Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal 25/04

April 2012 Vol. 25 No. 4

The Voice of Kitsap Business since 1988

Bridging the Gap in Healthcare Kitsap Mental Health, Harrison collaborate for primary care

By Rodika Tollefson Individuals with severe or chronic mental illness live 20 to 25 years less, on average, for a variety of reasons including poverty and lack of medical care. Kitsap Mental Health Services and Harrison Health Partners are trying to bridge the gap in health care access for these individuals by partnering up to offer primary care.

As part of the collaborative effort, a Harrison primary care physician offers weekly appointments at the KMHS outpatient offices. KMHS staff coordinate and facilitate the appointments, and the care is integrated into the patients’ case management.

“These people have difficulty accessing care. They feel comfortable here and with the people working with them here who can help them accomplish what they need,” said Dr. David Beck, KMHS medical director.

“The access to care criteria is fairly restrictive (for them) and they have difficulty functioning in the community.

They usually have medical needs that haven’t been addressed.”

L to R: Dr. David Beck, KMHS Medical Director; Dr. Hector Reyes, Harrison HealthPartners; Joe Roszak, KMHS Executive Director

Cover Story, page 9 $1.50 Display until May 1st

Inside

Human Resources, pg 14

Financial, pp 26, 27

Special Reports:

Technology, pg 16

Editorial, pp 36-38

Healthcare Quarterly, pp 8-13

Environment, pg 18

Automotive, pp 29-35

Real Estate, pp 23-25

Home Builders Newsletter, pp 19-22

KCU names Katie Hopkins new NM branch manager

West Sound Workforce honors as Struxness January’s Employee of the Month

Ogard new VP of Safeco National Advisory Council

Kitsap Credit Union recently announced the promotion of Katie Hopkins to manager of its Belfair Branch, located next to McLendon’s Hardware.

Previously, Hopkins was Belfair’s Assistant Branch Manager where her knowledge and pleasant demeanor made her a community favorite.

West Sound Workforce announced that Teresa Struxness has been named as Employee of the Month for January. According to her supervisor, “The first thing that comes to mind with respect to her exceptional job is her willingness to stay late when necessary to get our commitments out. Teresa doesn’t shy away from a challenge. She wants to continually learn and grow and support the company however she can. She has a smile on her face all the time and brightens a room when she walks in. We appreciate how quickly Teresa has learned her job. We are so happy with the job Teresa is doing – she is an exceptional employee.”

Struxness was honored by West Sound Workforce with gifts, an award certificate and floral arrangement at her local awards celebration. For more information, reach West Sound Workforce at (360) 394-1882 or on the web at www.westsoundworkforce.com.

Jeff Ogard, vice president of personal lines at EHL Insurance in Poulsbo, has been named vice president of the Safeco Insurance National Advisory Council for 2012.

The group is a collaborative, agentdriven forum that helps Safeco partner with agents to provide insurance products that meet the changing needs of customers. The national council includes the president and vice president from each of the company’s regional councils across the country. The officers of the national council are elected by its members.

“It will be an honor to serve as vice president of the National Advisory Council during its upcoming 10th anniversary year,” said Ogard. “I look forward to being a voice for fellow independent agents to help Safeco to create new opportunities, resolve concerns and improve communication.”

“I look forward to working with Jeff Ogard and the National Advisory Council in 2012,” said Mike Hughes, president, Safeco Insurance.

2 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

Award winning landscape designer to serve as vice president of WSNLA Megan Pulkkinen, owner of Megan Pulkkinen Landscape Design in Bremerton, has been installed as vice president of Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association (WSNLA). Her service is of particular note because the organization is celebrating 75 years of serving the nursery and landscape industry in 2012.

Pulkkinen is an award winning landscape designer, garden coach and consultant. She has over 20 years of experience working in the nursery and landscape industry in California and Washington. Her experience in plant rentals, wholesale growing and shipping, retail purchasing and management, design, installation and working with clients provides her with a broad understanding of the diverse membership of WSNLA. She has previously held various positions at the chapter level, including the Design Caucus chair on the state board. As the WSNLA Design Caucus chair and board member, Pulkkinen spent numerous volunteer hours working with other members to craft language that will protect landscape designers’ chosen work while allowing support for a long-sought bill for another segment of the horticultural industry. Her efforts proved successful when a bill collaborated on with WALP and APLD was passed in 2009. Pulkkinen is a certified professional horticulturist dedicated to the success on the Washington horticultural industry.

For additional information and member referrals visit www.wsnla.org.

Kingston mustard maker expands to national chain Carly McLeod of Kingston, president and owner of Fat Cat Mustard now has distribution in the local Albertsons store, with the potential to expand to the northwest region.

The two year-old company was started by McLeod and now offers four flavors of natural gourmet sweet hot mustards. Retails sales include local grocery stores and the mustard is sold in the Ventures store in the Pike Place Market.

McLeod is a graduate of the Washington Community Alliance for Self Help (CASH) business training program and is active in their business support program.

Fat Cat Mustard can be reached at (360) 930-1454, www.fatcatmustard.com and by email at ordres@fatcatmustard.com.

Fencing center open in Port Orchard Fencing enthusiast Tom Martin has opened the Kitsap Fencing Center at 2505 S.E. Mile Hill Drive in Port Orchard. Martin said he was first intrigued while attending classes at Olympic College — which were cancelled every time he signed up because there weren’t enough participants. Fencing however is an Olympic sport featured during every modern Olympic Games.

It was after he transferred to Central Washington University (CWU) in Ellensburg that he was able to participate at a competitive level, and became one of 18 students to qualify for the Summer National Championships. CWU’s program now is a club sport and a member of the U.S. Fencing Association (USFA).

After leaving CWU, Martin became certified to coach by the USFA. He now teaches adult and youth classes four days a week.

There are three main types of fencing: foil, epee and saber. Martin competed professionally in the former two and those are the focus of his beginners’ class. Both feature different types of blades and scoring.

Martin says however that the biggest challenge with new students is making them realize fencing is a sophisticated, competitive sport and not at all like something out of “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Martin focuses on basics — footwork, developing proper mechanics and the sport’s roots — with his beginners’ class.

For more information reach Martin at (360) 471-7150, kitsapfencingcenter@gmail.com, or visit http://www.kitsapfencingcenter.com.

Viking Dental lands in Poulsbo Dr. Scott A. Olson DDS announced the opening of his new practice, Viking Dental, located at 18520 State Hwy 305 in Poulsbo. A ‘Grand Opening’ and ribbon cutting ceremony by the Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce was held on March 22. This state-of-the-art clinic is set to meet all dental needs in a relaxed and ultra-modern, all-digital environment.

After retiring from the Navy in 2006 after 31 years total service, Olson made his home in Poulsbo with his wife Suzanne, a Veterinarian, and their three Dr. Scott Olson children. He specializes in surgical extractions and placement of immediate dentures, wisdom teeth removal as well as providing for all general and cosmetic dentistry needs.

Services include oral sedation and nitrous oxide for patients’ comfort and relaxation.

For more information or to schedule an appointment call 360-598-5510.

SwimSpaw welcomes new masseuse

Sick & Tired of Your Wet Basement or Nasty Crawlspace?

To schedule a free inspection and estimate call:

360-698-0260 Toll Free: 877-698-0260 WSCL #:CLEANSN93BW 11875 NW Silverdale Way, #105

See firsthand solutions at: www.cleanspacenorthwest.com

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 3

SwimSpaw, Kitsap County’s hydrotherapy pool for dogs, announced the addition of Terina Swayze. Swayze graduated from the Port Townsend School of Massage for human massage and studied animal massage at the Northwest School of Animal Massage. She has worked as a veterinary assistant, human medical assistant, and runs her own small animal massage and pet sitting practice in Kitsap County. She has her human certification in Orthopedic Massage.

Picking Teams...

By Dan Weedin Do you remember choosing up teams to play baseball insert your sport) as a kid? Two captains would be “appointed” or “anointed” depending on the social structure of the playground. They were normally the two best players and their leadership role had nothing to do with their ability to lead the team or even pick good players (this is true in many of our adu lt playgrounds called “the office”). The remaining athletes would be lined up opposite the captains, staring intently at them trying to be the next person selected. The ultimate humiliation was being in the final two, knowing only one would be the infamous last pick. Sounds a little like American Idol, huh?

I’ve been watching AMC’s hit television

show, Mad Men on Netflix. I just finished Year 3 (two years old so consider this your spoiler alert) where Don Draper leads a group of people from the firm, including two partners, to form their own agency.

They take drastic and covert action when they find out that their old agency was being sold and they didn’t want to play along. At the end of the episode (and season), you see Draper standing in the hotel room being used as the new office. He is gazing at the 7-8 people he hand picked to “play ball” with the new agency. These were the ones he wanted to move forward with. He had a choice to pick the best of a larger field and he chose them.

Four years ago, as I was preparing to take the presidency of my 130-member Rotary

Congratulations!

2012 Economic Development Champion

4 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

From L to R: John Powers, Dr. David Mitchell & Julie Tappero

Join us in thanking Dr. David Mitchell, President of Olympic College and KEDA Board Member, for his exceptional leadership in higher education and unwavering commitment to advancing workforce and economic development in Kitsap County.

Kitsap Economic Development Alliance Salutes You, Dr. David Mitchell!

A private, nonprofit organization

Sell Globally. Buy Locally.

360-377-9499 4312 Kitsap Way, Suite 103 • Bremerton

www.kitsapeda.org

Club, one of the guest speakers in my workshop asked a compelling question — “If your club had to whittle itself down to only 25 members, would you be one of them?’ Thought-provoking.

If you had to choose 5 people to move forward with a new organization, whom would you choose? Why? Would you even be one of them?

Not everyone in your organization work and perform at the same level of excellence. Are you spending too much time trying to “fix” them at the expense of enhancing your best performers? Unfortunately, many executives and business owners spend too much time with the squeaky wheel. The same thing happens in our schools and non-profit organizations. In the end, it only hurts them. The best path is to work on your strengths, not your weaknesses.

If you are the “captain” of your business, your non-profit organization, your school district, or your association, you have been given the opportunity to choose your team.

Here are five characteristics to cogitate on…

1. Does this person have the skill set for the task or job at hand, or are they merely being promoted due to longevity?

2. Does this person care about the organization’s well-being or is it solely “what’s in it for me?”

3. Does this person have a high ceiling to suc cess or do they have a giant bump on their head from smacking their ceiling?

4. How well do they play with others?

5. Are they “coachable?” In other words, are they willing to constantly improve their skills, or do they think they have mastered it all?

Too many executives and business owners waste time and money on trying to fix the unfixable. You’re better served enhancing your strengths by empowering your strongest performers. Less labor intensity and more return on investment. Find ways to build on your strengths, rather than fix your weaknesses. It’s about success, not perfection.

Final thought. Look at yourself in the mirror. Should you be on the team? Are you providing leadership with passion, skill, and inspiration? Would your employees or your “team” trade you at the trading deadline?

Are you enhancing or detracting your organization’s performance? Honest evaluation needs to be done on the entire team, including you.

Bottom line - Who would you go to war with if you only had four other people to choose? What characteristics make them your choice? What role do you play in best igniting their talent?

Take those answers and instill those values in your strongest performers and watch your organization prosper.

(Editor’s note: Dan Weedin is a Poulsbo-based management consultant, speaker, and mentor. He leads an executive peer-to-peer group in Kitsap County where he helps executives improve personally, professionally, and organizationally by enhancing leadership skills. He is one of only 32 consultants in the world to be accredited as an Alan Weiss Master Mentor. Reach Weedin at (360) 697-1058; dan@danweedin.com or on the web site www.DanWeedin.com.)

ATS wins software contract for TrademarksNext Generation Applied Technical Systems (ATS), located in Silverdale, is one of three companies awarded a one year contract with two option years to develop simple and unified interfaces to make the user experience as integrated and intuitive as possible for the US Patent & Trademarks Office (USPTO).

This project supports Trademarks-Next Generation (TM-NG) and Patents End-toEnd (PE2E). ATS was also recently contracted to redesign, develop and implement the new user interface for PE2E. Initial tasking for ATS will leverage its extensive experience in web-based technology and user centered design to provide the USPTO with a prototype for a new unified interface for Trademark examiners and attorneys, part of the broader TM-NG program at USPTO. “ATS is excited to begin enhancing the efficiency for the Trademarks side of the agency and TM-NG” says Carey Kolb, ATS vice president of Systems Engineering. “I am confident that the innovative, next generation product we are developing for the patent examiner community can be replicated to improve the user experience and productivity for the trademark examiners.”

AWOB Crystal Star Award judges named Alliance of Women Owned Businesses (AWOB) announced the selection of the three judges, who will determine the recipients of the first Crystal Star Awards.

Picking the best from the cream of the crop is hard work; so AWOB finds it very rewarding that these prominent business people and community leaders have agreed to serve as judges. They are David A. Zeeck, president and publisher of the News Tribune; Patty Lent, Mayor of Bremerton; and Julie Anderson, Pierce County Auditor.

Two awards will be presented, the Crystal Star Award, given to a women business owner who has demonstrated through perseverance, vision, and leadership what she can bring to business and community.

AWOB will award a Rising Star Award to an outstanding entrepreneur who has owned her business for less than five years.

The two outstanding business owners will be recognized in part to enhance the public’s understanding and recognize the role women represent. Through these women, they will shine a spotlight on all women business owners to show what they do in their community.

Business women from Pierce, Kitsap and Mason counties are eligible for the awards to be presented by AWOB. The winners will be feted at a gala, which will take place on May 17 at Canterwood Country Club in Gig Harbor.

For further information, contact Julie Tappero, founder of AWOB, at (253) 8533633 or Julie@westsoundworkforce.com.

“Like” Us On Facebook www.facebook.com/kitsap peninsulabusinessjournal

Richards named new Gig Harbor city administrator Former Gig Harbor police chief to serve as new City administrator The Gig Harbor City Council has approved a contract to hire Denny Richards as the new city administrator. Richards replaces outgoing City Administrator Rob Karlinsey who is taking the city manager position in Kenmore.

Richards, a veteran municipal leader, brings a variety of skills and decades of experience to Gig Harbor. He spent the first 20 years of his career on the Vancouver police department staff and then led the city of Gig Harbor Police Department from 1987 to 1995 when he retired from law enforcement.

Since 1995, he has held several full and interim manager and assistant manager positions at Fircrest, Sammamish, Long Beach, Jefferson County and most recently in Kelso. Richards has also served in Liberty Lake helping set up its new police department and served as public works director in Battleground.

“I was honored to get the phone call asking to consider coming back to my home town,” Richards said. “I want to bring my work ethic and team building skills to Gig Harbor. I like people to be happy and that’s how I lead.”

In 1995 when Richards left his Police Chief position in Gig Harbor the city employed 35 people. Today staff numbers nearly 90. “With Denny’s background and knowledge of Gig Harbor, I am looking forward to a smooth transition,” Mayor Hunter said today. “Denny should be able to step in and keep us on target with our goals and projects.”

Richards starts the new job on April 9.

For more information contact Mayor Chuck Hunter at (253) 851-8136.

Massage Envy now open in Silverdale The newest addition to Kitsap County’s health and wellness business community opened March 6 when Massage Envy introduced a variety of therapeutic massage and spa services, including facials, at its new clinic in the Safeway Shopping Center in Silverdale.

Located at 3036 NW Bucklin Hill Rd, across the parking lot from Staples, the Silverdale Massage Envy clinic is owned by Pam Driver and her husband Jim Gunderson. The couple have owned and operated the Massage Envy in Gig Harbor since 2008.

“Multiple studies show that massage helps relieve stress, manage pain, improve flexibility and range of movement, and lower blood pressure and other benefits,” said Driver. “Massage also boosts the immune system, improves circulation and promotes more restful sleep. And of course it just feels great.”

Driver said the new clinic will eventually employ 30 licensed massage practitioners and support staff headed by manager Jessica Guzikowski.

Massage Envy offers a number of massage types, including customized

massage, deep tissue, Swedish massage, trigger point, sports massage, hot stone massage, prenatal massage, and couples massage. Other services include reflexology, aromatherapy and deep muscle therapies.

The center is open seven days a week.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and Sunday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information or reservations, contact the spa at (360) 698-0311 or visit www.MassageEnvy.com.

Kitsap Garage Door welcomes second generation Petasek to team April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 5

Kitsap Garage Door Co., located in Bremerton, has welcomed Kendrick Petasek to its team of installers. Kendrick has been learning the trade the old-fashion way, from his dad, Lyle Petasek, who has been with Kitsap Garage Door since 1991 as an installer. Lyle worked his way up from service and is now lead sales. As a teenager, Kendrick would accompany his dad on garage door jobs during the week-ends.

Learning from one of the best in the industry “As a family-owned business in Kitsap for over 35 years, we saw Kendrick’s skill set and intuition for the trade easily developed and knew he would be a great asset to our company,” says Owner John Ramer. “We recently had a new opening and we’re proud to hire Kendrick as a full time, second generation employee.”

Re-investing in Kitsap’s future… Together

By John Powers, Executive Director Kitsap Economic Development Alliance Five years ago community leaders from across Kitsap came together to create a 20/20 Vision and commit to an Action Plan to advance sustainable economic opportunity throughout Kitsap County for generations to come. Via this visioning initiative, the Kitsap Economic Development Council (est. 1983) was re-energized, recapitalized, and rebranded as the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA).

KEDA is a community-wide alliance made up of local business and civic leaders and public

officials, and is designated as the lead economic development entity for the County. As such, KEDA is charged with partnering with State and US Departments of Commerce to attract investment and grow jobs in Kitsap County.

In January of ’07 it was envisioned that the public and private sectors would forge a solid 50/50 private-public economic development partnership based upon participation and investment from local governments and businesses. At that time (pre great recession) Kitsap set its sights on attaining a two dollar per capita level of annual economic dev elopment investment — $500,000 — a sum sufficient to

enable Kitsap to effectively compete in the dynamic arena of business retention, expansion and attraction in an ever more competitive global economy.

Eighteen months later, in the fall of ’08, markets dramatically contracted, the economy faltered, and our KEDA partnership began to lose balance. Private sector investment lagged; fortunately, the public partners took up the laboring oar to keep the partnership afloat. Over the course of the next few years the annual operating support leveled off at about 75 percent of goal, and capital contributions drifted into a 65/35

Local. Nationwide. Worldwide.

The Hill family takes the business of moving personally...

“Hill Moving has helped us move between New York and Seattle twice and from Massachusetts to Seattle once — including storage this last time!

“Each move has gone smoothly and we would recommend the crew at Hill Moving whether you are staying near or traveling far.”

6 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

— RobRoy, Zanne & Izzy Chalmers

Nationwide, local &

international moving Long-term heated storage

service Our people and our moving

supplies set us apart Pianos, antiques, hot tubs DOT #534666 HG43090

Office & industrial moving Display & exhibit moving Free no-obligation

estimates

800-833-9555 • hillmoving.com 360-697-3969 • 206-842-6715 26394 Pioneer Way NW Poulsbo, WA 98370

We Deliver Peace of Mind... WORLDWIDE!

position (65 percent from government and 35 from business).

The momentum generated in ’07 became difficult to sustain.

All the while KEDA’s staff stayed focused on doing more with less and, quarter by quarter, doing what the KEDA TEAM does best — executing a solid client-based business retention, expansion and recruitment game plan.

Since its rebirth in ’07, KEDA has assisted over 500 clients with an array of business development services aimed at growing their businesses and employment base here in Kitsap County. KEDA’s services include: site selection; capital formation; customized demographic research and reports; strategic market relationship development and management; and, referrals to local market resources and related services. While much has been accomplished — much remains to be done in order for KEDA to achieve its full potential and continue to lead the way in advancing economic opportunities throughout Kitsap County now and for generations to come.

Today the tables have turned and an economic recovery is, slowly but surely, taking hold. While businesses are beginning to regain profitability, governments now face greater budgetary challenges than ever before.

Clearly it’s time to re-balance the load, true up the partnership, and pick up the pace climbing the hill.

Under the leadership of KEDA’s officer corps (Julie Tappero, Chris Rieland, Elliot Gregg, Russell Steele and Jim Carmichael) the private-public partnership is regaining its balance and making significant strides in securing its financial footings and achieving its full potential. As we enter into calendar year 2012 private sector investments are up 50 percent on our way to the goal of a 100 percent increase. In the face of substantial government reductions, this increased commitment from the private sector is vitally important to KEDA’s capacity to attract business investment and grow jobs in Kitsap County.

As we begin to build the next five years of KEDA’s economic development legacy, I wish to extend a heartfelt thanks to all our many public and private investors and community partners so instrumental in KEDA fulfilling its mission. Because competitive economic development is a team sport, KEDA deploys its private-public capital in collaboration with an array of strategic community partners. Together we deliver a wide array of business development services to our clients — businesses small and large, local and global, to help them grow and prosper in Kitsap. Our local strategic partners include: Olympic College; KRCC, WorkSouce and the Kitsap County Workforce Development Board; Olympic Finance Development Authority; WSTA; local Chambers of Commerce; NCMS; WA CASH; KCIB, Home Builders Association of Kitsap County, Kitsap Entrepreneurial See “Powers,” page 7

Waterfront CPA Group offers shredding service April 14

Silver City Brewery debuts Saint Florian IPA

Waterfront Financial Group announced that it will again offer shredding services to help people protect their privacy and confidentiality on April 14, from 9 a.m. until noon. The sixth annual CPA ShredFest offers a safe, convenient way for people to dispose of old tax returns, mortgage and bank information, and other sensitive documents.

The event will be held in Waterfront CPA Group’s parking lot at 9657 Levin Rd NW, Silverdale. (Land Title Building) All documents will be shredded on-site by a mobile shredding unit and a “certificate of destruction” will be issued. The first twenty (20) pounds are free; additional shredding is a nominal $.30/lb.

“People are concerned about identity theft and their most personal information falling into the wrong hands,” says Waterfront CPA Group’s Craig Huish. “We make it fast and simple to shred old documents. People can clean out files and gain some space, and it’s good for the environment as well.”

Last year’s CPA ShredFest recycled nearly 4 tons of paper. Working with All Shred of Bremerton, the paper shred was then processed and mixed into a unique compost for local gardeners, helping the environment by putting nutrients back into the soil.

Most people don’t know when they should destroy credit card statements and old checks, or how long to keep a tax return.

Waterfront CPA has created guidelines on what to save and what to shred, available by emailing info@waterfrontfm.com or calling Waterfront CPA Group at (360) 692-9000 for a free copy.

Silver City Brewery has introduced Saint Florian India Pale Ale. Saint Florian, the patron saint of firefighters, is now the namesake of a northwest IPA designed to raise money for Washington State Council of Fire Fighters Benevolent Funds. Part of the proceeds from each bottle and keg of Saint Florian IPA sold goes directly to the Benevolent Fund where the beer is purchased. Silver City Brewery co-owner Scott Houmes said, “We are very proud to grow our long-standing relationship with Fire Fighters and the Benevolent

New brew benefits Washington State Council of Firefighters Benevolent Fund Association. Saint Florian IPA enables us to extend that relationship to other areas around the Puget Sound.”

Silver City Brewery has helped raise money for the Professional Fire Fighters of Kitsap County Benevolent fund every year since 2001 through their annual Oktoberfest Celebration. In that time, the Oktoberfest event has helped raise over $40,000 for the Professional Firefighters of Kitsap County Benevolent Fund.

Saint Florian IPA will raise funds wherever it is sold in Washington.

Brewmaster Don Spencer said, “We are very honored to present Saint Florian IPA as way to help raise funds for the Benevolent Fund around the Puget Sound. We hope it will also help raise awareness about the Benevolent Fund, as well as the story of Saint Florian, the Patron Saint of Fire Fighters.”

Saint Florian IPA debuted at Silver City Restaurant in Silverdale on March 5. Saint Florian IPA will arrive in retail stores in 22ounce bottles and on draft around the Puget Sound throughout the month of March.

Generous donors make fundraiser a success

POWERS

from page 6 Center; SBDC; Kitsap Visitors and Convention Bureau; Impact Washington; Cleantech West Sound; WSELC; Kitsap Aerospace & Defense Alliance; Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition; and , the Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center.

Private businesses, local governments, and affiliated local NGOs working and investing together to advance our collective economic future — that’s what economic development is all about in Kitsap.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 7

The recent Sweetheart Dinner Auction, held at the Kitsap Conference Center, was produced through the hard work of Kitsap Cancer Services (KCS) and East Bremerton Rotary Club members, who together, raised more than $75,000 for their respective non-profit organizations.

KCS raises money to provide for people and families living with cancer in Kitsap County and the West Sound. Kitsap Cancer Services and East Bremerton Rotary would like to thank those who so generously donated and participated in making this event such a success and looks forward to next year’s dinner auction, which will be scheduled for Feb. 9, 2013.

Harrison to break ground on orthopedic hospital

8 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

By Rodika Tollefson Harrison Medical Center will break ground this spring on a three-story orthopedics hospital at its Silverdale campus. The $25 million facility, which will be built in two phases, will include 24 private patient rooms, four operating rooms and shelled-in space on the third floor for a second-phase expansion.

The hospital will be under Harrison ownership while being operated by a consortium of participating orthopedic surgeons from WestSound Orthopaedics, The Doctors Clinic and Peninsula Orthopaedics.

“The new management model will be very helpful. It takes people who work at the facility and have a vested interest in making it successful, and gives them control over the management of the facility,” said Dr. Bradley Watters, an orthopedic surgeon with WestSound Orthopaedics who has been involved with Harrison’s orthopedic strategy.

“We’re excited to work at the management level with staff and the physicians.”

Watters said there’s an increased need for orthopedic services in Kitsap County and a growing number of patients who need hip replacement and other types of surgery.

The new hospital’s specialty operating rooms and the design of the flow will allow surgeons to work more efficiently and take

on more cases — he estimates as much as doubling in the number of cases per day.

“My biggest limitation to do the number of cases is the number of rooms to do them in,” said Watters, who performs a large number of hip replacements and other joint surgeries. “The demand is going up and up, and the only way to address it is by having a facility for it.”

In addition to providing more space for specialty equipment, the new hospital will address another critical need, private patient rooms, according to Bob Cross, Harrison’s executive director of strategic development.

“This is the first major step for Harrison to migrate to private rooms from semi-private rooms,” he said. “The rooms will be built to the very latest in technology in terms of patient safety and accessibility. They certainly will be the most family-friendly rooms (at Harrison).”

The orthopedic hospital, which will be adjacent to the north wing of the hospital at Myhre and Ridgetop, is part of a $35 million expansion plan approved by the Harrison Medical Center’s board of directors in January 2011. The plan includes the renovation of the emergency department and a new data center.

“We’re still evaluating the best options for us (for the emergency department),” Cross said. “We have the authorization from the board to spend the money, we just

Tacoma 253-473-4394

want to make sure we spend it wisely and that we time everything right.”

He said the changes in emergency services use, along with uncertainties related to the implementation of health care reform, would impact future needs. “We keep analyzing and reviewing everything so when we are ready, we have the most current information,” Cross said.

Another part of the expansion plan is the consolidation of administrative services. Some support departments have already been moved to a building off Wheaton Way in Bremerton as well as other leased spaces under an ongoing, phased-in plan. Although

functions such as finance and strategic planning will be moved to the new building, the administration including CEO Scott Bosch will continue to be based at the Bremerton campus.

“It’s important that the executive team is as visible as possible,” Cross said. “They touch base with the delivery-of-care team regularly to make sure we’re doing what we need to improve operations, and they don’t want to lose that.”

The orthopedic hospital, which was recently approved for a conditional use permit by the Kitsap County hearing examiner, is anticipated to open by fall 2013.

St. Anthony Hospital welcomes new president Kurt Schley joined St. Anthony Hospital as its new president in February. He succeeds Carole Peet, who relocated in September to become president and chief executive officer of a 196-bed hospital in the Denver suburb of Westminster, Colo.

St. Anthony Hospital, located in Gig Harbor, is owned and operated by Franciscan Health System.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to join a great community hospital and to support Franciscan’s mission to improve the health and well-being of the residents of Gig Harbor, Key Peninsula, Port Orchard

Gig Harbor 253-851-3932

and other areas,” Schley said.

He has nearly 25 years of leadership experience at large and small hospitals and in outpatientcare settings. He comes to St. Anthony Hospital from Memorial Healthcare System in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he served as administrator of the 52-acre medical campus that includes an ambulatory care center, imaging center and family medicine practice. Like the Franciscan Health System and St. Anthony Hospital, Memorial Healthcare is part of Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the nation.

“Among the candidates for the position, Kurt stood out for his well-rounded and extensive experience in both nonprofit and for-profit ambulatory and acute care settings,” said Franciscan Chief Operating Officer Cliff Robertson, MD. “We are fortunate that Kurt has joined our organization. I know the hospital’s staff and members of the community will enjoy meeting him.”

Schley received a bachelor’s degree from John Brown University in Arkansas and a master’s degree in hospital administration from the University of Missouri. He is married and has three children.

Laurie Brown, the chief nurse executive for the Franciscan organization, served as interim president of the Gig Harbor hospital during the national search that led to Schley’s appointment.

St. Anthony Hospital, licensed for 80 beds, provides an array of inpatient and outpatient services, including 24-hour emergency care. The hospital, which opened in 2009, has earned awards for high patient satisfaction scores for two consecutive years.

St. Anthony is one of five hospitals in the Franciscan Health System. For more information, visit www.fhshealth.org.

COLLABORATION

from page 1

Help for aching knees Come hear Franciscan orthopedic surgeon Dr. Patrick Vaughn, from Gig Harbor Orthopaedic Surgeons at the Best Western Wesley Inn, 6575 Kimball Dr., on April 10 from 6 to 7 p.m., as he shares information on new approaches to managing painful knees. Dr. Vaughn will talk about innovative options for treating knee pain before joint replacement is necessary.

You’ll also learn about new techniques used during knee replacement to improve outcomes and manage post-operative pain.

Franciscan is committed to keeping its patients strong, mobile and pain free, and has performed more joint replacements than any other system in the South Sound. It offers the latest techniques so you can enjoy the simple pleasures in live – without pain.

Event registration is required. Call (888) 825-3227 or visit www.FHShealth.org/ortho to register.

same — including his medical assistant and the setup of the exam rooms.

“You have a population of people with difficulty accessing care so you bring the care to them,” Beck said. “The other important part is the degree of integration of the two systems.”

Reyes has been in primary care since 2004 and says his work with KMHS patients is a natural extension of what he does. He started his career in public health, and has also worked with rural and underserved populations.

“The health care delivery system needs to be improved and in some little way, I try to contribute to repair it,” he said.

Kriedberg said now that the partnership is

working well, the model could be expanded.

One idea would be to have a Kitsap Mental Health provider available at the new primary care clinic in Bremerton to serve patients who would not qualify for KMHS services otherwise because of the narrow clinical criteria they would have to meet.

Kitsap Mental Health Services serves about 3,500 adults through in- and outpatient programs as well as 1,500 children every year. The primary care program is available to adults, and the two organizations expect to serve about 100 patients per year.

“It’s been a very rewarding experience so far for me, as an administrator, to see the kind of impact we’ve had on these patients in a short period of time,” Kriedberg said.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 9

He said in addition to the patients having difficulty being in a regular medical setting, the system itself is under pressure, especially to serve low-income and uninsured individuals. “That system — including the community health centers — is under stress. It’s stretched so far that it’s difficult to address the depth of their needs,” he said.

A conference room has been converted into two exam rooms and outfitted by Harrison Health Partners (which is part of Harrison Medical Center) with the same equipment used at a regular clinic. The patients’ medical records are also integrated into Harrison’s electronic health records.

“By bringing the care on site, it enables the KMHS care team to participate in the primary care and support of the patients,” Beck said.

“The system is no different from the care they’d get somewhere else, including after hours and urgent care and other services.”

Dr. Hector Reyes, who practices at the Harrison Port Orchard Clinic, began seeing patients at KHMS at the beginning of this year. The first appointments for new patients last as long as an hour and a half, and subsequent appointments are also longer than in a general setting. When Reyes is on site, it’s common for KMHS medical staff to walk to his office in between appointments to discuss a patient’s case, and KMHS case managers also follow up on the physician’s instructions. Clients may choose to make appointments with Reyes off-site as well.

“We see this as a really important opportunity to collaborate with Kitsap Mental Health and provide a service to these clients that they wouldn’t get otherwise,” said Gary Kriedberg, director of operations for Harrison Health Partners.

“We were especially excited about this program because it’s so unique and not happening in many communities.”

The collaborative effort has been in the planning stages for a year, as the two organizations coordinated everything from electronic records to billing aspects. Beck, who is a board-certified internist, said he

has worked in the community health system for many years and knew they would need a community partner to be able to address the medical needs.

“The community partner that stepped up was Harrison,” he said. He gave an example of how this partnership can impact the patients: When a KMHS client was hospitalized recently, Dr. Reyes worked with the in-patient team to make decisions.

“It’s never happened before where we could phone the patient’s doctor and have him respond so knowledgeably,” he said.

On a typical day at the Port Orchard clinic, Reyes would see as many as 20 patients. At KMHS, he wouldn’t see more than eight new patients. The environment, however, is the

Health district’s new initiative address the changing times

10 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

By Rodika Tollefson The recently renamed Kitsap Public Health District began the year 2012 not only with a new name and rebranded look, but also with a new strategic plan and a goal to be more efficient and visible during a tough economic time. The district has lost about a third of its staff within the past six years, along with several programs.

“There’s less money yet higher expectations. We had to be very strategic and clear about what public health does,” said Health Officer and Director Scott Lindquist, MD. Changing the name from Kitsap County Health District helps clarify the district’s independence from county government while the strategic planning moves it closer to national accreditation — a growing trend among public health systems. As the accreditation becomes more common, Lindquist said the accredited districts will be the ones to receive federal funding.

“Accreditation assumes we’re as effective and efficient as we can,” said Deputy Director Scott Daniels.

The top five goals identified for the next decade in the strategic plan focus on preventing and controlling communicable

disease, decreasing chronic diseases, preventing and reducing environmental threats, promoting healthy child development, and strengthening financial and technological resources as well as the district’s workforce.

“In the past, we used data to decide on priorities but this time we also looked at other things like surveys, environmental strengths and weaknesses,” said Cris Craig, KPHD public information officer.

Economic indicators and chronic disease are among the top issues in the county. Many of those indicators have been declining. For example, the number of Kitsap County residents living in poverty has increased from 9 percent to 11 percent between 1998 and 2010; the number of public school students enrolled in the federal free or reduced lunch program rose from 26 percent to 35 percent; and the number of adults at a healthy weight has decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent during the same period.

“Our biggest challenges in the public health arena are issues of social inequity and chronic diseases. We’re having to retrain ourselves as an institution in how to deal with data,” Lindquist said.

As one example, he said people in certain zip codes (where poverty is more prevalent)

are more likely to have chronic diseases, and chronic diseases have become a major issue for public health, as opposed to communicable diseases a century ago.

“Our job is to use policy and systematic approaches to create an environment and conditions in which more people have the opportunity to have a healthier life,” Craig said.

It’s a lofty goal once all the pieces are considered — from smoke-free public housing and more family-wage jobs, to food policies promoting farmers markets and other healthy eating options, to bicycle-friendly communities. Lindquist said the Board of Health has an advantage, however, because it’s comprised of elected officials from all Kitsap jurisdictions. “They can develop new policies and they can make a big change as far as inequities and other issues,” he said.

As part of the goal of decreasing chronic disease in Kitsap, the district will be looking at infrastructure that helps keep better track of numbers that would indicate trends. Lindquist said KPHD is already ahead of the curve and is possibly the only public health district in the state that has electronic health records. The district is also working with community providers such as Harrison Medical Center to create an information exchange system.

While developing the 2011-2021 strategic plan, the health district also identified top five community health priorities: ensuring access to medical, behavioral and dental health for all residents; making it easier for residents to be physically active; ensuring access to healthier food options; promoting economic development including more living-wage jobs with benefits; and ensuring children have the support they need for a healthier life.

The Kitsap Community Health Priorities plan was created by KPHD together with

Harrison Medical Center and United Way of Kitsap County, in collaboration with other stakeholders including representatives form civic groups, health-care providers, public officials, community leaders and the Navy.

Part of the effort is already seeing results, Lindquist said, as a 5210 Community Awareness Campaign moves forward thanks to the work being done by one of the work groups.

The 5210 initiative is part of nationwide childhood obesity prevention program called Let’s Go! that started in Maine in 2006 and has since been adopted around the country.

Closer to home, the YMCA or Pierce and Kitsap Counties has introduced it at several branches, including the Gig Harbor Family YMCA last year (5210 stands for 5 fruits and vegetables, 2 hours or less of recreational screen time, 1 hour or more of physical activity and 0 sugary drinks per day). The program will be rolled out in Kitsap County later this spring.

Another work group is looking at ideas to decrease chronic disease by implementing healthier workplace policies — and the district itself will be one of the first to adopt them. The district is also offering services for local schools and employers to help them develop wellness programs.

“We have access to a large amount of data and reliable, evidence-based information,” Craig said. “We know what works and what doesn’t.”

KPHD’s efforts to focus on policy development and community health were among the reason it was selected as one of 11 agencies in the state for a community transformation grant, Lindquist said. “We showed all these pieces and other things that put us on the front edge,” he said.

Health District, page 11

Casual Waterfront Dining in Downtown Port Orchard For fabulous food in a relaxed setting and a beautiful view of Sinclair Inlet, Amy’s On The Bay is a great choice.

Voted First Place “Best Steak” and “Best Seafood” by the people of South Kitsap for four years in a row!

Full Service Bar Happy Hour Everyday 3pm – 5pm Amy’s On The Bay Restaurant & Bar 100 Harrison Avenue, Port Orchard 360-876-1445 www.amysonthebay.com

Scott Bosch to chair Puget Sound Heart & Stroke Walk The American Heart Association Puget Sound announced the appointment of Scott Bosch, president/CEO of Harrison Medical Center, as the chairman of the Puget Sound Heart and Stroke Walk scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20 at Seattle Center.

As chairman, Bosch will lead the charge of bringing the Puget Sound community together in the fight against heart diseases and stroke. Bosch will also be the driving force behind the fundraising efforts for the heart and stroke walk, which is expected to draw close to 10,000 participants and raise $1.6 million.

“We are pleased that Scott has accepted the challenge to lead the Puget Sound Heart & Stroke Walk,” said Rebecca Weaver, executive director for the American Heart Association Puget Sound. “His wealth of experience and influence as a business leader and outstanding corporate citizen will help elevate our lifesaving message and mission of building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”

Bosch will also be working with an executive leadership team, which includes the following people: • Sarah Patterson, COO, Virginia Mason Medical Center • Marcel Loh, executive director, Swedish Medical Center • Gubby Barlow, CEO, Premera Blue Cross • Kent Fisher, vice president, Boeing • Stephen Zieneiwicz, executive director, UW Medical Center • Ric Spangler, CMO, First Choice Health

• Wilf Wainhouse, COO, Sellen Construction • Rick Hermanson, CEO, Hermanson Construction • Mike Miller, Owner/Principal, Rice Fergus Miller • Brian Kuske, executive director, Overlake Hospital • Ron Heller, president, Union Bank • Fred Jarrett, deputy executive, King County • Jeff Galbraith, partner, Slalom Consulting “It’s an honor to join with my colleagues to

lead this event,” said Bosch. “While we’ve made strides, heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases claim the lives of more than 831,000 Americans every year. This event helps raise awareness and precious research and support dollars in the fight against heart diseases and stroke.”

For information about the Puget Sound Heart and Stroke Walk, visit pugetsoundheartwalk.org or call (206) 632-6881.

Rosenblatt reestablishes practice as Integrated Wellness Center

HEALTH DISTRICT

from page 10 The nine-month grant, which is renewable for five years, will allow the district to dedicate a full-time person as well as other resources to work on active living, healthy eating and other preventive programs. The initial amount of the grant is $95,000.

“Because we have less people, we’re recognizing the power of good policy, from clean-air and nonsmoking policy to calorie labeling,” Lindquist said. “These are the kind of policies that are probably more powerful than what an individual like a physician can do…

But people don’t want a ‘nanny’ state so there’s a fine balance between that and regulations.”

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 11

Dr. Julie Rosenblatt has been a chiropractor since 1995 on Bainbridge Island. After taking two years off to pursue her Healing Waters Therapy practice, she has returned. The new center will continue to offer water therapy, but the main focus is now on chiropractic healing and Rosenblatt has added another chiropractor, Dr. Christopher Andruscavage to help meet client’s needs.

In addition, Integrated Wellness Center offers the same Erchonia Low Level Laser Therapy that Lance Armstrong uses as well as the protocol developed by Lance’s chiropractors. Low Level Laser Therapy is effective in treating acute and chronic pain and inflammation, soft tissue sprains and strains, intervertebral disc conditions, sciatica, and many other common ailments.

The center offers massage therapy, aqua fitness classes and other healing classes that are open to the community. It is also home to affiliates offering life, business and nutritional coaching, acupuncture, herbal therapy and Hakomi therapy.

For more information, reach the Integrated Wellness Center at (206) 842-4219.

Harrison considers partnership with another system

By Rodika Tollefson Harrison Medical Center is evaluating the idea of partnering up with a larger health care system and reviewing proposals from both Washington-based and out-of state organizations. Ten proposals have been received by mid-March, including from faithbased, secular, nonprofit and for-profit providers.

“We’re pleased with the quality of the proposals we’ve received,” said Bob Cross, Harrison’s executive director of strategic development.

Harrison Medical Center, a 93-year-old nonprofit, announced in January that it had retained a national consulting firm last October to guide it through the process of evaluating whether becoming part of a larger system would be more beneficial than remaining independent.

“It’s safe to say Harrison is in a very strong position. We have a strong balance sheet, strong market share and a very vibrant longrange strategy,” said CEO Scott Bosch. “So we thought this was a good time to have this conversation.”

He said the board has first considered the idea about three years ago. “I think they

moved from the question, can we remain independent, to, should we remain independent. Is there a better way to organize health care on the Peninsula? It’s a legitimate question,” he said.

Harrison is one of few remaining large health-care providers that are independently owned in Puget Sound. In recent years, the area has seen several examples of partnerships including mergers and clinical affiliations.

“There are economies of scale, such as sharing of resources and expanded expertise.

Different organizations could bring different things to the table,” Cross said. “As we march forward with health-care reform, different organizations are better equipped to deal with the changes, and this is an opportunity to look at those options. The board is always looking at what the future holds and what they can do.”

Bosch said one example of how a partnership could be beneficial is the $7 million data center project.

“If we were to become part of a system, it’s likely our partner would already have that capacity and we wouldn’t need to invest that capital locally,” he said, adding that affiliation doesn’t mean Harrison would become a

Exceptional Assisted Living Community • • • •

24 hour On-site Licensed Staff Services Available to Meet Your Care Needs Delicious Meals in our Lovely Dining Room Safety, Security and Peace of Mind

Call us or stop by for a tour today!

360-874-1212 www.staffordcare.com

4 Month Special* At Olympic Fitness Single – $150 Couple – $245 Student/Senior – $125 Senior Couple – $185 *Expiration at end of term Limited amenities/services at Olympic Fitness Pro Call Olympic Fitness Pro at 895-3450 for their special(s)

Fully Equipped Fitness Facilities : *

Group exercise classes • Full Gym • Two racquetball courts Fully equipped weight floor & cardio theater Wellness center offering yoga

Specialty Services : *

12 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

1761 Pottery Avenue, Port Orchard, WA 98366

Our sister club

•Massage Therapy •Spa Services • Personal Training

871-3433

895-3450 1476 Olney Ave. SE, Ste 101 Port Orchard Gym Hours: NOW OPEN 24 HOURS!

Serving Kitsap County for 25 years!

www.olyfitness.com

4459 Mile Hill Dr. Port Orchard Gym Hours: Mon - Fri 5am-10pm Sat 7am-7pm • Sun 8am-5pm

1,000-bed hospital system.

The review of the applications is expected to take several weeks, and a follow-up discussion could commence with the top candidates. Cross said an affiliation advisory committee is assisting the board and is

comprised of board and executive team members as well as physicians.

“Many times, when this is done in a community, it’s done behind closed doors,” Bosch said. “The board is being transparent with the community, staff and physicians.”

Adams named chief medical officer for Franciscan Franciscan Health System has named Mark Adams, MD, its new chief medical officer. He succeeds Gregory Semerdjian, MD, who retired. Adams has been a physician executive with the five-hospital nonprofit organization since 2010.

“I am honored to have been called to serve in this leadership role with this great organization,” Adams said.

He is a board-certified general and vascular surgeon who previously held the position of vice president for medical affairs and associate chief medical officer. Before joining Franciscan, he served in medical staff leadership positions at Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, including as chief of medical staff.

Dr. Adams is also a clinical assistant professor at the University of Washington Department of Surgery. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Puget Sound Health Alliance and Cambia Health Solutions, which operates Regence Blue Shield, Oregon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Utah Blue Cross Blue Shield and Idaho Blue Shield. He is a past president of the Washington State Medical Association and recently served a term on the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees.

The Franciscan Health System has approximately 1,400 employed and community-based physicians and other professional providers on its medical staff. The organization includes St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma; St. Francis Hospital, Federal Way; St. Clare Hospital, Lakewood; St. Anthony Hospital, Gig Harbor; and St. Elizabeth Hospital, Enumclaw.

MultiCare app gives patients access on the go

By Rodika Tollefson MultiCare Health System patients now have a mobile app for accessing their medical records, reviewing test results and upcoming visit schedules, and sending messages to their physicians. The app, made available in January for Apple and Android smart phones and mobile devices, is integrated into MultiCare’s secure online patient portal, MyChart, which additionally allows patients to schedule appointments and request prescription refills.

The first version of the secure mobile app does not include the capability to schedule appointments or request refills, but expanded functionality is expected to be added in the future, according to Dr. Eric Herman, MultiCare primary care physician and medical director for Population Health Management.

He said the mobile application was launched because that’s what patients want.

“Patients are enamored with smart phone and mobile technology and are identifying things in which technology can enhances their lives,” he said.

“This offers immediate access to some health care information, and it’s enjoyable technology so it enables them to have greater input into their health care,” he added. “The routine activities of lives are being integrated into people’s mobile devices, and now health care will be integrated. We want people connected to their health care like they are to other aspects of their lives, but at the same time we’re not discounting those who don’t want these tools.”

Because mobile apps are becoming an integral part of consumers’ lives, having medical information at their fingertips allows them to be more engaged participants in their medical decisions, Herman believes.

“From MultiCare’s point of view, the patients’ health and wellbeing take place predominantly outside of the clinics and the hospitals, and we see health care requests and needs similarly moving to other environments,” he said.

When users look up information with the MyChart app, no data is stored on the device.

Once the patient logs out, a log-in is required again to access the account. In addition to adult patients, others such as parents and people with a durable power of attorney can request portal access.

MultiCare is also working with the app vendor to explore a mobile application for physicians. Herman said the physician-side mobile technology is nascent, with limited functionality, but would be a good tool for physicians who are on call and need access to critical information on the go. MultiCare will be piloting the provider-side app sometime in the future.

“This is definitely a trend — look at what’s going on with smart phone and applications in general,” Herman said. “Smart phones are very much a life-changing technology and patients are requiring this.”

The use of mobile technology in health care (dubbed mHealth) has been growing rapidly in the last few years. As many as 17 percent of smart-phone users are currently estimated to use health-related apps, and by

2015 that number is projected to be at 500 million, with mobile health growing to be a multibillion-dollar industry.

“It’s the way of the future,” said Gale Robinette, media relations manager for Franciscan Health System.

He said Franciscan is currently installing the Epic electronic health-records platform (used by many healthcare organization including MultiCare), which would allow for the development of an app in the future.

Harrison Medical Center is also exploring ways to add mobile technology enhancements.

“We are trending that way; we’re on that journey,” Robinette said. “It’s part of making care more convenient and consistent.”

Palis named to Becker’s leader list Adair Palis, executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Harrison Medical Center, was selected as one of 25 national healthcare leaders under the age of 40 by Becker’s Hospital Review.

The “Rising Stars: 25 Healthcare Leaders Under Age 40” is one of several leader lists compiled by Becker’s. The list is a sampling of noteworthy industry leaders and is developed based on nominations and editorial research.

Palis, who has been with Harrison since 2002, served as chief information officer from 2005 to 2010, becoming the youngest executive at Harrison.

Hospice names Taylor executive director

Center. But his connection with the hospital system goes even further — when he was young, he spent many hours at a hospital visiting his older brother, who had a kidney disease.

“I grew up at Children’s Hospital,” he said, adding that both his parents have since become kidney donors, as did Palis himself.

In addition to having a master’s degree in information technology management, Palis has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and information systems as well as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification. He was one of Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty community leaders in 2005.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 13

Hospice of Kitsap County announced that Ann Taylor has accepted the position of executive director.

Taylor brings extensive nursing and healthcare administration experience to the role.

Formerly the executive director of CAPRI, Taylor has also served on the Hospice of Kitsap County board of trustees for more than three years. Board of Trustees president Jim Page stated, “Although we are losing a dedicated board member, we are gaining a talented and mission driven executive director. Ann has a great passion and dedication to Hospice. She will provide strong and effective leadership.”

Taylor explained to agency team leaders that, “This is an exciting and challenging time to be involved in the delivery of healthcare; and I am looking forward to enhancing this agency’s capacity to provide quality and compassionate care to anyone in Kitsap County coping with a life-limiting illness, grief, or loss.”

For more information about local Hospice services and programs, call (360) 698-4611.

In his expanded role as the chief administrative officer for the past year, he continues to oversee IT operations while also being involved with three service lines and the physicians’ employment group.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time with our physicians’ group and the service lines, which is very clinical (compared to IT) — that’s been very exciting,” he said.

As the CIO, Palis, 33, was the driving force behind Harrison’s three-year, $30.5 million effort to implement an electronic health record system, along with the creation of a state-of-the-art data center and a new network infrastructure. He was on Becker’s Rising Stars list in 2010 as well.

Palis has been working in health care since he was 16, when he started a part-time job in the IT department at Valley Medical

14 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

Creating workplace humor without getting sued

By Julie Tappero, President, West Sound Workforce April Fool’s Day. What does it mean to you? Do you have a favorite workplace prank that you pull out each year to spring on your unsuspecting co-workers?

My father always looked forward to April 1st.

He’d put a spool of thread in the inside pocket of his suit coat and, with the help of a needle, he would pull the thread so that it poked out through the front of his jacket. All day long, unwitting well-meaning people would pluck the thread off his coat, attempting to help him with his grooming, only to find themselves pulling and pulling at a never ending piece of thread. My dad never tired of his prank.

In contrast, consider the racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the Richmond, California Police Department.

Plaintiffs claim that the administration made racial jokes against black officers and blocked their promotions. They cited the fact that a picture of the Assistant Chief was posted on the bulletin board with the words “Master of the Universe” below it. The black officers were offended by the word Master. When questioned in court about this, the Chief claimed it was part of an April Fools joke gone bad.

Pranks in the workplace aren’t always just a part of April Fools Day. You may remember the Tennie Pierce lawsuit. Pierce, a Los Angeles area firefighter, settled a lawsuit for $1.5 million in a case where his coworkers pranked him by mixing dog food into his spaghetti dinner at the firehouse. Pierce, a black firefighter who was known to say, “Feed the big dog!” during volleyball games, referring to himself by a nickname, successfully argued that it was a case of racial discrimination.

What does this all mean? Should we not allow fun and humor in the workplace? Of course not! We know that the workplace is a place of stress. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) tells us that 25 percent of workers say that their job is the primary cause of stress in their lives, and 75 percent believe workers today grapple with more stress than those in the previous generation. Scientific studies have proven that laughter produces hormones that reduce our stress. Therefore, it only makes sense that our employees will benefit by having some fun during the workday.

How then do we create a workplace that includes humor, without opening the door to lawsuits? By setting a good example and implementing a positive work culture, we can protect the company and create a fun work environment at the same time.

Think before you speak. You may have a comfort level with a good friend, which allows you to kid around about personal things.

Those same subjects, when overheard by others, might be considered offensive. It’s important to consider the audience whenever jokes are made. Workplace jokes should never target protected classes, because most workplaces contain individuals in every protected class, making the company vulnerable to a lawsuit.

Stick to positive humor. Humor that makes fun of someone, is belittling, or makes someone feel foolish, doesn’t belong in the workplace. Even if it’s meant in good fun, when it’s replayed in a lawsuit, it becomes hard to defend. The words, standing all on their own, can often appear to be very close to harassment or a hostile work environment.

Keep in mind that today’s workplace is one of diversity. When our workplace contains multiple cultures, five generations, two genders, a variety of religions, and complex blends of family and home lives, we no longer have a homogenous workforce. This means that a joke does not hit any two people in the same way.

Don’t try to joke in written communication. Remember that written communication in an email doesn’t contain inflection, and the reader cannot see your face or read your body language. You might be saying something in jest, in an attempt to be funny, but the email’s recipient might not know that. Your written words will take on a life of their own, and they cannot be taken back.

Stay away from the tempting topics.

Christopher LeGrow, professor at Marshall University, studied humor in the workplace.

He found that more than 70 percent of jokes were targeted at subjects such as co-workers’ age, weight or sexual orientation, and that, in fact, 40 percent of those he surveyed said they themselves had made fun of their coworkers’ age or weight. These topics, of course, can easily stray across the lines of protected classes.

If you are a supervisor or business owner, you have a duty to stop inappropriate

humor when it starts. Let employees know what types of humor and jokes are acceptable in the office, and which are not.

With all of that said, however, you should incorporate fun and humor into the workplace. Study after study show that fun and laughter lower stress and make our jobs easier. We know it’s good for our circulation, boosts our immune system, lowers our blood pressure, helps our muscles, including our heart, and stimulates our brain. Good humor in the workplace can also boost morale, increase productivity, retain good employees and foster feelings of inclusiveness and belonging.

Make sure to keep it positive and fun for everyone. And on April Fools Day, just keep the pranks from landing your business in court.

Here are a couple of pranks that backfired on businesses: In 2001, a Hooter’s restaurant in Florida offered a “free Toyota” to whichever staff member sold the most beer. At the end of the winning waitress’s shift, she was blindfolded and led out to the parking lot, where she received a plastic Yoda doll. She wasn’t amused, and in the lawsuit that followed she received enough money to buy any Toyota she wanted! And here’s one from a little closer to home: An ora l surgeon in Auburn was installing dental implants on his surgical assistant. While she was under anesthesia, he thought it would be funny to install boar tusks and take some photos of her. He then proceeded to install her normal implants, and she was none the wiser, until her co-worker gave her a copy of the photos for her birthday.

Naturally, she was humiliated, and the courts awarded her $250,000 in com pensation.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all just live by these words of Judi Dench?: “I think you should take your job seriously, but not yourself — that is the best combination.”

(Editor’s Note: Julie Tappero is the President and owner of West Sound Workforce, a professional staffing and recruiting company based in Poulsbo and Gig Harbor. She can be reached at julie@westsoundworkforce.com. View her LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/jtappero.

The recommendations and opinions provided are based on general human resource management fundamentals, practices and principles, and are not legal opinions, advice, or guaranteed outcomes.

Consult with your legal counsel when addressing legal concerns related to human resource issues and legal contracts.)

Military Times Edge ranks OC as one of the top colleges for veterans Military Times Edge ranked Olympic College as the top two-year college on the west coast for military veterans. Over 500 student veterans were surveyed in spring 2011 on what they consider the most important school services for vets. The factors they considered are academic accreditation, central veterans’ offices, and staff knowledgeable on veterans’ issues. Results of the survey showed that 18 colleges that offer two-year degrees in the US made the list.

Olympic College was ranked fifth and was the only two-year institution from Washington State. The ranking list is on the web at www.militarytimesedge.com/projects/bestfor-veterans/best-colleges-for veterans/2011/2year/#.Tvucjn_Pqv0.email.

In addition, for the past three years Olympic College has designated as a Military Friendly School by G.I. Jobs. The Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members and veterans as students.

More on the web at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/mfsList.aspx.

“Olympic College is pleased to receive these recognitions. OC is committed to supporting military service members, veterans, and their families to pursue an education,” said Ron Shade, vice president of Student Services at Olympic College.

Generous donors make fundraiser a success The Sweetheart Dinner Auction, held in February at the Kitsap Conference Center, was a successful event. This fundraiser was produced through the hard work of Kitsap Cancer Services (KCS) and East Bremerton Rotary Club members, who together, raised more than $75,000 for their respective nonprofit organizations.

KCS raises money to provide for people and families living with cancer in Kitsap County and the West Sound. East Bremerton Rotary has a worldwide focus on eradicating polio, as well as local community service projects.

Kitsap Cancer Services and East Bremerton Rotary would like to thank those who so generously donated and participated in making this event such a success and looks forward to next year’s dinner auction, which will be scheduled for Feb. 9, 2013.

West Sound Workforce 14 years in business 100 years of combined recruiting experience A century’s worth of staffing expertise Kitsap County

(360) 394-1882

Gig Harbor Office

(253) 853-3633

www.westsoundworkforce.com

Port Orchard Independent moves HQ to Silverdale

Angel receives AWB’s Cornerstone Award Association of Washington Business (AWB) has recognized Rep. Jan Angel (RPort Orchard) with its Cornerstone Award for her support of employers and business-related issues in the Legislature. “We are pleased to present Representative Angel with our 2011 Cornerstone Award for her ongoing support of private employers and businesses in Washington State,” said Gary Chandler, AWB vice president of government affairs.

“Representative Angel has a strong record of supporting measures that help Washington State’s competitiveness and its ability to attract and retain businesses, which is especially critical during these tough economic times.”

AWB presents the annual award to legislators who have an 80 percent or better AWB voting record. It scored Angel as 100 percent favorable during 2011.

John Mitchell, managing partner, of the law firm of Sanchez, Mitchell and Eastman, announced that Carrie Eastman has become a shareholder in the firm and Kevin Cure is a new associate.

Eastman graduated from South Kitsap High School and the University of Washington where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Communications.

She obtained her law degree from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Her areas of practice include general civil litigation with an emphasis on personal injury and landlord/tenant law, estate planning and probate.

Cure is a new associate. who graduated from WSU with degree in Political Science and received his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law. Cure is an experienced litigator who spent nearly four years as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Kitsap County where he handled jury trials for many of the office’s most serious crimes, including homicides. Most recently, he worked for a Tacoma law firm where he developed a comprehensive commercial litigation, creditor’s rights, and estate planning practice.

Mitchell is continuing his practice with emphasis on estate planning, trust creation/administration and probate. He is also active in creating new business entities and assisting property owners with commercial and residential tenancies.

SK Helpline banned from P. O. Farmer’s Market The South Kitsap Helpline Food Bank’s application to sell vegetable starts, plants and flowers to benefit the non-profit agency at the Port Orchard Farmer’s Market was denied by market membership. This occurred in a 5 to 4 vote on Thursday, March 15, at the market’s membership meeting at Saar’s Marketplace in Port Orchard.

The reason given for denial was stated to be because the South Kitsap Helpline has a retail location at the nursery; even though Helpline officials at the meeting stated they were very willing to stop selling on-site to comply with market rules.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 15

Kitsap County’s oldest newspaper, the Port Orchard Independent, has closed its Port Orchard office and moved its remaining staff to Silverdale. Sound Publishing, which owns the Independent, laid off editor Tim Kelly, along with the front desk receptionist and a sales representative. The two remaining reporters will be supervised by the editor of Central Kitsap Reporter, Sound Publishing’s Silverdale-based newspaper.

Kelly, who was hired Aug. 1 and moved to Port Orchard from Yakima, said his unexpected firing came on the heels of other cuts, including changes in health care coverage. The Port Orchard Independent publisher, Rich Peterson, also recently ended his long tenure at the newspaper.

Kelly said he was informed two weeks earlier that the editorial staff would be cut by one reporter position as the newspaper operations are consolidated. Instead, he was notified that his position was eliminated. “I loved my job,” he said. “I feel like I can look anyone in the eye and say confidently that my hard work has improved the local news coverage we provide to readers, and developed a more positive perception of the Port Orchard Independent in the community.”

Numerous advertisers and community leaders alike expressed concerned at the changes. Publisher Sean McDonald, who had responded to some advertisers via email, did not return several requests for comment for this story.

Sound Publishing, headquartered in Poulsbo, is a subsidiary of Black Press, Ltd., which is headquartered in Victoria, B.C. Sound owns 56 publications including community and advertising newspapers and has 400 full-time employees, according to the company website, although one source close to the company said the employee count is now down to around 150. In March 2009, the company had 600 employees. Sound has been continuously acquiring new publications, including, among the latest, Peninsula Daily News, the Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum, all on the Olympic Peninsula, last November.

Kelly has since joined the staff at Wet Apple Media, and named as the new Editor of the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.

Sanchez, Mitchell and Eastman add new lawyers

AT&T seeks to settle — quietly — with iPhone user AT&T offering to discuss a settlement with an iPhone user who won a small-claims case alleging the company was slowing down his “unlimited” data service.

By Peter Svensson AP Technology Writer AT&T is offering to discuss a settlement with an iPhone user who won a smallclaims case that alleged the company was slowing down his “unlimited” data service.

A law firm retained by AT&T Inc. also threatened in a letter dated March 9, to shut off Matthew Spaccarelli’s phone service if he doesn’t sit down to talk.

The phone company doesn’t say if the settlement would involve money beyond the $850 award the Simi Valley, Calif., resident won from the company in small claims court on Feb. 24.

AT&T has about 17 million smartphone customers on “unlimited” plans, and has started slowing down service for users who hit certain traffic thresholds. Spaccarelli maintained at his Feb. 24 small-claims hearing that AT&T broke its promise to provide “unlimited” service, and the judge agreed.

Spaccarelli has posted online the documents he used to argue his case and encourages other AT&T customers copy his suit. Legal settlements usually include non-disclosure agreements that would force Spaccarelli to take down the documents. In its letter, AT&T asked Spaccarelli to be quiet about the settlement

talks, including the fact that it offered to start them, another common stipulation.

Spaccarelli said he was not interested in settling, and forwarded the letter to The Associated Press.

Spaccarelli has admitted that he has used his iPhone to provide Internet access for other devices, a practice known as tethering, which violates AT&T’s contract terms. AT&T says that means it has the right to turn off his service.

Spaccarelli says he doesn’t care — the important thing to him was defeating AT&T in court, he said.

Dallas-based AT&T has said it will appeal the Feb. 24 decision. Appeals in California small claims court are similar in format to the original hearings, except that lawyers may attend.

AT&T did not comment further on its offer.

Late last year, AT&T started “throttling,” or slowing down data service for “unlimited” subscribers once they reached the top 5 percent of data users in their area. The slowdown, which makes a phone difficult to use for anything but calls, texts and some emails, lasts until the end of the subscriber’s billing cycle.

Subscribers complained that they hit the

16 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

“Partners in Business” “We signed on with Telebyte NW in May 1997. They handle all of our domains, email accounts, and they have been there for all our networking needs.

“They offer phenomenal and prompt customer service. We would absolutely recommend Telebyte NW for your business.”

— Chuck Capps, Business Development Manager Advantage Nissan/Advantage Auto Works

limits at unexpectedly low levels, and that they had no idea what they levels were before getting warning messages from the company that they were approaching the limit.

Several weeks ago, AT&T said it would stop throttling the top 5 percent, and instead apply the slowdown after 3 gigabytes of data consumption. Customers on a “limited” AT&T plan get 3 gigabytes of data for $30 per month, the same price paid by “unlimited” users.

Spaccarelli’s victory in small-claims court is similar to that of Heather Peters, a California woman who won $9,867 from Honda last month because her Civic Hybrid did not live up to the promised gas mileage. She, too, is helping others bring similar cases.

TECH SAVVY Maximizing SEO for your business workshop set Search Engine Optimization: Maximizing SEO for your business workshop series will be held Mon., April 30, 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Poulsbo Public Library.

An understanding of the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential for businesses and organizations. Companies large and small use it to find new customers and bring targeted traffic to an organization’s website. A good part of the free workshop will be devoted to Local SEO, which will be relevant to local businesses.

This workshop will include how search engines work, how to target your audience, create strong “search-friendly” web pages, and how links influence search engine rankings.

Participants will also learn how to create link-worthy content, choose effective keywords and use analysis tools to track results.

The presenter Zach Anderson, president/CEO of MoLo Media, is an expert in creating business growth through the application of web 2.0 technologies and is passionate about helping business owners get the most out of their web presence to drive sales growth. Anderson has a history of starting and growing businesses, by understanding how critical the web is to any business today. Visit www.Molomedia.com for more information.

Boxlight named Business of the Year by NM Chamber Boxlight was recently named ‘Business of the Year’ by the North Mason Chamber of Commerce located in Belfair.

The North Mason Chamber of Commerce serves businesses in the West Sound Region and encompasses members in Mason, Kitsap, and Pierce Counties. The nominations for Business of the Year are open to North Mason Chamber members.

The nominations were open to members of the chamber and then voted on unanimously by the board of the directors.

“Boxlight is honored to be named Business of the Year for the North Mason Chamber. We moved into this community about 2 years ago and were overwhelmed with the amount of enthusiasm and support from the community and other business owners,” said Sunshine Nance, director of Marketing and Communications. “Boxlight has worked diligently to grow our business world-wide but also to have positive impact on our neighbors, community and loyal customers in our backyard. We are flattered and overwhelmed by the title of Business of the Year,” Nance added.

Contact Boxlight at (360) 464-2119 or sales@boxlight.com.

Give Facebook a facelift From Kim Komando.com It seems that Facebook comes out with a new update or overhaul of its website every few months. You can tell, because all of your friends start complaining! But there's no need to get worked up about it if you have Social Fixer.

Social Fixer used to be called Better Facebook. It's a browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera that works with Window XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OSX, that allows you to tweak most of the features on your Facebook page.

You can hide posts you've already read, prevent Facebook from displaying your recent activity and receive notification when you've been unfriended. Want to reorganize the layout of your page, or even add a customized theme? It can do that too.

Perhaps best of all, Social Fixer enables you to block annoying ads. Keep in mind, though, that it can't change what other people see when they look at your profile.

The cost is free and it can be downloaded at www.socialfixer.com

PC shipments will improve in 2012, but only modestly

360-613-5220 • TELEBYTE.COM

360-373-2137 • NW-COMMNET.COM

TELEBN005JM

CC01NWCOML002LH

Worldwide shipments of personal computers will pick up in the second half of the year with the debut of a new Windows operating system and the broader availability of notebooks that are thin like tablet computers, according to the research group IDC. The firm predicts growth this year to be a modest five percent. In better times, PC shipments had double-digit percentage growth. The growth came from emerging markets, while the industry saw a nine percent drop in mature markets such as the U.S. and Western Europe.

A weak economy and consumer interest in tablets were to blame. IDC vice president Bob O'Donnell said consumers continue to hold off buying PCs as Apple Inc.'s iPad and other tablet computers "are proving to be a powerful distraction." It'll take new products Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 8 and so-called ultrabooks from PC makers to change that.

"Windows 8 and ultrabooks are a definitive step in the right direction to recapturing the relevance of the PC," Jay Chou, a senior research analyst at IDC, said. "But its promise of meshing a tablet experience in a PC body will likely entail a period of trial and error.”

NY Times cuts number of free online articles

By Stacy Cowley, CNNMoney.com The number one way hackers get into protected systems isn’t through a fancy technical exploit. It’s by guessing the password. That’s not too hard when the most common password used on business systems is “Password1.”

There’s a technical reason for Password1’s popularity: It’s got an uppercase letter, a number and nine characters.

That satisfies the complexity rules for many systems, including the default settings for Microsoft’s widely used Active Directory identity management software.

Security services firm Trustwave spotlighted the “Password1” problem in its recently released “2012 Global Security Report,” which summarizes the firm’s findings from nearly 2 million network vulnerability scans and 300 recent security breach investigations.

Around 5 percent of passwords involve a variation of the word “password,” the company’s researchers found. The runner-up, “welcome,” turns up in more than 1 percent.

Easily guessable or entirely blank passwords were the most common vulnerability Trustwave’s SpiderLabs unit found in its penetration tests last year on clients’ systems.

The firm set an assortment of widely available password-cracking tools loose on 2.5 million passwords, and successfully broke more than 200,000 of them.

Verizon came up with similar results in its 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report, one of the security industry’s most comprehensive annual studies. The full report will be released in several months, but Verizon previewed some of its findings at this week’s RSA conference in San Francisco. Exploiting weak or guessable passwords was the top method attackers used to gain access last year. It played a role in 29 percent of the security breaches Verizon’s response team investigated.

Verizon’s scariest finding was that attackers are often inside victims’ networks for months or years before they’re discovered. Less than 20 percent of the intrusions Verizon studied were discovered within days, let alone hours.

Even scarier: Few companies discovered the breach on their own. More than two-thirds learned they’d been attacked only after an external party, such as a law-enforcement agency, notified them. Trustwave’s findings were almost identical: Only 16 percent of the cases it investigated last year were internally detected.

So if your password is something guessable, what’s the best way to make it more secure? Make it longer.

Adding complexity to your password — swapping “password” for “p@S$w0rd” — protects against so-called “dictionary” attacks, which automatically check against a list of standard words.

But attackers are increasingly using brute-force tools that simply cycle through all possible character combinations. Length is the only effective guard against those. A seven-character password has 70 trillion possible combinations; an eight-character password takes that to more than 6 quadrillion. Even a few quadrillion options isn’t a big deal for modern machines, though. Using a $1,500 computer built with off-the-shelf parts, it took Trustwave just 10 hours to harvest its 200,000 broken passwords.

In a move that may set the stage for the new business model for news organizations, a year after it began charging for full access to its website, The New York Times is cutting the number of articles available for free from 20 per month to 10. The change takes effect this month. The Times offers three unlimited access plans, ranging in price from $15 per month to $35. Each plan has an introductory price of 99 cents for the first four weeks. Print subscribers get online access for free.

The company says it has 454,000 digital subscribers to The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, which began imposing similar charges in October. The company didn't break out figures, but the vast majority was for the Times as of the end of 2011. By comparison, the newspaper had roughly 790,000 print subscribers for the sixmonth period ending Sept. 30, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The website's "paywall" has many gaps. Readers who follow links in emails, on Web pages, on Facebook or on Twitter can access individual articles for free even after they reach their limit. Charging readers for unlimited online access has helped boost the Times' circulation revenue. But the effort hasn't generated enough to offset a decline in advertising revenue. Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times also began charging for online access this month.

“We’ve got to get ourselves using stuff larger than human memory capacity,” independent security researcher Dan Kaminsky said during an RSA presentation on why passwords don’t work.

He acknowledged that it’s an uphill fight. Biometric authentication, smartcards, one-time key generators and other solutions can increase security, but at the cost of adding complexity.

“The fundamental win of the password over every other authentication technology is its utter simplicity on every device,” Kaminsky said. “This is, of course, also their fundamental failing.”

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 17

If you’re using “Password1,” Change it. Now!

When the tide is out the table is set… with help from local efforts There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet. ~Brooke Medicine Eagle environmental changes until they had estuaries. By pulling water into their digestive

By Kathleen carefully considered how it would affect the system, they filter out a ‘diet’ of algae and Byrne-Barrantes ecology of their descendants. plankton. Nutrient input from septic systems From Liberty Bay to Because the Tribes share of harvests with and agricultural input increase the intensity, Port Gamble to Elliott state, the Washington Department of Fish duration, and frequency of algal blooms and Bay, efforts are underway & Wildlife (WDFW), and nontribal fishers make conditions worse. Low dissolved to make sure that clams is shrinking, there are fewer resources for all, oxygen conditions, known as “hypoxia,” has destined for the dinner resulting in more pressure for access and killed rockfish, sharks, sculpins, sea stars, table are aplenty now and harvest of any species remaining with crab, octopi, perch, lingcod, prawns, in future generations. And that no clam or its decent populations and markets. anemones, and krill — and impacts ESAhabitat becomes extinct under our watch.

On March 1, the Suquamish Tribe listed rockfish, which come up into higher Traditionally, indigenous people feel all Fisheries department proposed a program columns of water to get oxygen. There they generations are connected and believe we to Port of Commissioners requesting to are subject to predators, getting caught in must think of the effects of decisions made rent space on their docks for a Floating fishing nets, and other fates. today on the Seventh Generation regarding Upwelling System or ‘FLUPSY’ to do a 3The Tribe cited reasons for choosing this such matters as preservation of the year clam-raising operation in Liberty Bay. location included its improved water quality, environment. This is because they inherit Clams are beneficial filter feeders that local access, and because it is a protected the responsibilities given to their ancestors naturally filter and clean the water as they embayment. The Tribe plans to install the and to the generations yet unborn. feed that in turn helps maintain healthy 14x20 foot structure — with holding bins for Therefore, they would not make any clam seedlings and screens — so that water may rush up bins and allow clams to absorb more nutrients and grow more quickly.

This also works to provide additional living ‘space’ in the interstices of these shells, where juvenile crabs and small copepods — shrimp-like creatures — can nestle and also While abalone recovery will take many provide other prey species for salmon. decades, in the meantime, many The Puget Sound Restoration Fund commercial, state, and Tribal fisheries (PSRF) has been working in Liberty Bay managers are committed to providing since 2005 testing out habitat enhancement APRIL 21, 2012 • 10 A.M. – 5 P.M. sustainable products and farm grown approaches. This has resulted in a two-fold abalone in addition to the oysters, clams, KITSAP SUN PAVILION increase in the population of Olympia mussels and geoduck still being harvested. oysters, according to Betsy Peabody, As the Suquamish Tribe’s Salmon executive director of the PSRF. These onceRecovery Coordinator and fisheries biologist abundant native shellfish numbers were for over 30 years, Paul Dorn has been diminished by pollution and believed to be working on enhancement and habitat down to less than 4 percent of their historical SUMMER CAMPS GYMNASTICS EDUCATION projects with volunteers, Tribal members numbers. Peabody said the group is getting and staff for nearly two decades in Liberty MUSIC LESSONS LOCAL SPORTS VOLUNTEERING ready to increase the scale in order to achieve Bay, including culvert removal and Lindvig up to 10 percent of Olympia oyster MARTIAL ARTS HEALTH PLUS SO Bridge replacement, Trout Unlimited populations in the next ten years.

DANCE HOBBIES MUCH MORE! salmon rearing, benthic and water quality The PSRF is also raising money to help rebuild monitoring with Kitsap County’s Stream the Salish Sea’s only native abalone population — PARENTS: Find great ideas for your kids this summer!

Team, and Liberty Bay Foundation’s the mighty Haliotis kamtschatkana — or Pinto Nearshore Habitat & Enhancement Project, abalone. Currently considered functionally extinct through EPA, Ecology, and Salmon in Washington waters, there are too few left in the Recovery Funding Board projects. Serving as wild to reproduce successfully and recovery is not ENTERTAINMENT / PERFORMANCES a model of how volunteer work, community possible without human intervention.

YOUTH AND FAMILY BOOTHS activism, and local government collaboration “The PSRF are committed to restoring provides greater public benefit… at less cost.

ALL-DAY YOUTH RAFFLE iconic species that have defined coastal life in the The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Northwest for thousands of years,” said KITSAP PUMAS EXHIBITION MATCH (PGST) Natural Resources Department Peabody. “Pinto abalones are a vital component have plans to conduct geoduck, bull kelp, Main Sponsors: Admission: Under 17 FREE of a dynamic ecosystem and without them the and abalone enhancement projects in Port Adults $5, Military $2 discount overall health of the system declines. Their Gamble Bay adjacent to reservation trust population has declined in Washington because Exhibitor Info: LIKE US ON lands in Kingston.

360-265-5547 of overharvest combined with illegal harvest, so it’s very important that people don’t go out and See Geoduck, page 28 harvest abalone on their own. The sport fishery LEARN MORE AT WWW.KITSAPYOUTHEXPO.COM was closed in 1994 due to low population levels.”

18 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

Explore what Kitsap County has to offer youth and families...

Activities at this year’s expo...

Coming Next Issue...

Banking & Finance

Golf & Recreation

Deadline to reserve advertising space

April 16th For more information: Dee Coppola 800-733-7990 or email dee@wetapple.com

April 2012 Edition

Events And Activities Thursday, April 5th Developers Council- 7:30 a.m.

Thursday, April 5th Auction Committee Meeting-4 p.m.

Silverdale Beach Hotel Friday, April 6th HBA Office Closed Monday, April 10th Builder Breakfast-7:30 a.m.

Poulsbo Mayor Erickson-Tap Rock GrillPoulsbo Thursday, April 12th Auction Committee Meeting-4 p.m.

Silverdale Beach Hotel Wednesday, April 18th WSU Energy Code Class- 1-5 p.m.

Master the WSU Component Performance Worksheet Register w/ BIAW Thursday, April 19th Spring Fling 5-7 p.m.

RSVP by 4/16/2012 Fun! Fun! Fun! April 21 - 22 Eco Guild Tour HBA Open for Tours Thursday, April 26th Executive Committee Meeting-2 p.m.

Gov’t Affairs Meeting-2:30 p.m.

Board of Directors Meeting-3:30 p.m.

Do you remember the ‘80s?

It is time for the annual HBA dinner and auction. Auction proceeds benefit the Affordable Housing Council of the HBA of Kitsap County (AHC). The AHC is the political action committee of the HBA and its purpose is to support the candidates that support our industry and the economy. 2012 is a year of important elections and the support of the HBA membership will be important.

This year’s event is chaired by Robert Baglio, the HBA 1st Vice President. He and his committee have selected the decade of the 80’s for the theme and there are a lot of fun things planned. The dinner and auction are on May 11, 2012 and we are looking for you, member or not, to participate. We will be holding the event at the Kitsap Golf and Country Club, theme attire is encouraged — but not required, and we have lots of great sponsorships available as well.

For reservations, please call the HBA office. Tickets are $40 per person. We are always looking for quality items to auction off. Big or small, inexpensive or gold plated, all items are important and they all help us to generate the funds we need for the coming campaign season. When contemplating what to donate, think about what things you would be inclined to buy yourself. HBA members are encouraged to be event sponsors also. We have made it easy, with multiple options, including the always fun, VIP table. VIP tables are themed this year, so be sure to check out the remaining options and buy your table now.

For reservations and all the details, please call the HBA so we can email you the flyers.

Over the Counter Permitting Rolled Out for Kitsap County!

After several weeks of meetings and some creative thinking by Kitsap County’s Department of Community Development, permit seekers have a better chance of getting their permit over the counter than ever before. Specific, smaller jobs will be eligible to be permitted on your first visit. These permits will be issued “subject to field inspection.” So, if you say you’re going to do “X” and you end up doing “Y”, be aware that the re-work the inspector may require is going to be on you. Be sure to know what is required and how to meet the requirements before you start.

By offering Over the Counter permits, many hours of staff time will be freed up to handle other more pressing matters. This is a win for others waiting for permits too. Though your specific projects may be ones that require a more intensive review, the decks, interior remodels, and other projects that do qualify will be handled more quickly and allow staff to focus on the more detailed projects in a more timely manner.

Special recognition needs to be given to Kitsap Public Health as well.

Permitting isn’t just a one stop effort and it is through the support and participation of Kitsap Public Health’s Director of Environmental Health, Keith Grellner that we were able to pull these pieces all together.

Daily E-mail Updates

2012 OFFICERS President . . . . . . . . . Wayne Keffer, CGR, CAPS First Vice President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Baglio Second Vice President . . . Judy Mentor Eagleson Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Randy Biegenwald Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dee Coppola, CGA Immediate Past President. . . Justin Ingalls, RCS

2012 BUILDER & ASSOC. DIRECTORS Derek Caldwell, CGB • Judy Granlee-Gates Jason Galbreath • David Godbolt, CAPS, CGP, CGR Kevin Hancock • John Leage Robert Lubowicki • Leslie Peterson, CGA Shawnee Spencer • Jim Way, CGB

2012 STATE DIRECTORS Robert Baglio • Derek Caldwell, CGB Lary Coppola • Judy Mentor Eagleson Justin Ingalls, RCS • Wayne Keffer, CGR, CAPS Robert Coultas • Ron Perkerewicz

2012 ALTERNATE STATE DIRECTOR John Armstrong • Karla Cook • Walter Galitzki Greg Livdahl • Brent Marmon

LIFE STATE DIRECTORS Bill Parnell

2012 NATIONAL DIRECTORS Derek Caldwell, CGB • Judy Mentor Eagleson

2012 ALTERNATE NATNL. DIRECTORS Michael Brown • Jeff Coombe

LIFE DIRECTORS Rick Courson • Jim Smalley • Bob Helm Bill Parnell • Larry Ward John Schufreider • Dori Shobert

2012 COUNCIL & CHAIRS Build a Better Christmas. . . Randy Biegenwald Built Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Walter Galitzki

By Laws & Nominations . . . . . . Justin Ingalls Developers Council . . . . . . . . . . . . Rick Cadwell Golf Classic . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shawnee Spencer Govt. Affairs Cmte . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Baglio Remodelers Ccl Chair. . . David Godbolt, CGR, CAPS Membership . . . . . . . . Judy Mentor Eagleson Parade of Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dee Coppola Peninsula H&G Expo. . . . . . . . . . Ardi Villiard Peninsula H&R Expo . . . . Volunteer Needed

HBA STAFF Executive Vice President . . . Teresa Osinski, CGP tosinski@kitsaphba.com Administrative Coordinator . . Stephanie Buhrman info@KitsapHBA.com Expo & Events Director . . . . . . . . Toni Probert hbaevents@kitsaphba.com Office Coordinator . . . . . . . Kathleen Brosnan info@KitsapHBA.com

Home Builders Association of Kitsap County 5251 Auto Center Way, Bremerton, WA 98312 360-479-5778 • 800-200-5778 FAX 360-479-0313 www.KitsapHBA.com

It’s Here!

It’s FREE for everyone!

Even if you’re not a Business Journal Subscriber

It’s easy to sign up!

Just visit www.kpbj.com and sign-up for our emailer to start receiving breaking area news stories right in your inbox. For more information call (360) 876-7900.

The 2012/2013 Remodel Kitsap Magazine — in the Kitsap Business Journal racks, lenders, builders, real estate offices and title companies.

To find a copy call 479-5778

April 2012 Edition

With first quarter of the year over I thought it would be good to recap what’s happened this year and look foreword to the next few months.

Wayne R Keffer Construction Inc. The Peninsula Home and Garden Expo was a great 2012 President success this year. Ardi Villiard and his committee did a great job of organizing and preparing for the show.

The addition of Ciscoe Morris was a great, as it added a new dimension for show patrons to enjoy. I hope the spring show is a good indicator of the building season to come because it sure seemed that folks are looking to go forward with some long overdue projects.

We had our first builder breakfast of the year in port orchard, were we were able to talk to Tim Matthes the new Mayor of Port Orchard.

There was a good turnout of our diverse membership. They asked Tim lots of intelligent questions about projects in the city and his personal vision. Builder Breakfasts are held throughout the county and all HBA members are encouraged to come. These early morning breakfast meetings are an informal way to learn about policies that affect our community and to meet other HBA members at the same time.

At the state level (BIAW) we had the winter board meeting in Olympia where we were able to meet with legislators and talk about the needs of the building industry at this critical time in the lives of so many members. BIAW has a great team in place to watch for legislation that affects our industry. The legislative session was filled good and bad bills alike. Ironically the budget woes seemed to help us this time around as it took most of the legislature’ focus.

At the local level, the HBA had an opportunity to weigh-in on the boundary line adjustment code language. If enacted, the new rules would have made a simple easy to use system go away and created a complex, expensive, regulation that would have hurt the citizens of Kitsap County. At this time the old system works well for the vast majority of Kitsap citizens, and the HBA is pleased that the proposed changes have been set-aside for the time being.

Over the counter permits is now a reality for many types of work in the County. After months of discussion and a positive attitude to get things done, the county staff worked with a group of stakeholders, hosted at the HBA office to complete a much needed efficiency improvement for the county. Those in the County wanting to get a small project done, now have the ability to receive an Over the Counter Permit, with the understanding the project will be inspected in the field and any defects will be the responsibility of the homeowner or contractor. This includes decks, interior remodels, commercial tenant improvements, etc.

Remodeler’s council is active and holding meetings every other month in 2012. Recently, the Council was able to build a ramp for a family in our community who were in need. Thanks go to Steve Kafer, of SF Kafer Construction for taking on the role of Ramp Captain. I also want to thank member lumber yard, Kingston Lumber for really sharpening the pencil and offering this family an affordable materials package.

Looking forward to spring and summer: The annual HBA dinner and auction is coming up on May 11th.

Robert Baglio’s team has selected an 80’s theme this year (parachute pants, leg warmers, big hair, hair bands, break dancers, etc...). I’m thinking it will be scary and fun at the same time. This is always fun and the proceeds go to the Affordable Housing Council of the HBA of Kitsap County, the political action committee of the HBA which supports pro business and development candidates.

Look for the socials scheduled as well they are well attended and are great ways to meet fellow members.

As always thanks for being a member! If not yet a member, consider becoming one soon.

Wayne Keffer CGR, CAPS

As I write this, the legislature is well into its 30 day special session. The irony is that, special sessions cost CGP money...lots of money and the reason they are in a special Executive session is because during the Vice President regular session they didn’t get the budget work done. They considered hundreds of bills, argued about the semantics of many; sending bills back and forth between chambers, and yet they didn’t get the most pressing matter at hand completed --- the budget. I bring this up because it is imperative that each person eligible to vote is registered to do so, and then takes the most important step, and that is to cast their ballot.

Voting is referred to as a right. You have the right to vote. What is lost in that terminology is that you have a privilege and a responsibility to vote. Failure to vote creates ineffective government. It is ineffective in that it no longer understands what the priorities of the people are. For example, most of you would agree that a legislature that repeatedly has to dip into our state’s limited funds to come back for special session, is a legislature that doesn’t understand its obligations. While most would agree this pattern is inconsistent with their expectations of our legislature, many of those same people will tell you that they don’t vote. Your vote matters and it counts. Please register and take responsibility as a citizen and do your civic duty and vote.

We have many local elections that will be in play in the coming months and there too your vote matters and it counts. In the last election, the office of Mayor of Port Orchard was decided on a margin of a handful of votes. The North-end County Commissioner ’s race was very close too. This article isn’t to suggest how you vote; but rather to encourage you to simply vote. Watch the HBA E News for updates on the endorsements of the AHC of HBA of Kitsap County as the election process continues this year.

To become a registered voter, please visit www.kitsapgov.com/aud/ and get registered — it’s the first step!

Teresa Osinski

April 2012 Edition

ONE DAY PERMITS?

Government Affairs Committee

The HBA, the Kitsap County Building Department, and the Environmental Health Robert Baglio Division of Kitsap Public The BJC Group Health have been working in a collaborative effort to 2012 Chair streamline the permitting process. We have all come to the table to discuss ways to reduce the time required for the review and issuance of a building permit. The initial focus has been to identify a number of project types that would qualify for an Over the Counter (OTC), same day, permit approval and issuance, now known as the OTC Permit.

The OTC Permit option was unveiled at the Peninsula Home and Garden Expo in March. The following project types have been identified as eligible for Over the Counter (OTC) permits:

• • • • • • • • • • •

Minor Remodel Deck — uncovered Re-roof Demolition work Re-siding Emergency Repairs Window replacement Fence — over 6 feet in height Interior renovation Mechanical and/or Plumbing Porch — Covered

Though this may seem like a small step and the permits eligible for the OTC option are limited and minor in nature, it is a step in the right direction. I applaud the Department of Community Development and Kitsap Public Health in acknowledging that the building permit review process needs to be improved upon. The County realizes that this improvement and streamlining of the process is truly a win-win-win situation. The County wins because they save money by the reduction in staff time to review these minor permits. The Contractors win because they do not have down time waiting for the permitting process to be completed.

The Owners also win because they get their projects completed sooner and do not have to wait around for the approval of the permit.

The HBA is continuing to work with Kitsap County in an effort to improve on the permitting process, whether it be a building permit, land use permit, or site development activity permit. The County’s willingness to review their processes and procedures in an effort to streamline and improve these processes is very much appreciated by everyone who ever has or ever will get a permit through Kitsap County. If you would like to get involved and get a seat at the table, contact the HBA and confirm when the next meetings are scheduled. It is a great opportunity to provide some constructive input and work to improve the permitting process. You can make a difference and have your voice heard.

Hand-Selected Granite from Brazil Directly Imported for You! After our trip to Brazil, containers of granite are arriving at our showroom in Poulsbo. Discover a vast array of tile selections, slab granite and quartz, stone samples and custom countertops.

Tired of the surfaces in your home?

Time to “GET CREATIVE!”

We carry the industry’s top manufaturers:

360-598-3106 • 206-714-2948 22285 Stottlemeyer Road • Poulsbo (Next to Bond Rd. & Gunderson Rd.)

www.creativecounters.com Bonded & Insured License #CREATCI964BB

HBA Spring Fling!

It’s that time again!

Call your HBA friends, gather up your spouse or special someone, and head on over to McClouds Grill and Saloon for the second annual HBA Spring Fling! This was super fun last year, and we expect for it to be even better in 2012!

We will have raffle items and great food! Tickets are just $10.00 per person (even if you’re not going to eat, you still need a ticket). Andy Graham and crew at McClouds Grill and Saloon always provide great service and hospitality. They may even crank up the bull for some ridin’ if anyone is so inclined...

Mark your calendar now!

April 19, 2012 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

HBA Spring Fling Social — Nothin’ but a good time!

RSVP early to receive extra raffle entries. Bring a nonmember, potential new member and receive extra raffle tickets too! We have had a great response for these events that we started in 2011 and we expect the same for 2012.

Have a raffle item to donate? We’d love to have anything you want to give and in exchange we will loud and proud announce you at the HBA Spring Fling!

HBA Membership Are you getting everything you can out of your membership investment?

As a member, you’ve invested $475 for benefits. Immediately, that investment gets your name on our searchable website so other members and the public can reach you. Did you know, you might also benefit from the BIAW ROII Select program, or health insurance, or the buying power of the industry?

Are you taking advantage of all those opportunities? Members also have access to education at reduced prices. Some education provides continuing education credits. Others will get you that necessary State certification, like 1st Aid/CPR or Forklift training. Be sure to check on the BIAW website for all the education opportunities or call the HBA for details. We know that running a business is all about relationships. Be sure to attend the various HBA events and get to know other members. Together you are stronger.

Not a member? Call the HBA to find out all the details and start reaping the rewards! (360) 479-5778.

April 2012 Edition

Welcome New Members Hope Roofing & Construction Jordan Eades 1240 W. Sims Way, #143 Port Townsend, WA 98368 360-779-9912 info@hoperoofing.com Sponsored by Lary Coppola, Wet Apple Media

Sound Custom Siding Kurtis Kulhanek PO Box 219 Silverdale, WA 98383 360-434-4800 soundcs@comcast.net Sponsored by Joe Gates, Joe Gates Construction

LaMont Design Wayne & Connie LaMont 2120 NE Sawdust Hill Rd. Poulsbo, WA 98370 360-779-7227 wayne@lamontdesigninc.com Sponsored by David Godbolt, Sentinel Construction & Consulting

VacNow LLC Joseph Kingsbury 9625 Gravelly Lake Dr. SW Lakewood, WA 98499 253-581-8225 kingsburyjc@comcast.net Sponsored by Wayne R Keffer, WRK Construction

Thank You Renewing Members 40 Years or More Cascade Natural Gas 20 Years or More Northwest Cascade Inc./Honey Bucket Heritage Fireplace Shop Cedar Bay Homes 15 Years or More Kitsap Garage Door Co 10 Years or More Air Masters, Inc. California Closets Hanson Signs Company, Inc.

5 Years or More A Kitchen That Works Ahearn Electric, Inc AmericanWest/Viking Dana’s Heating, Inc. Northwest Decks, Inc The JWJ Group LLC 2 Years or More Servpro of Kitsap Co. Knox Design Estes Builders First Year Renewals Wing Point Construction

ROII Select and BIAW Claims Assistance Program (CAP) — JOIN NOW! Do you feel like you pay an awful lot to Washington State Labor and Industries for your workers compensation insurance? Based on history, it is likely you are paying too much. However, the only way you might get a refund is by participating in a risk pool. BIAW has a long history of managing such a pool. Consider participating in the ROII (Return on Industrial Insurance) Select program and find out what you’ve left on the table in the past and decide if you want to participate this year. For information on this program, the potential for returns and the claims assistance help all ROII Select members receive, please call BIAW at 1-800-228-4229. This program is open only to members of the HBA, you must remain a member in order to receive any refunds, and a fee to participate in the ROII Select program is assessed.

If th e ROII Select program isn’t for you, consider participating in the BIAW Claims Assistance Program (CAP). HBA members that choose to join the CAP program will get personal claims assistance help from BIAW’s excellent claims staff when you find yourself dealing with an injured worker’s claim at Labor and Industries. You also can have an onsite or by phone personal consultation with BIAW’s professional staff about how to reduce your risk of claims and how to understand your Experience Modification Rate (EMR).

24 hour emergency clean-up

ACTION

O T ff In he eri Se Be ng rv st ic e

SERVICES CORPORATION

Maintenance

Landscape Maintenance

• Minor plumbing, electrical and carpentry • Minor roof repair and painting

Janitorial Oldest Shredding Company in Washington On-Site & Off-Site Paper Shredding Service Certificate of Destruction Provided 100% Recycling Program for All Shredded Material – Nothing goes to the Landfill

American Data Guard NAID AAA Certified Destruction Company

206-285-5955 • 800-699-6610 www.adgshred.com

Licensed, Bonded and Insured

• Daily, weekly, monthly rates • Construction clean-up • Window and wall washing • Carpet shampooing • Floor stripping and waxing

• All phases offered

Power Parking Lot Services • Parking lot sweeping • Parking lot washing • Parking lot striping • Snow removal

FREE ESTIMATES

373-4265 Commercial • Medical • Executive

Enter the Kitsap rain garden photo contest and register your rain garden Kitsap residents are invited to “show off” their rain gardens by entering a rain garden photo contest. Rain gardens reduce flooding, remove pollutants, and replenish groundwater supplies. In using native plants, rain gardens look great and help protect Puget Sound.

“Many Kitsap residents have built rain gardens on their property to reduce flooding impacts and help protect Puget Sound,” says Teresa Brooks, residential rain garden manager with Kitsap Conservation District. “This photo contest is one way to recognize their hard work in making a difference in our community. Their rain gardens look beautiful.”

Register your Rain Garden In addition, residents who have built rain gardens on their property are encouraged to register them online at www.12000raingardens.org. Registering involves taking a picture of the rain garden and completing an online form.

“Sharing pictures of existing rain gardens also encourages other people to consider a rain garden for their yard,” says Teresa Brooks. “Kitsap residents have incorporated native plants and landscape features in their rain gardens in many creative ways.”

Registering your rain garden also will help Kitsap County achieve our goal of 1,000 rain gardens, in support of the overall goal of 12,000 rain gardens in Puget Sound by 2016.

Community Planning and Landscape Architectural Design firm opens on Bainbridge Snoqualmie Falls Park and a sustainable planned new community in Montana that is focused on education and agriculture.

The company offices are located at 9141 NE Salmon Run Lane, Bainbridge Island and can be reached at (206) 7805651, or email at jeff@fbpartnership.com or sandy@fbpartnership.com, or visit www.fbpartnership.com.

first place will receive a $50 gift certificate; second place will receive a $25 gift certificate.

Pictures can be delivered in person, mailed or emailed. Deliver pictures in person at the Kitsap Conservation District located at 10332 Central Valley Road, Poulsbo (near Waaga Way) or by mail at PO Box 2472 Silverdale 98383-2472. Photos can be emailed to kitsapraingardenphotos@gmail.com.

Puget Sound Energy Wind Farm’s Visitor Center opens April 1 Kittitas County facility lets visitors walk among giant wind turbines, solar-power arrays The Renewable Energy Center at Puget Sound Energy’s Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility, about a two-hour drive east of Seattle, opened April 1 for the tourist season.

The visitor center is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., from April through November (weather permitting). Free guided tours of PSE’s 273-megawatt renewablepower operation occur daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with no reservation required. Tours and presentations for private groups, including tour-bus groups, also can be scheduled.

Visitors to Wild Horse not only learn about renewable energy from the center’s informational displays, but also from guided hikes past operating wind turbines and one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest solar-power arrays. During spring, the center’s trails also allow visitors to stroll among wildflower displays of hedgehog cacti and other shrub-steppe vegetation. Elk, deer, coyote, rabbits and other wildlife often are seen in the area.

Perched at 3,500 feet on the slopes of Whiskey Dick Mountain, the center provides views of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount Hood and the Columbia River gorge.

Recreational activities such as hiking, horseback riding, hunting and bird watching are allowed at Wild Horse beyond the guided-tour trails near the Renewable Energy Center.

However, public access in these outer areas of the wind farm requires a written permit.

Access permits can be obtained at the visitor center or by registering online at www.pse.com/wildhorse.

Partners In Success WALKING TOGETHER

Personalized email news from the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal

FOR STRONGER,

Sign-up for your free online account and personalize your email news from us!

BABIES

HEALTHIER

www.KPBJ.com

Poulsbo Office Building For Sale

We are participating in the March of Dimes “March for Babies” event May 5th. Please support our walk, call or visit any of our locations.

POWDER HILL BUSINESS CENTER • • • • • • •

SILVERDALE OFFICE

Olympic Mountain & territorial views 2-story brick building, built in 1999 22,196 sq. ft. building Located near Lincoln & 10th 1 block from Highway #305 Upper floor vacant for buyer/user Asking price $3,600,000

360-692-4141 • 800-464-2823 2021 NW Myhre Road, Suite 300 Silverdale, WA 98383

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND OFFICE 206-842-2082 • 800-884-7636 921 NE Hildebrand, Suite 200 Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

PORT ORCHARD OFFICE

Contact Victor C. Ulsh, CCIM Bradley Scott Commercial Real Estate

(360) 479-6900 • (800) 479-6903

Title Insurance Escrow Services Real Estate Resources

www.bradleyscottinc.com

360-895-7799 1382 SE Lund Avenue, Suite 1 Port Orchard, WA 98366

www.pnwtkitsap.com

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 23

Sandy Fischer and Jeff Bouma announced the formation of Fischer Bouma Partnership, LLC to offer community planning and landscape architectural services throughout the region from its office on Bainbridge Island.

The practice will focus on shaping landscapes; including design of public and private places and the planning of livable and resilient communities through development and conservation policy and spatial design. The founding partners have successfully collaborated on many planning and design commissions locally, nationally and abroad on significant and award winning projects. Fischer formerly managed Fischer & Associates, a Montana Corporation and has worked with Bouma for 7 years at a global planning and design firm in Seattle.

Bouma and Fischer are currently working on Puget Sound Energy’s

Photo Contest The rain garden photo contest will take place between Mar. 16 and Aug. 27.

Winning photos will be displayed at the fall Home and Remodel Show at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds on Oct. 5-7.

Four winning photos will be selected.

There will be categories for professional and amateur photographers. In each category,

North Coast Electric hosts “Brighten your Business” event

24 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

North Coast Electric, in cooperation with Puget Sound Energy, will be hosting a “Brighten Your Business” energy efficient lighting event at the Flowering Around flower shop, located at 200 Winslow Way W. on Bainbridge Island on Thurs., April 19, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Business customers of Puget Sound Energy may be eligible for “instant rebates” and other incentives for upgrading their lighting system with newer, more energy efficient technologies.

At the Brighten Your Business event, businesses may:

• Receive “instant rebates” on high quality LED light bulbs • Receive free LED light bulbs • Purchase LED light bulbs for as low as $1 • Learn about utility incentives to help pay for lighting upgrades • Speak with energy efficiency experts from PSE and North Coast Electric • Sign up for a site visit and energy audit from a lighting specialist • See some of the latest in energy efficient lighting fixtures and bulbs including the new LED bulbs installed at Flowering Around Any non-residential Puget Sound Energy customer may also be eligible for the incentives. Upgrading to energy efficient lighting is one of the most costeffective updates a business can do. Energy savings are often 75 percent or more. LED light bulbs often pay for themselves in energy savings in less than a year.

North Coast Electric has also launched a promotion to offer Puget Sound Energy commercial customers free and low-cost LED lamps for their businesses. The lamps are available to customers who would like to install their own lamps, which do not require any retrofitting to the fixtures.

“It’s a program to promote the use of energy-efficient lighting in collaboration with Puget Sound Energy,” said North

Coast’s Tom Woltjer, who works with Kitsap County customers. “These are incentives for commercial businesses to upgrade their lighting to energy-efficient.”

North Coast is also selling the lamps at a deep markdown, and then receives a rebate from the utility. The most expensive bulbs under this program cost $15 (regularly $40), and several styles are $1 or $5. The free bulbs are the A-19 style, which normally retail at $20.

For businesses interested in retrofitting its T-12 fixtures, North Coast Electric can write a proposal for the upgrade. The LED lamps that are part of the promotion, however, do not require that process.

“The LED technology is improving and it’s beginning to reach the point where overcoming the price is the main problem,” Woltjer said. “These lamps typically pay for themselves in less than two years.”

One recent example was the Flowering Around shop on Bainbridge Island, which is hosting the event. It cost the owner under $100 to change all the lamps to LED ones, Woltjer said. The new lamps have an 82 percent reduction in power consumption. In addition, most of the lamps are rated for 50,000 hours, which could take a typical small business as long

as 10 years to reach.

North Coast is one of several vendors offering the program through PSE. The company has had several events to show and sell the lamps, and Woltjer said they have been popular. A PSE representative will be available at the event to answer questions as well.

Russell Design Source announces new website Russell Design Source has announced the launch of a new website, www.russelldesignsource.com.

Emily Russell is the owner and principal of Russell Design Source, a landscape architecture and planning firm in Bremerton.

Russell holds a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Washington and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and licensed in Washington State. The company offers a sustainable, affordable, and personal approach to landscape architecture regardless of the size of the project.

Russell Design Source can be contacted at emily@russelldesignsource.com, (360) 990-1720 or on the web at www.russelldesignsource.com.

Is the luxury home market picking up?

It seems there are finally some signs of life in Kitsap County’s luxury real estate market. Three properties that topped the million-dollar mark have recently sold — one in Poulsbo, one in Seabeck and one in Silverdale.

The 3,050 sq. ft.

Poulsbo home on Beach drive sold for $1.1 million, after being listed at $1.25 million. The Seabeck residence on Jermar Lane was listed at $1.69 million, and the 3,116 sq. ft. sold for $1.42 million.

And finally, the biggest one, a landmark 5,361 sq.ft. property on Page Road in Silverdale closed at $2.09 million after being listed at $2.3 million.

According to Realtor Penny McLaughlin, of Penny’s Team, who sold the Page Road property and who specializes in this segment of the market, interest in upper priced homes is once again picking up — especially on Bainbridge Island, where more of them are concentrated than anywhere else in the county. Outside of Bainbridge there are currently a dozen listings over $1 million — three in South Kitsap, traditionally the lowest priced area of the county; three in Poulsbo; two in Silverdale; and one each in

Indianola, Kingston, Bremerton and Seabeck.

“There’s more interest, and activity from buyers in this segment of the market than we’ve Penny McLaughlin seen in quite some time. There are also some good deals to be had in this segment of the market if you’re in a position to buy and close within a reasonable period of time,” she said. “I see this kind of activity as an indicator that better days are on the horizon not only for the local real estate market, but hopefully for the economy in general.”

Recently Voted 2011

“Small Business of the Year” From the Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce

Strumming the Harp Learn about the new program for underwater borrowers

LLC

We are a local company with a name you can trust.

Now Offering Disaster Restoration

360.698-5568

24-Hour Emergency Phone

Program guidelines: • No maximum loan-to-value requirement. This means you can refinance even if you owe more than your house is worth.

• Mortgage must be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac prior to June 1, 2009 (talk to your loan officer to find out if your mortgage qualifies) • No late payments in the past six months • No minimum credit score requirement • Closing costs can be rolled into loan • Program must lower a borrower’s interest rate or monthly payment One of my clients took advantage of the former HARP program just recently. It’s a familiar story. He bought his home in 2007 for $195,000. He was able to make his payments, but then his job reduced his hours. He was still able to make his payments-barely.

With his house now worth $180,000, he didn’t think he could refinance to a lower interest rate. However, we talked about his situation and found an option that lowered his interest rate approximately 2%. It saved him more than $210 per month on his mortgage payment. And now, with the new HARP 2.0, that same option is now open to a greater number of homeowners.

If you’re interested in finding out if your home qualifies, please contact The Legacy Group in Silverdale at 360.698.6440 or visit legacyg.com/silverdale.

We are also presenting a community seminar on the new program with our mortgage experts and a local CPA for tax-related questions on Saturday, April 28, 4-5 p.m. at the Silverdale Community Center. Call Tasha Kirk at 360.698.6464 to register.

Shaun Guerrero Loan Officer | MLO-120372 The Legacy Group Silverdale, WA

360.698.6440

Daytime office 360.697-6858 www.legacyg.com/locations/silverdale

www.GetInnovative.NET

Legacy Group Lending, Inc. NMLS ID # 4455 Legacy Group Capital, LLC License # 520-CL-43276 Legacy Group Escrow, LLC License # 540-EA-40580

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 25

INTERIOR – Water Extraction – Dehumidification / Moisture Elimination – Mold Inspection / Removal – Emergency Relocation / Temporary Repairs – Smoke Damage / Clean Up EXTERIOR – Temporary / Permanent Erosion Measures – Retaining Wall Retention Systems – Flood Management / Drainage – Tree Removal / Temporary Repairs

It’s right in front of you. In your mail. In your email inbox. In magazine ads. They all say the same thing: “Interest rates are now at all-time lows.”

You think about your own mortgage interest rate, and begin to daydream about how nice it would be to have a few extra dollars in pocket each month. However, you already know your house isn’t worth what it used to be, and you don’t think you can get a refinance with an underwater mortgage.

But everything changed this past month.

In March, the new guidelines were released for HARP 2.0, a widespread program designed to help responsible homeowners that owe more than their house is worth.

While there’s a lot of hype surrounding the program, here are the straight facts on HARP. Please note that while Legacy offers HARP 2.0 options, not every mortgage lender is participating.

Give your portfolio a “Spring Cleaning”

By Teresa Bryant Springtime is almost here. If you’re like many people, the arrival of spring means it’s time to spruce up your home. But why stop there? This year, consider applying some of those same spring-cleaning techniques to your investment portfolio.

Here are some ideas you may want to put to work: Get rid of clutter. You probably don’t have to look too far around your home to find things that are broken or simply no longer useful to you. If you poke around your portfolio, you might make similar discoveries: an investment that has chronically underperformed, duplicates another investment or met your needs in the past but is less relevant to your current situation and goals. Once you identify these types of investments, you may decide to sell them and use the proceeds to take advantage of opportunities that may prove more valuable to you.

Consolidate. Over the years, you may have accumulated multiple versions of common household items – brooms, mops,

26 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

www.edwardjones.com

hammers – which pop up mysteriously in various parts of your home. You might find it more efficient, and even less expensive, if you consolidated all these things in one centralized location. As an investor, you also might find that consolidation can offer you some benefits. Do you have one Individual Retirement Account (IRA) with one financial services provider and a second IRA with another? Do you have a couple of old 401(k) accounts with former employers?

And have you scattered investments here, there and everywhere? By consolidating all these accounts in one place, you can cut down on paperwork, reduce fees and, most importantly, unite your investment dollars so that it’s easier for you to see what you have and then follow a single, coherent investment strategy.

Prepare for turbulent weather. As you know, springtime can bring heavy rains, hail, strong winds and other threats to your home. As part of your overall spring cleaning, you may want to check the condition of your roof, clear branches away from your house, clean your gutters and downspouts, and take other steps to protect your property from the ravages of Mother Nature. And just as you need to safeguard your home, you’ll want to protect the lifestyles of those who live in that home –

Members SIPC

namely, your family. You can help accomplish this by reviewing your life and disability insurance to make sure it’s still sufficient for your needs.

Get professional help. You may find that you can’t do all your spring cleaning by yourself. For example, if your carpets and rugs are heavily soiled, you may need to call in a professional cleaner. Or if your tree branches have grown out of control, you might need to bring in a tree trimmer.

Similarly, when you decide to “tidy up”

your portfolio, you’ll need some assistance from a financial professional – someone who can study your current mix of investments and recommend changes, as needed, to help ensure your holdings are suitable for your risk tolerance, time horizon and short- and long-term goals.

Spring cleaning can reinvigorate your home and your overall outlook. And by tidying up your investment portfolio, you can help gain some of that same optimism – for your future.

Early IRA funding can pay off over time

By Christy Givans You’ve got until April 17 to contribute to your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) for the 2011 tax year. That’s not a lot of time, but if you have some money available, and you haven’t completely funded your IRA for 2011, consider doing so before the deadline.

And once you’ve “maxed out” on your IRA for last year, why not get a jump on 2012?

Actually, you could have started contributing to your 2012 IRA as early as Jan. 2. In fact, if you can get into the habit of fully funding your IRA each January, you’ll give your money 15 extra months of growth potential, as opposed to waiting until mid-

April of the following year. If you factor in all the years you’ll be contributing to your IRA before you retire, those extra months of growth opportunities, repeated over decades, could end up providing you with a fair amount of extra cash when you start tapping into your IRA at retirement.

Of course, you may not find it all that easy to come up with the full IRA contribution amount at one time. (In 2012, you can put up to $5,000 into a Roth or traditional IRA, or $6,000 if you’re 50 or older.) But if you look at your entire financial picture, you may be IRA, page 27

Living in the Now, Preparing for the Future

For many of us, our goals in life remain constant; financial independence and providing for our family. Striking a balance between saving for goals, such as education and retirement, and allocating money for daily expenses can Ed McAvoy be challenging. But you can do it.

Learn how you can redefine your savings approach toward education and retirement.

Call or visit today.

Your local Edward Jones financial advisors: Ron Rada

Pat McFadden, AAMS

Todd Tidball

Jason Skifstad, AAMS

8079 E Main St Suite 111 Manchester

19740 7th Ave NE Suite 114 Poulsbo

18887 Hwy 305 NE Suite 100 Poulsbo

3255 NW Lowell St Silverdale

360 871-0998

360 779-6450

360 779-6123

Calvin Christensen

David Hawley

Brian George

Glenn Anderson, AAMS

3100 NW Bucklin Hill Rd Suite 115 Silverdale

23781 Hwy 3 Suite 101 B Belfair

10705 Silverdale Wy NW Suite 101 Silverdale

19032 Jensen Way NE Poulsbo

360 698-6092

360 275-7177

360 307-8636

Denette George

Adam R. Burleson Jeff Thomsen, AAMS

360 692-1677

360 779-7894 1-866-779-7900

Jay Seaton

20270 Front St Suite 102 Poulsbo

4275 SE Mile Hill Dr Suite A Port Orchard

3421 Kitsap Way Suite A Bremerton

360 598-3750

360 871-9707

360 373-0233

360 475-0683 1-888-475-4450

Mary Beslagic

Schelley Dyess

Clint Boxman, AAMS

Lori Morgan, AAMS

Bim Prince

8079 E Main St Manchester

2299 Bethel Ave Port Orchard

360 871-0998 1-800-995-0242

360 876-3835 1-888-688-7817

8202 NE State Hwy 104 Suite 106 Kingston

213 Madison Ave N Suite 200 Bainbridge Island

25960 Ohio Ave NE Suite 101 Kingston

360 297-8677

206 842-1255

360 297-8664

5971 Hwy 303 N Bremerton

600 Kitsap St Suite 102 Port Orchard

360 876-7538

Teresa Bryant

Michael F. Allen

Angela Sell

Jim Thatcher

Christy Givans

555 Pacific Ave Suite 101 Downtown Bremerton

3500 Anderson Hill Rd Suite 101 Silverdale

3276 Plaza Rd NW Suite 112 Silverdale

2135 Sheridan Rd Suite E Bremerton

435 Ericksen Ave NE Suite 100 Bainbridge Island

360 373-1263

360 308-9514

360 698-7408

360 373-6939

206 780-9889

Important lines on your income tax return

By Jason Parker Well, last year is behind us, and what is done, is done with respect to your annual income tax return. If you are retired, you should review these important line items on your 1040 tax return and make sure you understand how they impact your financial life. Get out your income tax return and circle the following: • Line 8a • Line 9a • Line9b • Line 13 • Line 20b • Line 40 • Line 43 Someone once taught me, "It’s not about how much money you make, but rather how much money you keep." I've also learned

that retirement is all about cash flow, not net worth, and to make sure that your cash flow is as tax efficient as possible.

You may have income you receive, but don't spend that could be costing you thousands of dollars every year in unnecessary taxation.

Now you are probably thinking, "We spend all of our income." If so, then that's great. But often many retirees have phantom income that causes them to pay more money in taxes. They are not necessarily using the income for everyday living expenses.

Question #1: When looking at your tax return, is there a number listed in line 8a, line 9a or line 9b?

Question #2: Are you spending that income?

IRA

Put other “windfalls” into your IRA. If you receive a windfall, such as a bonus from your employer or a gift of cash, think about putting it into your IRA. If none of these options present themselves, and you can’t afford to write out a big check to fund your IRA very early in the year, do the best you can to reach the contribution limit as soon as possible. To make this happen, consider setting up a monthly automatic transfer from your checking or savings account into your IRA. Even if you were to divide these transfers into 15 equal payments totaling $5,000 (or $6,000 if you’re 50 or older), you would still be funding your IRA more quickly than if you would have scrambled to contribute in the last few months before the tax filing deadline.

No matter when you do it, fully funding your IRA is a great way to help build resources for retirement. But the earlier, the better – so do whatever you can to beat that tax deadline each year.

from page 26 able to think of some resources. Here are a few suggestions: Put your tax refund to work. In 2011, the average tax refund was about $3,000, according to the IRS. If you received that amount in 2012, and you applied it toward your IRA, you would already have met half the contribution limit (if you are 50 or older) or more than half (if you’re younger than 50).

Take advantage of interest payments or dividends. If you own income-producing investments, you may find that they can help you fund your IRA early. For example, if you own dividend-paying stocks, and you don’t typically reinvest the dividends, consider putting some of these funds into your IRA. (Keep in mind, though, that stocks can reduce or discontinue dividends at any time).

And you can do the same thing with any interest payments you receive from bonds.

For example, if you have a certificate of deposit in a non-qualified account that is paying you interest and you are reinvesting the interest rather than spending it, and then at the end of the year you would get a 1099 from your bank. You will pay taxes on the interest income you received regardless of whether or not you spent it.

But even more important than the tax you pay on your interest, is understanding how it im pacts the rest of your tax return.

The interest income will be used in the calculation for determining what percentage of your social security benefits will be taxed, which can be as little as 0 percent or as much as 85 percent of your social security benefits.

These additional income sources bleed through your return and as a result could impact how much of your itemized deductions can be captured.

(Editor’s note: Article provided by Jason Parker. Parker is the president of Parker Financial LLC, a feebased registered investment advisory firm specializing in wealth management for retirees. His office is located in Silverdale. The opinions and information voiced in this material are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual, and do not constitute a solicitation for any secur ities or insurance products. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however, no representation is made as to its completeness or accuracy. Consult a trusted professional for advice and further information. Parker is insurance licensed and offers annuities, life & long term care insurances as well as investment services.)

Kitsap Bank announced the appointment of David Gitch as Director Emeritus Kitsap Bank announced that David Gitch was appointed Director Emeritus at its most recent Board Meeting. Having served on the Kitsap Bank board of directors since 1998, Gitch has reached the mandatory retirement age for active board members.

Cydly Langer Smith, Kitsap Bank chairwoman commented: "Dave Gitch has been an invaluable asset in his role on the Bank's Board and as a member of the board's audit committee. We are very pleased to continue to have Dave’s leadership, integrity, insight and wisdom available to the Bank through his new role as Director Emeritus. All of the Kitsap Bank community extend their gratitude to Dave for his years of faithful service."

Edward Jones Financial Advisor hosts seminar: Smart start to Mutual Funds April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 27

Edward Jones Financial Advisor Donald Logan of Silverdale is hosting a free educational seminar titled, "Smart start to Mutual Funds," at 5:30 p.m. on Thurs., April 19 at Edward Jones investments, 2416 NW Myhre Road, Suite 102 in Silverdale.

Participants will learn how mutual funds work, as well as why they're important in helping individual investors meet their long-term financial goals.

The seminar is free, but space is limited. To make a reservation, call Sarah at (360) 692-1216.

Catie’s Creations expands to retail location

28 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

By Rodika Tollefson When Catie Malcom decided to buy a screen-printing machine off craigslist.org more than 10 years ago, she probably didn’t think that would someday lead to a fully-fledged, fulltime business. But then again, she likes to go by the motto “Go big or go home”—and her latest move is one of the many examples.

Several months ago, Malcom opened a storefront for her business, Catie’s Creations (www.catiescreations.com), which she had been running out of her Bremerton basement since 1999. The store, located in Old Town Silverdale, has also allowed her to branch off into a second business, Old Town Tees. She’ll continue to provide printing services under the original name, while growing the retail operation under the new one. Eventually, she plans to separate the two entities, and take on a partner for Old Town Tees.

“It has been fantastic,” she said of her decision to open a store. “I’ve seen a huge increase in business.”

In addition to T-shirts and other items designed by Catie’s Creations, the shop sells items such as gifts, jewelry, purses and soaps on consignment. The idea is to give other small businesses an outlet for exposure that doesn’t require a large investment on their part, Malcom said.

Although adding a physical location may be risky in this economy, Malcom has an advantage: She owes nothing for her company. Building up the inventory through the years and adding several new machines

has also helped her minimize the risk of expansion. Her various equipment, which includes a “direct-togarment” printer (a sizeable investment) allows her to customize and print on everything from mugs and key chains to socks, jewelry and water bottles via screen, vinyl or sublimation processes.

“People can give me a budget and the number of items they want, and I’ll help to maximize their money,” Malcom said.

The direct-to-garment printer allows her to print a design on a T-shirt or similar item in minutes — which means customers can walk in, choose a blank shirt and walk out with a customized design or photo printed on it.

Catie’s Creations’ customers include local sports teams, school districts, organizations doing fundraisers and others.

Malcom is continuously experimenting with new products. Among the latest additions are T-shirt designs that incorporate glitter and rhinestones.

“It’s a learning process every day. We’re always trying new things to print on,” she said, adding that she plans to add an embroidery machine by the end of the year.

Part of her growth is the ability to hire more

• Print • Scan • Document Management

Realize your potential.

Quality service and a commitment to the community.

Call 253-272-7099 800-495-3175 kelleyimaging.com

Easter Seals seeking Kitsap board members Easter Seals Washington, a statewide non-profit organization serving people with disabilities, is seeking Board Members from the Kitsap County area to add to its volunteer Board of Directors.

For more information, contact Cathy Bisaillon at (360) 981-9263 or at cathyb@wa.easterseals.com.

GEODUCK

staff during the peak season, including during the summer when she sells wares at farmers markets and events. She also plans to add a line of Kitsap gift items.

Malcom ventured onto the entrepreneurial path while in college, making gift baskets, which later morphed into the printing company. Three years ago, she took her venture full-time.

“I wanted my freedom and I wanted to have time for family,” she said. “I wanted to make money for myself, not someone else — I’m in control of my own destiny and how successful my business is going to be.”

from page 18 Techniques for re-establishing geoduck may include modified implementation based on successful Geoduck growing operations in nearby British Columbia (BC), Canada.

The geoduck (Panopea abrupta; Panope generosa) is the world’s largest burrowing clam and one of the longest living species: maximum age recorded is over 140 years (Shaul and Goodwin 1982). This bivalve (two shells) species are filter feeders, processing hundreds of gallons of water daily, and thus highly vulnerable to pollutants and toxic contaminants. Natural recovery of fished areas to pre-exploitation levels has been slow, ranging between 11-73 years, owing to both the low natural mortality and reduced recruitment rates in this long-lived clam.

Art Anderson hires McKee as marine electrical engineer The Bremerton-based engineering firm, Art Anderson Associates, has hired Sean McKee, as a senior marine electrical engineer. He will be responsible for leading and executing electrical engineering assignments for marine and vessel engineering projects. McKee will also provide additional support to the firm’s Facilities Division to accommodate surges in electrical workload.

McKee is a Washington-licensed professional engineer with a strong background in marine electrical systems. He began his career as a US Navy electrician and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. In his civilian career, he has served in lead electrical engineer roles for notable projects like the US Navy’s X-Craft, Washington State Ferries’ new 144-car ferry and repower of an Alaska-based cruise ship.

McKee also ob tained his Master’s Degree in engineering management from St. Martin’s College, completed coursework as a certified energy manager, and is a certified Princeton Review instructor.

Bull kelp beds support these species as well as commercial and sport fish, invertebrates, marine mammals and marine birds.

Natural resource–based shellfish aquaculture projects are considered working agricultural operations — just add water — as the local adage goes. And the canal region is famous where taverns and restaurants such as Happy Clam and The Geoduck reveal the local identity associated with prime growing conditions for shellfish species. Today they are internationally famous and connoisseurs identify them by place names including Quilcene, Dabob, and Hama Hama — much like fine wines from specific regions and vineyards!

2012 Honda Fit wins Cars.com's $16,000 Subcompact Shootout

State of the SUV — Dead or alive?

By Bruce Caldwell Anyone want to buy a condo in Las Vegas? It comes with a Hummer and an Excursion in the garage. The current state of big SUVs mirrors real estate investments in parts of the country, but that doesn’t mean buyers have forsaken sport utilities.

Like the real estate market it’s more a matter of need, regrouping and downsizing.

No matter how much lip service Americans give to protecting the environment and producing smaller carbon footprints, our default desires favor big houses and big vehicles. Rising gas prices (or worse; threatened shortages) and falling housing prices strain our big, better, best yearnings. Previous fuel price spikes have turned buyers away from large luxury cars and SUVs, but as soon as prices soften so does resistance to less economical vehicles.

We’ve seen this show before and it seems that each episode leads more people to downsize. That’s a prudent position that favors mid-size and compact SUVs.

Compact SUVs and the various crossover vehicles are a viable alternative to full size body-on-frame SUVs. Sizes of formerly cracker box mini SUVs have grown considerably (e.g. the Suzuki Grand Vitara, Honda CR-V, and Toyota RAV4) to a point that they’re roomy and comfortable, while still agile off road. Their fuel economy is downright miserly compared to XXL SUVs. Speaking of size and off road capabilities, too many SUV buyers falsely convince themselves of a weekly need to traverse the Olympic National Forrest sans pavement carrying eight passengers, three dogs, and five hundred pounds of provisions. Locking differentials and fire hydrant suspension clearances are pointless for Hwy 16 commuting.

We have a few suggestions regarding full size SUVs: • If you really want a new one, consider leasing. If resale prices crash you can simply walk away at the end of the lease.

• Consider a lease with a very low mileage

Fit tops seven popular subcompacts

As gas prices rise, prices on large, low mileage SUVs such as the 2005 Ford Excursion shown here, are bound to drop

•

•

• •

Dates announced for 2013 NAIAS

Serving Kitsap County for 30 years

NG SPRI ALS! I SPEECE WASH

Come Check Out What Is Waiting For You At... $24,995

Dick VList Motors

2007 BMW Z4 3.0si Premium, Sport, Steptronic

$31,995

$28,500 2009 Lincoln MKX AWD, Navigation, Full Power

2008 Mercedes C350 Sport, AMG, Low Miles

FR AX al ic ANDmW echan

ny with a urchase p

A complete green collision and automotive shop Proud to be a

four star business

We Will Beat Dealership Prices 360-876-2448 Hours: M-F 8:00 - 5:30 • Sat 9:00 - 12:00 2005 Sidney Ave., Port Orchard www.kensautobody.com

360-876-4428 • 888-600-4428 514 Bay Street Port Orchard • www.dickvlistmotors.com

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 29

The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) has announced the official dates for the 2013 event, which will be held at Cobo Center in Detroit, January 14-27, 2013: • Press Preview will take place Monday and Tuesday, January 14 and 15, 2013 • Industry Preview will take place Wednesday and Thursday, January 16 and 17, 2013 • Charity Preview will be held Friday evening, January 18, 2013 • Public Show will take place Saturday, January 19, through Sunday, January 27, 2013.

NAIAS Chairman Jim Seavitt says the show will begin a week later in 2013 to move away from the holidays, making it more convenient for journalists and auto industry executives who travel from around the world to participate in the show.

"Each year our dates move up one day on the calendar so every five or six years, we need to make an adjustment, and push the show back one week," says Seavitt. "We do our best to keep some distance between the holidays and our opening, and many people have expressed appreciation for that."

This year the show was held January 9-22, 2012.

Seavitt, who recently led the NAIAS Executive Committee to the Geneva International Motor Show, says there is already considerable excitement building for NAIAS 2013, which again is expected to host numerous industry announcements and global product introductions.

Entering its 25th year as an international event, the NAIAS is among the most prestigious auto shows in the world, providing unparalleled access to the automotive products, people and ideas that matter most - up close and in one place. One of the largest media events in North America, the NAIAS is the only auto show in the United States to earn an annual distinguished sanction of the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, the Paris-based alliance of automotive trade associations and manufacturers from around the world.

cap. The more expensive gas becomes, the fewer miles you’re likely to use.

Wait a couple months and buy a late-model used one. If gas prices rise much more, big SUV prices are bound to drop at an alarming rate.

If you only have an occasional need for a large SUV (and have the extra garage space) nineties Suburbans and Expeditions are at rock bottom prices. If properly maintained they should hold their current values.

Break the big SUV habit slowly by choosing one of the many great mid-size SUVs. Buy an AWD wagon/hatchback and rent a big SUV for the family vacation.

The 2012 Honda Fit has won the Cars.com $16,000 Subcompact Shootout.

Honda's versatile and fuel-efficient Fit took the top spot in a competition among seven popular subcompact cars that seat at least four, have four doors, get at least 35 mpg on the highway, and can be purchased for less than $16,000. Experts from Cars.com, USA Today and "MotorWeek" tested these subcompacts to measure all of the needs of the average car-buyer including gas mileage, practicality, user features and comfort.

As gas prices and used-car prices continue to rise, a shootout like this acts as a guide for consumers looking to purchase a new subcompact as an alternative to a used vehicle," said Patrick Olsen, editor-in-chief of Cars.com. The Web site is an awardwinning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car.

2012 Infiniti QX56 — Big time luxury

By Lary Coppola Completely redesigned in 2011, the 2012 Infiniti QX56 is lower, wider, and certainly more eye-catching than the previous version.

And while reports of the death of the full-size SUV abound, the fact is, in spite of the segment now about a third of its former size, there are still people, businesses and families that absolutely require seven or eight passenger seats, and an 8,500-pound towing capability. The QX56 comes in rear-wheeldrive and all-wheel-drive versions, with a five-mode all-wheel-drive system controlled by a wheel on the console.

In a testament to the durability of the fullsize SUV segment, the QX56’s main competitors are the Lexus LX 570, MercedesBenz GL-Class, Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator, Audi Q7, and Range Rover.

Model Lineup: The 2012 Infiniti QX56 comes in two models, the rear-wheel-drive QX56, and the all-wheel-drive QX56 4WD. Standard on all models is leather seating and trim, 8-way power seats, dual-zone climate control, a multi-function steering wheel, power windows, mirrors, and locks, cruise control, and four 12-volt power points. A hard-drive navigation system is also standard and includes XM NavWeather, XM NavTraffic, the Zagat

Survey restaurant guide, and voice activation for navigation, audio and vehicle systems check. It also comes with a Bose 13-speaker AM/FM/CD/DVD/MP3 sound system with XM satellite radio, Bluetooth streaming audio, AUX plug, and iPod compatibility. The standard seating configuration is two front bucket seats, two second-row bucket seats with a second console, and a three-place folding rear seat, seating for eight, featuring a folding secondrow bench seat is available at no extra cost.

Four option packages are available. The Theater Package features twin 7-inch screens mounted on the front-seat headrests, two sets of wireless headphones, and a 120-volt power outlet for gaming consoles, laptops, or other

NISSAN JUKE 30 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

THE ALL NEW 2012

IONAL ADDIT L E R A D E UP MARK

STARTING FROM ONLY

$19,990

entertainment equipment.

Deluxe Touring Package adds 22-inch alloy wheels and tires, the new Hydraulic Body Motion Control System, semianiline leather seats with heating and cooling in the front row, heating in the second row, an upgraded HVAC system (and headlamp washers on 4WD models).

Technology Package features Blind Spot Warning, Intelligent Brake Assist with Forward Collision Warning, which will actively brake the car to prevent a collision, Intelligent Cruise Control, adaptive front lighting for cornering, pre-crash seat-belt tensioners, and Lane Departure Warning and Prevention.

Walkaround: The QX56 got a complete, clean-sheet makeover in 2011 starting with the exterior styling. The rear door handles are now on the same level as the front ones; the rear of the roof no longer dips, adding thirdrow headroom; the squared-off fenders and nose have been rounded, the pillars blacked out instead of painted; and both bumpers more fully integrated into the overall design.

The tow hitch receiver is now hidden behind the rear bumper, and yes, those are Buickstyle portholes in the front fenders. However, while the right side is decorative, the left is functional for engine air intake.

The wheelbase was shortened 2.1 inches to 121.1 inches for crisper handling, with wider front and rear tracks. Body width increased by 1.1 inches, length by 1.4-inches and overall height lowered by 3.2 inches.

Interior: The 2012 Infiniti QX56 boasts extra-thick, supremely comfortable seats, more user-friendly instrumentation, with a center stack and console that’s much more luxurious than previously. The entire cockpit is centered around the 8-inch central screen display that the center console flows down from in a very organized m anner. The electroluminescent instrumentation is softly lit, easy to read, and looks very much like that in the new Infiniti M sedan.

Fit, finish, tolerances and materials are absolutely first class. The interior is quiet, plush, luxurious, and totally complete in terms of equipment, with a huge array of electronic entertainment and information options available for families.

One cool and very useful feature is the remote-controlled second-row flip-fold seats, operated from the key fob. This allows families to load from back to front with minimum seat hassle. The third-row seats also power-fold forward, increasing cargo space, and the thirdrow seats recline up to 20 degrees. At 41 inches, the huge rear seats boast the longest legroom in the class — with optional heaters available.

Another unique feature i s Infiniti’s trademarked Around View monitoring system

with front and rear sonar. This system allows the driver to see all the way around the vehicle before moving, and be certain there nothing is in the way, and there’s room to maneuver.

Under The Hood: The QX56 is powered

by Infiniti’s 5.6-liter, 32-valve, double overhead-cam V8 engine, that features direct fuel injection and variable valve timing and lift. It delivers 400 horses and 413 footpounds of torque — numbers very close to the power and torque of the highperformance M56 sedan — with 25 percent more power than the previous engine, and a 14-percent improvement in fuel economy.

The powerplant is married to a 7-speed double overdrive transmission that provides excellent first-gear acceleration for this 5,600pound SUV — with good highway fuel economy at the same time. The automatic also boasts adaptive shifting to match each driver’s driving style, with a manual shift feature that includes a sporty throttle-blip on manual downshifts.

Four-wheel-drive versions of the QX56 have a selector switch on the console offering automatic, four-wheel-drive high, fourwheel-drive low, low lock, tow mode and snow mode. The auto mode moves engine torque back and forth between front and rear axles up to 100 percent rear, but no higher than 50 percent front.

Behind The Wheel: The QX56 has new fully independent suspension calibrations, premium shock absorbers, automatic rear load-leveling, and an optional feature that no other SUV in the segment offers — a closed hydraulic circuit that connects all four suspension units and moves hydraulic pressure from front to back and side to side as the vehicle moves. This keeps the body from leaning, even in fast corners, and in effect, replaces conventional sway bars.

Acceleration is solid, bordering on spectacular — especially for a vehicle this size and weight — because the 5.6-liter V8 is tuned for low-end torque, load-hauling and trailer-towing.

The power steering is just about right for a long, tall, heavy vehicle, and the brakes are powerful and progressive Whines: I didn’t get to take a road trip in the QX56.

Bottom Line: Although pricing starts in the $50’s, our test QX56 was the all-wheeldrive version equipped with the Theater, Deluxe Touring, and Technology Packages, so it hit the very top end of the price range — over $75,000. Infiniti marketeers refer to the QX56 as being akin to a private jet or hotel room on wheels. They ’ve got that right since you can control the lighting, front and rear thermostats, move the furniture around, and choose your entertainment.

The Infiniti QX56 looks better, drives better and feels better in every way than the QX56 it replaces. Starting at the same previous price, it delivers more standard equipment and more really useful technology.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 31

2012 Nissan Juke — Uniquely entertaining

2012 Acura TSX — Compact luxury and great performance

32 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

By Bruce Caldwell The 2012 Acura TSX is the brand’s entry-level car. It’s a viable contender in the compact sport/luxury sedan class. TSX prices have an $8,000 spread between the least and most expensive trim packages. We drove the top model Tech V-6, which was a fine car although not as great a value as the four-cylinder models.

Walkaround: TSX styling is contemporary and not out of keeping with competitors. We’re not crazy about the prominent wheel arches, but otherwise it’s a handsome car. As expected of an Acura, fit and finish are first rate.

Interior: The TSX pampers the front seat occupants at the expense of rear seat occupants. The Tech package adds a lot of sophisticated audio, communications, and navigation features, but we questioned the extra cost. A big trunk with flat folding rear seats and a large pass through provided substantial cargo capacity.

Under The Hood: Engineering excellence is an Acura hallmark and the 2012 TSX is no exception. The silky smooth 3.5-liter V-6 engine is the same as used in the heavier Acura TL. It adds a lot of performance to the TSX. The V-6 produces 280 horsepower and 254 lb-ft of torque, while the 4-cylinder is rated

at 201 horsepower and 172 lb-ft of torque.

The V-6 is only available with a fine 5-speed automatic transmission, but the 4-cylinder can also be mated to a 6-speed manual. The 4cylinder/6-speed goes a long ways toward making up the horsepower gap and costs thousands less. The EPA rated our V-6 tester at 19/28. We averaged almost 23 mpg in mixed driving.

Behind The Wheel: There’s nothing to complain about the TSX V-6 driving experience. Performance is excellent as is comfort.

Whines: The V-6 engine is great, but tough to justify financially compared to the peppy I-4. The Tech package also carries a hefty premium. Back seat space is tight for a luxury sedan.

Bottom Line: The 2012 Acura TSX V-6 is a great driver’s car and a good candidate in the compact sport luxury field. The base versions shine in the bang for the buck department.

By Bruce Caldwell No one can accuse Nissan of building another copycat compact SUV when it comes to the unique 2012 Juke. Nissan has one of the most extensive SUV lineups in the industry, so maybe the Juke was an attempt to fill every possible niche.

The Juke is a compact crossover SUV that leans more toward the fun, sporty side than the boring, practical side of the SUV spectrum.

Walkaround: We don’t get the styling, but then we’re not young or hip. The unusual high-mounted driving lamps/turn signals give the car a frog-like countenance, but at least it’s easy to tell if the turn signals are working. The good news about the unique styling is that the Juke is easy to find in a parking lot full of look-alike SUVs. Interior: The interior is the old good news/bad news scenario. Front seat room and comfort is excellent/rear seats aren’t. It’s a fine setup for a young family, but not so great for four or five adults. The cargo floor is flat and the split rear seats fold flat, so outside of the roofline limitations the carrying capacity is good. The audio system was excellent.

Under The Hood: The only available engine is a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, which is rated at 188 horsepower with 170 lb-ft of torque at a low 2000 rpm. Acceleration is good once the turbocharger kicks in. Our Juke SV had the CVT transmission and all-wheeldrive — an excellent choice for this region’s road conditions. The EPA fuel economy estimate is 25/30.

Behind The Wheel: The driving experience is a Juke strong point. Its wide track and relatively short wheelbase inspire confidence. A sport mode setting improves steering feel/response.

Whines: The unique rear styling and roof slope compromises cargo capacity. Rear seat space is tight and entry/exit is awkward for tall passengers. The navigation screen was quite small.

Bottom Line: The 2012 Nissan Juke is a fine platform covered with a polarizing body.

The bold styling presents some interior compromises, but the Juke’s performance and entertaining driving experience mean more than cargo capacity to most potential buyers.

2012 Fiat 500—Small package, big fun

2012 Hyundai Accent—The accent is on value

By Bruce Caldwell The highly anticipated 2012 Fiat 500 was worth the wait, especially if you like your fun in a very compact package. Like the much pricier Mini Cooper, the Fiat 500 evokes styling cues of its progenitors (‘50s/’60s Fiat 500/600 series) and wraps them around a thoroughly modern technology package.

Quality and substance are a million miles away from the flimsy Fiats of old.

Walkaround: Fiat designers nailed the mix of old and new styling elements. Our Sport model had just enough performance cues to offset the high cuteness factor. The new Abarth model should enhance both image and actual performance.

Interior: The handsome interior is very contemporary, with excellent use of colors and textures. Front legroom is as outstanding as the rear legroom is not.

Front headroom is great. Our Fiat 500 had the power retractable cloth sunroof — a high quality unit that can be opened and closed while driving. Wind noise and buffeting are minimal. Split rear seats fold, but not very flat. Cargo space is limited.

Under The Hood: It’s a small car with an engine to match. A 1.4-liter inline fourcylinder produces a modest 101 horsepower at a buzzy 6500-rpm. Torque is 98 lb-ft at 4000-rpm, but the smooth 5speed manual transmission (and excellent clutch) make the most of available power.

By Bruce Caldwell The Hyundai Accent was redesigned for 2012. It has more power, a new look, a 2.8-inch longer wheelbase, a new four-door hatchback body style (the two-door hatchback was dropped), and it costs more, but it’s still a tremendous value. The Accent is tight and well built. It doesn’t come across as a cheap car, although close inspection will reveal cost saving measures.

Walkaround: The Hyundai Accent is a good-looking car. Our SE tester had handsome 16-inch wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes, and excellent fit/finish. It didn’t look at all cheap or tinny.

Interior: Front seat legroom is stretch-out spacious. We’re over six-feet tall, but had to move the seat up to properly operate the clutch. Tall passengers will fit in the back seat without compromising front seat space. The seats are comfortable and supportive. Cargo capacity/flexibility is good, although the split rear seats are noticeably higher than the trunk floor.

Under The Hood: The sole engine is the 1.6-liter 4-cylinder that’s rated at 138 horsepower with 123 lb-ft or torque. Two six-speed transmissions are offered — an automatic and a manual. We tested the efficient 6-speed manual, which was smooth and easy to operate.

Both transmissions are EPA rated at 30/40-mpg city/highway. Our combined driving results were in the lower thirties; so 40-mpg could take some real balloon foot driving techniques.

Behind The Wheel: We drove the top-of-the-line SE model with the manual transmission. That saved a thousand dollars and added a sporty element to the car. We enjoyed the manual transmission, but the automatic would be better in congested traffic.

Whines: The cargo area carpet was thin and cheap. The hatchback lift-over was on the high side.

Bottom Line: The Hyundai Accent isn’t the bargain basement giveaway that it once was, but its price creep has been offset by substantial improvements. Compromises are necessary to make a mid-teens price point, but the Accent makes those cuts as painless as possible. The 2012 Hyundai Accent is an outstanding value and a very nice car.

Actual performance surpasses what the numbers suggest. EPA rates the Fiat 500 at 30/38 mpg; our results were at the low end of the estimates.

Behind The Wheel: Fun driving is a key Fiat 500 feature. The nimbleness of our Sport model encouraged a spritely driving style. U-turns and parking were a snap.

Whines: A sixth gear would be nice for highway cruising. Rear seating is extremely tight for full size adults.

Bottom Line: The 2012 Fiat 500 Sport was a blast to drive in crowded urban settings and even more enjoyable on twisting back roads when the sun was out and we could open the roof. The 2012 Fiat 500 is an excellent value with an abundance of fun.

New trend: More comfortable waiting spaces at auto dealerships

By Rodika Tollefson Like many coffee shops, the RPM Café in Bremerton offers various conveniences in addition to espresso — from comfy seating and wireless Internet access, to quick breakfast and lunch fare. Customers can claim a chair and hang out for a few hours, or they can grab coffee and food on the run.

What makes RPM Café different is its unlikely location. The espresso shop/café is located inside the Haselwood Auto Group’s Toyota store. It’s not the only coffee shop inside an automotive store off Auto Center Way either — Haselwood’s Honda and Kia stores offer similar shops, each with a different name.

The typical café customers are car owners coming in for oil changes and other services.

Some hang out to wait for the work to be done; others buy food and coffee before being whisked away by the dealership’s complementary ride vehicle. Service shop customers even receive vouchers for a 12ounce espresso.

“I think the fact they can have a full lunch and sit there to answer email is very convenient,” said Jessica Whittaker, who manages the three Haselwood cafes. “Often times customers are here for a couple of hours, and anything we can do to make it seem like they’re not here that long is our goal.”

The café is also popular with employees, who can charge purchases and have them deducted from their paychecks, and with sales personnel, who like to treat customers

while working with them on a purchase.

The RPM Café is the largest of the three, and the menu has been expanded as the demand grew.

When the Toyota store opened in 2008 in what used to be the old CocaCola building, the café was part of the plan. In addition to the cafés, the auto stores have enclosed areas with computer access as well as plug-ins for laptops, for those customers who would like more privacy.

When the GMC store was remodeled about a year ago, the customer lounge area was also enhanced to make it more comfortable, even though it doesn’t have an actual coffee shop. Builder Robert Baglio, owner of the Port Orchard-based BJC Group, said he is seeing more of these kinds of remodels. In many cases, they are being requested by the national dealerships and follow a standard design.

“The public spaces are being renovated to give a clean look and make them a little friendlier, with more of a coffee shop atmosphere so that when you’re there, it’s a

Tyler Church joins Liberty Bay Auto in Poulsbo

Liberty Bay Auto Center announced that Tyler Church a third generation automotive entrepreneur, has joined its sales team. His father and grandfather started Liberty Bay over two decades ago at the head of the bay in Poulsbo.

Reach Church at 360-697-4066, or visit http://www.libertybayauto.com. little more of an enjoyable and relaxing experience,” said Baglio, who worked on the GMC remodel as well as a similar one at Grey Chevrolet in Port Orchard.

At Grey Chevrolet, the waiting area was also part of an overall upgrade, which still continues through a phased-in schedule. The waiting area now has wireless access, new seating and décor as well as a bigger television and new refreshments. The lounge was expanded from about 300 square feet to 800.

“The goal is to be more customerfriendly and modern,” said Kevin Grey, second-generation owner of the familyowned store. “We have all the things customers have asked for.”

Honda to Debut 2013 Crosstour Concept at New York Auto Show The 2012 New York International Auto Show will provide the first glimpse of the new exterior styling direction of the updated 2013 Honda Crosstour, set to go on sale this fall.

First launched in 2009, and now available with both V-6 and four-cylinder engines, the Crosstour remains one of the most versatile choices in the midsize crossover segment, earning the distinction of J.D. Power and Associates' "Highest Ranked Midsize Crossover/SUV in Initial Quality" in their 2011 Initial Quality Study.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 33

34 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

2012 Buick LaCrosse: Detroit’s world-class dragon-slayer

By Lary Coppola I’ve had a number of different opportunities to put the Buick LaCrosse through its paces since it originally debuted in 2009, and every time I drive it, I like it more.

The LaCrosse marked the beginning of a more luxurious and stylish era for Buick. And with China the world’s largest potential car market, coupled with the fact the Chinese have a serious love affair with Buick, it would be an understatement to say the LaCrosse was also the most important vehicle GM had launched in a generation. Owning a Buick in China is a status symbol akin to owning a high-end Mercedes in the U.S. GM has positioned the mid-size LaCrosse as a serious, head-to-head competitor for Acura, Volvo, Lexus, and Infiniti — with the younger, luxury import buyers’ wallet directly in its crosshairs.

The LaCrosse was the first step in GM’s plan to revamp the Buick lineup the way it successfully has with Cadillac. So far, between the LaCrosse, the new Regal, the midsize Enclave crossover SUV, and hopefully with the new Encore, it seems to be working.

The LaCrosse is truly a world car. Engineers at GM’s Opel subsidiary in Europe created the basic platform and most of the chassis development, while American engineers tackled the body structure, and GM China handled the interior, and majority of the exterior design Walkaround: it’s hard to argue with the LaCrosse’s stylish looks. Smooth and rounded, it incorporates many of the styling cues from previous Buicks without coming across as retro, or worse, cliché’. The LaCrosse features a low, coupe-like roofline that creates the optical illusion of being significantly smaller than the previous model, although it’s virtually the same size.

The hoodline, beltline and rear deck all sit up high, while the roof sweeps down towards the sedan’s haunches. Both the front and rear glass have a significantly flat slope, and since the LaCrosse’s sheetmetal is meant for a global audience, the upright front fascia meets the more stringent European pedestrian crash standards. The body surfaces have more pronounced creases in the hood and flanks, including Buick’s signature “sweep spear” at the rear quarter, all contributing to an elegant, modern design.

Interior: The quality of the interior — both materials, and fit-and-finish — are Cadillac quality. The dashboard covering, door panels and instrument cluster hood are all the same sew and stitch leather previously reserved for Cadillac, and standard across the model range.

All LaCrosse models also have a leather-covered shifter and steering wheel, which has a thick, easy-to-grip rim outfitted with redundant controls for the audio system.

Instrumentation is Buick’s soft teal. Buick provides a choice of a touchscreen interface or knobs in the LaCrosse, with most of the controls accessible via the screen or a knob directly below. And for the tech adventurous, most of the systems are also accessible through voice commands as well.

Buick boasts the LaCrosse is the quietest Buick ever thanks to Quiet Tuning, which involves acoustic laminated glass, triple-sealed doors, liquid-sealed sound deadening, and special designs for the suspension bushings, engine cradle and mounts, and steering and induction systems.

The LaCrosse features all the usual power items — windows, mirrors, door locks remote entry, etc., along with a smart key and start button, AM/FM/CD/ with Sirius/XM and Bluetooth, which are all standard, as is GM’s OnStar.

Under The Hood: The standard powerplant is Buick’s 182 horse, 2.4-liter DOHC inline four-banger, which features eAssist™ “light electrification” technology, four-valves per cylinder, and continuously variable valve timing. The eAssist system is the standard powertrain on four LaCrosse packages. It uses a lithium-ion battery system and electric motor-generator to enable regenerative braking capability, improving fuel economy 25 percent over the previous 2.4-Liter engine. The engine is paired with a next-generation sixspeed automatic transmission.

The upscale LaCrosse models are equipped with a new, more powerful and efficient version of the previous 3.6-Liter V-6 direct-injected engine, which adds 23 more horses, for a total of 303. The engine also adds E85 ethanol FlexFuel capability. All are mated to the same smooth 6-speed automatic. Frontwheel is standard with AWD offered on the upscale verions.

Behind The Wheel: The LaCrosse is a real pleasure to drive — no matter where you are.

I’ve driven it across the Cascade Mountains on a quick turnaround to Spokane and back — as well as from Palm Beach to Key West. The fatigue level after extensive times behind the wheel was a lot less than you might imagine.

The front seats are well shaped and supportive, and hold up surprisingly well to both aggressive two- lane blacktop driving, as well as hours on the freeway. The standard Stabilitrak system with traction control, 4wheel independent suspension with front McPherson struts, and 4-wheel anti-lock disc brakes with intelligent assist, make handling and braking responsive, safe and effortless, no matter what the driving surface.

Whines: The lack of paddle shifters is a glaring omission I’m surprised hasn’t been corrected since the LaCrosse’s original debut. Given that few people manually shift of their automatics anyway, this probably won’t matter to anyone except a handful of serious driving enthusiasts who most likely aren’t Buick buyers anyway — but they’d be a welcome addition.

Bottom Line: Simply put, this is a great car and a huge advance forward for not only Buick, but all of Detroit. It’s quiet, comfortable, stylish, and at under $36,000 as tested, a damn good value as well. Like GM has proven with Chevy, Cadillac, and now Buick, it can compete head-on with the Japanese and European dragons, slaying them on both quality and price. If you’re in the market for a mid-sized luxury sports sedan, you owe it to yourself to check out the Buick LaCrosse.

TIME and Ally Financial honor Puget Sound Auto Dealer Bruce Titus earns national recognition for community service and industry accomplishments at NADA Convention The nomination of Bruce Titus, dealer principal of Bruce Titus Eastside Subaru in Kirkland, Washington, for the TIME Dealer of the Year award was announced. Titus also recently purchased the longtime dealership Bay Ford in Port Orchard, and has done numerous upgrades to the facility. It has since been renamed Bruce Titus’ Port Orchard Ford.

Titus is one of a select group of dealers from across the country who was honored at the 95th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas recently. The announcement of this year’s nominees was made by Kim Kelleher, worldwide publisher of TIME, and Tim Russi, executive vice president, North American Operations, for Ally Financial.

The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. Recipients are among the nation’s most successful auto dealers who must also demonstrate a longstanding commitment to community service.

Titus, 54, was chosen to represent the Washington State Auto Dealers Association in the national competition – one of only 50 auto dealers, from 17,000 nationwide, nominated for the 43rd annual award.

“I was given an unparalleled foundation from my family and have taken everything they taught me and attribute my success to hard work and dedication to this great industry,” said Titus.

A 1975 graduate of Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma and

Washington State University, where he earned a degree in finance in 1979, Titus entered the family business upon graduation and worked his way through each department, learning the business from the inside out. “My grandfather started in the business in 1912 and owned his first Ford dealership in 1918,” says Titus.

He has followed that same path, opening his first store in 1995 and today, owning eight franchises in four different Washington locations.

In the area of the community service, Titus has a number of organizations he supports. “Working for the family gave me great perspective on what our role in the community should be,” he says. “Giving back and supporting all types of organizations can

be very rewarding.” He supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Tacoma Art Museum, the Humane Society in several cities, FISH food bank, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Sisters Big Brothers, as well as many other national charities.

His most gratifying contribution is to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, for which he was given a Distinguished Service Award, having raised more than $1 million and chairing the largest fundraiser in Pierce County for 20 years. He concludes, “When we are able to support our families and make an impact on their lives, we come to count on each other, work as one and make an impact. I was given a chance to become successful by my family and I am grateful to be able to pass this along to all of my employees.”

One man’s opinion on the best vehicles of 2011-2012 Best American Car? Cadillac CTS. Runner-up, is a tie between the Buick LaCrosse and Chrysler 300.

Best Hybrid Vehicle? Toyota Prius. The Ford Fusion is supposed to be rated very well as is the Infiniti M, but I haven’t driven either.

Best Electric Vehicle (EV)?Hands down the Nissan LEAF. The much heralded Chevy Volt, which only has an EV range of 40 miles, is a poser in comparison. If GM could kick the EV range up to match the LEAF, and still have the gas engine backup, it would be a real winner. The plug-in Prius only has an EV range of around 13 miles.

This is by far not a comprehensive list, but a recap of what I’ve driven that I like. You

may have noticed I haven’t included many Fords or any BMW’s in this list. I’ve not driven a lot of Ford product over the last two model years because there haven’t been many in the Northwest press fleet.

As for BMW, personally, I’m not a big fan after owning a 5-series, and spending several thousand dollars at BMW Northwest on a problem I couldn’t get fixed.

Another car I get asked about a lot is the Dodge Viper. That car is all about raw, unadulterated power — which it has in abundance. The Viper has gotten much better as its aged, and been refined, but I don’t think anyone would consider it a daily driver.

Also, differing from years past you will notice the appearance of Hyundai and Kia in several catagories — which never happened before. When they were first introduced here, I use to joke that Kia was how you said “crap” in Korean, and Hyundai was how you said “sh*t.”

No more. Hyundai, which owns Kia, has done a spectacular job of going from being the new car of last resort, to building some very fine product — with the best warranty on the planet.

Finally, the answer to my most frequently asked question: No, I don’t need any help doing this. But thanks for asking.

Yes, I know, it’s tough duty, but someone has to do it — might as well be me.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 35

By Lary Coppola I’ve been writing the car reviews that appear here in the Business Journal as well as a number of city and lifestyle-type magazines around the country for almost 20 years now.

Although I’m sure I’ll have lots of brandloyalty disagreements, here’s the answers to my most frequently asked car questions based on cars I’ve either personally testdriven during the 2011-2012 model year, or am familiar with. Please note I haven’t driven nearly everything on the market, and these are in no particular order and grouped kind of — but not exactly — by price.

Best Mid-Sized Sedan? There’s a reason the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord consistently battle for the top selling — and stolen — spot. But don’t overlook the Nissan Altima, Chevy Malibu, Ford Taurus, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Dodge Charger, Acura TL, Hyundai Genesis, and Audi A6.

Best Small Sedan/Coupe? Chevy Cruze, Kia Forte, Audi A4, Ford Focus and VW Jetta.

Two cars I haven’t driven yet, but do expect good things from based on what I’ve seen and heard are the new Dodge Dart and Fiat 500.

Best Luxury Sedan? Infiniti M45, Volvo S80, Audi A8, Cadillac CTS, Lexus GS 350, Mercedes S-Class, Porsche Panamera, and Hyundai Equus.

Best Sports Sedan? There are so many that are so good it’s hard to pick just a few because the nuances are so subtle, and its often as much about personal style and driving habits as it is about pure performance.

In the lower price range it’s easily the Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Mazdaspeed 3, and Acura TSX. Mid-price range includes the Nissan Maxima, Mercedes C-Class, Infiniti G37X, Chrysler 300 SRT8, Buick Regal, and Lexus iS Among the very best in my opinion are the Audi A8, Mercedes S-Class, Volvo S60R, and based on my own sense of personal style, comfort and performance, the Jaguar XJ. Best Performance Sports Coupe?

Depending on your price range, again, too many that are so good, but the Nissan 370Z and GT-R are awesome performers as are the Audi TT, Infiniti G37X, Audi A5, and Mercedes EClass. But my personal favorite car, bar none, in this category: the Porsche 911 Carrera 4GTS followed real closely by the Infiniti G37 IPL. Best Crossover SUVs? Entry level: Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4, Mazda 5, Mitsubishi Outlander, and Subaru Forester.

Best Crossover SUVs? Mid-Price: Acura RDX, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Nissan Murano, Volvo XC60 & XC70, Ford Explorer, and Infiniti FX35.

Best Crossover SUVs? Luxury-Price: Volvo XC90, Lexus RX, Acura MDX, Infiniti FX45, Jeep Cherokee SRT8, and Porsche Cayanne Best Pure (body-on-frame) SUV? Range Rover, Land Rover, Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Xterra, Toyota FJ, Toyota 4Runner, Jeep Rubicon, Lexus LX, Chevy Tahoe, Nissan Armada, and Infiniti QX56 Best Full-Size Pickup? Ford F150 just by a nose over the Nissan Titan. Honorable mention, Toyota Tundra, and Chevy Silverado.

Best Small Pickup? Hands down, the Nissan Frontier. Runner up — Toyota Tacoma.

Editor & Publisher Lary Coppola Advertising Sales Dee Coppola Creative Director Steve Horn Webmaster/IT Greg Piper Graphic Design Kris Lively Office Administration Jennifer Christine Web Host PCS Web Hosting LLC Contributing Writers Rodika Tollefson Adele Ferguson Don Brunell Kathleen Byrne-Barrantes Dan Weedin Ron Rada Julie Tappero Paula Bartlett Jason Parker

36 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

Press Releases Email to pressreleases@KPBJ.com

The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal is a special interest publication dedicated exclusively to providing news, information and opinions to the business communities of the Kitsap and Key Peninsulas, and North Mason County. It is published monthly by Wet Apple Media. Copyright, 2012, with all rights reserved. Postage is paid at Tacoma, WA. The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal is read by more than 26,000 business, professional, political and military leaders in Kitsap, Pierce, and Mason counties. Additional copies are available for $1.50 each. Annual subscriptions are available for $25.

Reproduction or use of any editorial or graphic content contained herein in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written consent of the Publisher is strictly prohibited. The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal is proudly composed using Apple Macintosh® computers and printed by The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA. Views expressed herein are strictly the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the advertisers or ownership of The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.

Wet Apple, Inc. 321 Tremont Street • Port Orchard, WA 98366-3764

(360) 876-7900 • (800) 733-7990 Fax: (360) 895-2495 Website: www.kpbj.com

Member Kitsap Economic Development Alliance Kitsap Visitors and Convention Bureau Homebuilders Association of Kitsap County Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce North Mason Chamber of Commerce Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce Silverdale Chamber of Commerce

What should organized labor expect If Obama wins in 2012?

By Harry Kelber If President Obama, as predicted, wins his election for a second term as President of the United States, he will be less beholden to American labor for his victory than for his first election in 2008.

In 2008, he hungered for the financial support and army of volunteers that the unions freely gave him. He desperately needed unions to help him carry the key industrial states that assured his election as president.

President Obama did very little to express his appreciation for labor’s support, except in an occasional speech. He forgot his promise to press for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) within 100 days of his election. AFL-CIO unions, under heavy attack, were counting on EFCA to “level the playing field between labor and management.”

Obama also used his official powers to persuade the unions to hold off their campaign to amend his health care legislation. much to the chagrin of many of his supporters. He went ahead with his Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, which he knew were vigorously opposed by organized labor as jobcutting measures.

Obama disregarded his promise to raise the federal minimum wage, still stuck at $7.25 an hour, knowing that millions of low-wage workers were struggling to support families at that pitiful wage — and even lower.

Throughout his first term, Obama continued to rely on Wall Street financiers and Washington insiders as top advisors, despite his promise to bring experts to the White House who were more in tune with Main Street needs.

Kelly named as new Business Journal editor Tim Kelly has been named as the editor of the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal. The announcement was made by Publisher and Founder Lary Coppola.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Tim to our staff,” stated Coppola. “He’s a great fit for not only the Business Journal, but in helping position our company for its next level of growth.”

Kelly, a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, brings over 18 years of journalistic experience to the publication, and is a veteran of the Associated Press, as well as writing and editing for several newspapers in Washington and Oregon. Most recently, he spent 8 years at the Yakima Herald-Republic before coming to Port Orchard last summer to become editor of the Port Orchard Independent. His even-handed, in-depth reporting — especially on political issues — was immediately viewed by the South Kitsap business community as a welcome change. He served there until the editor’s position was eliminated by recent extreme budget cuts and consolidation moves made by Sound Publishing, owners of the Independent.

“I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to work with Lary and Dee Coppola to help maintain and expand their success in providing excellent coverage of business and political news in the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, and on its innovative website,” said Kelly.

Kelly will serve as editor of the newspaper as well as the website (www.kpbj.com), and the Business Weekly E-mailer. (On the website, you’ll be able to sign up for a new “Business Daily” E-mailer on the 15th!) The website itself will also be updated daily. He will also write an editorial column, which will appear in the Business Journal under Coppola’s “The Last Word” editorial, and lend a hand with some feature writing for Wet Apple Media’s other publication, WestSound Home & Garden Magazine.

Coppola will remain as Publisher, overseeing the implementation of a number of technological upgrades for both publications, including a major website overhaul for WestSound Home & Garden, the addition of video in both reporting and advertising, as well as continuing to write the popular “Behind The Wheel” automotive review column.

Kelly is married, and the father of four. He and his wife Jennifer have a 12-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter who attend South Kitsap schools. He’s a regular Red Cross blood donor; a seasonal volunteer Bellringer for the Salvation Army; and a four-time defending champion in a fantasy baseball league. He enjoys reading, music, good food, family trips, crossword puzzles and sports — and is still a fan of his hometown Kansas City Royals and Chiefs. He also enjoys a part-time avocation as a sports official for youth and high school baseball, softball, basketball and football.

Kelly will come on board on April 1, the 25th anniversary of the Business Journal’s first publication. Beginning in April, Tim Kelly may be reached at 360-876-7900 or editor@kpbj.com.

Will Obama, in his Second Term, Be More Sympathetic to Unions?

Depending on how the 2012 campaign develops, Obama may still need the full-

fledged labor support to defeat the Republican candidate on issues.

Kelber, page 37

Washington’s Health Insurance Exchange: Paying more for less

By Don C. Brunell, President Association of Washington Business When you talk about state health insurance exchanges, people’s eyes glaze over.

(See, it’s happening right now.) The subject seems far too complicated and confusing.

But we need to talk about them because, as you read this, state bureaucrats in Olympia are making decisions that will affect the cost and availability of your health care benefits. Your insurance company isn’t taking part in the state exchange? It doesn’t

matter. The rules will still affect your choices and your costs.

State exchanges are a creature of the federal health care law. They were created to distribute federal subsidies for qualified enrollees and establish how insurers would do business under the new health care law.

State exchanges fall into two types: open market and active purchaser.

Open market exchanges emphasize competition and consumer choice. For example, in Utah’s exchange, insurers compete

Congratulations Norm!

There are two kinds of politicians, the ones who run to be somebody and the ones who run to get something done. The first kind join every committee, study things to death, show up at every ribbon cutting, and keep getting re-elected. They rarely get anything of significance accomplished because they are not willing to hold themselves accountable for doing what they say they are going to do. It’s called the safe way to remain in public office.

Then there are the second kind of politicians, my favorites, who run because they have a passion to serve people by getting things done and leaving the place better than they found it.

This is Norm Dicks! A man who has in his every fiber demonstrated the desire and passion to make a difference. I am proud to call Norm my friend and had the wonderful experience of working with him for eight years on the redevelopment of downtown Bremerton.

Norm visited my office the second week after I was elected Mayor of Bremerton and the first question out of his mouth was “What is your plan to bring back our downtown and how can I help you?” For eight years he did everything he possibly could to find funding to support our downtown projects. Norm announced recently that after serving for over 30 years in Congress he will be retiring, and for that decision I congratulate him. It is rare in political life when officials know it is time to leave and do it on their own terms, especially ones who have accomplished so much in their career and could easily be re-elected. But of course Norm Dicks is a CARY BOZEMAN rare elected official, one of which we see very few of in our lifetime.

My Turn I have studied leaders and leadership all my life and have wondered, how is it that few people have the ability to bring positive change to their city, state, or country? What is it that distinguishes these leaders from others? I am convinced it is because they have a vision and a passion for the future and the ability to bring others together to support that vision. Norm Dicks is one of those leaders.

I rank Norm in the top five of elected officials to ever serve this state, in the company of leaders like Governor Dan Evans, and Senators Jackson and Magnusson.

History will be very kind to Norm and I would love to be able to write one of chapters for the book that will be written about his accomplishments, which would certainly include chapters on his contributions to Boeing, our beloved Puget Sound, Tacoma, the U.W., and of course his home town of Bremerton. Norm’s family and friends have always been a priority in his life, now we don’t have to share him as much. Good on you old friend.

(Editor’s Note: Cary Bozeman is the former Mayor of the Cities of Bremerton and Bellevue) from page 36 But what is he willing to pay for it? Not much. Certainly not an EFCA to make unions stronger. Obama is still clinging to his Wall Street-trained advisers and is looking for big-time corporate donors, no matter what their views.

Obama’s advisers fully understand labor’s predicament: Unions would be further weakened with a Republican in the White House. Realistically, they have no place to go, except to work for Obama’s re-election in tandem with the Democratic Party.

It is unlikely that Obama will recommend another financial stimulus package to create new jobs for the millions who will still be unemployed, even as the economy picks up.

Obama has been sold on the idea that cutting the size of the federal budget is his top priority, although he will continue to talk about the jobs his administration has created with his frequent coda: .” . and there’s much more to be done.”

Obama says he wants to cut four trillion dollars from the federal deficit. That means the elimination or crippling of hundreds of current programs that serve as survival networks for the poor, the retired, the sick and the elderly. He hasn’t told us where and how he plans to do the cutting.

What can organized labor do about its dilemma? It can start to build its own independent political voice, divorced from both Democrats and Republicans. With some 16 million members in its ranks in cities and towns across the country, It represents, potentially, a powerful political force that can criticize or support the Obama administration, whenever it so decides. It need not yield to the pressure to make Obama’s second-term victory into a coronation.

About two months ago, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka agreed to build an independent voice. for labor. He concedes that is what union members are asking for. So why the delay?

State exchanges will be costly to operate, especially if billions in promised federal subsidies don’t materialize.

Because catastrophic policies are most often purchased by healthy young adults, state bureaucrats want to force those low risk consumers into the exchange so their premiums can subsidize the other higher risk participants.

Another rule in Washington’s exchange could further limit choice for consumers in our state. Even though the exchange doesn’t apply to them, insurers that specialize in health plans for large employers and associations must change their business model and start offering three tiers of plans to either small groups or individuals — markets for which they have no desire, no experience, no expertise and no products.

Not surprisingly, these extreme intrusions into the marketplace will convince some of the few remaining insurers in Washington that it’s time to leave the state, further reducing choice and competition.

Of course, all this will change if Gov. Gregoire heeds calls to veto the two offending sections of the exchange legislation.

Without that veto, Washington’s health insurance exchange will mean loss of coverage, fewer choices, less competition and higher prices.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 37

KELBER

side-by-side on an interactive state-run website, allowing people to select from a broad variety of plans, coverage levels and prices. The consumer simply answers online questions about their income and the size and makeup of their family, and the website presents the viewer with a variety of plans that meet those needs. The consumer makes the final decision.

An active purchaser exchange requires the state to contract with health insurers to provide coverage. The Massachusetts model is an example of an active purchaser exchange.

Washington is adopting a model closer to the active purchaser model, one that emphasizes state control. The federal health care law contains a host of measures to protect consumers, guarantee access to health care and spread financial risk. But Washington’s exchange goes far beyond the federal law.

For example, participation in state exchanges was supposed to be voluntary, ensuring that consumers could choose among insurers operating inside and outside the exchange. Not so in Washington.

Consider this: Some insurers focus on serving niche markets, such as providing lower-cost catastrophic policies that cover only major health care expenditures. But state bureaucrats have decided that insurers who sell those plans to young adults in Washington will be able to do so only through the exchange — they are banned from selling those plans on the open market.

Why would bureaucrats force these insurers into the exchange? Money

Pointed political commentary — Take 2 As we go to press, two Republicans have announced their intention to challenge County Commissioners Charlotte Garrido and Rob Gelder come November. Chris Tibbs, who ran against Gelder last time wants a re-match, and Linda Simpson, who ran for the legislature against Fred Finn, wants to take on Garrido. Redistricting moved Simpson from the 35th into Garrido’s territory, although she didn’t move.

It’s no secret Tibbs, who touts himself as a “successful businessman,” declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2005, over a paltry $12,658.97. That makes his claims of business acumen somewhat suspect at best.

I saw Tibbs debate Gelder three different times during the first go around. His primary theme was property rights and the county’s well-known, combatively obstructive history when it comes to land use. But absolutely astounding was his complete and utter lack of understanding about the Growth Management Act (GMA) and how it actually works. From his campaign announcement, it appears he’s intending to go down that same path again this time.

So while Tibbs appears to be a pretty good salesman, and a slick campaigner who understands staying on message, hopefully he’s gotten some education about the GMA. If he hasn’t, he’s going to sound just as foolish, and as downright scary, as he did the first time.

As for Simpson, she’s a nice enough lady, but when she ran against Finn, she was pretty clueless about the issues. She had tons of enthusiasm though, which made her pretty likable, but didn’t begin to overcome her glaring lack of knowledge about the actual problems facing the state. Finn, who no one is ever going to confuse with Mr.

Excitement because his soft-spoken, thoughtful demeanor, was able to easily outdistance her on his knowledge of the things she should have been up to speed on.

Simpson, who was injured in a motorcycle accident and lost most of her left leg, will garner some sympathy votes for her courage in getting back up to fight — which is truly admirable. I don’t mean to sound crass here, but is that a substitute for knowledge of the issues? So while Garrido isn’t the most popular commissioner we’ve ever had — even among Democrats — unless another challenger steps up and wins the Top Two primary LARY COPPOLA along with S i m p s o n , The Last Word Bainbridge Island Democrats will put Garrido back in office, just as they have every time she’s been elected.

What I see as the real problem for local Republicans, is they can’t attract truly qualified candidates that appeal to a wide spectrum of voters. Why not? Well, what’s the definition of insanity? Isn’t it doing the same thing, the same way, over and over, and expecting a different result?

The party leadership is so far to the right of the local mainstream, that the most electable moderates don’t have any voice in their own party. Rather than fight the party’s conservative leadership, potential moderate candidates usually either drift over to the Democrats, or just stay on the sidelines, because they can’t get the party support they need to be successful. That simple fact has handed the Democrats a huge gift-wrapped

advantage even the most marginal candidates (I’m not going to name names here, but look around and figure it out for yourself) have successfully exploited for decades.

The ultra-conservative Republicans running the party seemingly would rather win an internal philosophical battle against moderates in their own party, than win an election. This often keeps the best and brightest moderates from seeking office — or even staying involved in the party itself.

So until the local Republican leadership moves the party more towards the center and away from the extreme right, they’re going to have a difficult time attracting truly qualified, electable candidates who could make a difference in our community. You’d think they’d have figured that out by now. But until they do, Kitsap will continue to be governed by a majority of Democrats at every level.

Longtime Congressman Norm Dicks announcing his retirement came as a bit of a shock — but only in its timing. I can’t speak for Norm, but at age 71 and still in good health, I know if I were in his shoes, I’d believe the time had come to enjoy what’s left of my life on my own terms.

This community certainly owes an enormous debt to Norm, who has brought home the bacon for almost four decades. His ability to accomplish the seemingly impossible for us presents an enormous set of shoes for any congressional newcomer to fill.

Looking at the announced candidates, I believe State Senator Derek Kilmer offers the best choice to emulate Norm’s success.

Frankly, I was surprised to get a call from him early on the Sunday morning after Norm’s announcement, asking for my support — which I was happy to give.

Knowing how much his young family means to him, I wasn’t sure he’d want his children growing up in the other Washington, but he explained his reasons for running. Knowing him as I do, they made sense, which also confirmed to me who he truly is.

It’s been obvious the Democrats were grooming Derek for something greater than the State Legislature, but I always thought it was the Governor’s mansion. And because of his understanding of business, job creation, and how regulations impact those, I believe he would make an excellent, and extremely pragmatic governor.

His main Republican opposition seems to be perennial candidate Doug Cloud and software entrepreneur Jesse Young. Cloud has proven he isn’t electable and should stop wasting everyone’s time. Young was semiimpressive two years ago, and has a pretty compelling story, but should set his sights on something else.

Kilmer’s announcement puts the game of musical legislative chairs in play as well.

Who will be appointed to his seat if he wins?

Rep. Larry Seaquist is the senior Democrat, but would he really want the job? And if did, who would be appointed to his seat?

I think Rep. Jan Angel could win Kilmer’s seat if she wants it, which puts her seat up for grabs since SKFR Battalion Chief Doug Richards is already challenging Seaquist There is one local Democratic City Council member who’s made it known he’d love to be in the legislature, but I’m not giving that scumbag any free publicity here.

However, if he does run, I’ll donate money and work my ass off for whoever his opponent is.

November promises to be Interesting...

38 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com April 2012

Well, this time I guess he really means it.

When Democrat Congressman Jay Inslee announced last year that he was going to run for governor again this year (he ran in 1996 and lost in the primary and was hinting at another try in 2004 but got cold feet) my response was, I’ll believe it when I see it. But resigning his 1st district seat effective March ADELE FERGUSON 20 to devote fulltime to his Politics gubernatorial campaign (I really hate the word gubernatorial) proves this is where he hopes to go.

Personally, I don’t think he can beat Republican Rob McKenna who is giving up a sure shot at reelection as attorney general and has been way ahead of Inslee in polls so far. Governor is the best job in politics other than president because you’re the boss. Even U.S. senators, the first tier of political royalty, have to start out in the

back row, while the newest governor moves into a mansion. We taxpayers even foot the bill for the servants.

Inslee is an exceedingly ambitious man of 60 years who ran for governor after the voters in the district in Eastern Washington threw him out after one term. That was the year Gov. Mike Lowry abandoned a second term try after being accused of sexual harassment by a woman employee. Why lawyer Inslee who had no executive experience whatsoever thought he could make it against the likes of King County Executive Gary Locke and former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice is beyond me.

He came in third in the primary, after Locke and Rice and ahead of two nobodies.

He still needed a job so moved to Bainbridge Island in 1998 where Congressman Rick White was widely rumored to be in big trouble, even among his fellow Republicans for the insensitive way he handled the divorce he sought from the mother of his four kids.

Inslee turned out to be a Clinton loyalist

who was one of a handftul of members voting against impeachment. He blew hot and cold on the war, sometimes voting with his 6th district cohort, Norm Dicks and other times with Jim McDermott, who, despite having his higher education paid for by the Navy, evolved into a peacenik.

He voted against making partial birth abortion a federal crime for doctors but for making an exception if the mother’s life was in danger. He voted against Bush’s $550 billion tax cut. He was for lowering the majority requirement for school levies from 60 percent to 50 percent. He opposed a constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to outlaw desecration of the flag.

He opposed giving military training operations an across-the-board exemption from the Endangered Species Act and Marine Protection Act. He voted for Growth Management. He voted against authorizing President Bush to use force to disarm Iraq with or without the cooperation of the United Nations. In 2005, he went to Iraq to help him decide whether to pull U.S.

troops out and on return said a reasonable timetable would be after Iraqi elections in December. He said Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction.

Inslee was hooked on global warming and coauthored the New Apollo Energy Act designed to decrease dependence on oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He voted for bills promoting wind, solar or biomass power plants. He was for cap and trade, an idea so unpopular with both parties it has disappeared from the table of options.

He denounced a bill that passed speeding up salvage logging and reforestation after fires, hurricanes or other disasters. He supported giving native Hawaiians the same status as Indian tribes with finding, entitlements and ability to have gambling casinos.

In short, Jay Inslee is one of the most liberal members of Congress and greenest of the greenies who would be in way over his head as governor. God help us if he makes it.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69, Hansville, Wa., 98340.)

BREMERTON CBA498642 $1,427,250 This 2.18 acre Commercial parcel is across the street from new WINCO foods and located at uptown Bremerton plat of Bay Vista. Excellent access and some exposure from St. Hwy 3. Victor Targett, CCIM for details 360-731-5550.

BREMERTON CBA486951 $110,000 Downtown Redevelopment in Bremerton offer one level Commercial retail/office space with 1,240 SF, 2 restrooms, 5 parking spaces plus on street parking in an area of redevelopment.

Victor Targett, CCIM for details 360-731-5550.

BREMERTON CBA481338 $200,000 Location - Location! This 5021 SF investment building with office/retail areas, loading ramp and lay down areas is situated on 3/4 acre lot. Close to Bremerton Shipyard, located on St. Hwy 3 in Gorst area. Victor Targett, CCIM for details 360-731-5550.

BREMERTON CBA468464 $285,000 9000 Sq Ft building in the Bremerton Charleston area. Available for lease at .30 per foot, loading ramp, good parking and centrally located. Victor Targett, CCIM for details 360-731-5550.

BELFAIR CBA501607 4100 sq.ft. single story, stand alone retail/office bldg next to Rite Aid Drugs. ADA access, fiber optics, bay door.

Excellent parking. New roof & HVAC. $12/sq.ft./year + low NNN. Mark Danielsen 360-692-6102/360-509-1299.

BREMERTON CBA500689 2,000 – 18,000 sq.ft. of built out medical space available across from Harrison Hospital. Very competitive pricing. Great access and parking.

Joe Michelsen 360-692-6102/360-509-4009.

BREMERTON CBA453848 Commercial lease: 3,175 sq.ft. w/street frontage, ground floor retail/office space. $1,560/month incl.

Taxes & garbage ($5.90/sf/yr). Kitchenette area.12 off street parking spaces. Tenant pays gas heat & electric.

Mark Danielsen 360-692-6102/360-509-1299.

POULSBO CBA454043 2 very nice offices in Olympic Place 2. 972 sq.ft. & 1475 sq.ft. Each contains private offices. Great parking, elevator & competitive rents.

Joe Michelsen 360-692-6102/360-509-4009.

SILVERDALE MLS321881 $200,000 Fully developed industrial lot in an eight-lot development.

Prices vary based on public visibility. Lots 1-5 have strong public visibility. Quality controlled by CC&Rs. Retail activity may include - plumbing, electrical, tools, paint, fasteners, auto parts, home decorating, etc. Owner can build-to-suit.

Bob Guardino 360-692-6102/360-710-7844.

April 2012 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com • 39

PROPERTY FOR SALE OR LEASE BAINBRIDGE ISLAND CBA504465 $839,000 High quality flex-space in excellent location on Bainbridge Island. Area is zoned for light industrial. Multi-Tenant building, with two tenants who can remain and pay market rents. Office and Warehouse space is available, with spacious retail showroom. Perfect for owner/user SBA financing. Kelly Muldrow 206-780-1500 or 206-949-3420.