30,000 distributed last year); Hospice and PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center; Young Life; Northlake Community Church, with main causes of children, shelter and care for single mothers and their children.

Business philosophies:

“We’re built on God, family, and team principles. We’re a business on the ascent with a fairly aggressive growth model.

Everybody wants to be on the winning team and make a good income. Our management style (follows) the principle of Servant Leadership‌we in management serve those who best influence the customer experience – our front office staff, and our agents.

They are our (management’s) customers.�

The Windermere Way:

“You’ll never see us advertise being No. 1.

We just go about being No. 1. No charts, no contests, no ‘agent of the month’‌.we never recognize one agent at the expense of another. That fosters an atmosphere of sharing among our agents. (And) We focus on giving back to the community, corporately and individually.â€?

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Lifetime Achievement Award: Dan Washburn, CEO, Windermere Real Estate/Whatcom executive officer with the William Dierickx Company that eventually sold to IKON Office Solutions (Pa.) during the mid-‘80s.

The positive lesson, of his telling: “We were small, like 20-25 employees, about $3 million in annual sales, and growing. At a time when Xerox would only sell to smaller companies, and would lease only to big companies, a little company in Bellevue with eight employees was just getting started and wanted to rent its office machines. Xerox had a monopoly on plain paper copiers, but their patent had run out…(and) we were getting in on the revolution, the Japanese invasion of Canon, Ricoh, Minolta, Sharp.

“(At) IBM, I learned about their whole environment.

Turns out, it’s where I felt I fit best. It’s funny, friends said, ‘You’ll have to wear dark suits and white shirts and neckties.’ I said, ‘Yeah, good – I love that.’

—Dan Washburn, CEO of Windermere Real Estate in Bellingham/Whatcom County

“We decided, OK, let’s do it.

I went to a stationery store and bought some rental contract forms, pasted our logo on one, and ran a copy of it. We put in some dollar figures, and as our sales manager was going out the door, I said, ‘Make sure that the owner signs this, that he’s guaranteeing that we’re going to get paid.’

“Turns out, that owner was a 25-year-old named Bill Gates.”

“We had no idea who Bill Gates was, or Microsoft, but because Xerox stiffed him and our company honored that agreement, for the 48 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

next decade we were the exclusive office equipment sales and maintenance company for Microsoft. We sold them thousands of copiers, and then when fax machines came in, we sold them thousands of fax machines.”

Barely a couple of weeks later, the negative lesson: “This little company in Kent bought one of our first plain-paper copiers, a Canon 200. About three months later, Canon nationally ran a promotion (for) a $200 rebate.

“That was a manufacturer’s inducement to sell new copiers (and) receive the $200 to pass along to the customer. I get a call from this gentleman who said, ‘Mr. Washburn, I saw in the newspaper where I’m entitled to a $200 rebate for the copier we just recently purchased.’

“I told him, ‘If you were to order a copier now, I could put the serial number down for sales beginning now, but not for a sale three months ago.’

Turns out, it’s where I felt I fit best.”

He said friends kidded him about having to wear dark suits and white shirts and neckties. “I said, ‘Yeah, good – I love that.’

Plus, it was a great place to learn your trade, and learn how to sell in a very professional, relationshiporiented approach at the highest level.”

IBM would have paved his way to corporate management, he said if he’d been willing to move around the country.

For example, they offered him a posiSharon and Dan Washburn on career planning: “It’s always tion in Buffalo, N.Y. been focused on continuity for our family.”

“My wife,” he said, “told me, ‘Fine, if you want to do that, but “And he said, ‘Well, Mr. it’s going to be a long commute Washburn, you have a decision to for you. ’ Early in our marriage we make. You can give us $200, or we learned to make decisions through won’t do business in the future.’ I discussion and mutual agreement. told him that I’d love to, but we We agreed it was best to keep our didn’t have the $200 to do that. family in Seattle.

As far as a busi“This turns out to be Howard ness or career plan, it’s always Lincoln.” been focused on continuity for our Lincoln was the CEO of family.”

Nintendo USA. Now he’s the After five years at IBM he chairman and CEO of the Seattle accepted an equity position with Mariners baseball team. “That a printing firm William Dierickx $200 was a big deal for our little Company in 1979. It flourished on company just starting out; it made Canon’s back in the copier market, sense to me, and it didn’t make and in 1986 an East Coast corposense to this guy who was pushing ration bought it and renamed it me. But I’ve never made that misIKON. Washburn stayed on, and take again.” during his 12 years with the comWhen Washburn graduated pany the staff grew to exceed 400, from the University of Washington and sales mounted to a $60-$70 in accounting, he had no foremillion peak, he said. shadowing of his eventual busiAnother partnership opportunity ness career. IBM altered his path. arose with an established small “At first thought I’d be a CPA company that the group renamed (certified public accountant),” he Image Tech, a photo-copy machine said. “As I was interviewing for distributor, with a goal of growthat and thinking about a career, I ing it.

About four years in, Ricoh interviewed with IBM and learned bought it in 1994. about their whole environment.

By then, the Washburns had

empty-nest syndrome, and felt a pull towards Bellingham. It was familiar turf, as both daughters and their son had graduated from Western. Plus Dan had attended one year there, and the area later had been part of his IBM territory.

Their oldest daughter married a Bellingham policeman, and the first of 11 Washburn grandchildren was born here. So, logically, with the family plan leading the business plan, Washburn sought a way to start anew here. He met Jim Shapiro, the president

Dan Washburn made two decisions early in his first business that taught him strong lessons. Both were in dealings with young, small business owners named Gates and Lincoln.

One ended very well, one not so much. of Windermere’s Seattle-based regional real estate giant, who introduced him to multiple-agency owner Craig Shriner. He had the Windermere rights to Whatcom County. Washburn bought threefourths of that franchise in 1995, and the rest in `99.

Statistically, the spread of local Windermere from its home in Bellingham to four other locations – sales agencies in Fairhaven, Blaine, and Lynden, and an outlet in Bellis Fair Mall – as this region’s real estate leader reveals a remarkable story. Steadily it has carved out the highest numbers in the industry. (See boxed insert) But big numbers, always impressive, don’t do justice to the larger story of the culture within and the outreach of the WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 49

Lifetime Achievement Award: Dan Washburn, CEO, Windermere Real Estate/Whatcom Windermere operations. Both individually and collectively, reflective of both the parent company’s and Washburn’s core values, Windermere lends high energy and dollars to causes for homeless, single mothers, and children throughout the county. And, the Windermere Foundation flourishes through receiving a percentage of every home sales commission.

Washburn’s children became involved in Young Life while in school, and Dan has been involved neck-deep in that organization, as well as Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He’s served on the Whatcom Clubs’ board of directors, and now sits on the fund-raising Board of Governors.

And, the Washburns are active with many activities in hospice, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, and at Northlake Community Church.

“Sharon and I have always done things together,” Dan said.

“In this business we’re co-owners.

She’s not a real-estate agent, but she’s always taking care of things around the office, taking care of staff, and the like.” The Washburn’s son, Rob, and oldest daughter, Danielle, have a role in the family’s Windermere operation.

The youngest daughter, Deidre, resides in Carnation, Wash.

The impression clearly is that, as foreign as real estate was to Dan Washburn, the somewhatimpulsive plunge into it has worked to near perfection.

“We looked at different opportunities, some retail, but nothing really matched what I could bring to the table in expertise until this,” Washburn said. “Even though I’d never sold real estate, I’d run sales organizations. It’s the same, really – dealing with sales people creatively, setting a platform for success, marketing, motivating and leading. I felt I could add value.”

Planned and purposefully…

During Washburn’s 17 years with Windermere, the business has sold more than 17,000 homes in excess of $6 billion – more than double the next real-estate competitor in the county in both categories.

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CHEERS & CONGRATULATIONS to all of the 2014 WBA & BusinessPulse Nominees and Winners !

Where Are They Now? Since then he has remained as the president of Barkley Company and he said it was an honor receiving his past award.

Retirement may be in the not-so-distant future for Kochman but it’s still at least seven to 10 years away, if not longer, he said.

“The success of Barkley Village has a lot to do with pursuing opportunity when it presents itself and getting support from key partners in executing a plan,” Kochman said. “We have done a good job of this and it is something I hope to see us continue to do.”

Gary’s Men’s & Women’s Wear

Jeff Kochman (left) of Barkley Company, the 2012 Business Person of the Year, and Tony Larson of the Whatcom Business Alliance. (Staff Photo)

Where are they now?

Catching up with some past winners

By Joella Ortega

A

s we enter the 28th year of the Whatcom County Business Person of the Year Awards, we thought it would be interesting to follow up with some of the previous Whatcom County business award winners in different categories to see what they are doing now. Following are some highlights from our conversations with past winners.

52 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Jeff Kochman, Barkley Company, Business Person of the Year 2011 Jeff Kochman has been the head of the Barkley Company for 17 years.

“Barkley Company develops and manages Barkley Village,” Kochman said. “[It] also provides support of various local nonprofit organizations.”

Kochman received the Business Person of the Year award in 2011.

In 1995 Gary’s Men’s & Women’s Wear won the Small Business of the Year award.

“That helped recognize us as a locally owned, small business,” said Gary Lupo, owner of Gary’s Men’s & Women’s Wear.

“That award helped us continue what we had already worked very hard to establish.”

Lupo and his wife, Barbara, have owned their retail store for 36 years. The couple has considered retirement but Gary Lupo said they enjoy what they do too much to leave their business behind.

“We’re closer to the end of our run than we are to the middle of our run,” he said. “It’s in the future but it’s not tomorrow. It’s important we have a place to go in the community, we like what we do, and we think it’s valuable.”

Through the business Lupo has gained friends in the Whatcom community – customers that Lupo said he’s been selling to for his entire 36 years in the business.

“It’s important to be trusted. We like what we do and we like being a part of people’s clothing lives.”

Gary’s clothing store in downtown Bellingham was the Small Business of the Year almost two decades ago, and since has added top-brand women’s wear to the original men’s lines.

(Staff Photo)

LaserPoint Awards & Promotional Solutions, Start-Up Business of the Year 1997 In 1997 when LaserPoint Awards & Promotional Solutions took home the start-up award the

Kathy and Randy Cross’s Start-Up of the Year 17 years ago, Laser Point Awards, has blossomed to a customer list exceeding 400 a year.

(Photo courtesy of Laser Point Awards)

company had only a few customers making up a small amount of accounts, owner Randy Cross said. Now, LaserPoint has grown to more than 400 customers annually.

“We are a full-service promotional company,” Cross said.

“Promotional products of every kind, style for branding and promotion for any business, organization, or club.”

Though their accounts have skyrocketed since the time of their award, Cross intends to continue growing the business.

For Cross and his wife, Kathy, winning the award meant more than just honor and recognition; it was a validation of all the struggle they had put into their business.

“Our hard work was validated by our community,” Cross said.

“This award gave us credibility.

It was a big boost to us as a new venture.”

With the huge load of orders and customers, Randy and Kathy still strive to remain humble and level-headed as they look back at what brought them success.

“Kathy and I want to thank all of our wonderful customers

If an 18 year old penniless immigrant can dream big you can too.

This book traces the business journey of well known local business man Sid Baron from his childhood to the present. Having lived in Whatcom County all of his adult life Baron has started many businesses including radio station KLYN-FM (now KWPZ), cofounded Exxel Pacific Construction and others. In March of 2008 he was awarded the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award by Business Pulse Magazine.

Learn about the ingredients that are essential for success in business.

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Where Are They Now?

Rud Browne, Ryzex Inc., Business Person of the Year 2004

Rud Browne (File Photo)

who have continued to support us through 17 years,” Cross said, adding that they look forward to another decade with the Whatcom community.

Ryzex began in newly elected Whatcom County Council member Rud Browne’s apartment in 1989. It grew into a multinational, mobile technologies solution company that operated in five different countries.

Ryzex grew from zero to $7 million in annual revenue and created a grand total of 360 jobs, with 140 of those positions based in Whatcom County, Browne said. Due to his professional accomplishment, Browne won the Business Person of the Year award in 2004.

Browne sold Ryzex in 2011 to Peak Technologies; the combination company is now known as Peak-Ryzex and has operations in multiple markets. But just because Browne sold Ryzex doesn’t mean he stopped creating jobs for himself or Whatcom County.

“I am currently the founder and CEO of Ryanna LLC,” Browne said.

Ty McClellan co-owns the family business Hardware Sales, the Small Business award-winner in 1997, along with his retired aunt, Ladonna George, and Ty’s father, Jerry, who still works part-time at the iconic Bellingham store. (Staff Photo)

54 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

“It’s a local company focused on supporting other entrepreneurs and innovative business models.”

Browne said winning the award was one of the highlights of his career.

“Winning the award raised our profile locally,” Browne said. “I hope to be able to bring my experience in business to my new role as a Whatcom County Council member, and help others living in our wonderful community achieve their dreams as well.”

Stowe Talbot for Jim Talbot, Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 Jim Talbot won the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 for his work with Bellingham Cold Storage and Talbot Industries. He was unavailable for comment, and Stowe Talbot, his son, answered interview questions in his place.

“I think the award got people interested in what Jim and his father had accomplished for Bellingham since the 1940s.”

Stowe Talbot said. “Both Bellingham Cold Storage and Barkley Village have continued to grow and prosper.”

In recent years Jim was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. He has been in a memory care facility in Bellingham since 2007. He passed the company to his son and daughter, Stowe and Jane Talbot, in 2000. He remained involved with the company for the next few years.

“The award was especially gratifying to him because it acknowledged his contributions to this community, for which he cared so much,” Stowe said. “I was happy that he received that recognition.”

Award Winners History Business Person of the Year

1986 Don Haggen, Haggen Foods 1987 Dick Metcalf, Metcalf Hodges 1988 Mike Brennan, Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce 1989 Fielding Formway, Arco Cherry Point 1990 Hal Arnason Jr., Arnason Realtors 1991 Sid Baron, Exxel Pacific 1992 Jim Wynstra, Homestead, Inc. 1993 Don Stern, Homax, Inc. 1994 Jody Bergsma, Bergsma Galleries 1995 Jim Frederick, Intalco Aluminum 1996 Peggy Zoro, Key Bank 1997 Glenn Butler, Arco Cherry Point Refinery 1998 Dean Shintaffer, Sound Beverage 1999 Craig Cole, Brown and Cole Foods 2000 Peter Paulson, Hotel Bellwether 2001 Ray Caldwell, Little Caesars Pizza 2002 Elizabeth Grant, Stewart Title 2003 Larry Wickkiser, Airporter Shuttle 2004 Rud Browne, Ryzex, Inc. 2005 Nick Kaiser Saturna Capital 2006 Larry Weiber, Aluminum Chambered Boats 2007 Dale Henley, Haggen Foods 2008 Scott Walker, Walkers Carpet 2009 Wes Herman, Woods Coffee 2010 John Ferlin, Brooks Manufacturing 2011 Jeff Kochman, Barkley Company 2012 Bob Pritchett, Logos Bible Software 2013 ???

Small Business of the Year 1990 Lehmann and Sons 1991 Ferndale Drug 1992 Il Fiasco 1993 International Athletic 1994 Louis Auto Glass 1995 Gary’s Clothing 1996 Office Systems Northwest 1997 Hardware Sales 1998 Bakerview Nursery 1999 Bellingham Travel and Cruise 2000 McEvoy Oil 2001 Northwest Propane 2002 Brenthaven 2003 Absorption Corporation 2004 Andgar 2005 Northwest Computer 2006 Brambleberry 2007 Dewaard & Bode 2008 Credo Construction 2009 F astcap 2010 Avenue Bread Company 2011 Chuckanut Bay Foods 2012 Vital Choice Seafood 2013 ???

Start-Up Business of the Year 1994 Bagel Factory 1995 Northwood Hall 1996 Merry Maids 1997 Laserpoint Awards 1998 Pastazza 1999 Laserjamb 2000 Siscosoft 2001 Chrysalis Inn and Spa 2002 Nuthouse Grill 2003 Aluminum Chambered Boats 2004 Emergency Reporting 2005 K&K Industries 2006 Fairhaven Candy Company 2007 B ig Fat Fish Company 2008 Tatango 2009 Reset Games 2010 F at Cat Fish Company 2011 Infusion Solutions 2012 Next Level Training 2013 ???

Whatcom Business Lifetime Achievement Awards

1990 David Morse, Morse Hardware 1991 Hank Jansen, Lynden Transport 1992 Jack Cole, Brown and Cole, Inc. 1993 Red Haskell, Haskell Corporation 1994 Ira Yeager, Yeager’s Sporting Goods 1995 Ivor Allsop, Allsop, Inc. 1996 Chuck Wilder, Wilder Construction, Inc. 1997 Irwin LeCocq, Peoples Bank 1998 Jim Talbot, Bellingham Cold Storage, Barkley, Inc., Talbot Industries 1999 Ann Jones, KGMI, KISM Radio 2000 Brian Griffin, Unity Insurance 2001 Don Haggen, Haggen Foods 2002 Alta McClellan, Hardware Sales 2003 Harold Walton, Walton Beverage 2004 Bob Diehl, Diehl Ford 2005 Hal Arnason Jr., Arnason-Miller Real Estate 2006 Ken Imus, Jacaranda Corp 2007 Jerry Chambers, Chambers Chevrolet 2008 Sid Baron, Exxel Pacific 2009 Jack Westford, Westford Funeral Homes 2010 Dick Hempler, Hempler Meats 2011 Frank Imhof, IMCO Construction 2012 Nick Kaiser, Saturna Capital RSON BUSINESS PE OF THE YEAR 2013 Dan Washburn, Windermere Real Estate

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 55

Where Are They Now?

Small Business of the Year award: Hardware Sales 1997 Ty McClellan is vice president of Hardware Sales, a family-owned company that Bellingham has been home to for more than 50 years.

“Things have changed dramatically with technology,” McClellan said. “We have expanded into selling online. With online sales we can sell all over the world, [giving] us greater buying power.”

McClellan took over for his father and became vice president of the company. He and his family have no intention of selling the company and Ty has no intention of retiring anytime soon.

“We’ve got some lifelong goals to build the company,” McClellan said. “We’re having fun while doing it and we’re going to continue to grow.”

Despite now having a successful online presence, Hardware Sales was one of the few companies that didn’t instantly cling to the technological revolution. “We were one of the last companies to get a computer,” McClellan said.

He still looks fondly upon receiving Small Business of Year award 17 years ago. “It was quite an honor being recognized by the community,” McClellan said.

“There are a lot of businesses out there to choose from and for us it was absolutely incredible.”

He said that his family is proud to remain family-owned and local to the Bellingham community.

the Chrysalis Inn & Spa: Start-Up Business of the year 2001 The Chrysalis Inn & Spa opened in April of 2001. Since the business began, the surrounding area has changed dramatically. The boardwalk has been built and a restaurant has been added to the Chrysalis.

56 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

“The hotel consists of a spa and restaurant,” owner Mike Keenan said. “[There are] 128 employed. In the spa alone we’ve contributed a lot in jobs and over $600,000 [into the local economy] between sales and lodging tax.”

Keenan said that 2013 has been the best year for the Chrysalis since their opening. Fairhaven traffic has increased the Chrysalis’ customer base, and liquor was added to the menu options in the restaurant.

“I’m not going to retire yet,” Keenan said. “I still enjoy business here and I have young kids at home so I don’t want to leave town.”

The Chrysalis is going well and continuing to build itself up, as 2013 demonstrated. “We’re not in business to win awards,” Keenan said. “If they come along it means we’re doing something right.

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Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County

Golf courses in Whatcom County report upward trends The Canadian dollar boosts play, grow-the-game initiatives aim to keep revenues rising

By Mike McKenzie

Photo courtesy of Sudden Valley Golf & Country Club

Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County

G

olf season in Whatcom County will soon awaken to Daylight Savings Time, to warmer weather, and to heavy traffic on tee boxes, fairways, greens, carved dunes, and places out-ofbounds.

A good time to ask: How’s business?

The county is full-bloom with golf courses. A baker’s dozen courses criss-cross various meadows and ex-farm or ranch land and forests and housing developments around the county. Many get high praise from publications that deem to rate golf courses.

But, are all 12 faring well?

Odds run against them in two ways: generally, nationally, recreational golf is in a slump; locally, supply often exceeds demand. (A number surfaces from somewhere that compares Whatcom County golf to King County golf. One hole for every 750 residents here; One for every 1600 there.)

A visit with some of the local courses produced reports of upward revenue trends and forecasts and lots of optimism about golfers reinvigorating the sport hereabouts, with a boost from creative marketing to kids, young execs, women, seniors, and disabled.

60 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Nationwide, initiatives fly around like wild tee shots. At the annual trade show for the industry in Orlando, Fla., to start this year equipment manufacturing giant Taylor Made put up $5 million toward discovery of innovative ways for golf course operations to attract more golfers back to the game. Taylor Made CEO Mark King said, “Our game lacks innovation….new ideas, new motivations, new reasons to get off the couch and play the game.”

In the Wall Street Journal recently, golf columnist John Paul Newport wrote: “At the U.S. Golf Association’s annual meeting (in Pinehurst, N.C.) incoming President Thomas O’Toole Jr. sent a good portion of his inaugural remarks….(on) the desire of the USGA to address some pressing problems, in particular the slow leakage in the number of golfers.”

Whatcom teaching pros have revamped their junior programs and tee boxes to wake up the younger set to the perceived joys of golf, as well as other players who cannot smash the ball a mile.

The CEO of the National Golf Foundation, Joe Beditz, cited that the number of players between the ages of 18-34 is down 30 percent from a peak in the 1980s, dropping from approximations of 30 million to 20 million in about 25 years.

The prevailing problems, all seen somewhere in Whatcom County’s golf landscape: too many courses, fast greens, slow play, and a dearth of places for kids and other beginners to have affordable fun while learning the game.

In asking around, we heard many possible solutions to attract customers and enhance business:

“Dumb down” the courses. Shorter tee boxes for kids, other beginners, women, seniors, and disabled players. Changes in course maintenance and turf management (larger, less-treacherous greens, less watering and other resources), changes in handicapping, alternative equipment choices, improving the pace of play.

O’Toole said in his speech, “The game has a significant legacy of exclusion and elitism that we must collectively work to overcome.”

Locally, one thing rang clearly in responses from the persons running the operations – O, Canada is an anthem for Whatcom County golf as well as the neighboring nation. Even with the Canadian dollar wobbling a bit, golfers directly north know a bargain when they see one.

We know this commonly because of long lines of B.C. citizens purchasing gas, milk, and other commodities. The same goes for golf on the cheap. Especially at the public courses, and especially at those closest to the border – upward to 80 percent of business at Dakota Creek Golf Club, a chip shot south of the Blaine crossing.

Brian Kruhlak, director of golf at Sudden Valley, himself a Canadian who competed on scholarship for the University of British Columbia, said that golf up there is “more expensive and less supplied.”

About half of his communityowned, semi-private club memberships belong to Canadians, and about 60 percent of daily play comprises Canadian golfers. “Customer service is another thing better for them down here,” Kruhlak said. “I’ve experienced it, and we hear it all the time from friends up there in the golf business. It’s the culture and environment. The game is a bit more stodgy in Canada, stemming from the heritage of its roots in Great Britain.”

Kruhlak also addressed the bigger picture of Whatcom County

experiencing the same problem as nationally – over-saturation.

“During the early-to-mid-‘90s, we were adding 400 courses a year,” Kruhlak said. “The National Golf Foundation had put out the word

O, Canada is an anthem for Whatcom County golf as well as the neighboring nation. Even with the Canadian dollar wobbling a bit, golfers directly north know a bargain when they see one. along the way that we had to open one course a day to meet the demand, which was grossly overestimated.”

He and all the other Whatcom teaching pros have revamped their junior programs and tee boxes to wake up the younger set to the perceived joys of golf, as well as other players who cannot smash the ball a mile.

Revenue streams seem endless at the golf courses: Greens fees, tournament fees, club memberships, corporate outings, cart and club rental, locker rental, lessons, pro shop merchandise, equipment, food and beverage, residual amenities (such as a workout facility, swimming pool, sauna and/or steamroom, etc.).

But another main point surfaced – greens fees still pay the freight.

Number of rounds is the critical number, and nobody reported having hit critical mass. But the industry locally appears to be at a rallying point. Several of the club pros and managers pointed out that the ’08 economic slump took a large bite because golfing became dispensable, and corporate outings disappeared.

Here’s a look at some figures and trends at several Whatcom County golf courses…

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Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County

Mike Montgomery (left), the director of golf, gives General Manager Trent McAllister some putting tips...their course hosted 45,000 rounds last year. (Staff Photo)

Bellingham Golf & Country Club

T

he Old Guard of local golf, Bellingham Golf and Country Club (founded 1912) has rallied gradually over the last two years.

“Last year was a very positive year,” said Trent McAllister, who grew up on the course and started work at the club in 1988 as a 12-year-old and worked his way up to become the general manager in 2010.

He reported more than 45,000 rounds played during 2013, and profits up 10-12 percent.

62 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

The country-club model differs from other county courses.

Bellingham G&CC is memberowned, managed by a board of directors, and golf provides only about 40 percent of the business.

Dining for club members, banquets, events, and catering makes up about 40 percent. Club amenities like swimming lessons, the workout facility, and others earns the rest.

Also, the club has fewer golfers from Canada than most other courses – about 8 percent, McAllister estimated.

BG&CC foresaw a rosy and robust future back in 2005. On Valentine’s Day the demolition

crews razed the clubhouse, and it reopened the next November in grand style. “It provided a big spark,” McAllister said. “We were quite active, and the golf course was full.”

Then 2008 happened, and the club became more vulnerable than most. “A country club is a luxury item. It’s the common tale of private clubs…the most expedient thing to cut.”

The club added about 200 social/golf memberships attributable to a “resurgence of young executives, players under 40, that we marketed to,” McAllister said.

That target market included a reduction in monthly cost by more

than $50 to $299. The club also instituted a corporate program – group pricing for a minimum of four memberships at $199 each.

The equity certificate membership remains $438.

BG&CC advertises golf widely – Comcast, Golf Channel, CNN, ESPN Sports Center, local radio – but more for brand awareness as reaping memberships. “Word of mouth still drives 90-95 percent of our business,” McAllister said.

ter of lagging interest by pushing on traditional parameters. “We must find ways to make it easier for the everyday golfer and less time-consuming,” he said. “Ask ourselves things like, why play 18?

Why play four hours? Why not an 8-inch hole (instead of 4.25)?

Why not two holes on every green instead of the standard one?

“You have all different types of golfers, so why not do things to allow everyone to have fun at the

same time?”

He also sees diverse activities cutting into golf. “I see people into mountain biking, paddling boats, triathlons, working out. Things with no scorecard,” Montgomery said.

“Golf has a brutal scorecard.

So how do we get from Point A to Point B when you have a 15 handicap or higher and still have a good workout?”

Why play 18? Why play four hours? Why not an 8-inch hole (instead of 4.25)? Why not two holes on every green instead of the standard one?

—Mike Montgomery

Marketing events provide residual revenue, like wine tasting, cooking class, dinner dance, and starlight dinner. “We set up the restaurant on the course,” McAllister said, and added, laughing. “But not on a fairway.”

Mike Montgomery is director of golf and head pro among three.

The golf staff also has a superintendent, Dave Bocci, who has been there 17 years, and eight course attendants.

Montgomery revamped the junior program from a three-day camp to 14-16 days. On certain Mondays, the tee boxes move forward and only kids get to play the course. “…Without the pressure of adults wanting to play faster,” Montgomery said. “We need more areas for teens to play with appropriate length.”

Montgomery probed the mat-

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Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County in the years leading up to 2008.

Since then the figure had risen to 43,000-45,000.

Generally, recreational golfers speak of the course as the most scenic public layout in the county. “It’s tree-lined, with old houses on it, like you can’t find anymore,” Fish said. “It’s the best buy for your golf dollar in western Washington.”

The basic golf dollar for adults, in peak season May-October, is $32 weekday and $40 weekend.

Golfers can buy punch cards for multiple rounds at a discount.

Golfing provides about 60 percent of the revenue, and the rest comes from the pro shop merchandising and equipment, lessons, tournament events, and other services. Canadians make up about 30 percent of the golf rounds.

Mel Fish arranges golf bags in the pro shop at the popular municipal course he and a partner lease from the City of Bellingham, featuring a Men’s Club and a Golf School.

(Staff Photo)

Lake Padden Golf Course

M

el Fish, the director of golf, operates this city-owned, public course with a management lease contract that he and his business partner, Barry Kramer, negotiated with Bellingham effective Jan. 1, 2006.

64 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Lake Padden golf course opened in 1971. Originally from Bellevue, Fish came to Bellingham to attend WWU (’75), and he has worked at Lake Padden since 1990.

The course logged about 40,000 rounds during 2012. “Not a good year,” Fish said. Lake Padden was busy with 50,000 rounds at its peak, and averaged about 45,000

On March 15 the Men’s Club opens its season – 330 men paying a $65 membership fee. “It keeps this place open,” Fish said. The group has 10 tournament events, and course availability perks.

Golfing provides about 60 percent of the revenue, and the rest comes from the pro shop merchandising and equipment, lessons, tournament events, and other services. Canadians make up about 30 percent of the golf rounds.

In 2000 Fish and a club member built the Lake Padden Golf School on the premises, operated by Luke Bennett, the director of instruction. He also is the head coach of men’s golf at Western Washington.

“It’s a teaching facility, with an office and meeting room, TV for

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www.lakepaddengolf.com 4882 Samish Way, Bellingham, WA 98229 • Phone: 360-738-7400 video analysis, and the latest technology,” Fish said.

To keep the clubhouse and course active during Fall and Winter, Lake Padden offers a “Winter Golf Tour” developed and run by Josh Fish, Mel’s son, a PGA of America-certified club pro who studied in the pro golf management program at Campbell College while playing on a baseball scholarship there.

As many as 100 show up, but normally between 40-70. “That keeps them coming out all winter, something to play for,” Mel Fish said. “They win merchandise. It helps revenue, and keeps them from putting the clubs away all winter.” Another fun date on Lake Padden’s schedule is the Polar Bear Open on New Year’ Day. About 100 enter, regardless of weather.

As a public course Lake Padden’s round costs below the average, and for a couple of other reasons. Mel Fish explained, “A

condition of our contract with the city is that we remain the most affordable, inexpensive course to play. It’s not written in the contract, but we agreed to it in principle, because I’d been playing here for 20 years and didn’t want all the players I knew to see me as suddenly owning it and trying to get rich off of them. It just motivates us to work harder in merchandising, the driving range,

lessons, the school, and all.”

Scott McBeath is the course superintendent. “He’s a two-handicap player so he knows the game.

He’s been like gold, as he turned this place around just six months in,” Fish said.

“It’s always been a diamond in the rough, a very special layout, and we’re always polishing that diamond to make it better.”

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Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County

Brian Kruhlak drives the lake inlet on one of the testiest tee shots at the course that is a Canadian haven that he worked during summers as a kid, and now lives on above tee box No. 2. (Staff Photo)

Sudden Valley Golf & Country Club

A

bout 26,000 rounds were played on this semi-private course owned by Sudden Valley Community Association, consisting of around 3,200 lot owners and 8,000 residents. A board of directors oversees the club, and Brian Kruhlak is 66 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

director of golf and head pro.

Kruhlak estimates that about 10 percent play golf with membership discounts (and also to tennis, the recreation center that will lease to the YMCA this year, the swimming pool, and other amenities).

Otherwise, golf there opens during specified hours to the public.

The business breakdown: Daily

golf brings 40 percent, membership fees 40 percent, and golf outings 20 percent, according to Kruhlak. Standard greens fees cost $40 weekdays, $50 weekends.

Canadian golfers make up about 60 percent of the daily golf revenue, and about half of the membership players. Kruhlak understands that influence firsthand. “I grew up on this course because my family (from B.C.) had

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a summer vacation home here,” he said.

“I got special dispensation to work at the course since there

“Carts came along, and they’re great for revenue, but the caddies went away – and that’s one important place young kids were around the game and learned to play,” —Brian Kruhlak, director of golf, Sudden Valley

were not enough American kids to work. I’ve been on this course from early ‘80s when I was a cart washer, club scrubber, and then assistant pro here.”

He returned three years ago after 20 years as head pro at Avalon in Skagit County. Seeking

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ways to make the course more agreeable to more players, Kruhlak oversaw expanding the greens by 20,000 square feet, and he changed agronomy practices to use less water and different treatments.

Sudden Valley’s golf business has experienced growth of about 10 percent a year since 2011. “It was kind of flat last year because unfortunately we lost our food and beverage operator in October of ’12 and didn’t reopen the restaurant until July to September last year. We don’t own the restaurant, and we were hamstrung.”

To stimulate interest Kruhlak operates clinics with junior programs and women, a junior camp in June, and events to create more rounds. In 2011 he cut the junior membership fee for 17-under from $550 to $250. The result: “We’ve gone from four members to 30,” he said.

He has a vision for helping young, non-affluent youths to play golf. “Carts came along, and they’re great for revenue, but the caddies went away – and that’s one important place young kids were around the game and learned to play,” he said. Sudden Valley’s golf course, sitting on what once was a huge ranch in the forest and accessible by a winding drive through sky-tall Douglas firs, offers what Kruhlak calls the best combination of outstanding aesthetics and a two-pronged test of skills.

“We have two starkly different nines,” he said. “The front (where his home sits above the No. 2 tees) wraps around the lake with mountainside views, and the back goes up into the hills, where it’s tree-lined all the way and much tighter. Hands-down, it’s the most beautiful golf course property around here.”

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 67

Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County

Shuksan Golf Club

R

ick Dvorak, the CEO of Shuksan Golf Club, summed up 2013 on his course as “…a very good year, up in rounds and revenue – the best in 8 years. I don’t like to reveal our rounds, but between 25,000-30,000.”

Canadian golfers – over 50 percent of Shuksan business, Dvorak said – love it because it’s close and it’s inexpensive. Still, play runs far below capacity, and the owner said he recognizes decline during the last three years in business, given the marketing and the venue. At one point when border problems decreased traffic from Canada, Shuksan went from 75-100 rounds a day to 35.

A problem for Shuksan at times has been its difficulty, length, and natural layout. “For a long time our course was very difficult because of the terrain,” Dvorak said. “We have moved tees forward for seniors, both men and women, to make it a shorter but normal course.”

He referred to a write-up about several Northwest courses in

Alaska Airlines Magazine a couple of years ago, in which the author, Jeff Wallach, wrote: “Playing Shuksan is like watching an entertaining stage play that reveals an array of quirky, yet engaging personalities, ranging from amusing to downright ornery.”

In addition to the core services of tournaments and other golf events, pro shop, greens fees, cart rental, and the driving range, Shuksan has places for non-golf meetings, and for weddings.

“We’re set up for it,” Dvorak said.

“We have an outside wedding terrace in front of the clubhouse.”

The backdrop for a wedding, just as for the golfer, lends spectacular views of the Cascades (a peak of which the course is named for) and glimpses of Mt. Baker. Dvorak, stating that he has a “bunch of favorites” among the holes, spoke of what many call the signature hole of Shuksan, No. 5: “It’s a par-4 strategy hole that will beat you up, but its beauty is its privacy. It sits among cedars and firs and says, ‘You’re sitting in the heart of the Pacific Northwest.’”

“Playing Shuksan is like watching an entertaining stage play that reveals an array of quirky, yet engaging personalities, ranging from amusing to downright ornery.”

— Jeff Wallach, for Alaska Airlines Magazine

Photo courtesy of Shuksan Golf Club

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Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County

Tyler Poster (left), the 2nd assistant, talks about merchandise with head pro and director of golf Nathan Vickers at one of the most popular and busiest public courses in the county. The pro shop is but a tiny slice in the course’s revenues. (Staff Photo)

North Bellingham Golf Course

G

reens and memberships make up 80 percent of the business at this county course most resembling a traditional links layout, sans ocean, heather, and gorse, and another 15 percent from the pro shop.

Other sales come from the driving range, cart rental, lessons, the restaurant, and other sundry 70 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

extras. And business as a whole, said head club pro Nathan Vickers, the director of golf, “…is pretty flat as a whole.”

Referring to the comeback from the 2008 economic downturn, he said, “Golf is not necessary. It’s the first thing you put off. But, we’ve been growing a little, which is good compared to the average in golf. If you’ve been growing at all the last four or five years you’re better than most.”

His course welcomed about

45,000 rounds last year, a robust number comparatively – both against the rest of the county, and against past performance at North Bellingham. The number is up from the 38,000-40,000 range since 2008.

The course opened in 1995.

Vickers arrived two years later from Spokane. He attributes the growth pattern that survived the ’08 recession to staying the course. “We didn’t cut expenses,” he said, “and we kept the course in great shape.”

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“We cost a lot less to play as a municipal course when they come down for their groceries, gas, and play a round,” Vickers said. “A lot of their courses would cost them twice as much.”

He pointed out the main reason why the Canadian player remains a core customer: border crossings in 2008 stood at 10 million; by 2012 they’d risen to 21 million. As second assistant pro Tyler Poster put it, “We’re right on the way between millions of people and a mall.”

The day of this interview, two men putting gear in a car with British Columbia plates, identifying themselves as Larry and Jerry, said they would pay three times more to play the municipal course

nearest their home. They also said they made it from their home to North Bellingham in 40 minutes, and would have spent nearly that

He pointed out the main reason why the Canadian player remains a core customer: border crossings in 2008 stood at 10 million; by 2012 they’d risen to 21 million.

As second assistant pro Tyler Poster put it, “We’re right on the way between millions of people and a mall.” long in tunnel traffic going to their nearest course.

Vickers said, “We watch the

Canadian dollar closely. If it drops, we have a double-whammy.” One of the two players there that day, Jerry, made note that they were paying less than $2 more (the loonie was down near 80 cents) and they wouldn’t care if it dropped to half of the U.S. dollar “because we’d still be saving money.”

North Bellingham offers many tournaments and club events, thriving on competition. They held a Super Bowl tournament, and throughout the off-season they keep points and standings in a Frostbite League for both men and women.

During peak play, Vickers said the course would draw about 130 on a weekend day. “We have a really good winter course. It drains well, and we’re open to the sun.

Greens are healthier from nice water flow, and grass is waist high. It gobbles up golf balls.”

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 71

Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County

Dakota Creek – a course of a different color Pam Smith built it, mows it, welcomes golfers ‘as-you-are’ for family-friendly rounds

By Mike McKenzie

P

am Smith refers to herself as a “very sole proprietor.” She also could tag on golf course architect, club pro, greens superintendent, and head of customer service, marketing, and every other thing that keeps her Dakota Creek Golf Club running.

In Whatcom County’s montage of golf, Smith and her unusual back-story and operations make Dakota Creek a course of a different color. She built designed a

“You can see the whole county,” owner Pam Smith said of her hand-built course that relies on as much as 80% Canadian golfers with themes of casual and family-centered play. (Photo by Mike McKenzie)

built it on a 100-year-old, 200acre farm. Correction: “Me, God, and many, many knowledgeable golfers,” she said of its creation.

“I asked questions, and everybody was kind enough to answer.

I took what we needed, and threw the rest away.”

The result, a chip shot from the Canadian border tucked into hilly woods off of the I-5 Birch BayLynden exit, is a casual-atmosphere, family-styled, picturesque layout. “Family friendly, that’s our theme for 2014,” she said (repeatedly) during a ride around her course.

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Industry Report – Golf In Whatcom County Relying largely on golfers a quick drive away in British Columbia, the business chugs along steadily on a theme of come-as-you-are and leave formality at the entrance.

After she bought the land she wanted to turn it into a camping business, though the aged barn adds a large, looming salute to yesteryear as the backdrop to the clubhouse. “But the county ordinance would allow me to build a only a church, a cemetery, or a golf course,” she said.

She had been taking care of the grounds on contract at Lake Padden’s municipal course, and figured, “Why not make myself a family-friendly golf course – the future of golf.”

The one job she doesn’t perform is instructor. “I don’t even play the game. My job is mowing the grass, and meeting the folks who visit us.”

The course, while unconventional yet refined repeatedly and

groomed immaculately over the years, is no joke. Smith bursts with prideful energy as she describes it. “Our greens are dynamite over

“Our action (greens fee) stays the same. We don’t compete with the big boys…we’re not a trendsetter….We rely on 75-80 percent Canadian customers.”

—Pam Smith, owner, Dakota Creek Golf Club

the last three years. The fairways are still a mom ‘n’ pop course. We didn’t have the millions it would have taken to make them topgrade, and they had to mature quick.”

She opened the front first, and the back a decade later, and said

A n I c on R e j u v e n at e d .

both were too soon. “I opened in the ‘80s prematurely as the ‘toughest 9 holes in Washington.’ In ’96 we went to 18 holes, but prematurely again, with the back nine.

We teed up on the dandelions.”

Business? “We hang on,” she said. “Like a lot of businesses in the county we rely on 75-80 percent Canadian customers. We’re very Canada-friendly, but 9/11 and the border crossing about killed us. They’d had a moratorium on building courses, and they had nothing like our nine-hole so we did fantastic, and now we have them back on a regular basis.”

Greens fees cost in the $20s, or $15 for nine holes. “Our action stays the same. We don’t compete with the big boys. I’ll up my prices the second I can, but we’re not a trendsetter.”

Golfers at Dakota Creek find a friendly practice area with a net, and what Smith terms “dynamite putt and chip greens.” To add user-friendliness to the golf test,

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she’s widened the fairways and moved some tee boxes forward.

“We’ve dramatically improved the course over the last 5-6 years.

Up-and-down, I believe we have the best greens in the county.

“You will not be bored on our course. It has everything the game has to offer, and at the top you can see the whole county – islands in front of you, mountains if you turn around. It’s a gorgeous walk with nature.”

“We have the best greens in the county. You will not be bored on our course.

It has everything the game has to offer, (and)… it’s a gorgeous walk with nature.”

—Pam Smith, owner, Dakota Creek Golf Club

Her relaxed regulations permits teeshirts, tank tops even. “We welcome you as you are. We ask that everyone arrive in a shirt, but once out on the course, hey, that shirt can come off. Just respect the course, and respect others playing it.”

The club also stages several tournaments designed for fun. And some are free. Smith stages those on behalf of three charities – the alternative Humane Society shelter, a camp for kids, and the Royal Family Orphanage.

The only new consideration looking ahead, other than selling off several bags of new clubs she got in a buyout, is weddings.

“We’re pitching a tent. We’d turned down a lot of requests, so my grandson created the facilities to accommodate riding into the wedding tent on golf carts in a slow parade….”

One more line on the job title list for Pam Smith.

Representing the universal golfer, this stately bronze bust welcomes visitors to Bellingham Country Club. (Staff Photo)

Whatcom County Golf Courses Bellingham Golf & Country Club (private, 18) Dakota Creek Golf Club, Custer (public, 18) Grandview Golf Course, Custer (public, 18) Homestead Golf & Country Club, Lynden (semi-pvt, 18) Lake Padden Golf Course (muni, 18) Loomis Trail, Blaine (semi-pvt, 18) North Bellingham Golf Course (public, 18) Point Roberts Golf & Country Club (public, 18) Raspberry Ridge, Everson (exec, 9) Semiahmoo Golf & Country Club (semi-pvt, 18) Shuksan Golf Club (public, 18) Sudden Valley Golf & Country Club (semi-pvt, 18) WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 75

Philanthropy: Mt. Baker Chapter Red Cross

Executive Director Stacy Rice leads the local chapter that manages a budget of $800,000, of which 91 percent goes to programming, and 100s of volunteers with a five-person staff. (Staff Photo)

Mt. Baker Chapter Red Cross: beyond local Helping families navigate unexpected emergencies Special to Business Pulse

T

he local administrative team of the American Red Cross, based in downtown Bellingham, bears the name Mt. Baker Chapter. It operates with just five employees. Seem small?

Take a look at its tentacles.

They stretch from local, to regional, to state, to national, to around the world.

The Mt. Baker Chapter primarily covers needs in Whatcom County 76 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

and Skagit County, but also part of the Northwest Washington Region that includes the Snohomish and Islands chapters. They all fall under the U.S. umbrella, and work within the framework of the largest humanitarian organization in the universe – the network of the International Red Cross Chapters.

With just a five-person staff the local chapter is capable of helping thousands of people every year – typically on a daily basis – because the chapter thrives as a 98 percent volunteer organization. It carries out the mission of prevent-

ing and alleviating human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of about 350 volunteers with about an $800,000 budget.

Here’s the astounding fact that demonstrates how the free-market approach boosts philanthropy: All $800,000 comes from within Whatcom and Skagit, and all on donations. Fund-Raiser is the Mt. Baker Chapter staff’s middle name.

Jayne Heininger, the chief operating officer of the regional Red Cross, said, “We receive no funding from our national organiza-

tion, or from the government….100 percent of the funding comes from the generosity of our community… (including) both individuals and businesses.”

Last year, according to the executive director of the Mt. Baker Chapter, Stacy Rice, the chapter provided emergency services and lifesaving skills to more than 10,000 people. “The services we provide are essential to the health and well-being of our community,” Rice said. “Many of our clients would become homeless without the immediate assistance that we provide. Many people are making it month-to-month … but are unable to navigate an unexpected emergency such as a house-fire or flood. With a little help, these folks remain vital, healthy, contributing members in our society.”

The private donations remain within Whatcom and Skagit counties. The only monies allocated outside the area are donations specifically designated to a national or international relief effort by the donor. When an emergency strikes beyond local capacity to respond, support then draws from the region, the state, and then from the nation as needed.

“Even though we are responsible for all emergency responses within our jurisdiction,” Rice said, “it is very comforting to know that there are multiple levels of assistance built in to the Red Cross response plan,” said Rice.

While the Mt. Baker Chapter provides all of its services within Whatcom and Skagit counties, their volunteers often travel far and wide to assist others. During large national disasters, the American Red Cross recruits volunteers nationwide. For example in 2013, during Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, 22 volunteers deployed from the Mt. Baker Chapter to help folks in New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia.

The volunteers deployed as shelter workers, nurses, mental

An American Red Cross worker helps a child in distress somewhere in America, an everyday occurrence for volunteers such as the 350 who support Mt. Baker Chapter in this region. (Photo courtesy of the American Red Cross)

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 77

Philanthropy: Mt. Baker Chapter Red Cross health professionals, Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) drivers, and feeding-team members. Linda Giles leads these efforts as the volunteer services director. The benefits cut both ways. “Our volunteers learn a great deal when deployed to national disasters,” Giles said. “They bring new skills, ideas and information back to the chapter, which is very helpful on a local level.”

The American Red Cross has gone through significant change over the last three years as the national organization has restructured and streamlined. Chapters merged, and back-office functions have been regionalized, databases have been standardized, and expenses have been drastically reduced.

“In order to remain financially viable in our changing world as well as excellent stewards of the donated dollar, changes needed to be made, Heininger said. “It has been an exciting and sometimes challenging process, but the results are proving to be extremely beneficial. As an organization, 91 cents on every dollar goes toward Red Cross programs.

The local Red Cross provides

essential services through three main programs: Disaster Services, Services to the Armed Forces, and Health and Safety. These programs help prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.

“We receive no funding from our national organization, or from the government….100 percent comes from the generosity of our community… (including) both individuals and businesses.”

–Jayne Heininger, COO of the Washington Regional Red Cross

The Disaster Services program provides immediate emergency relief to those affected by unexpected disasters. This relief includes temporary shelter, financial assistance for clothes, food, supplies and medical needs as well as emotional support. After immediate assistance is provided, the goal is to reestablish each family into a residence comparable to what they were in before the disaster.

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Skagit Bridge Collapse Mobile Feeding: Mt. Baker Chapter Red Cross volunteers Sue Hibma (left) and Judy Holz helped feed and hydrate rescue teams during the relief efforts after the I-5 bridge collapsed near Burlington last year. (Photo courtesy Mt. Baker Red Cross)

With the economic downturn over the past several years, the number of families needing help has increased as well as the number of family members living in each residence. The Chapter averages one disaster response a week with the most common disaster being house fires. However, the Chapter has responded to 18 disasters over the past two months … more than doubling their average.

Since disasters are unpredictable, the Chapter must always be ready to respond with physical and human resources as well as have the donations necessary to fund the response. All of these factors depend on our community at large.

The Service to the Armed Forces Program provides emergency assistance to our local service members, veterans and their families. This assistance includes Emergency Communication Services between families and their deployed service member, financial assistance, as well as classes and workshops. The classes assist families to deal with the stresses of having a family member deployed as well as the challenges of reintegrating that family member once they return home.

This is one of the least wellknown programs of the Red Cross but is also one of the most utilized. “We recently helped a service member return to the bedside of his father just hours before his father passed away. The gift of those few hours for the service member, his father, and their entire family was priceless for them. We felt honored and humbled to be a part of that healing process in some small way,” Rice said.

The Red Cross also teaches lifesaving skills to thousands of individuals every year through its Health and Safety Program. “We hear stories every day from folks who have taken a CPR class or babysitting class and have saved a life because of their new skills,”

BUSINESS BOX SCORE: Mt. Baker Chapter of the American Red Cross • • • • • • •

Top Executive: Stacy Rice, Executive Director Started: 1917 Employees: 5, all in Bellingham Volunteers: 350 How start-up was funded: Individual and corporate contributions Current Budget: Approximately $800,000 Services outreach: 10,000 people

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Philanthropy: Mt. Baker Chapter Red Cross stated Rice. Statistics show that 80 percent of the time, people use CPR and other lifesaving skills on someone they know. Being prepared can definitely save a life … and often it is a loved one.

The Chapter just celebrated with a young family after their 13 year old daughter, Sarah, saved a 6 year old girl’s life. While Sarah was babysitting for only her second time, the little girl choked on a piece of food and stopped breathing. Sarah remembered her Red Cross training and began to do abdominal thrusts. After several attempts, she was able to dislodge the piece of food and bring the girl back to life. Preparedness saves lives.

While all of the services of the Mt. Baker Chapter are provided within Whatcom and Skagit counties, their volunteers often travel far and wide to assist others.

During large national disasters, volunteers are recruited nationwide in order to fulfill the need of

80 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

the particular community. During Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, for example, 22 volunteers deployed from the Mt. Baker Chapter to help folks in New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia.

The volunteers deployed as shelter workers, nurses, mental health professionals, Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) drivers, and feeding team members. “Our volunteers learn a great deal when deployed to National disasters.

They then bring these new skills, ideas and information back to the Chapter … which is very helpful on a local level,” said Linda Giles, Volunteer Services Director. All costs for national disasters are covered by the national organization and staffed by Red Cross volunteers throughout the country.

Disaster preparedness is also an important part of the Red Cross mission and the Mt. Baker Chapter is currently involved in a 3-year preparedness initiative called Safe in the Sound. Safe in the Sound

Local volunteers Mike Gantenbein, Judy Holz (seated), and Noriko Lao (r.) are working on a regional disaster plan for the Mt. Baker chapter. (Staff Photo)

(or SITS) is striving to teach and prepare 1 million people in the Puget Sound area over the next three years to be ready when disaster strikes. In coordination with their founding partner, Puget Sound Energy, the initiative has

already reached over 400,000 people.

Within our community, the goal is to train 40,000 residents in Whatcom and 25,000 in Skagit and we are well on our way.

Statistics show that the more prepared a community is for disasters, the more lives are saved when a disaster strikes. Statistics also prove that every dollar spent on preparedness saves six dollars in response. This makes for a smart investment ahead of time.

The Chapter offers free Preparedness Workshops and webbased programs to groups and businesses to help them prepare.

Free Red Cross apps are also available on a number of topics to help all residents prepare for and respond during emergencies.

With such a small local staff and so many important programs, the Chapter depends on its welltrained volunteers to do their work in the community every day. The Chapter also works very

The chapter’s Fab Five in the home office (left to right): Office Manager Roxanne Pierce, Volunteer Services Director Linda Giles, Executive Director Stacy Rice, Financial Development Director Teresa Scott, and Regional Chief Operating Officer Jayne Heininger.

(Photo by Mike McKenzie)

closely with local Emergency Management, fire, and police as well as other nonprofits to fill the needs of their clients. “It takes a village to help someone in need after a disaster or emergency. No one organization can do it alone.

We are very fortunate to live in a generous community. There is no way we could do what we do

without our donors, partners and volunteers,” Rice said.

To support the Mt. Baker Chapter and the work that it does in our community, you can donate, volunteer, and get prepared. For more information, visit www. redcross.org/mtbaker, or call at 360-733-3290.

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Personally Speaking: WWU President Bruce Shepard

Personally Speaking… with

Dr. Bruce Shepard Interview and Photos by Managing Editor Mike McKenzie

G

raciously granting a special request, the president of Western Washington University wore his CEO hat in a visit with Managing Editor Mike McKenzie about the business of WWU as one of the largest employers in the county. He revealed a management style that’s taking WWU into a new frontier with inquiring leadership, collaborative vision, and acute fiscal acumen within the business community.

82 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

For our business-centered reader, Dr. Shepard addressed how higher education, i.e., in this case WWU, can and must exercise strategies and create significant impact on the regional economy and companies – and the national and global free markets, as well.

“Stewards of place” is his label for a strong, vibrant destination university that provides real-time business opportunity for students wanting that, and for businesses wanting top-drawer students in any field. Oh, yes, and there’s that matter of raising funds and balancing budgets.

When he isn’t up to his eyes in that, you might catch him roasting coffee, woodworking, and hanging

out with family….

Education a Top Priority My dad was first person to go to college in our family. He was moving irrigation water from one trough to another in the Central Valley of California with a shovel at the age of 20….migrant, agricultural labor. The life-saver was when he wandered down to CalBerkeley, paid $17 a semester in fees and no tuition, got interrupted

by World War II, and then went on to get his Ph.D.

Photos courtesy of WWU Office of Communications and Marketing

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 83

BOX SCORE: Dr. Bruce Shepard • •

Education: B.S., Master’s, and Ph.D. at University of California at Riverside in political science.

Career: Oregon State, 23 years, PoliSci faculty and various admin roles.

Eastern Oregon, 1995-2001, Provost and Poli-Sci professor. WisconsinGreen Bay, 2001-’08, Chancellor.

Western Washington, began Sept. 1, 2008 as President.

•

Professional organizations: Visiting scientist, Population Study Center, Seattle; policy analyst, USDA Forest Service; visiting fellow, School of Communication Leadership and Liberal Studies, Mitchell College of Advanced Education, Bathurst, Australia, and Board of Directors, American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Every summer my dad would drive us north to camp on the Olympic Peninsula, where you picked the campsites based on the trees to strategically locate the ropes and the tarps to keep you dry. We’d go to Orcas Island and Vancouver Island.

I spent 29 years in Oregon in two different places, served in the Midwest, and then had the opportunity to come back to Western.

I’d watched it grow from a typical regional university into one of considerable accomplishment and fine reputation.

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Personal: Hobby coffee roaster, woodwork, sailing. Wife, Cyndie, is executive director of Compass 2 Campus (C2C) at Western Washington University. C2C, a mentoring initiative, and she teaches at Western in Woodring College of Education and in the dance department, is pastpresident of WWU’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

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PROFESSOR BEFORE ADMIN For 22 years I earned an honest living as a professor. At Oregon State I had a chance to go into administration. My ability to write fairly well got me there. People noticed my ability to write a clear sentence, to think clearly and communicate. I’m now learning to master Twitter. It’s intriguing and fun how you convey a sense of your personality, humor, and a clear message in 140 characters.

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a better job. Sometimes my faculty invites me in for guest lectures.

YOUR SUBJECT? More recently, the history of higher education. At the traditional, old private university of the early 1800s, the president of the university always gave the final capstone course, moral ethics…a philosophy course. When I went in to talk to that class for their last lecture, I said that anybody who thinks that a modern American university president, after spending all his time raising money for the university and dealing with elected officials, hasn’t got anything to say about ethics, doesn’t understand the job.

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“(WWU) needs to be the stewards of place. We have a responsibility, an obligation, to take care of the places where we have the good fortune to call home. Economically, politically, socially, and culturally.”

BUSINESS SIDE OF PRESIDENT I come at it from a couple of angles. First, a strong regional university like ours needs to be, the phrase I like is, the stewards of place. We have a responsibility, an obligation, to take care of the places where we have the good fortune to call home.

Economically, politically, socially, and culturally.

That’s the good reason. The smart reason is political. I have a slogan I repeat wherever I go: Communities support universities that support communities. I look at Bellingham and Whatcom County as huge potential as a

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 85

Personally Speaking: WWU President Bruce Shepard most attractive area for retirement, recreation, scenic beauty, and climate.

HIGH GOALS We have a strong university here, (and) with a smile we’d call ourselves a community of subdued excitement. That’s fine. But we don’t want to be a community of subdued aspirations. We want to set the bar high and go after it.

WWU’S PART? How can Western play a catalytic role here? We’re known for the engagement of our students and faculty and staff in our community. We’re the only university in the state – public or private, big or small – that three years in a row has been on the President’s White House Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

Mainly that’s because of about almost 1 million hours of volunteer service. A lot of enterprises, not-for-profit, would not be possible if not for the faculty and students supporting them.

We’re key players in the Northwest Economic Council, and in the Whatcom County plans for sustainable economy…trying to figure out how to play a stronger and stronger role as stewards of place.

ACTIVELY SEEKING INPUT Steve Swan, Western’s vice president for University Relations and Community Development recently surveyed leaders in Skagit and Whatcom County and held some face-to-face conversations about what we could be doing.

What we heard is that if we need help we can go to them.

It works the other way, too. We have all these academic departments and classes that want to get engaged with a business and provide some help and learning opportunities. Where do they go?

The idea is Western’s Front Door to Discovery program. Turns out, 86 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

it’s a two-way door, that allows people in the community that want help and expertise.

Dan Purdy is the person staffing that Western program. He knows how to navigate the university and create that. He’s got eight projects going right now. If a faculty member has an idea about a business class that could work on a strategic situation and would love to work on that in a real-world situation, such as a marketing chal-

lenge, Dan will go to the business community and make arrangements there to help.

IS IT WORKING? This is the first year. It’ll take a year or two to see how that works out. So far I’ve been very impressed. It’s not enough to just say the good words, when it comes to the university supporting the community, and the community supporting the university.

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There’s got to be action.

We’re proactively seeking projects. It’s an umbrella organization.

Under that we have the economic research operation with Professor Hart Hodges, and the Small Business Development Center with Jennifer Shelton, and Western’s extensive service learning in the community. There’s a lot of learning by doing, and serving in the community takes place. Learning becomes more effective, too, through real-world problems and not just textbook problems.

“With a smile we’d call ourselves a community of subdued excitement.

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EXAMPLES? Pro CNC, a high-tech machining operation here, has about 50 family-wage jobs. Six former Western students in our automotive technology program started it, and several alumni still head the company. They came up with this high-tech machine that makes parts for the aerospace industry.

One of their more profitable products is mouthpieces for high-end saxophones.

The old idea of machining is somebody’s standing at a metal lathe. These days, they’re standing in front of computer screens with CAD equipment, and robots run the machines, moving parts around. Pro CNC depends on Western as the source for those high-tech skills, and hires a lot of our grads.

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“I’ve loved to sail all my life, fish, tennis, golf. And I’ve done a lot of woodworking lately. That cabinet (in his office) – no tax dollars, I built it. I’m a closet coffee roaster.” —Dr. Bruce Shepard

Another example is Alpha Technologies. Their group not only hires a lot of our graduates for their great global success, but they reinvest in the University through scholarships to insure that they maintain a stream of talent.

There are hundreds of opportunities, and we don’t want to just be subdued aspirations. How do we get up to that level of higher success? All of us are looking to the future to try to figure that out.

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I don’t want to be Pollyannish about the hard times this University has been through, because they’ve been very hard.

About 14 percent of our budget comes from taxpayers. So, 86

cents of every dollar we spend come from Western students who could write their tuition checks to somebody else. That means we’re already accountable to the marketplace for performance and keeping people satisfied with the quality of the product.

In my time here the state financial support has been cut by more than 50 percent. Still we’ve come out stronger than where we started – because you don’t let any good crisis go to waste.

You look hard at what can be done. We’ve really understood our market edge – quality. People expect an excellent education at Western; it’s why we have 15,000 applicants for 3,500 slots. Other institutions went to open admissions. We didn’t go down that road. We protected that edge in the marketplace.

HOW? We made changes, became more efficient. We learned the lessons. Every time we thought we’d exhausted every possible savings we could think of, we’d go back and find that the well wasn’t empty. There were still more efficiencies and savings to be found.

I think we really have come out of this not merely surviving, but stronger in every way.

FORWARD THINKING I’ve studied a lot of the business stuff. A lot of the teachers – Edwards, Deming – and two things that they all say struck me.

One, dissatisfied customers don’t ever tell you they’re dissatisfied; they just go away. So you’ve got to be proactive and understand what’s happening with the people you do business with.

Second, you have to understand what your customers need before they know it. Your competitors are already delivering what they want today. That’s what higher ed is about…thinking a generation ahead of our clients – our students

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Personally Speaking: WWU President Bruce Shepard – to know what it is they want and need before they even know it.

LESSON OF THE ENGINEERS Years ago at Oregon State during tough economic times, I sat in a meeting with a bunch of their gurus. They call it the Silicon Forest there because of the important manufacturers of chips. They said that when it comes to their engineers they were either going to have to fire them, retrain them,

or turn them into administrators because after three or four years they’re not good for anything else.

They sought our help to keep their assets on the cutting edge. I began to think about that. Really our business is to create and innovate and stay at the cutting edge.

That’s another reason why to have this role in our local communities of helping to move the economy forward and stay competitive.

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I’ll put one other edge on that.

We have a role that’s shared with the community. I’m sitting here looking at a map of the Pacific Rim on the wall, and I have good enough vision I can see Korea, and Japan, and China. We’re also active in studies of Canada, and Africa. We have a role of not only bringing the world to Whatcom County, but also Whatcom County to the world.

We’re working on that as a uni-

[On leading WWU] “Topdown management usually doesn’t work. People just go off a cliff together….

The phrase I use is conducting a symphony among talented soloists.

How do you do that? By keeping the vision in front of people.”

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versity as a part of our economic community that is an important source of strength for us. I’ll come back to the example of Alpha Technologies – global enterprise, locally-based.

ENTREPRENEURIAL PROJECT: WINDOW TO TOMORROW I’ve asked business professionals and leaders, ‘What are you missing in college graduates? What are you looking for the most? Two interesting things have come up most.

One is a more entrepreneurial spirit, and intra-preneurial – hiring people for middle management positions. They want entrepreneurial spirit in middle management positions, even at large corporations.

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Personally Speaking: WWU President Bruce Shepard ABILITY TO RELATE The other one I heard recently from IBM, and on the East Coast, and down in Seattle. They want graduates who are empathetic. Not sympathetic. Empathetic.

People who can put themselves in somebody else’s shoes, who can see the world from somebody else’s perspectives. That’s important because they’re working in groups, (and asking) what is the common ground, how can we

work on this together?

In a recent presentation I heard from three very high-priced people: the heads of learning for Apple, Microsoft, and IBM. They all three had the same basic message – we obviously want graduates with technical expertise, but they’re no good to us if that’s all they have. They have to be able to see across cultures, across people, and they kept using this word, empathy.

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“We obviously want graduates with technical expertise, but they’re no good to us if that’s all they have. They have to be able to see across cultures, across people, and (have) empathy.”

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The WBA further encourages and steadfastly advocates for business development initiatives that clearly operate in the best interest of our community. WBA advocacy also includes identifying members’ primary concerns impacting their businesses, and addressing those concerns appropriately.

That resonates well with Western. When we survey our students we find that they really care about and are highly motivated about making a difference. Really motivated to make a difference, and that’s true of Bellingham and Whatcom County.

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LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY I’m a poli-sci person. In my profession I don’t believe in the guru you read when you pick up a book or magazine in the book rack at the airport with the latest sort of thing. I believe in researchbased stuff in studies of leadership. What it teaches me is that in complex environments, complicated organizations, the answers are never obvious.

And top-down management usually doesn’t work. People just go off a cliff together.

What leadership has to be today is not by you giving answers, but by asking questions. They have to be questions that take us outside of our zones of comfort, because none of us likes to deal with change. So, part of your job in leading a staff is to ask questions that make us a little uncomfortable.

CUTS BOTH WAYS And it has to go two ways. I chose at my one chance to speak each year to Western faculty

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Personally Speaking: WWU President Bruce Shepard and staff at what we call Open Convocation, and I posed six difficult questions on the campus that we’re now working on. But you have to ask me questions that take me outside of my zone of comfort, too, because I don’t like change as well.

That’s the way leadership works.

It follows that if you ask questions, you have to be able to hear and listen. People ask me, what’s your vision for the university?

Well, I have a vision. It’s, what is the vision of the university, the community, our elected officials, our donors, our alumni?

I’ve spent a lot of time listening with a lot of people. In a complex organization if you keep the vision and direction you’re going in front of people, creative people – 2,200 employees, 15,000 students, and more than 100,000 alumni – will come up with stuff you never thought of to move us forward.

President Shepard said he misses the classroom, but he takes every opportunity to visit with students as a visiting lecturer, or walking around the campus.

YOUR METHOD The phrase I use is conducting a symphony among talented soloists.

How do you do that? By keeping the vision in front of people.

That’s how I approach the job of helping lead here at Western – I ask them questions, and keep them uncomfortable, and listen carefully to what people say.

Then share the answers in front of folks until they’re sick and tired of hearing them. I get up and give my 10-minute spiel, then I go and sit down at the table, and hear my friend say, ‘I’ve heard that speech so many times I could give it myself.’

And I say, (slapping a table) ‘Good! That’s the idea!’ That’s what I want.

People have to create their own understandings, and that’s education. When you do it that way, people buy in. They own it, and make it successful. That’s really important.

94 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

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Guest Column: Minimum Wage Law Erin Shannon | Director, WPC for Small Business Erin Shannon became director of the Washington Policy Center for Small Business during January 2012. She has an extensive background in small business issues and public affairs. The Center improves the state’s small business climate by working with owners and policymakers toward positives solutions.

Will your teen find a job this summer?

Most teens don’t know that state law makes it harder for them to find summer work

T

here is an unemployment crisis for teens in Washington state.

Our teen unemployment rate (for 16-to-19 year olds) is a staggering 30 percent, the sixth-highest in the nation. To compare, the state unemployment rate for all workers is 6.6 percent.

The Great Recession cannot be blamed for our state’s poor teen employment ranking. Since 2002, well before the recession, Washington has ranked among the top ten states with the highest teen unemployment every year but one.

Washington also has imposed the nation’s highest minimum wage for years. According to two decades of research on the impact of a high minimum wage, the evidence shows that raising the wage reduces employment for the least skilled, such as young workers.

At $9.32, Washington has the highest minimum wage in the nation. Lawmakers recognize that a high minimum wage decreases job opportunities, so Washington businesses are allowed to pay 14-to-15 year olds a training wage to give employers an incentive to hire young workers just entering the workforce. But those 16 and 96 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

older are subject to the full minimum wage, pricing many young workers out of the labor market.

Given our state’s 30 percent unemployment rate for 16-to-19 year olds, it is obvious a much larger segment of teen workers is in need of similar relief.

The general consensus of decades of minimum wage studies is that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage reduces teen employment by one to three percentage points.

The vast majority of academic studies, over 85 percent, show that a high minimum wage hurts the very people it is supposed to help—the young, the inexperienced, the unskilled. The general consensus of decades of minimum wage studies is that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage reduces teen employment by one to three percentage points.

The effects are even more pronounced for minority teen workers. Research shows a 10 percent minimum wage increase causes four times more employment loss for African American young adults than it does for non-black employees. This might explain

why the unemployment rate for black teens is significantly higher than other teens.

The long-term effects of youth unemployment are much more profound than a teen who couldn’t work to save money for a car. It creates a “wage scar” that leaves a lasting impact on a workers employment prospects and earning trajectory. The longer the teen remains unemployed, the bigger the scarring effect. Numerous studies show those who do not work as teenagers have lower long-term wages and less employment, even after 20 years.

Studies also show a teen training wage would help prevent wage scarring by encouraging teen employment. A study by a Federal Reserve economist found having a starting wage well below the minimum counteracts much of the negative impact on job prospects for teens.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an organization comprised of 34 countries to foster economic progress, said in a 2010 report that teen unemployment could be reduced by allowing a sub-minimum training wage for teenagers.

Former Chief Economic Advisor to President Obama, Larry Summers, has endorsed a teen training wage as a way to combat teen unemployment.

Our state’s high minimum wage creates a barrier to teens just when they need work experience the most. A temporary training wage of 85 percent of the state minimum wage would provide employers with the incentive they need to take a chance by hiring a young, unskilled teenager. If the law forces a higher wage, the employer might as well hire an older applicant with more job skills and a work history. Most teens will never know that they can’t find a job because of a state law that fixes wages.

The result of allowing a training wage would be more teens being hired and receiving valuable work skills and experience, reducing wage scarring and other long-term consequences created by prolonged periods of unemployment for young workers. Young people just want a chance. State lawmakers should help them get it.

Sumas: A great place to live and do business The City of Sumas has a thriving industrial zone with rail service & heavy haul roads making it an excellent place to do business. Here are a few more reasons why you should be here: • Proximity to Canada • Foreign trade zone • Low electric rates • Fast turn around for permits • No development or impact fees

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Guest Column: Free-Market Environmentalism Todd Myers | Environmental Director, Washington Policy Center The Washington Policy Center is an independent, non-partisan think tank promoting sound public policy based on free-market solutions. Todd Myers is one of the nation’s leading experts on freemarket environmental policy and is the author of the 2011 landmark book Eco-Fads: How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism is Harming the Environment. His in-depth research on the failure of the state’s 2005 “green” building mandate receives national attention. He recently became a contributor to The Wall Street Journal.

Why I don’t count on politicians to save my honeybees A

s spring arrives, we soon will begin seeing honeybees as they collect pollen and nectar, and pollinate flowers and fruit in the area. The bees in my own hives near Issaquah are getting ready and, with luck, they will survive the winter and I can look forward to a strong year of pollination and honey.

Honeybees are an especially welcome sight to beekeepers because of recent concerns about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Over the last decade, the percentage of hives that fail to survive the winter has increased from about 15 percent to over 30 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A great deal of debate goes on among beekeepers about the cause of this worrisome decline.

Some talk apocalyptically about a world without bees. Many environmentalists have quickly pointed to causes ranging from pesticides, to genetically modified crops (GMOs), to cell phone towers.

Research shows, however, that none of these suspected causes is the likely source of increased winter die-off of honeybees.

For example, while bees in the 98 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

United States have struggled, honeybees in the Canadian prairies where a large amount of GMO crops grow, have fared better. In Europe, on the other hand, where GMO crops are banned, honeybees have seen declines.

Bill McKibben, a wellknown environmental activist, even blamed climate change for the decline. Honeybees are not native to North America and they have thrived from California to North Dakota. Blaming a onedegree global temperature increase for the decline of honeybees that have already adapted across a wide temperature range is the sort of unscientific nonsense that makes it difficult to address the real issues.

Some have blamed pesticides called neonicitinoids that are seedbased. The evidence of a link to honeybee death is sparse, however.

Recent studies found if honeybees become exposed to the pesticide, they can be harmed. Studies also show, however, that honeybees are unlikely to be exposed to neonicitinoids because the pesticides are not expressed in pollen or nectar. Neonics actually are less toxic than some pesticides they replace. Banning neonics, as some activists have proposed, might increase the use of other pesticides that are more harmful to bees.

Bill McKibben, a well-known environmental activist, even blamed climate change for the decline. Honeybees are not native to North America and they have thrived from California to North Dakota. Blaming a one-degree global temperature increase for the decline of honeybees that have already adapted across a wide temperature range is the sort of unscientific nonsense that makes it difficult to address the real issues.

Beekeepers worry more about other threats, like the varroa mite, which has the appropriate scientific name of varroa destructor.

Varroa mites attach themselves to bees, weakening them and transmitting illness. Reducing the threat from varroa is a common topic among beekeepers.

Most research, including a report from the Environmental Protection Agency last year, points to a combination of factors.

Honeybees can manage stresses, but as pressures add up bees have a more difficult time surviving.

Here, however, is a fact that many people don’t know: The number of honeybee colonies in the United States and worldwide is increasing. With prices for pollination increasing, beekeepers have responded to market incentives with increased breeding to insure against increased winter mortality.

Politicians can argue endlessly about the possible causes of CCD, but beekeepers live in the real world where feedback is immediate. If we don’t take the right steps, adapting and changing hive management, our bees will die.

If politicians get environmental policy wrong, they still take credit for “caring” about the issue, while passing the real-world costs of failure on to others.

Beekeepers constantly learn more about the causes of CCD. We work to keep our hives alive, because for many apiarists it is the way they earn their living; but, also because we feel strongly about protecting the bees in our care.

I have been to numerous meetings where beekeepers expressed sadness at the loss of even a few bees out of a hive of 50,000. Only the free market can take advantage of the local information and personal incentives to demand success in a way that politics consistently fails.

Given a choice between trusting politicians in Olympia or relying on beekeepers motivated by profit and personal care, the best hope for honeybees are the beekeepers. We are the ones ensuring that spring weather will, once again, bring the gentle buzz of honeybees going about their work.

Environmental policy consultant and regular guest columnist Todd Myers is an avid apiarist, more commonly known as a beekeeper. He’s all decked out for duty with his ‘family’ here. (Photo courtesy of Todd Myers)

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Guest Column: Risk Management Don C. Brunell | Past President, AWB Don Brunell retired in January 2014 after 28 years as president of the Association of Washington Business. Formed in 1904, the AWB is Washington’s oldest and largest statewide business association. Its roster has more than 8,100 members representing 700,000 employees, serving as both the state’s chamber of commerce and the manufacturing and technology association.

Membership includes major employers like Boeing and Microsoft, but 90 percent of AWB members employ fewer than 100 people. More than half of AWB’s members employ fewer than 10. For more about AWB, visit www.awb.org.

Putting risk in perspective W

here there is life, there is risk. That’s not some insightful quotation, it’s just a fact.

We’re exposed to risk from the moment we get up in the morning – slip and fall, dog bite, traffic accident, lightning strike.

We can manage risk, we can minimize risk, but we cannot eliminate it.

That fact used to be accepted as common sense, but in today’s society, people have come to believe that any degree of risk is unacceptable. In fact, trial lawyers have won lawsuits, not because their clients were injured, but because they feared they might be.

Why does this matter to you?

When government tries to ensure a virtually risk-free environment, it imposes regulations that are needlessly punitive and costly. We pay those costs through higher prices and lost jobs.

Case in point: estimating environmental risk. There are two common ways to calculate risk.

One method is easier and cheaper; the other is more accurate. Most government agencies use the first one.

It’s called the “deterministic” method.

This method is easier for agencies to use because it’s simple and 100 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

it doesn’t require a lot of data. The only problem is it’s less accurate.

It tends to overestimate risk. But that’s not all. Regulators routinely take that overestimated risk level and compound it by adding an additional layer of buffer – “just to be safe.” As a result, you end up with regulations that are far more restrictive and costly than necessary to provide protection.

A recent study by HDR Engineering estimates that imposing these standards in Washington would cost local governments, ports, ratepayers and businesses billions, with little or no environmental benefit.

Last November, the Washington Department of Ecology announced that it will likely use this method as it updates the state’s Fish Consumption Level – one factor in a complex formula that determines our state’s water quality standards.

That’s a problem. Ecology’s starting point on this issue was extreme to begin with. They wanted to use the same FCR that Oregon used, one which resulted

in water quality standards that are virtually impossible to meet because the technology to comply doesn’t exist, and may not for decades. In some cases, the allowable levels are so low they can’t be measured with existing technology.

A recent study by HDR Engineering estimates that imposing these standards in Washington would cost local governments, ports, ratepayers and businesses billions, with little or no environmental benefit.

Despite that, Ecology still plans to use this less accurate method to calculate environmental risks.

There is a better way.

It’s called the probabilistic method, as in “probabilities.” It’s more comprehensive, more precise and more accurate.

This method analyzes large amounts of data and thousands of variables in order to calculate a range of exposures and risks across various populations and circumstances. The result is a more nuanced, realistic picture of environmental risk.

Think of it this way: When you walk out of your house, there’s a risk you could get struck by lightning. Lightning strikes occur every day somewhere on the globe. But how likely is it that it will happen to you? That’s the question that is better answered by the probabilistic method.

Ecology has used the probabilistic method, and the EPA says it provides the best basis for decision-making. “Because the results of the refined risk assessment show the range of possible environmental impacts and which ones are most likely to occur, they provide a better basis for decisionmaking.”

If that’s true, why isn’t Ecology using it now? Good question.

It’s a question being asked by the members of the Northwest Pulp & Paper Association, who recently submitted a report to Ecology on the probabilistic method prepared by ARCADIS, a global leader in environmental engineering and risk assessment. NWPPA has asked Ecology to use the more accurate probabilistic method as the agency updates our state’s water quality standards.

Let’s hope they listen.

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Guest Column: Lean Business Randall Benson | Lean Operations Randall Benson is a management consultant, author, and Lean master working out of Whatcom County. You can visit his blog “The Lean Heretic” at www.leanheretic.com, and his website at www.bensonconsulting.com.

The power of respect in Lean R

Dr. Alan Dobzyniak, the highly respected medical chief of staff for Oakwood Health System in Michigan, stood before about 100 of the hospital’s leaders at their annual awards ceremony. He began to talk, and emotions overcame him. He paused, regained his composure, and began again, “In the 20 years that I’ve been on staff at this hospital,” he said, “this is the first time that management actually asked the staff what they thought we should do—and look at the incredible results!”

espect for people is the hallmark of the famed Toyota Lean method.

It’s the defining element that distinguished Toyota from previous methods of process improvement.

When your Lean initiative builds on respect for people, expect magic.

Consider Dr. Dobzyniak and Oakwood Health’s story.

At the awards ceremony, he was

referring to Oakwood’s creation of the nation’s fastest emergency room operation.. Oakwood’s ER had been dangerously overcrowded and visitors often waited hours to see a doctor. It was not uncommon to find Patients and loved ones huddling outside the ER in freezing weather because there were no seats, or even standing room, inside.

Just nine months after instituting Lean principles, and extending to ER staff the authority to explore and apply their own ideas, they

the Spirit of Healing is

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7 Ways to Demonstrate Respect for Employees 1. Be clear about the ends, but let employees determine the means.

2. Invite employees to participate in improving their own work processes.

3. Encourage staff exploration, discovery, and application. Avoid asking staff to blindly execute someone else’s plan.

4. Place high value on the experimental method. Celebrate well-run experiments, regardless of the outcome.

5. Allow your staff to stop the process when they see something gone awry.

6. Celebrate learning from mistakes and improving processes.

7. Allow employees the latitude to fix customer problems and carry out service recovery.

made a remarkable transformation: The nation’s first guaranteed 30-minute ER! Further, they established new benchmarks for almost every aspect of emergency care delivery.

• Instead of waiting hours to be seen, patients received evaluation by a doctor within 15 minutes on average.

• Patient length of stay was reduced by 70 percent.

• Overcrowding was nonexistent. A visitor would find only a few family members in the waiting room.

• Satisfaction scores skyrocketed.

• Word of mouth spread, and Oakwood rapidly attracted new patients to the system, producing a financial turnaround.

The ER leader, Corrine Victor, earned recognition as the VHA Healthcare Leader of the Year for these accomplishments.

By any measure this was a breakthrough, not just for Oakwood, but also for emergency room care throughout the United States. More than 80 media reports told Oakwood’s story, and dozens of other hospital systems visited them for tours and insights.

The value of the Oakwood story lies not just in its successes, but also in the perspective of how they got there. It was not their first, but their fifth try. Yes, fifth.

Oakwood tried and failed to fix the same ER four times in a five-year span. Not until they implemented Lean care delivery, anchored with newfound respect for staff, did they achieve, and exceed, their objectives.

When I first met Corrine, she handed me the four thick consulting reports prepared for her over those years. The reports contained many suggestions, often based on Lean principles, for every aspect of ER operations.

The staff did its best to comply with the recommendations, but the overcrowding and long waits continued.

The consultants’ reports all revealed the same fatal flaw: lack of respect for employees.

Previously, the external experts analyzed the information they gathered from staff and made their recommendations. Managers and staff members were expected to simply implement the expert’s untested ideas. During the four failed attempts, staff members never became masters of their own fate. Oakwood failed to improve because it didn’t honor the key hallmark of Lean: respect for people.

Corrinne, as the ER chief executive, asked me to help her create a quest – a journey of exploration and discovery in which we invited staff to search for their own solutions. If they achieved what we termed a “big change,” a breakthrough innovation, they

could apply it to their ER. The team engaged vigorously in their quest, running almost 200 experiments and making dozens of innovative changes.

During the nine-month journey, they used their collective genius to discover and ultimately apply their “big change.” The result – the nation’s fastest ER – was a breakthrough far beyond their expectations.

The biggest difference was how their ideas and their capabilities for innovation were respected and celebrated.

In Oakwood’s case, respect for people meant granting them the authority to explore, to discover, and to apply employee-developed ideas. Oakwood described this to the press as “employee-driven innovation.” However you describe it, that respect might make the difference between pedestrian results and a strong, positive and prosperous breakthrough.

The difference that choked up a chief of staff.

How does your organization demonstrate respect for people?

How would you describe the results? Send me a note at rbenson@bensonconsulting.com.

I’d love to share your stories.

WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 103

Guest Column: Water Rights Ken Mann | Whatcom County Councilman Ken Mann is a member of the Whatcom County Council and serves as Chair of the Finance Committee. Ken has a background in finance and civil engineering. Ken and his wife, Amy, have a real estate development company that restores commercial and residential buildings.

Water rights from two viewpoints Through the eyes of a business owner, and of a member of County Council

P

ersonally, we are not concerned about the effects of “exempt wells” and other water rights challenges facing Whatcom County residents, farms, fisheries, and businesses.

It is extremely unlikely that our properties will be impacted. The vast majority of our properties get water from a purveyor with unassailable, perfected water rights.

However, if I were in an agricultural business in Whatcom County, such as a farm growing berries or a slaughterhouse—and if I did not have legal water rights— I’d be scared to death.

Here’s why, from the viewpoint of an at-risk business owner: If I do not have a water right, my business is and always has been vulnerable to senior water rights holders. If a senior water right demands an adjudication of water resources and prevails, junior water rights and those without water rights can be shut down.

Period.

Looking at it from a seat on the Whatcom County Council, this is a tremendously important issue to property owners and businesses throughout the county, many of whom have been operating for 104 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

years without water rights.

There are no more water rights available; Whatcom County is closed to new water withdrawals.

Thus, it is of critical importance to Council members to stay

If a property owner wants to dig a well, we (County) can issue a permit to dig the hole. But only the state’s Department of Ecology can grant (or deny) permission to withdraw water from that hole.

— Ken Mann, Whatcom County Council Member

engaged on this issue. I know we face some mistaken perceptions about County government’s role in the middle of all this.

For example, if a property owner wants to dig a well, we can issue a permit to dig the hole.

But only the state’s Department of Ecology can grant (or deny) permission to withdraw water from that hole.

County government issues building permits based on water availability, as established by a letter from a water purveyor or a well driller’s report. However, if you do not have access to water, you can not get a building permit - and that has always been the case.

At issue recently, and the subject of wildly inaccurate rumors and internet hysteria, was a claim that the County was debating a ban on private wells on private property, or elimination of build-

Reach more than 50,000 leaders in print and digital

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ing permits without a water right.

These claims were ridiculous for many reasons.

We did vote (Jan. 28) to pursue litigation that stems from a Growth Management Hearings Board ruling. The County is appealing a ruling that delegated unprecedented authority over water resources to county governments.

Counties do not have (or want) the legal responsibility, or the scientific capacity, to adjudicate water rights. We await a ruling from the courts.

If anyone or anything eliminates water withdrawals, (a.) it will be the Washington State Department of Ecology, not Whatcom County, and (b.) apply only to anyone not holding a legal water right.

This has always been the case, and the County cannot and will not do anything to change that.

A panel discussed the potential travails of dissent and possible litigation over water rights at a recent board meeting of the WBA at the Mt. Baker Theater in Bellingham: (from left) Doug Allen, local official for the State Dept. of Ecology; Perry Eskridge with the Whatcom County Realtors Association; moderator Jon Sitkin, an attorney with water-rights expertise, and local berry producer Marty Maberry representing agricultural interests.

(Staff Photo)

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WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 105

Guest Column: Water Rights Roger Almskaar | President, CAPR Roger Almskaar has served as a land use management consultant for the last 32 years. He is president of the Citizens Alliance for Property Rights, Whatcom Chapter.

Sometimes a challenge is necessary County Council votes 6-1 to fight a good fight

O

n Jan. 28, 2014 the Whatcom County Council voted 6-1 in support of moving forward in its lawsuit against the state Growth Management Hearings Board’s Final Order in Case 12-2-0013 regarding water rights.

Whatcom County’s Citizens Alliance for Property Rights (CAPR) is a public-interest group affiliated with the larger regional CAPR organization comprising many county-based chapters and 100s of members in our state and in California. We support the County Council in this move and encourage them to stand strong against the Growth Management Hearings Board in this case.

During the last year, water rights and resources became a major county-wide land use and resource issue. We have actively participated in this Rural Element process since mid-2009, now going on its fifth year.

Many of our members, and hundreds of other residents, own acreage and businesses in the county, and have been adversely affected by this long, drawn-out process.

This is due to two actions: 1. The re-start of the longneglected Planning Unit, which is the key party in the Watershed Inventory Area 1 (WRIA 1, most of 106 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

Whatcom County) planning process.

2. The June 7, 2013 Final Decision and Order (FDO) by the state Growth Management Hearings Board, saying the County’s Rural Element rules and policies were out of compliance on protection of surface and ground water resources, as required by the Growth Management Act (GMA).

We need to secure the best possible outcome in a court of law, instead of caving to the political appointees on the board, who lack relevant knowledge of the geology, hydrology, biology, history, and culture of Whatcom County.

Whatcom County government wisely and properly sued the board over this FDO, and the case is headed to the state Court of Appeals. While the topic of water resource planning and regulation is complex, many citizens believe this challenge is in their best

short- and long-term interests, and the county as a whole. We need to secure the best possible outcome in a court of law, instead of caving to the political appointees on the board, who lack relevant knowledge of the geology, hydrology, biology, history, and culture of Whatcom County.

We offer these 6 major reasons why this suit should be fought by the County Council, County Executive, and Prosecuting Attorney, especially regarding water quantity, including water rights. There are many more reasons; we think these are the most critical at this time.

1. The Hearings Board’s decision is flawed in several ways.

It dismisses controlling state rules regarding basin closures specific to WRIA 1, such as the law that clearly states exempt wells are allowed (WAC 173-501-070; see p18, FDO). The Hearings Board should not be allowed to substitute its layperson-board judgment for that of the Department of Ecology, which rules as the sole state authority on water rights.

The Hearings Board also wants to impose an open-ended, oftendifficult scientific burden on individuals to prove a negative, i.e., that a proposed well has zero hydraulic continuity with streams in the area. Such studies could cost tens of thousands of dollars, and can and will be challenged.

2. It often will be very problematic to conclusively prove or disprove that a new well will impair

in-stream flows to any significant, measurable degree. This is because of the very diverse physical geography within most rural areas.

Key factors – including geology, hydrology, level of ground water, soils and slope – can vary greatly, even within a few hundred feet apart. Wells as close as 300 feet to each other will often differ greatly in both quality and quantity tests, even within the same type of landscape.

3. Simply giving in to the Hearings Board will have severe negative economic impact on a large segment of citizens, and on the county as a whole. To deny people access to water based on arbitrary “zero” standards will cost many times the expense of this litigation. The costs take the form of reduced land values, lost tax revenue due to massive land value losses, lost opportunities for homes and businesses including farms, and ensuing litigation from those affected.

4. The FDO greatly exaggerates the negative impacts on water quantity and quality of exempt wells for homes in rural areas and on fisheries. A recent Department of Ecology rule for Clallam County states that for a typical rural home on a septic system, only “10 percent of indoor water use is assumed consumptive” (WAC 173518-085). Thus DOE has concluded that 90 percent of the water consumed indoors by this type of use typically returns to groundwater.

Common knowledge holds that the quantity of ground and surface water withdrawn by local municipalities (cities and utility districts) and businesses, including farming, is several times that of exempt wells. This especially rings true in the dry season when in-stream flows are lowest.

Also, a high portion of these withdrawals are discharged to marine waters, not to rivers and streams.

5. Water for allowed rural land

uses is not readily available from approved systems in many areas of Whatcom County, or too costly for some. Effectively prohibiting new exempt wells by excessive regulation in rural areas will stifle lawful plans, and lower land values.

6. The water rights issues raised by the Hearings Board’s very questionable decision have raised serious concerns way beyond Whatcom County. Several state-

wide groups, such as Washington Realtors, have committed resources to support the county suit. And several others, such as Farm Bureau, Association of Washington Counties, and Association of Washington Business, are considering joining in.

While we believe litigation should always be the last resort, we believe the history between the parties, the facts, and the law in this case justify going to court.

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Whatcom Business Alliance Fostering Business Success and Community Prosperity

Port partnering with Ireland? Maybe…

The Port of Bellingham administration has undertaken a deep, intensive study of Harcourt Developments Ltd in Dublin, Ireland, to determine whether the company will be selected to develop about 11 acres of the central waterfront between downtown Bellingham and the Whatcom Waterway. “We need to get into their balance sheet,” said Rob Fix, the executive director of The Port who will lead the process.

And, it’s a two-way mirror.

Harcourt also will be determining whether this smaller slice of their original vision is financially viable for them. Deadline is June 8 for what Fix called “due diligence” and a decision by both parties.

Harcourt originally proposed to develop the Port’s entire 237 acres, but the Port Commission nixed the larger offer and approved the current vetting process.

Harcourt must meet zoning regulations and specs of the waterfront master plan in the area that includes the nearly 100-year-old Granary Building. Upon approval of ongoing talks, Commissioner Dan Robbins stressed that this

Member News was “not a selection,” and Commissioner Mike McAuley sought and received assurances that the commission will play a role in final determinations. Fix said at the meeting, “We’ll keep you informed every step of the way,” Fix said.

Harcourt, which would work collaboratively with multiple local companies if selected, is best known for its Titanic Museum and development at the site where that infamous vessel was built.

SILVER REEF RISING HIGHER Silver Reef Hotel Casino Spa has broken ground on its sixth expansion of its 12-year existence – a larger lobby, a tower almost doubling rooms to 205, a 3,000-square-foot meeting space, and a bar.

Lummi Nation Chairman Tim Ballew II said in a news release, “…This new construction will provide more jobs (to) help grow the economy for the greater region.”

Scheduled completion date is June, 2015.

PEOPLES PROMOTES PEOPLE Peoples Bank announced three recent promotions: Mark Swanson

to Vice President as branch manager for Cordata and West Lynden; Shannon Day to assistant vice president a branch manager for the Fairhaven office in the Haggen Fairhaven Market, and Steve Gray to assistant vice president as a senior real estate loan officer at the Bellingham Real Estate Loan Center in the Barkley District.

$1K GIFT TO LOCAL HS Signs Plus is giving $1,000 to the student body of one of 10 county high schools based on voting by their constituents through social media. Go to SignsPlusNW. com/Whatcom-County-highschool-1000-giveaway/ for details

by March 31.

“Our owners believe that supporting local students and schools is a vital part of having a healthy and prosperous community,” said the company’s president, Jim Sutterfield (671-7165 for further info, or JimS@SignsPlusNW.com)

ALL-AMERICAN MARINE All American Marine is designing and building two 250-passenger ferries for the King County Ferry District on an $11.8 million contract.

Mark Always, founder of the company Penumbra Tables, won two categories of prize funding in a recent “Pitch Fest” staged by Red Rokk and The Big Idea Lab with his digitized Beer Pong table. (Photo courtesy of Red Rokk Interactive.)

108 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

RED ROKK/BIG IDEA ‘PITCH’ Red Rokk Interactive and the Big Idea Lab stage a monthly “Pitch Fest” in which entrepreneurs/inventors make a presentation to a judging panel of local business leaders for an investment prize for best business idea.

The latest winner was Mark Alway and his Penumbra Tables company’s interactive beer pong table, replete with digital scoring, lighted sensors, air compressors, and a phone app. Alway plan to take the table to the Las Vegas market where beer pong is an organized industry.

WBA member Ken Bell, owner of Best Recycling, was one of the judges, along with Dusty Gulleson, founder of eResources; Ed Love, WWU director of marketing; Port Commissioner Dan Robbins, and Rosemarie Francis, founder of Etelu.

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WHATCOMBUSINESSALLIANCE.COM | 109

Ask the Experts: Life in the Tech Lane Tech Help Staff | Big Fresh Experts at Tech Help in Bellingham, a division of Big Fresh, provide answers to the questions that are trending among clients. If you have a tech question for our experts, send an email to getanswers@gotechhelp.com

Free desktop remote access tools R

ecently LogMeIn, one of our favorite remote desktop tools, suddenly pulled the plug on the free version of its remote access tool. Now you’ll pay to keep using it.

Or, switch to an alternative.

We thought it would be helpful to come up with a list of alternatives for you to have a free, remote desktop service like LogMeIn.

Teamviewer Teamviewer supports Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, and iOS,

and is free for personal use. It’s probably the most obvious and popular alternative to LogMeIn. Teamviewer offers remote support and management, in that you don’t necessarily need to have the remote side set up before you need to connect. Further, it sports useful features like: • Wake-on-LAN to wake up a sleeping computer and put it back to sleep when you’re finished; • File transfer capabilities; • Clipboard pass-through; • Support for connecting from mobile devices like phones or tablets;

Top Technology Trends in 2014 By the Staff at Tech Help/Big Fresh

Space tourism Virgin Galactic is scheduled to become the first private commercial “spaceliner” to blast tourists into space, with an inaugural trip in 2014 carrying its founder, Sir Richard Branson. He and his children, Holly and Sam, will lift off on SpaceShipTwo from the Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Wearable tech Google is expected to ship its groundbreaking, augmented-reality glasses, Google Glass, to the public in 2014, expanding the wearable tech market. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear watch and the Pebble Smartwatch will con-

110 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

• Support for online meetings and collaboration, so multiple people can connect to one host, or share a session…and much more.

The beauty of Teamviewer is that all features are free, setup is incredibly easy, and the app actually has more features built into it than you’ll probably ever really need.

Chrome Remote Desktop Chrome Remote Desktop supports Windows and OS X (and Linux, sort of), and is completely

tinue their usefulness as developers create more apps for them. Health-tracking devices like the Nike Fuel Band, Jawbone Up, and Fitbit Force will continue to drive the health technology marketplace into the mainstream.

Internet of things At the 2013 IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, the technology company Philips demonstrated a concept called the HomeCooker Next that could time cook, change temperature, and stir food -- using a smartphone.

The Nest thermostat not only can control your home’s temperature remotely, it also learns your behavior and makes adjustments accordingly.

The networking of our physical world will continue to boom in 2014. Connected devices are no longer just limited to smartphones and computers. Everything from door locks and home appliances to bikes and watches can now be networked.

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free for personal and commercial use. You have to install it in Chrome on any computer you want to connect to.

You’ll have to log into Chrome on any computer you want to connect to, which is a bit of a bummer, but the great thing is that it runs in your browser, it’s supereasy to set up, and it’s remarkably fast.

It’s not packed with additional features. Yet if all you need is to do some quick, cross-platform troubleshooting or access some files remotely, it’s fast and free, and uses a web browser you probably already have installed.

The beauty of Teamviewer is that all features are free, setup is incredibly easy, and the app actually has more features built into it than you’ll probably ever really need.

It’s not perfect; Chrome Remote Desktop has no mobile apps or support (although the word is, that’s coming soon), has some trouble with multiple displays, and it’s pretty featureless when it comes to things like wake-onLAN, file transfer, streaming, and other support tools. But what you trade in heft you get back in simplicity and ease-of-use.

VNC Virtual Network Computing is less of a specific product and more of a platform. It uses existing protocols to send keyboard and mouse actions to a remote computer, and in turn it sends the screen from that remote system back to your viewer.

Depending on the VNC client and server software you use, 112 | BUSINESSPULSE.COM

you get more features, such as clipboard syncing, and file sync and transfer, and more. That’s the catch, though—there’s a VNC client and server that supports every operating system, mobile and desktop.

And as long as you know what you’re doing and set it up properly you’ll be able to connect to any system you control, anywhere you have internet access, completely for free.

The “Official” VNC software is

RealVNC, which offers its client and server apps for Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, and even Chrome (and will happily add features and support if you’re willing to pay for them).

Experts at Tech Help in Bellingham, a division of Big Fresh, provide answers to the questions that are trending azmong clients. If you have a tech question for our experts, send an email to getanswers@gotechhelp.com

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ADVERTISER INDEX Anderson Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Archer Halliday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Bank of the Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Banner Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Barkley Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Bellingham Athletic Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Bellingham Bells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Bellingham Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Best Western Lakeway Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Big Fresh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 BP Cherry Point Refinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Brooks Property & Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Charter College, Bellingham Campus . . . . . . . . . 56 Chmelik Sitkin & Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chocolate Necessities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Chrysalis Inn and Spa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 City of Blaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 City of Sumas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Dakota Creek Golf & Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 DeWaard & Bode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Diane Padys Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Dynasty Cellars Winery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Evergreen Christian School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Exxel Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Faber Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 First Federal Savings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

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Great Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Gym Star Sports Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Hardware Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Hotel Bellwether . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 I-5 Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Industrial Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Kulshan Brewing Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Lake Padden Golf Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Larson Gross CPAs & Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 LaserPoint Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 LegalShield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Metcalf Hodges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Mills Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Nature Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 North Bellingham Golf Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 North Cascades Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Northwest Propane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Northwood Casino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 NW SkyFerry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Oltman Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center . . . . . . . 102 Peoples Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Print & Copy Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Q Laundry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 R & R Excavating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 ReBound Physical Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Red Rokk Interactive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Rice Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Saturna Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Scrap It/Stow It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Semiahmoo Resort Golf Spa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Shuksan Golf Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Signs Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Silver Reef Hotel Casino Spa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Skagit State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Skagit Valley Casino Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 St Paul’s Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Sudden Valley Golf & Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 TD Curran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Willows Inn on Lummi Island . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Transgroup Worldwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 United Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 VSH Certified Public Accountants . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 WECU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Western Refinery Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Whidbey Island Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Whirlwind Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Wilson Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Windermere Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Windows on the Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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