Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal 26/11

November 2013 Vol. 26 No. 11

The Voice of Kitsap Business since 1988

Workforce training fits new company, pg 28

Boxlight projects bright ideas WinCo Foods stands out in grocery industry, pg 6

Inside Special Reports: Technology & The Internet, pp 10-14 Education, pp 28-31 People, pg 2 Real Estate, pp 23, 24 Financial, pp 26, 27 Automotive, pp 34, 35 Editorial, pp 36-38 Home Builders Newsletter, pp 19-22

By Tim Kelly, Editor There’s a winner in the People’s Choice awards from the Kitsap Peninsula, though it’s not one of the fan favorites in movies, music and TV. The recipient of one of the 2013 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products is Boxlight Inc., the Belfairbased company that manufactures and sells high-tech interactive projectors.

The Stevies may not be as familiar as Oscars, Emmys or Golden Globes, but they have been presented as part of the American

Tim Kelly photo

Boxlight owners Hank and Sunshine Nance and product manager Jeremy Peterson, center, stand by their 2013 People’s Choice Stevie Award displayed at the entrance to company headquarters in Belfair.

Business Awards for more than a decade. This year’s award for Favorite New Product in the computer hardware category went to the ProjectoWrite5, Boxlight’s top-of-the-line Boxlight, page 11

Rodika Tollefson photo

At 24 feet, the Windermere Real Estate building, which once housed the iconic Gig Harbor Inn, is the tallest building in the waterfront zone included in the proposed amendment.

Plan to allow taller downtown buildings in Gig Harbor draws strong reactions

By Rodika Tollefson Kit Kuhn is like many downtown Gig Harbor merchants. As online shopping proliferates and shopping centers are built in other parts of town, his small store, Kit Kuhn A Jeweler Designed for You, is struggling to get foot traffic. Even before the economy took a turn for the worse, he says the downtown wasn’t vibrant — and

was much less busy than two decades ago.

Kuhn is one of many people who weighed in on a proposal to allow taller buildings in a portion of downtown, a small stretch of waterfront on Harborview Drive between the Skansie Brothers Park and the Green Turtle Restaurant. The Cover Story, page 4

New director of clinical practice and nursing quality joins Harrison Matthew Helbert recently joined Harrison Medical Center as director of clinical practice and nursing quality.

Helbert worked most recently at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma leading a team to improve and ensure the quality of healthcare for wounded service members.

He also worked as a nurse manager and process improvement coordinator at

Madigan Medical Center and as a critical care nurse and case manager at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallap. In addition, he has served in the Army Reserve for 14 years.

Matthew Helbert “I look forward to helping further Harrison’s quality innovations in patient care and nursing excellence,” Helbert said. “I am eager to support the amazing healthcare that happens here every day.”

In his new role, Helbert will help to ensure that Harrison maintains high standards in patient healthcare.

“Matthew brings a wealth of knowledge in critical care nursing, case management, teaching, and leadership in high-tempo environments,” said Pam Marshall, executive director of acute care services.

Helbert earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Nursing from the University of Washington, Tacoma. He holds certifications as a Chronic Care Professional from the Health Services Institute, a U.S. Army Nurse Case Manager,

and a U.S. Army Instructor/Writer from the U.S. Army Medical Center & School.

Columbia Bank loan officer transfers to Bainbridge branch Columbia Bank has announced the relocation of Eric Deisler, assistant vice president and commercial banking officer, to the Winslow Way branch on Bainbridge Island. In his new location, Deisler will be responsible for managing the existing commercial loan portfolio and expanding commercial lending Eric Deisler relationships in the Bainbridge Island and Poulsbo regions.

Deisler has seven years of banking experience and specializes in commercial and industrial lending, as well as commercial real estate financing. He worked at the Columbia Bank Silverdale Branch for two years before transferring to Bainbridge Island.

A Kitsap County native from Port Orchard, Deisler has an associate’s degree from Olympic College and bachelor’s in Business Administration from Mayville State University in North Dakota.

Tacoma-based Columbia Bank, following its recent merger with West Coast Bank, operates 146 banking offices, including 81 branches in Washington and 65 branches in Oregon.

2 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

Real estate firm adds commercial specialist to staff in Bremerton Bradley Scott, Inc. has hired Daniel Morse as a commercial specialist replacing longtime property manager, Phil Berry who retired earlier this year.

Morse’s background is in retail management and customer service, and he has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Trinity Western Daniel Morse University.

The Bradley Scott office (www.bradleyscottinc.com) is at 400 Warren Ave., Suite 450 in Bremerton. The phone number is 360-479-6900.

Read your local business news online on your mobile device www.KPBJ.com

Kingston citizens create economic development group under KEDA umbrella

By Rodika Tollefson For more than a year, a group of local citizens has been asking questions about the economy in the greater Kingston area and what can be done to give it a boost. In March, the group began official meetings and created the Greater Kingston Economic Development Council. The grass-roots effort is getting even more teeth now by Jerry Kirschner aligning with the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance — as a special committee under KEDA operations.

By using KEDA as a fiscal sponsor, the group will be able to pursue grants as well as tap into KEDA’s resources and expertise.

“We decided that if we’re going to enhance vitality in the greater Kingston area, we’ll need a focused effort,” said Jerry Kirschner, who chairs the council.

“When we first started, we were a group of ragtag volunteers but we realized there would be a need for expenditures.

Organizations and individuals were willing to fund initial efforts so we evaluated the options, including forming a nonprofit.”

Aligning with KEDA gives the council additional muscle, thanks to the economic development alliance’s track record and grants history, Kirschner said.

“Because we do economic development throughout the county, we were a natural ally,” said KEDA Executive Director John Powers. “A lot of cities have economic

development committees but in unincorporated areas (like Kingston), you have to improvise.”

Organizations involved with the council include the Port of Kingston, Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce and the Kingston Citizens Advisory Council. They’re also receiving support from Kitsap County Commissioner Rob Gelder, who represents the area.

Kirschner said long-term goals include evaluating the area’s strengths and how they can be used to retain and attract businesses. A survey at tellkingston.com is collecting input from residents and visitors.

“We’ll use the survey as a stepping stone for what we want to do for the greater Kingston area. We want to keep the small-

town atmosphere but on the other hand, we want economic development,” Kirschner said.

The council has been working with the Washington State Department of Transportation to get information into the hands of people waiting for the ferry at the Kingston terminal, and is looking at other possibilities that would take advantage of peak visitor traffic. They’ve also been working with economic development and tourism consultant Roger Brooks, and local business IGA funded a year’s worth of access to Brooks’ resource library. Other local businesses have also donated in-kind services.

Kingston, page 5

New owners running NW Millwork and Door Co. Dave Tripp and Julie Lohrer have purchased NW Millwork and Door Co. in Kingston from retiring owner Bob Ruch.

The new owners said they are “honored to have the opportunity to own this new business as Bob had created a great reputation as a high-quality millwork company.”

As a former contractor, Tripp is focusing on developing more contractor relationships that can benefit from the company’s millwork.

“We are unique on the peninsula as one of the only companies that manufactures our own trim, in conjunction with selling door packages,” Tripp said.

NW Millwork also makes custom doors. For more information about the company, visit the website nwmillanddoor.com.

Retired Bremerton educator receives Distinguished Alumni Award from alma mater

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November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 3

Peggy Howland, who retired 30 years ago as an assistant principal at Bremerton High School, recently was presented the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

The award was presented to Howland, 94, at her Bremerton home on Oct. 9 by university representative Susan Oswald on behalf of Jean Quam, dean of the College of Education and Human Development.

Howland earned a master’s degree in 1943 from the college’s Department of Child Welfare, which is known today as Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development.

Oswald noted that hundreds of alumni are nominated each year for the college’s annual Courtesy photo award, which recognizes Peggy Howland, left, is shown at her Bremerton home outstanding contributions alumni receiving the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award from the have made in their professional College of Education and Human Development at the fields and their communities. University of Minnesota. Susan Oswald made the Howland was selected for the presentation on behalf of the college. award for “her dedication to children and education, and her pioneering work in the field of special education,” Oswald said, citing Howland’s work in “organizing preschools and high school programs with special emphasis on programs for students with developmental disabilities.”

After completing graduate school in Minnesota, Howland developed the first early childhood program for children with special needs in Honolulu in 1953.

“Peggy saw beyond disabilities and recognized the needs of children who were not allowed to attend public schools because of their limitations,” Oswald said. “Her groundbreaking program stressed parental involvement, the use and training of volunteers in the classroom and the inclusion of a paid teacher aide.”

In 1959, Howland moved to Bremerton, where she directed the first federally funded Head Start program in the Bremerton School District in 1965. She also created a prevocational program for high school students.

Kitsap GEW Events!

4 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

from page 1 proposed change stirred up controversy among residents while being supported by many business owners.

“I spent most of my years fighting growth but I’m encouraging (this amendment),” Kuhn, whose shop is located across the street from the waterfront zone, testified at an Oct. 14 Gig Harbor City Council hearing. “I’ve watched downtown be dead for 12 years. I was scared of growth downtown but I would give up some of the charm … for a place where businesses can make it.”

Kit Kuhn The Gig Harbor Planning Commission recommended changing the 16-foot limit on height (18 feet with a peaked roof) to 27 feet in the Downtown Business District and the abutting waterfront commercial zone. The height change would allow for twostory buildings but the building size limit would remain at 6,000 square feet, allowing 3,000 per floor. The City Council approved the amendment for the Downtown Business District in September but excluded the waterfront from the vote. Council members wanted to take more public testimony as well as clarify some misinformation they said was being circulated in the community. An open house and public hearing on Oct. 14 specifically addressed the waterfront zone.

The amendment was the result of a downtown visioning process initiated by the council last year. The vision, adopted in December 2012, describes the harbor as a reflection of the city’s past and its maritime heritage and a foundation for the future — a vibrant place that has both a walkable and picturesque environment and supports retail and commercial services.

“It was a good, balanced vision and I’m encouraged we’ll take action,” said council member Jill Guernsey, who chaired the vision committee. “I think (the proposal) does implement the vision.”

Gig Harbor imposed the 16-foot height limit in the 1970s, updating it in the 1990s to allow 18 feet for peaked roofs. A size limit of 6,000 square feet was added in 2005 — partly in response to a controversy over the 32,400-squarefoot Russell Family Foundation headquarters built in 2001.

The majority of the existing buildings don’t conform to those limits, however, because they were built before restrictions were in place.

“Current height regulations don’t allow for the buildings that exist in that zone to be rebuilt (to their same envelope),” said Jennifer Kester, the city’s planning director. “The planning commission said, ‘We should be allowing the new buildings to at least match the existing sizes to make a level playing field between existing and new buildings.’”

The commissioners looked at typical rooflines and building sizes that define the downtown character, Kester said. Currently, the tallest building in that waterfront commercial zone is the former Harbor Inn (now home to Windermere Real Estate and other businesses). The flat-roofed, 24-foot building is prominently seen at the bottom of Pioneer Drive as

Coming Next Issue...

visitors arrive downtown. A consultant study done prior to the 2005 adoption of building size limits found that the Harbor Inn building represented “appropriate and characteristic two-story building size.”

The 27-foot limit would have to be met both at the top and bottom elevations. But since buildings can’t slope accordingly, they would be stepped down instead; in some cases, the 27-foot limit can’t be met in the process, so a formula will be used for stepping them down with the grade.

Additionally, the city wants to encourage building owners to add usable spaces on the stepped-down roofs, and will allow rails to exceed the height limit under certain conditions.

“This opens the door to a slow deconstruction of Gig Harbor’s heritage.”

— Linda Stevenson New buildings would still have to conform with design guidelines as well as provide view corridors. Kester noted that no other parts of the city have more rigorous standards than downtown. In their recommendations, planning commissioners said that new structures “should be characterized by interesting forms and rooflines” and that “boxy and single-mass buildings should be discouraged” unless appropriate for the streetscape.

The proposal for the waterfront — as well as the amendments already passed for the business district — also allows additions to the interior gross-floor area to exceed the maximum allowed as long as the building envelope isn’t changed. The height of residential buildings would also be measured from the property line and setbacks would be moved closer to the street in order to create “street interaction” and give back to waterfront property owners some of their land after new shoreline regulations will require 35- to 100-foot setbacks from the water. Also, the amendment would change the code that limits remodels to 50 percent of a building’s replacement value as long as the envelope remains the same.

Only the height changes, however, seemed to have struck a chord with Gig Harbor residents. According to Kester, the number of comments received for the proposed amendments is at least equal if not bigger than any issue in the past decade, and a petition that had 1,507 signatures (the number wasn’t verified independently for duplicates) is the most the city has received.

About two-thirds of the comments — including the petition — were against the amendments. Those who oppose the idea say the amendment will change the feel of downtown and will “kill the cash cow”— tourism, that is.

Several of those who testified at the final public hearing said the downtown is attractive for its quaintness and taller buildings would take that away. Many felt this was a permanent solution to a temporary problem and that the views would change despite the view-corridor requirements between buildings.

“Slacking up on building restrictions seems like a kneejerk reaction to a dip in the economy. The City Council has failed to explain how this proposal would positively impact businesses,” Linda Stevenson said at the Oct. 14 hearing.

“What’s at stake here is the Gig Harbor experience. … This opens the door to a slow deconstruction of Gig Harbor’s heritage.”

However, property owners like Peter Stanley, who’s owned the Tides Tavern for about 40 years, said the changes make architectural and economic sense and would give the area a boost. “It gives incentives to downtown building owners to renovate and reinvest in their buildings,” he testified.

Gig Harbor residents have always had keen feelings about preserving the area’s character — the town even made national headlines in the 1990s for driving a would-be Walmart store out of town. And the city’s design guidelines are some of the strictest around, according to developers.

But downtown seems to especially stir up emotions in the community. Several attempts have been made over the past decade or so to make downtown more vital; there was even a highly controversial proposal once to create one-way streets. And not all new ideas are immediately embraced.

For example, when a local resident originally proposed adopting the national Main Street approach in 2001, she was met with shrugged shoulders and negative comments.

A decade later, the downtown became a designated Main Street.

“If you don’t have change and revitalization, you just have a bunch of old buildings.”

— City Councilman Steve Ekberg At press time, the city council was expected to deliberate and vote on the waterfront amendments at its Oct. 28 meeting, though council members have until the Nov. 12 meeting to make a decision without starting the public process over.

Councilman Steve Ekberg, who has served on the council since 1994 and another eight years during a previous term, feels the proposal does make economic sense. He notes that the city has been proactive with preserving views — there are several public spaces and parks in the section in question. He said some misinformation has been circulated but he hoped people look at the facts instead of going with emotional issues before making a decision.

“If you don’t have change and revitalization, you just have a bunch of old buildings,” said Ekberg, who moved to Gig Harbor with his wife 42 years ago and uses downtown for his main shopping. “Will it change the character? A new building always does but will it be detrimental? I don’t think so. ... I hope this gives us an opportunity to bring more vitality downtown.”

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Western Coatings offers roof drain cleaning service Western Coatings, a division of Peninsula Infrared, LLC, is now offering roof drain jetting services throughout the Puget Sound area.

“We perform a lot of roof maintenance on commercial buildings and have noticed a common trend of drain lines being plugged,” company owner Grant Furness said. “Even if the roof is maintained and kept clean, it won’t drain if the lines are plugged. With the early onset of heavy rains this fall, water buildup on roofs has been a common problem throughout the area.”

The company has acquired the equipment to clean drain lines on buildings up to five or six stories high. The process is similar to jetting a sewer line, except the equipment has been modified by Furness and his crew. “Cleaning the drain lines is an important part of a roof maintenance program,” he adds. “It can help prevent water from backing up onto the roof and entering the building, like we saw in Bremerton a few weeks ago.”

Western Coatings is a veteran-owned business. The company operates in Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, King and Snohomish counties, and can be contacted at 360-3622299 or grant@western-coatings.com.

KINGSTON

from page 3 Kirschner said the council’s efforts are different from another relatively new grassroots group, the North Kitsap Tourism Consortium, which has a narrower scope.

“Tourism is part of economic development and the tourism consortium is trying to develop a brand for the small communities in North Kitsap to make the area attractive for tourists and locals,” Kirschner said.

The consortium is chaired by his wife, Nancy Langwith, who also sits on the council. (The couple were recognized for their various community efforts earlier this

year by being selected the chamber’s Persons of the Year).

The Greater Kingston Economic Development Council is operating under a “sunset clause.” If they’re not successful after three years, they will reevaluate their goals and direction.

“We’ll be looking at our goals every year to see if they’re being attained. …If we don’t show progress in three years or don’t have a strong plan, we’ll need to take a step back,” Kirschner said. “One of the things several of us felt strongly about is that the community doesn’t need a committee that meets once a month and doesn’t go anywhere. This also shows the Kitsap EDA we have a sense of urgency.”

In addition to helping the council raise seed money, KEDA will provide record keeping as well as liability insurance for volunteers. Powers and Kirschner called the two groups’ alliance a win-win.

“Any time you have people that are committed to promoting and supporting business, that’s a resource for us,” Powers said. “When you have people reaching out to support their community, that creates strong socio-political capital.”

He said he could see similar subcommittees forming in other geographical areas of the county, with Silverdale being a prime example as another unincorporated area.

Company offers mobile service for treatment of head lice

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 5

A business called Lice Knowing You is now offering mobile head lice removal services to families in Kitsap County.

Families who have, or suspect that they have, head lice can now call Lice Knowing You and one of the company’s trained technicians will make a house call to check for and or/perform a head lice treatment.

“We have many clients that have come to our clinics from Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo and Silverdale,” said Nancy Gordon, owner of Lice Knowing You. “Now, clients in Kitsap County can be successfully treated for head lice in the comfort of their own home … in one treatment, guaranteed.”

Gordon and her team of employees use a clinically proven, natural and organic 3step system, designed to eliminate lice safely and effectively. In addition, the technician will train parents and caregivers on a follow-up protocol to ensure that families remain lice- and nit-free. All treatments are guaranteed for 30 days.

The business also provides schools and day care centers in Kitsap Country with the Flip Your Lid program that offers affordable lice screenings and free education programs designed to keep school communities head lice-free.

Lice Knowing You, which operates several clinics in the Seattle area and Portland, is a certified member of The National Association of Lice Treatment Professionals.

Families can call 877.670.5423 to schedule a mobile appointment, or check the website at www.liceknowingyou.com.

Thriving, employee-owned WinCo Foods gets noticed

6 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

By Tim Kelly, Editor While union workers at major chain grocery stores around Puget Sound were on the verge of a strike over contract proposals that would have cut wages, holiday pay and health care, another grocery chain that expanded into Kitsap County last year is quietly thriving while providing its nonunion employees an enviable ownership stake in the company.

"Employee ownership is a big part of how we compete," said Michael Read, an executive with WinCo Foods.

And WinCo, which opened its Bremerton store in April 2012 in a highly visible location on Kitsap Way next to busy State Route 3, is a formidable competitor.

Not only for the chains — Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer and QFC — that barely averted the region’s first grocery store strike since 1989, but increasingly for the retail behemoth that has the largest market share nationally in the industry.

A Time magazine article in August was headlined “Meet the Low-Key, Low-Cost Grocery Chain Being Called ‘Walmart’s Worst Nightmare’.” The reporter borrowed some eyebrow-raising quotes from an earlier article in the Idaho Statesman, the newspaper in WinCo’s hometown of Boise.

A supermarket industry expert named Burt Flickinger III told the paper that “WinCo arguably may be the best retailer in the western U.S.” He also said the company “is really unstoppable at this point,” and that “They’re Walmart’s worst nightmare.”

If that’s indeed the case, it’s primarily because WinCo’s cost-saving business practices allow it to match or even undercut Walmart’s low prices, and because the company is owned by all the people who work in its stores.

WinCo (the name chosen from

employee suggestions is short for “winning company”) offers an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), and every year the company contributes an amount equal to 20 percent of a worker’s annual pay to a retirement fund that essentially purchases shares in WinCo. An independent valuation firm picked by the ESOP trustee appraises the value of the company’s shares each year. Since the company converted to the ESOP ownership structure in 1985, the value of those shares has increased an average of 20 percent compounded annually, according to WinCo’s website.

“It becomes quite a significant fund over a number of years,” said Read, who is vice president of public and legal affairs at WinCo. The company has more than 400 longtime employees (in non-executive positions) with retirement accounts of more than $1 million.

The possibility of accumulating a substantial retirement account in the company-funded ESOP is a strong motivating factor for employees to help ensure their stores operate efficiently and profitably.

“It creates a very stable workforce, a very loyal workforce,” Read said.

Obviously there’s no guarantee of 20 percent increases every year, but WinCo has been growing steadily and expects that to continue.

The company currently has 88 stores in seven Western states, with new ones opening this month in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Norco, Calif. The first two WinCo stores in Texas are scheduled to open in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in early 2014.

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The WinCo Foods store, above, that opened in Bremerton in April 2012 was the company’s first store in the Kitsap and Olympic peninsula region. One way WinCo keeps prices low at its warehouse-style stores is by having customers bag their own groceries.

five years," Read said. "We'll probably open seven or eight stores a year."

The 55,000-square-foot store in Bremerton, which has about 175 employees, is smaller than the typical WinCo store.

“Bremerton is sort of a new model for us,” Read said. “Usually our stores are in the 85,000 to 95,000 range, but the Bremerton market probably would not support a store that size.”

He added, though, that the store has had strong sales since it opened.

“Western Washington has been very good to us. We love the market and we’ve done very well there,” Read said.

In addition to the ESOP, WinCo provides affordable health insurance for employees who work at least 24 hours a week. Read said coverage including vision and dental for an employee and family costs a worker about $40 a month, and the policy’s annual deductible is $200.

It’s an egalitarian approach to health care and retirement benefits for WinCo’s 15,000 employees.

“The system is the same for everybody; the CEO doesn't get a higher (ESOP) contribution,” Read noted. “It’s the same medical plan, same pension plan.”

Store workers earn an hourly wage that Read said is close to what the company determines is “the prevailing wage in markets where we operate.”

As for the low prices shoppers find at WinCo’s no-frills stores, that’s achieved through measures like not accepting credit cards and having customers bag their own groceries. Also, WinCo ships a lot of products by the truckload directly from suppliers to its warehouse-style stores, reducing distribution costs, although the company does have three regional distribution centers in Idaho, Oregon and California and is building a fourth in the Phoenix area.

Also, “We do very little advertising, almost none,” Read said.

Although ESOPs aren’t uncommon in privately owned companies — one of the largest is at the Florida-based Publix WinCo, page 7

Get your ducks in a row before starting a home business

By Rodika Tollefson If you’re thinking about starting a homebased business, you’re in good company.

About half of America’s 28 million small businesses (defined as having 500 or fewer employees) are estimated to be homebased by the Small Business Administration. About 75 percent of those businesses are “nonemployer firms” and 19 million of the 28 million are sole proprietors.

Starting a business from home sounds simple — all you need is some skills/talents and a place to work. But before you clear off the kitchen counter or hang up a “do not disturb sign” on your newly created office door, do a little digging into state and your local jurisdiction’s requirements. Having a home business may sound glamorous but there’s a fair amount of red tape involved.

Besides the basic requirements — a state business license, IRS income tax returns and Washington state business and occupation tax — and any special professional licenses, the cost of having a home business also includes personal property tax and potentially a permit from the planning department. Cities also have additional license fees and in some cases, a B&O tax above and beyond the state’s. Even if you’re just planning to be a part-time consultant or make some wood tchotchkes for the occasional holiday bazaar, starting a business is a little more complicated than just printing a few business cards.

Below is a basic rundown on require-

ments and costs of following that American dream and starting a business in your own back yard (more or less) in the Evergreen State (using a service business as an example).

Business license: Anyone whose commercial activities gross more than $12,000 per year, uses a trade name (different from full legal name), has employees, sells a taxable product or service, or requires a special regulatory license is required to file for a state business license. One-time cost is $19 plus $5 per

trade name. Additionally, certain services require special licenses (e.g. appraisers, travel agents and private investigators).

Cities have additional licensing fees — and many have an agreement with the state Department of Revenue allowing a business to apply for a license from both state and city agencies at the same time.

All Kitsap Peninsula incorporated cities require licenses to be renewed every year and many impose penalties if an application is submitted late; some also have exceptions to the fee structure (for

nonprofits and other entities). The licenses usually expire at the end of the year and may be prorated; check with individual jurisdiction: Gig Harbor: $30 Port Orchard: $35 Bremerton: $75 Poulsbo: $65 Bainbridge: $65 Business and occupation tax: The license application process generates Home Business, page 9

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Supermarkets chain, which has 145,000 employees — Read said WinCo was one of the first companies to implement an ESOP in 1985. He said it was a “very far-sighted” decision by the owners at the time who bought the company from the founding family.

Some members of WinCo’s board of directors represent the ESOP, which owns 88 percent of the company, Read said.

“Collectively, the company is 100 percent owned by employees or former employees,” he said.

According to the National Center for Employee Ownership, workers in ESOPs fare significantly better than workers without the benefit.

The center cites a 1997 study in Washington state study that found “ESOP participants made 5 percent to 12 percent more in wages and had almost three times the retirement assets as did workers in comparable non-ESOP companies.”

Additionally, an analysis the center did of ESOP company government filings in 2008 found that “the average ESOP participant receives about $4,443 per year in company contributions to the ESOP and has an account balance of $55,836. People in the plan for many years would have much larger balances.”

Vacant bakery site cleared for lease to new tenant

8 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

By Tim Kelly, Editor The former site of Morning Side Bakery in Port Orchard has been vacant all year, one more empty space in the city’s beleaguered downtown. The couple who ran the popular bakery for nine years before closing it abruptly last January are long gone to California, but the mess they left behind — the gross state of their abandoned kitchen, as well as recent legal wrangling over ownership of equipment left there — has stalled efforts to lease the building to a couple who want to open a new bakery there.

But the last remaining issues apparently have been resolved now, clearing the way for a new tenant.

The property is owned by Mansour Samadpour, who also owns the building in the same block that Don Ryan is developing into the Port Orchard Public Market.

Samadpour bought the bakery building for more than $300,000 immediately after it was sold at a foreclosure auction in June.

Plans to lease the building to dPio Bakery owners Cliff and Jo Ridlon have been delayed for months, initially because of the need for an extensive and costly cleanup in the kitchen.

Most recently, the delay was reportedly due to former Morning Side owner Amanda Rudd asserting an ownership claim to kitchen equipment she and her husband bought and installed at the bakery

Tim Kelly photo

Baker Erika Anderson sells dPio Bakery pastries to shipyard workers early on a recent Friday morning at the corner of Fourth Street and Park Avenue in Bremerton. when they owned the business. They filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this year and their case was closed in July with no distribution of assets. It’s not clear whether Rudd subsequently filed an actual claim in bankruptcy court or elsewhere, or if she had an attorney contact Samadpour’s company, Abadan Holdings LLC, to seek the return of the kitchen equipment in question.

However, Ryan said on Oct. 22 that the

legal deadline for Rudd to be able to reclaim any property left in the bakery had passed.

“That’s what I’ve been told by (Samadpour’s) attorney,” he said, “so they’ve given me the authority to write a lease for the building.”

Ryan said he hoped to have a lease signed within a few days, either with the Ridlons or another potential tenant, local real estate agent Gabrielle Freeland.

Freeland, who’s interested in operating a café in the building at 707 Bay St., attended the foreclosure auction in June but did not bid on the property. According to Jo Ridlon, Freeland apparently had planned to buy the building from Jerry Porter. He was the property owner who sold the building to the Rudds in 2004, and he was the top bidder at the auction, but afterwards he accepted the offer from Mansour, who owns several downtown properties.

Freeland owned Café Gabrielle in the 1990s in what was then called South Kitsap Mall, now Towne Square on Mile Hill Drive in Port Orchard. She said she’d like to have her new downtown café, where she plans to serve breakfast and lunch, open in time to bake gingerbread cookies for Ch ristmas.

“I’m pushing like crazy; I really want to be there,” Freeland said in a brief phone conversation on the same day Ryan said issues delaying a lease of the building had been resolved.

Freeland owns the building that houses vintage boutique Lallie Mae’s Chalet, between the market site and the vacant bakery. She said it’s difficult for a shop when most of that block is currently vacant, and that the downtown needs more activity.

Asked if she was considering any alternate locations for her café, she replied “No, I want that bakery.”

However, the Ridlons seemed to have first option on the place. The couple started operating dPio early this year as a bakery specializing in organic and gluten-free baked goods, made in a rented commercial kitchen in Bremerton. Their goal is to find a site that has kitchen and retail space, and they’ve been talking with Ryan about a possible lease of the Port Orchard building since before it was sold at auction this summer.

“From the beginning, that bakery was designed for them to go in there,” Ryan said earlier in October.

But the delays have been frustrating for the couple, who at one point had hoped their bakery could have been operating there by September.

“It’s just such a convoluted issue,” Jo Ridlon said recently. “It would have been nice to be able to just get in there and start baking.”

She said they have explored other possible locations — a place on Anderson Hill Road between Silverdale and Seabeck, as well as another former bakery on 15th Street in Bremerton that closed in 2011.

Ryan also has offered them vendor space in the Port Orchard market, but Ridlon said that would require getting an SBA loan to equip the space as a bakery, and they’d prefer to lease a location with an equipped kitchen.

Their business does custom-ordered cakes and other items, and most Friday mornings they set up a table selling dPio pastries in Bremerton at the corner of Fourth Street and Park Avenue, where lots of workers pass by during shift change at the nearby shipyard.

HOME BUSINESS

activity as requiring a conditional-use permit. Fees for home occupation permits range between $200 (Poulsbo) and $1,500 (unincorporated Kitsap).

Some examples of when a permit may be required by some jurisdictions includes businesses that generate noise (such as a wood shop), bring seasonal traffic (a CPA or farm stand, for example), requires outdoor merchandise storage or any type of sign. Planners recommend talking to neighbors ahead of time in any situation that makes your property more active (most jurisdictions don’t do proactive enforcement but will investigate when neighbors complain) as well as talking to the planning department about your

specific zone.

These are some of the odds and ends to consider before you trade the business suit for pajamas or sweatpants. Be proactive and get your ducks in a row before you start: Penalties for back fees and taxes can be steep, and the state is very persistent when it comes to collecting what it’s owed, no matter how small the amount.

• Editor’s note: This article is not intended as business advice and is presented for informational purposes only. Check with the appropriate state or local agency for current rates and regulations.

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 9

from page 7 a UBI number (universal business identifier) that is then used for filing business and occupation tax. The state B&O rate varies depending on classification; services currently pay a 0.015 percent tax. Unlike federal income taxes for a business, the state taxes on gross receipts (which means even if you have a business loss, you still owe B&O).

There are only a few deductions/credits for certain industries and situations (such as new rural employees). There’s also a credit for small businesses, with the amount depending on whether the business files monthly, quarterly or annually. For those filing on an annual schedule, small business credit is available currently if they owe $841 or less — the less they owe, the larger the credit (it’s a sliding fee scale of sorts). And businesses that make under $28,000 (with some exceptions) and don’t have to collect sales tax can apply for “active nonreporting” status — which means they don’t have to file B&O. In Kitsap County, the cities of Bremerton and Bainbridge Island impose an additional B&O tax, depending on type of activity: Bremerton: 0.002 percent (for services), with the first $80,000 exempt (which means someone making $100,000, for example, only pays tax on $20,000.)

Bainbridge: 0.1 percent, with the first $150,000 exempt for 2013.

Personal property tax: The state of Washington has a personal property tax for all businesses, with the same rates as real estate property (in Kitsap, that’s approximately 1 percent.) That means your computer, fax machine and even software, furniture and fixtures are subject to tax. The tax is collected by each county’s assessor’s office; check with yours for the local rate.

The personal property is assessed by the county assessor’s office, which also calculates the tax due. Businesses must complete a tax form by April 30 every year; that valuation will be used for taxes due the following year. Failure to file/pay can result in a tax lien on your personal and real estate property. Exemptions include business inventory, vehicles used primarily on public roads and property valued under $500.

Business owners may also qualify as head of household (determined by assessor and different from the IRS classification), which exempts up to $15,000 of personal property from the tax.

Sales and use tax: While the collection of sales tax for products made in your home kitchen or garage is a given, Washington also taxes some nontangible products (such as digital products including video) and some services (including decorating, physical fitness activities and lawn maintenance).

To make things more confusing, the tax rates are collected based on destination, not origination — so your business needs to calculate tax depending on where the product is sold, delivered or shipped.

And lest you think you’re saving money on sales taxes by shopping online (or

hopping over the Oregon border), don’t grin just yet. The state imposes a use tax — you need to self-report any items you purchased tax-free and pay the use tax. The state Department of Revenue will even send you a notice if it suspects you have unreported use tax.

Home occupation permits: Each city and county has different stipulations for home-based businesses. In most cases, you can have a business from home without a land-use permit if you don’t have employees (family members usually exempt) and client traffic. However, even having one customer drop by or receiving regular deliveries may classify the

10 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

BYOD trend gaining momentum

By Rodika Tollefson In the next five years, it will be commonplace for employees to bring and use their own devices in the workplace and the role of IT departments will shift to include management of these client-side devices and applications. At least that’s the prediction of technology research company Gartner. At a technology symposium in October, the company said the “bring your own device,” or BYOD, movement is growing — and with it, companies’ need to manage data security through policies and IT infrastructure.

Gartner forecasts the mobile workforce tripling by 2018.

Closer to home in Kitsap, the idea of BYOD is also taking hold.

Charles Keating, IT consultant with Bainbridge-based Keating Consulting Service, said in the past, traditional IT systems treated tablets as consumer devices, but that’s changing.

“There’s been a quick adoption of tablets for enterprise solutions and Kitsap is no different than the rest of the nation,” he said. “It’s a new landscape and a natural evolution of having better devices and better wireless connections.”

West Sound Technology Association even hosted a guest presentation this summer on the topic. “Our idea was to highlight the trend,” said Keating, who is the WSTA president.

Keating is seeing some interest from his Kitsap-based clients in BYOD, but in many cases they are being reactive. “The new devices just appear and businesses want to

make sure they work with their system,” he said.

For a smaller business, providing security protocols for a smartphone or tablet is often easier than for laptops, although there is still complexity involved.

“In many cases you don’t have to secure the endpoints (for mobile devices). Tablets are typically designed with application-level isolation, while desktops and laptops are designed to have programs interact,” Keating said. (The lack of interaction minimizes threats such as systemwide viruses.)

For small businesses, savings from implementing BYOD could add up — for example, it could eliminate the need for company smartphones.

“Cost is a major driver. If someone has a device, you want to leverage it. But that requires policies and IT controls in place,” Keating said.

While for small companies, it can be as simple as providing network access and adding a few protocols and policies, big companies are more likely to implement virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) — which allows users to have virtual desktops hosted on company servers — especially in a Windows environment. Users can access the virtual desktops from any terminal including personal laptops and tablets.

“It literally is a fully functional Windows desktop but it runs virtually inside servers,”

said David Henderson, vice president of services and support for Seattle-based

“If someone has a device, you want to leverage it. But that requires policies and IT controls in place.”

— IT consultant Charles Keating

consulting firm GCSIT. Henderson, who lives in Bremerton, was one of two presenters from his company at WSTA’s BYOD session in July. One of the company’s specialties is virtualization environments. said educational Henderson institutions, banks and hospitals are among the major adopters of VDI. But even for large companies, the virtual infrastructure’s total cost per seat over a five-year lifespan is often higher than purchasing desktop computers. The value of providing virtual desktops comes in other forms. Colleges,

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for example, are saving money by not providing physical computer stations and by being able to rapidly deploy new software instead of going desktop to desktop.

At The Doctors Clinic, the idea of checking company email on personal devices is proving popular. The organization implemented a mobile-device management solution about a month ago for physicians and certain management staff who are authorized to check company email on their personal mobile devices.

About half of those eligible for the BYOD program are taking advantage of it.

“There definitely is a convenience because we have multiple sites and many staff are very mobile. Email is a major communication tool within the corporation,” said Brennan Dobbins, The Doctors Clinic director of clinical and ancillary services.

The management solution allows for data to be remotely deleted by the user or the organization in the event the device is lost or stolen.

“As the rest of the industry — not only health care — looks at mobile access, there’s an awareness of best practices for managing devices not connected to your system,” said Jeff Goddart, information technology manager at The Doctors Clinic.

He said one advantage of a management solution is that applications can be automatically delivered to the devices, and when the device is unenrolled — in the event of the employee leaving or the device being lost — data such as old emails can be “pulled back.”

The Doctors Clinic is also piloting a program allowing clinical staff to access electronic health records using personal tablets. Five physicians are beta testing an application by the group’s electronic health records vendor, which is working on a solution to make the virtual environment more iPad-friendly.

The clinic experimented with virtual desktops on corporate iPads, but the attempt wasn’t successful because the virtual desktop user experience for accessing the electronic records was cumbersome — many functions within the records system require right-hand clicking and typing. “Even with styluses and keyboards, the user experience was not as BYOD, page 14

BOXLIGHT

The 2013 People’s Choice Stevie Award for Favorite New Product in the computer hardware category went to Boxlight for its ProjectoWrite5 interactive projector.

Boxlight photo

Attendees watch a demonstration of Boxlight projectors at the International Society for Technology in Education 2013 Conference held in June in San Antonio.

wireless classroom, so the teacher is mobile," Shuman said, and the district made a major investment to install the largest K-12 wireless infrastructure in the country.

"We have a wireless access point in every classroom," he said. Incorporating Boxlight's technology enables a teacher with a tablet or any type of mobile device to "roam the classroom completely wirelessly while controlling the projector and using any number of software programs."

The one problem the district encountered in testing the Boxlight projectors was getting them to work effectively with a broader wireless network. Shuman explained that the projectors worked fine with a small network within one school or even an individual classroom, but the Dallas district has a centralized wireless system for all its schools.

"They changed the way the networking from the projector functioned," Shuman said, and made it possible to sync with the district's infrastructure. "Within just a couple months they stepped up and did a custom software change for us."

The Nances said that shows their company's commitment to providing topflight customer service and support, along with cutting-edge technology.

"They came to us with an idea as much as we came to them with an offer," Hank Nance said. "We're in a unique position to have such a diverse and flexible R&D side of the organization, to meet the needs and vision of our customers.

"They were just absolutely floored that a manufacturer would go and do those things."

With Hank as company president and Sunshine as Director of Global Marketing & Communications, the couple have overseen growth and expansion of the operation since they bought Boxlight in 2009 and relocated the corporate headquarters from Poulsbo to Belfair. The Nances both had worked at Boxlight since the 1990s, and were able to purchase the company from founder Herb Myers when he retired.

The most significant change over the past several years, Hank Nance explained, has been Boxlight’s transformation from an OEM — a company that bought products from other manufacturers to incorporate into its own branded product line — to a full-line manufacturer of its own projectors.

“We formed a relationship with a company in Taiwan, a smaller manufacturer looking for a way to bring projectors to market worldwide,” Nance Boxlight, page 14

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from page 1 projector — an achievement prominently noted on the website of the company owned

by Hank and Sunshine Nance.

“It’s a huge deal, for me,” Sunshine Nance said of the award. “I do all the marketing.”

The company’s patented embedded interactive projector technology is fully utilized in the ProjectoWrite5 (P5), and in the P6 unit that boasts an unmatched level of wireless connectivity.

A user can install 1.5 gigabytes of software such as Microsoft Office programs on the projectors, which can wirelessly stream video and audio input from up to four devices simultaneously in a split-screen format.

“Everything from your Windows machine, your Mac to an iPad or Android can connect,” Hank Nance said. “Multiple platforms are able to be displayed on one product.”

The wireless connector is a dongle that plugs into a USB port on the back of the P6 projector, so no cables or input cords are required in a classroom or other presentation space.

The company also sells portable screens and wall-mount screens up to 10 feet wide, and its line of Projection Plus Wet Erase Boards that have a nonreflective porcelain steel surface and are touted as "the only markerboard that doubles as a projection surface."

But no special screen is required, and Boxlight's line of ProjectoWrite LCD projectors includes the LightPen, which can function in mouse mode or touch mode in manipulating an onscreen display. The P5 and P6 even features dual pen control, and have handwriting recognition software.

"With two LightPens, you can emulate all the Windows 8 touchscreen tools," said Jeremy Peterson, the company's product manager who demonstrates the LightPen's capabilities in a video on the Boxlight website.

The privately held company doesn't release sales figures, but Hank Nance said their biggest market is the education sector, where Boxlight products are sold through partners like Advanced Classroom Technologies in Marysville.

One of the biggest deployments of Boxlight products is in Dallas. The school district there, which is one of the largest in the country with 160,000 students, plans to equip many of its 11,000 classrooms with the company's interactive projectors.

Gary Shuman, the district's director of network services, said 200 Boxlight projectors were installed at three new schools that opened this year and in additions built at six other schools.

"We have a remaining 7,000 classrooms that have no interactive projectors that we would like to put the Boxlight projectors in, all pending funding at this point," he said, adding that the school district is preparing a bond measure for next year that would include funding for the technology upgrades.

"Our vision is to have a completely

Purposeful strides toward an innovative technology economy

12 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

By Charles Keating Several recent trips have served to be both inspiring and challenging when viewed in the context of our region. This is a dilemma I have been dealing with for a long time, more acutely since our recent West Sound Technology Association (WSTA) annual summit held in September on Raisbeck Aviation High School and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

Western Washington Summit 2013 brought together Doug King, CEO of Museum of Flight; Reba Gillman, principal and CEO of Raisbeck Aviation High School; Susannah Malarkey, executive director of Technology Alliance; Dr. David Mitchell, president of Olympic College; Tim Thomson, CEO of Port of Bremerton; and Ed Stern in his leadership capacity with Puget Sound Regional Council. Raisbeck is an example of what is possible when private, public and nonprofits collaborate.

The school has been in existence for 10 years, and recently moved into a $43.5

million campus adjacent to the Museum of Flight and Boeing. The 400 students – many who commute up to four hours daily — attend this public school get a top-notch education, as well as opportunities to intern with (and ultimately work for) companies like Boeing and Orbital Sciences. They are on a path to a great future, and Raisbeck is an excellent model for other public/private partnerships in our schools.

STEM and its variation STEAM (which adds Art for creativity), are at the heart of what our future workforce will need in terms of skills for a more technology-based economy — but also to spark more entrepreneurs and innovators. WSTA signed on early to encourage STEM curricula as a Technology Alliance associate over a decade ago, efforts that only recently bore fruit. Despite it, so much more needs to be done. More than a few attendees expressed that for them, the Western Washington Summit 2013 was our best ever, and yet pushing the envelope to inspire our region to support a high-tech future still seems an uphill climb.

Of those recent trips I mentioned, one was to EmTech2013 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, where WSTA co-founding

member and former president Doña Keating won an international contest to guest blog for this prestigious conference.

What really struck me, more than just brain power on display, was a confidence, positivity and willingness to create solutions to problems: from repairing injured brains to energy to the transformations caused by the application of big data. After arriving home from EmTech at 1a.m., we departed mere hours later for a WA Tech Cities conference cohosted by the City of Redmond and Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) at Microsoft, which was also attended by government officials, tech leaders and other innovators with that same “can-do” attitude.

WSTA is continuing its efforts to improve the regional economy by promoting innovation, workforce development, education and entrepreneurship. We’ve taken up initiatives that reach out to our schools and citizens to prepare for the future. Why? • 76 percent of future STEM jobs will require information technology (IT) skills, but only a small number of students take the AP computer science test and 36 of 50 states do not allow computer science

classes to apply for graduation requirements (Washington state is thankfully one that does).

• Code Curriculum standards are only now being adopted, yet still do not incorporate computer science.

• Software jobs outnumber students 3-to-1, a gap of 1 million jobs over 10 years.

• 90 percent of schools in the U.S. still do not teach computer science and the number of CS majors has declined.

This isn’t just about tech companies.

According to Code.org, 67 percent of “software” jobs are outside the tech industry – in banking, retail, government, entertainment, etc. The reality is all careers require some form of IT skills.

In addition to formal education such as K-20, WSTA plays a unique and critical role in developing workforce proficiency via its peer-to peer best practice forums.

Professional associations and affinity groups rate highly with employers and employees as part of the workforce development/education ecosystem.

Certain levels of on-the-ground information sharing, workshops and training are not always available via standard educational and academic channels. Customers and providers connect and share resources, or engage on policy issues that impact industry progress and sustainability — a benefit shared by cities, counties, ports and educational institutions alike.

Kitsap in particular has numerous opportunities, with one example being assistance to retiring veterans who wish to leverage their skills into new careers. In order to make this happen, we (WSTA and its partners) need to continue meeting at the table. Organizationally, as a small nonprofit with a four-person board and very limited resources, we have created outsized results. As a victim of our own success, our base needs to be broadened to include all who understand and support these efforts.

To prepare ourselves for exciting changes on the horizon, we are meeting with regional stakeholders who are positive, “can-do” achievers. We will review and update WSTA’s strategic plan, forge new directions, and build a strong leadership case. If that’s you and you haven’t yet heard from us, drop us a line.

• Charles Keating is president of West Sound Technology Association. He is also president of Keating Consulting Service (www.kcsco.com), an IT consulting practice that has been in business for nearly 30 years.

He is also a principal in K2 Strategic Solutions (www.k2strategic.com), a partnership between Professional Options and Keating Consulting Serv ice for providing technology, policy and management consulting.

Iggy’s Foods startup expands thanks to community-based loans

By Rodika Tollefson Ilgvar “Iggy” Daga has long been known for his fermented vegetables, popular at parties and gatherings. With 30 years of fermenting behind him, he contemplated the idea of turning his passion into a business. Last year, he finally did, with the help of friend and now business partner Sean Matteson. And now, the pair’s fermented foods, sold under the label “Iggy’s,” are so popular, they can hardly keep up with production.

This fall, the nascent business hit a milestone. With the help of crowdfunded interest-free loans, they are about to double their production capacity. And they know it won’t be long before they outgrow their 1,100-square-foot production facility, located at Bainbridge Business Park.

“We are working hard to keep up with demand,” Daga said.

Daga and Matteson have deep ties to the island. Matteson was born and raised on Bainbridge around an entrepreneurial atmosphere. Daga lived there for 25 years and was one of the first farmers to have a booth at the farmers market in the early '90s. He’s maintained ties to the farming community all along, and said locating his business on the island felt like coming home.

Photo by Rodika Tollefson

“Iggy” Daga, left, and Sean Matteson are ready to expand their business selling fermented vegetables by at least doubling production capacity. between them — 30-some years — the two Community Sourced Capital co-founder find their business relationship creates a and CEO. “We find that the Community synergy. The difference in generational Sourced Capital businesses love their outlooks and backgrounds helps, too. community and their community loves Matteson, for example, had previously run a them.” small events-planning company and has That proved to be the case for Iggy’s, researched other startup ideas while Daga, which set its campaign goal for $10,500 to besides apparently being a fermentation $15,000. genius, has extensive community “Everyone knows about them (Iggy’s). connections.

Bainbridge Island folk love Bainbridge “We really enjoy hanging out with each product. We saw a lot of support for their other,” Matteson said. “Part of the energy brand,” said Hilary Wilson, who does between Iggy and me is his mentorship.” product development for CSC and worked with Iggy’s campaign.

Now that the two are able to double The campaign, now concluded, raised their production capacity by adding 10 $11,650 by mid-October. Matteson and more fermenters, they are ready for a major Daga reached out to their networks, making intake of cabbage from Dharma Ridge a lot of individual contacts. Of the 115 Farms in Quilcene this fall. The crop they “squareholders,” about 85 percent were expect to receive will keep them busy for a from within 30 miles from Bainbridge. few months, and then they’ll be ready for “This is honest money and it’s a lot spring crops and more. about community building,” Matteson said.

“The goal is to preserve local bounty Daga said the CSC model was an and extend it year-round,” Matteson said. alternative to traditional financing in a The production of kombucha gives system that he doesn’t feel works well. them another market on top. And while the “Community Sourced Capital provided a two partners want to grow their business, way (to raise funds) within the system, but they say they are not “expansionists.” They it’s a shift in how people can support each want to keep their market regional and other,” he said. develop direct-trade relationships with Future plans their farmers. For now, they’re using A farmer who was once a full-time volunteer help and not paying themselves sculptor, Daga likes the fact that he has to yet, but Matteson and Daga are excited about the new phase of their business. be out in the community more. “Being an “As quickly as things are moving, I’m very artist had me holed up in my own world and optimistic,” Daga said. “We just have to stay this has really brought me out,” he said. diligent with our focus and production.”

Despite a sizeable age difference

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 13

It was Matteson who gave the idea of a business a boost. He and his wife, Heather, were working on a brewing startup when he realized the potential for Daga’s fermented foods.

“Every time I hung out with Iggy and he’d pull out his amazing delicacies, the feedback was incredible. He’s got a real intuition and a green thumb around gardening and foods,” he said.

With Matteson “putting the wind into the sails,” as Daga put it, the business officially took off in February 2012. “I had been thinking about creating a business but I needed an inspiration. Sean and Heather prompted the idea and that was the spark,” he said.

Iggy’s (www.iggysfoods.com) started off slowly, with production and fermentation originally set up in Kingston at the Food Shed. They didn’t have much retail activity at the time. When the Food Shed closed, the partners were able to find a location within a month, moving into their own digs this past March. Their product list has everything from several types of krauts, including the classic sauerkraut and beet kraut, to a habanero hot sauce, dill pickles and kimchee jerky. Iggy’s also recently received state certification to produce kombucha, fermented tea.

They’ve been slowly building up their retail location list, but the Poulsbo Farmers Market — which gave them their start and a testing ground of sorts — seems to be a special spot. Daga said they often have lines of customers, many of whom tell them how their fermented products have improved their health.

“What we’ve tapped into at the Poulsbo Farmers Market is extraordinary,” Daga said. “To think of the potential in this community alone is extraordinary.”

Growing popular If there were such a thing as a vegetable

whisperer, Daga may be at the top of the list. Matteson jokingly said that “Iggy talks to the vegetables.” Asked about his secret, Daga offered this explanation: “There’s an alchemical process. I’m engaged by the mystery of taking a lowly cabbage and transforming it into a valuable, beneficial thing.”

Another thing that Iggy’s has tapped into besides Daga’s fermentation craft is a growing consumer demand for fermented foods. Probiotics — bacteria beneficial to digestion — are a popular supplement on the health market. Fermented foods, which contain the live bacteria that produce lactic acid, are especially considered beneficial not only for digestion but also for the immune system and for general wellbeing.

“We’re catching the wave as people’s awareness is growing exponentially around the benefits of fermented products,” Daga said. “People are catching on to the need to do things that are good for their intestinal digestive system.”

As Iggy’s becomes more exposed to the local market, the number of fans continues to grow. The goal is to stay regional and expand to new retail locations — except they had reached their capacity with their fermenters.

“Part of the challenge of sourcing locally is that we have to plan with the seasons,” Matteson said.

Sourcing funds locally Daga and Matteson knew they needed more fermenters and a walk-in freezer to grow this season — about $15,000 worth of equipment including a few other pieces like a labeler. They also knew they couldn’t get a bank loan. They brainstormed for four weeks ideas such as crowdsourcing, and that’s when they learned about Community Sourced Capital, a Seattle-based startup that offers a crowdfunding platform.

Unlike most other popular crowd funding platforms like kickstarter.com that are based on donations (which usually come with perks like products for the backers), Community Sourced Capital (www.communitysourcedcapital.com) helps businesses obtain zero-interest loans from their community backers. People can buy “squares” for $50 each, and there’s a limit of five squares per supporter.

Businesses, in turn, repay these loans over time based on a percentage of their revenues. Community Sourced Capital charges the businesses flat fees for its services instead of the typical percentage of raised funds.

Since launching its first campaign in January of this year, CSC has had 11 total — all successful — including for Bainbridge Island’s Eleven Winery and for Tacoma-based Harmon Brewing Co. to open a new location in Gig Harbor for its diner, The Hub. The 11 campaigns have raised nearly $150,000 in total with more than 1,000 backers.

“We are a platform that relies on the social capital that the businesses have, so we ask for metrics on social capital and we want to know the level of their community involvement,” said Rachel Maxwell,

Successful app developer will make presentation at WSTA event A Bainbridge-based tech firm, Taqtile Mobility, is the developer of the app that was officially adopted by the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee, which enabled people all over the country to watch the inauguration via live stream on a mobile device. It received a lot of media coverage including by USA Today, Politico, CBS, The Washington Post, and Mashable.

Taqtile creates apps for a range of clients, primarily in the entertainment, sports and retail markets, often with a focus on enabling venues. They’ve also built high-profile apps for the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Hyvee supermarket chain and Stanford University.

Come to West Sound Technology Association’s event Nov. 21 to learn some insights on what it takes to be featured by Apple, create an app fit for the President and provide amazing user experiences on a mobile device. John Tomizuka, CTO at Taqtile, will give a presentation on Turning Your Pocket Supercomputer into a Useful Social Network Tool and Experience.

The event will be held in Council Chambers at Poulsbo City Hall, 2-00 NE Moe St. There will be a networking session from 5:30- 6 p.m., followed by the presentation and a Q&A session.

Admission is free for WSTA members and $10 for nonmembers.

For more information, call 206-984-3509 or check the WSTA website at westsoundtechnology.org.

Third-generation leader takes helm of Art Anderson Associates Ben Anderson recently took over as president and CEO of Bremerton-based engineering services firm Art Anderson Associates. He is the third generation of Andersons to lead the company, following in the footsteps of his father, Eric Anderson,

14 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

BYOD

from page 10 positive as with using a small Windowsbased notebook computer,” Dobbins said.

With the vendor now developing a special iPad application (an Android one will eventually follow), TDC got five of its physicians involved in the beta test. Their iPads were added to the mobile device management system, and credentials were added both to the server side and the devices so they can connect to the database via encrypted channels. Strict protocols also have to be followed to make sure the patient data is safe and secure.

The system uses a protocol similar to a virtual private network, and additional authentication and measures were added.

The health information is not stored on the devices. Currently, the physicians can order electronic prescriptions and see images via the iPads, and other functionality is expected to be added later, including the ability to add notes.

Goddart said that implementing BYOD will become more common as corporate budgets shrink. The Doctors Clinic, for example, stopped providing corporate mobile phones several years ago.

“There are still challenges around safety but it’s becoming easier as the industry comes up with new products,” he said.

Other technology advancements are also contributing to the trend, GCSIT’s Henderson said, including developments in biometric identification and the proliferation of cloud-based software

and his grandfather and company namesake, Art Anderson.

"With his graduate engineering degrees and chief engineer experience in the Coast Guard, Ben needed only to get his feet dry before taking over the company in which his grandfather and father had raised him," outgoing CEO Eric Anderson said.

Ben Anderson has been a full-time employee of the firm for more than two years, learning the ropes of the business by serving as a naval architect and project manager. His notable project accomplishments at the firm include leading the design of a new gold dredge Ben Anderson vessel now operating in Alaskan waters, an analysis of vessel impacts of the proposed new Columbia River bridge, technical leadership for fish passage projects, and construction oversight for the San Francisco Bay ferry Bay Breeze.

Also, outgoing president Rob Henry has moved into a role leading the firm's Facilities Division.

Prior to joining the firm full-time, Ben Anderson served for 14 years as an active-duty officer in the Coast Guard. In that time, he developed skills and expertise as a senior port engineer responsible for oversight of all contracted maintenance for California's 23 based cutters. Anderson also served as the chief engineer on the medium-endurance cutter USCGC Active (WMEC-618).

His service in the Coast Guard continues in the reserves, where he serves as a marine inspector for Sector Puget Sound.

Anderson graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and completed dual master's degrees in Naval Architecture/Marine Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Art Anderson Associates is a multidisciplinary engineering services firm offering diverse expertise in the marine and landside environments. For more information, visit www.artanderson.com.

(called software-as-a-service, or Saas).

“Software will shift to SaaS eventually and it won’t matter what device you’re on as long as you can get to the things you need securely,” Henderson said, adding that “digital natives” (the younger generation born in the digital era) consume information differently than “digital immigrants,” further having an impact on BYOD. There is plenty of evidence of those differences between the digital natives and the older generations. Smartphones and tablets are a common sight in today’s schools. The most recent Teens and Technology report published by the Pew Research Center estimated that 78 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 own a mobile phone, and about half of those have smartphones.

Additionally, 23 percent own tablets, about the same proportion as the adult population.

While several years ago school districts had a zero-tolerance policy for cell-phone use during school hours (with many a teen having to report to the office after school to retrieve the precious device), many districts are warming up to the idea of personal devices, especially at the high school levels.

West Hills STEM Academy, a Bremerton School District K-8 school, is a good example. Instead of trying to fight the tide, the academy embraced the BYOD idea two years ago. Students are encouraged to bring their smart devices and use them regularly in the classroom.

Lisa Heaman, West Hills principal, said she was inspired at a conference to take a different approach to personal device

policies and instead find ways to “empower students to be responsible users and consumers of the web and technology.”

“I asked myself, why not and why not here, at STEM Academy,” she said. The BYOD policy was modeled after the school district’s staff-use policy and both students and parents must sign an agreement before students can have access, provided via the school’s WiFi network.

“Students love it,” Heaman said. “We’re increasing access and creating more opportunities for them. They also share their devices with others and collaborate.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Symantec CEO and president Enrique Salem attributed the growth in BYOD trends to digital natives.

“The digital immigrant came to work with the Internet at work,” he was quoted

by ZDNet as saying at a conference last year. “We brought it home, and eventually got connected. To digital natives, there's no distinction between the Internet at work and the Internet at home.” Not only are they always connected on the go, they are also bringing those habits along as they enter the workforce, he said.

Whether or not Gartner’s forecast about BYOD is correct and whether digital natives are changing the ways business is done, IT professionals agree that the industry is going through a shift.

“As an IT manager, I can see the ripples are starting in the water,” Goddart said. “I think there will be a much different environment in 10 to 20 years.”

BOXLIGHT

from page 11 said. “We sought them to be a major investor.”

Today, Boxlight has three manufacturing facilities — in Hsinchu, Taiwan; WuXi in China’s Shanghai province; and Mexico City. The company does some assembly work in the U.S., including at a Belfair warehouse.

“In order to be successful we needed to be able to manufacture our own products,” Nance said, explaining that before, “we would just kind of pick and choose from our partners’ product lines.”

The drawbacks of that arrangement were “very little quality control, and you had virtually no influence on development of products from an R&D standpoint.”

Not only does Boxlight, which has 164 employees worldwide, control all development and manufacturing for its own brand now, it also makes projectors that other, larger companies sell under their brands.

“The tables have turned quite a bit on that,” Nance said. “About 50 percent of our total production is done as Boxlight, and (the rest) for a variety of international companies.”

With her focus on marketing, Sunshine Nance talks about the free lifetime technical support that’s available 24/7 for Boxlight products, and she notes proudly that their company was an American Business Awards finalist in 2011 for Best Customer Service Department.

She said their new crystal Stevie trophy, which she accepted at the American Business Awards gala in San Francisco in September, is a special recognition because the public is allowed to vote for the Favorite New Product awards.

"We're getting validation from our customers; they’re using our product and they love it," she said.

Another popular option with customers is Boxlight's Lamps for Life program, which costs $99 and provides free replacement bulbs for a projector.

The bulbs cost more than $300 apiece and a customer could need to replace a bulb two or three times in five years, depending on the level of usage of the projector.

Boxlight customers closer to home include the new Raisbeck Aviation High School in Seattle, and North Mason School District, which is building a new high school in Belfair.

Ed Lucas, executive director of operations for North Mason, said the district's choice of Boxlight projectors for its classrooms is based on the quality of the products, but it's also convenient to take any units that need service to the company's main office nearby.

"What's the best technology available is certainly our number-one priority," Lucas said. And in an endorsement that's music to the ears of a marketer like Sunshine Nance, he adds that "Whether we bought HP projectors, or Dell projectors, we're not going to get a better projector than what Boxlight provides, and they have pretty good price points."

Kitsap County recognizes HBA’s role in improving permit process Larry Keeton, director of Kitsap County’s Department of Community Development (DCD), recently acknowledged members of the Kitsap County Home Builders Association (HBA) for partnering with the county to improve permitting processes.

“The county received the National Association of Counties Achievement Award for improvement that helped streamline the permitting processes,” Keeton said in a presentation during an HBA membership meeting. “Critical to this holistic change was the involvement of HBA members. Without their time and input, the Lean process used to effect these changes would not have been as successful.”

“When the commissioners adopted the Lean process, we felt participation from the Home Builders Association was essential for success,” Keeton added. Justin Ingles, Karla Cook and Jim Way represented HBA during the first Lean effort, which focused on single-family residential permits. Before the improvements it took over 28 days to process a single-family residential permit.

After the Lean process it now takes only about 10 processing days to get a permit.

Also, before the improvement only about 4 percent of applications made it through on the first review. Today 63 percent make it on their first review.

“In the past, people waited on us for permits,” said Jeff Rowe, deputy director and building official for DCD. “Today,

building organization like the HBA,” County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido said.

“While many developers suffer negative press about their environmental views, this HBA looks for ways to be environmental stewards while promoting economic development.

Their showcasing of low-impact development and energy code upgrades in their offices reflects this attitude. It’s a pleasure to partner with them to make Kitsap County the place to live, work, and play.”

Area executives featured at Kitsap Business Forum

Photo courtesy Kitsap County HBA

Members of the Kitsap County Home Builders Association were acknowledged at a recent meeting for their contributions in helping the county Department of Community Development improve permitting processes. we’re usually waiting on the applicant to come and pick up their approved permits.”

Having achieved initial success, the HBA and DCD partnered to improve other activities. Wayne Keffer and Miriam Villiard worked on another Lean effort, focusing on the inspection process. Berni Kenworthy, Norm Olson and Jeff Combe helped with the Lean process to improve land use procedures earlier this year.

Four other HBA members were recognized for their efforts in improving the

relationship between HBA and DCD. President Robert Baglio, executive director Teresa Osinski, members Mark Kulhman and Mark Eisses have worked extensively over the past six years helping to streamline county development code. They participated in comprehensive plan updates that received a Governor’s Vision Award, and continue to support other endeavors to enhance communication between the department and the building community.

“Kitsap County is fortunate to have a

The next Kitsap Business Forum on Nov. 12 will present “Getting It Done” with a panel discussion including Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent, Harrison Medical Center CEO Scott Bosch, Peninsula Credit Union CEO Jim Morrell, and Kitsap Credit Union CEO Elliot Gregg.

These four Kitsap leaders will be discussing how they move their organizations forward, manage conflicting priorities, and still have time for a personal life.

The Kitsap Business Forum is sponsored by the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce and Dave Mitchell. It is held from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Morgan Stanley office in Silverdale at 2011 Myhre Road, Suite 301. Panera Bread will provide coffee and bagels at the event.

Anyone interested in attending should RSVP to 360-692-6800, or go online to http://KitsapBusinessForum.com.

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 15

Congratulations — Class of 2013 Drawn from a pool of more than 100 entries the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal would like to introduce you to the “40 Under Forty” Class of 2013. Our extremely discerning panel of judges — Doña Keating, Cary Bozeman and Rick Flaherty, selected 40 of the Kitsap Peninsula’s most outstanding individuals based on their career success, community involvement and commitment to making a difference.

These young men and women represent our next generation of business community leaders who will help influence, direct and inspire the future of the Kitsap Peninsula and its growth.

16 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

From all the materials the judges have reviewed, it is safe to say our future is in good hands!

Erin Abrigo

Amy Anderson

Ben Anderson

Audrey Barbakoff

Sarah Butler

Financial Advisor Edward Jones

Owner Cup & Muffin, Axe Handle Café

President, CEO, Part-Owner Art Anderson Associates

Adult Services Librarian Kitsap Regional Library

Senior Financial Service Specialist Kitsap Bank

Dominique Cantwell

Jennifer Carrier

Chris Clark

Marcus Croman

Dr. Devin Fisher

Executive Director Bainbridge Performing Arts

AVP & Branch Manager Liberty Bay Bank

Graphic Designer & Front-End Developer SuperStar Media

The Big Kahuna Maggies On Front Street

Dentist Fisher Disctinctive Dentistry

Nicole Floyd

Jennifer Fredericksen

Johnathan Fritsch

Greer Gates

Corrigan Gommenginger

Senior Planner City of Bremerton

President Peninsula Electric & Latté On Your Way

Senior System Engineer Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Principal Jewels of Hope

Executive Director Hospice of Kitsap County

Kevin Hancock

Nathan Howard

Dr. Manas Jain

Dr. Sirisha Jain

James Jensen

Loan Officer W.J. Bradley Mortgage – The Legacy Group

Assistant Project Engineer Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Physician Harrison Health Partners

Physician Harrison Health Partners

Senior Vice President Hendricks Berkadia

Alan Luder

Wendy McNeal

Katie Morris

John Nesby

Laura Nesby

Senior Graphic Designer Jennergy, Inc.

Communications & Development Officer Hospice of Kitsap County

Vice President, Sales Bell-Anderson Insurance

Chef & Owner MorMor Bistro & Bar

Chef & Owner MorMor Bistro & Bar

Jessie Nino

Kim Overmyer

Curtis Patnode

Brandy Rinearson

David Reed

Financial Advisor Edward Jones

Director Seaport Salon & Day Spa

Player Development Manager Port Madison Enterprises

City Clerk City of Port Orchard

Vice President, Financial Sales Manager First Citizens Bank

Thomas Sawyer

Kerry Slone

Matt Smith

Keith Sprague

Rochelle Stockwell

Owner-Broker Eagle Harbor Insurance, LLC

Owner, President Beautifully Polished at Longworth Studio

President The Rush Companies

Clinical Nurse Manager Intensive Care Harrison Medical Center

Slot Manager Port Madison Enterprises

Miriam Villiard

Jessica Wagner-Smith

Allison Westergard

Carmel Wieland

Owner Wildernest, Inc.

Owner Heritage Builders NW, LLC

Cancer Care Navigator Harrison Medical Center

Industrial Engineer Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Owner, Personal Fitness Trainer Boot-Camp Diva

Thank you to our sponsors...

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 17

Steve Sutorius

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18 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

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The Kitsap Peninsula’s Best Source for Business News You Need to Know — In Print and Online

November 2013 Edition

Events And Activities VISIT the NEW HBA Website! www.kitsaphba.com On Line Registrations!

Wednesday, November 6 Kitsap HBA Remodelers Council, 4 p.m. HBA BIAW State Board of Directors Meetings in SeaTac Thursday, November 7 Developers Council, 7:30 a.m. HBA BIAW State Board of Directors Meetings in SeaTac Friday, November 8 BIAW State Board of Directors, 10:15 a.m. SeaTac

Wednesday, November 13 Remodeling Excellence Awards & Cocktail Reception 5 p.m. Kitsap Golf & Country Club Thursday, November 21 2 p.m. Executive Cmt. Mtg. 2:30 p.m. Government Affairs Cmt. Mtg. 3:30 p.m. Board of Directors Mtg. Thursday, November 28 HBA Closed Happy Thanksgiving Friday, November 29 HBA Closed

Affordable Housing Council of the HBA of Kitsap County Endorses Jan Angel for Washington State Senate, 26th District The Home Builders Association is a trade association representing almost 300 companies and thousands of their employees in Kitsap County. In order to represents the interest of our members, the HBA has a Government Affairs Committee that interviews candidates and makes recommendations to the HBA’s political action committee.

Once the interviews, conducted by the HBA membership, are complete the political action committee considers its endorsements. The Trustees of the Affordable Housing Council of the HBA of Kitsap County have a long history of considering candidate’s for their skills over their party affiliation. A seat that reflects this thoughtful deliberation is the 26th District Senate seat. The Trustees have endorsed both Democrats and Republicans for this seat over the years.

Ultimately, they support the candidate that they believe understands the economic impact construction has on our community and the one they believe is able to properly evaluate regulatory ideas and pressure. This year, the Trustees have endorsed Jan Angel.

Jan has been a supporter of the citizens in Kitsap County for many years.

She has served locally as County Commissioner and has earned her stripes as a member of the Washington State House of Representatives. Along the way she has been endorsed by advocates on both sides of the “aisle”; unions as well as non union — publicly held companies as well as “Mom & Pops.” Jan is savvy, kind, intelligent, and influential. She is the right candidate to serve, and she comes with the necessary skills and experience to protect the interests of Kitsap’s citizens, business owners, and employers.

An interesting fact about this race is the volume of negative campaigning being done against Jan. This is being done, in part because her opponent does not have the necessary experience to be used to promote him. To fill the gap, his supporters have instead spent their time trying to break Jan down. This type of campaigning is off-topic, opportunistic and misleading. The candidate with the experience is easy to take pot-shots at, and unfortunately that is what this race has become. The people need to elect a candidate that will have the skills to jump into the session ready to go. Jan is ready and has the crucial abilities to get the job done. Jan’s opponent is inexperienced in the ways of the legislature and his profession as a medical doctor has not afforded him much on the job experience either. As an emergency room doctor he may be able to quickly assess and solve a problem due to his complete control over the situation, but those skills will not make him an effective arbiter of complicated and heated disagreements among constituents or peers. Legislators must spend hours listening, learning, and negotiating in order to bring parties together and solve problems. Jan’s years of experience on boards and in elected office have earned her a positive reputation as a person that cares deeply, is open minded, and will work tirelessly on issues important to our industry and our community.

Please exercise your right and obligation to vote, and consider the endorsement of the Affordable Housing Council of the HBA of Kitsap County when you complete your ballot. Please vote for Jan Angel.

THE 2013 FORD F-SERIES TRUCKS MORE POWERFUL, CAPABLE & ADVANCED.

PORT ORCHARD FORD

1215 Bay Street, Port Orchard, WA 98366 • 360-876-4484

brucetitus.com

2013 OFFICERS President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Baglio First Vice President . . . . . . Judy Mentor Eagleson Second Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Leage Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Randy Biegenwald Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dee Coppola, CGA Immediate Past Pres. . . . Wayne Keffer, CGR, CAPS

2013 BUILDER & ASSOC. DIRECTORS Karla Cook • Judy Granlee-Gates Joe Hurtt • David Godbolt, CAPS, CGP, CGB, CGR Berni Kenworthy • Miriam Villiard Kevin Ryan • Leslie Peterson, CGA Shawnee Spencer • Jim Way, CGB

2013 STATE DIRECTORS Robert Baglio • Kevin Hancock Judy Mentor Eagleson • Joe Hurtt Justin Ingalls, RCS • Wayne Keffer, CGR, CAPS John Leage • Ron Perkerewicz

2013 ALTERNATE STATE DIRECTOR John Armstrong • Walter Galitzki Brent Marmon • Greg Livdahl • Jim Heins

LIFE STATE DIRECTORS Bill Parnell

2013 NATIONAL DIRECTORS Robert Baglio • John Leage

2013 ALTERNATE NATNL. DIRECTORS Michael Brown • Jeff Coombe

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

2013 COUNCIL & CHAIRS Build a Better Christmas. . . Randy Biegenwald Built Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Walter Galitzki

By Laws & Nominations . . Wayne Keffer, CGR, CAPS Developers Council. . . . . . . . . Berni Kenworthy Golf Classic . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shawnee Spencer Govt. Affairs Cmte . . . Judy Mentor Eagleson Remodelers Ccl Chair . . . . . . . Walter Galitzki Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Leage Parade of Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dee Coppola Peninsula H&G Expo. . . . . . . . . . Ardi Villiard Peninsula H&R Expo . . . . . . . . . Dee Coppola

HBA STAFF Executive Vice President . . . Teresa Osinski, CGP tosinski@kitsaphba.com Events and Administrative Assistant . . . Katie Revis hbaevents@kitsaphba.com Administrative 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

November 2013 Edition

Robert Baglio

2015 Building Code Hearings — The Outcome

Last month I wrote about the proposed changes in the 2015 The BJC Group code update. Well, the hearings for the proposed code changes 2013 President are completed. Following nine days of public testimony and hearings in Atlantic City, New Jersey the final changes to the 2015 editions to the International Residential Code (IRC), International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), and other I-Codes were determined. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), our national representation, was there for the construction industry, giving testimony and trying to interject some common sense into the discussions. Some battles were won, compromises were made, and other efforts were unsuccessful, but your voices were heard.

The NAHB Construction, Codes, and Standards Staff and builder volunteers provided excellent testimony and were successful on 85% of the hundreds of proposals the association supported or opposed.

Some of the key proposals that the NAHB opposed to keep building codes flexible, cost effective, and product-neutral are identified below.

Additional Requirements for Exterior Foam Plastics. This proposal was not approved. It called for all single family homes and townhouses with foam plastics in the wall or roof system within 10' of a property line to be protected on both the interior and exterior by a thermal barrier. It would have also prohibited the use of any siding that included foam insulation as a backer product. Had this proposal been approved it would have required that the entire exterior of the home be sheathed in a layer of drywall or wood sheathing or maintain a distance of 10' from the property line.

Additional Stairs and Ramps. As mentioned last month, there was a proposal to require all single family homes and townhouses with multiple levels to have a stair or ramp within 50 feet of any habitable portion of the home. The current code only requires a single stairway or ramp to connect all habitable levels. This proposal was not approved.

Residential Accessibility. This is another proposal I discussed last month. This proposal would have required ALL one and two family homes to be designed so that people with disabilities could enter unassisted, have a zero clearance entrance, an elevator or lift, an accessible bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen. This proposal was not approved.

The victories listed above represent a substantial savings in the cost of new home construction. Perhaps they have forgotten about the concept of affordable housing.

The NAHB was very successful in their efforts to minimize the cost impacts of the 2015 codes changes to the IRC, unfortunately these same successes did not hold true for the proposed changes to the 2015 IECC. The goal of the NAHB was to introduce mechanical equipment, building tightness, and window area trade-offs to allow builders and their customers to make decisions based upon affordability, marketability, and personal preference. Unfortunately, there was substantial testimony in opposition to these trade-offs, instead mandates that required builders to meet more stringent requirements of the energy code without offering options were approved. An example of a proposed trade off was one that would allow builders to get credit in the performance path of the code when installing solar panels. This proposal was not approved.

The arguments against this proposal alleged that builders would skimp on appropriate levels of insulation. This is absurd. To think that an owner or builder that is going to spend the extra money to install solar panels to save money on electricity would then skimp on a reduced insulation value is ridiculous. The efforts of NAHB to introduce common sense proposals to improve flexibility, discuss the cost effectiveness of proposals, and advocate for measures that achieved product neutrality of the energy codes were unsuccessful.

Even though the efforts were not a complete success, the NAHB was able to ensure that the 2015 residential energy requirements are not more stringent than the 2012 and in many instances less stringent.

Another promising observation was that it became evident that many local building officials are acknowledging the impacts of these inflexible code mandates. They recognize that they need to keep in mind what is the best alternative for their customers. Many building officials indicated that they would adopt the new code building codes, but with reduced, less stringent code requirements.

This is another reason why it is important to get involved, get a seat at the table, and have a say in the adoption of your local building codes. The information presented above was found on the NAHB website (www.nahb.org).

Teresa Osinski

HBA Members Make All The Difference

It’s hard to believe but I’m approaching the end of my third year as the Executive Executive Vice President of the HBA. Vice President Time is flying by in part because of the interesting times we have been in. When I say “interesting” you can insert any number of other adjectives to describe what’s been going on.

We have had so many important successes on your behalf and it surprises me still when I discover a member that didn’t know we were involved in “this” or “that.” Many companies in Kitsap aren’t currently invested in the HBA and yet each day our members are volunteering their time to make the business climate in Kitsap better for everyone. Imagine how much we could do if we had more of Kitsap’s business and construction community supporting our efforts.

Since 2011, the HBA and our members effectively worked to reinstate a federally approved stormwater practice on 1 acre (or smaller) lots after Kitsap County had removed it. A group of HBA members donated dozens of hours to the rewrite of the County’s rural chapter and effectively negotiated the inclusion of several new commercial LAMIRDs (limited areas of more intense rural development) so that business owners could more effectively use their properties and serve the rural needs of Kitsap. Past President Jeff Coombe worked for many years to get an “over the counter” permit process at the county. This has now been implemented and is used regularly for a large number of commonly requested permits.

Over a dozen members donated many hours to help Kitsap implement the award winning LEAN process improvements for permitting across the department. These improvements have reduced permitting time and increased the ability of applicants to successfully submit for their permits. This has saved tax payers, contractors, and home-owners time and money. Recently, we were able to work with the Port Orchard City Council to reverse an onerous and ill-conceived fire sprinkler ordinance. And these are just a few of the important impacts the HBA has had. Remember, these things happened because of the HBA and our members. It is wrong thinking to assume that by ignoring issues they will just go away, or that good things will just materialize. You have to be paying attention. The HBA is, and we have the outcomes to prove it.

We are the only trade association in Kitsap that is actively monitoring regulations and engaging our elected officials about the impacts. At just $1.38 per day (less than your daily mocha) you can show your support for the important work of the Association and its members. Members, please reach out to your peers and encourage them to join. We are stronger when we work together.

CGP

November 2013 Edition

Though imperfect, we are a country of freedom and opportunity — privileges that you honor and support when you take the time to Judy Mentor Eagleson participate in the selection of Mentor Company our leaders by voting. Many 2013 Chair have fought and died for our right to vote. Other than serving in the military, voting is one of the most important things you can do for your country. When you vote, you share your voice, you express your concerns, and you show you care about your future and the future of our great Country.

While all races are important the race for the 26th Legislative Senate seat is arguably the most important race in our state. This seat will determine the balance of power in the Senate.

Senator Schlicher is a newcomer to politics, and began his service in the Senate shortly after his appointment and the session convened in January. Accordingly, there is not a long record to evaluate, however, during the 2013 session, Schlicher voted for a budget that required more than $1 billion in new taxes to fund, voted against reforms in worker’s compensation supported by the business community and many in his caucus, and voted against legislation to clarify paid sick and safe leave policies. Representative Angel, who served as a Kitsap County Commissioner from 2000-2008, was first elected in 2009 to the State House of Representatives. She has worked in business for much of her career, has a long track record of civic engagement in the District and has worked on difficult issues such as transportation, growth management and education. She is well known in the District because of her past service, has been a strong supporter of small business and has worked closely with builders in her district to understand their concerns and issues.

Please take a moment to vote for the following candidates that we feel will best support our industry: 26th Legislative Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan Angel Bremerton Mayor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patty Lent Bremerton Council Position 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike Sullivan Bremerton Council Position 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leslie Daugs Bremerton Council Position 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerry McDonald Bremerton Council Position 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Wheeler Bremerton Council Position 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dino Davis Bremerton Council Position 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faye Flemister Bremerton Council Position 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eric Younger Port Orchard Council Position At Large . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerry Childs Port Orchard Council Position 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kim Punt Port Orchard Council Position 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rob Putaansuu Bainbridge Island Council North Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dick Haugen Bainbridge Island Council Central Ward . . . . . . . . . . . Arlene Buetow Bainbridge Island Council South Ward . . . . . . . . . . Roger Townsend

Government Affairs Committee

24 hour emergency clean-up

ACTION

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

HBA Volunteers Step Up to Serve in 2014 At the October 10th General Membership Meeting, the following HBA members were elected by their peers to serve as Officers and Directors of the HBA for 2014. When you see these folks, please thank them for supporting the HBA and the construction industry. The HBA is a non-profit trade association and our Officers and Directors are volunteers donating their valuable time to lead the association.

Officers and Directors for 2014: Judy Mentor Eagleson, Mentor Company . . . . . President, St. Bldr. Dir., & Ntl. Bldr. Dir. Kevin Ryan, Tim Ryan Construction . . . . . . . . . . . 1st Vice President, & State Builder Dir. Jim Heins, Jennings-Heins & Associates . . . . . . 2nd V. President, St. Bldr. Dir., & Ntl. Bldr. Dir. Robert Baglio, The BJC Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Imm. Past President, & State Builder Dir. Dee Coppola, Wet Apple Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary Randy Biegenwald, Randy Biegenwald CPA PS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treasurer Jim Ullrich, Ullrich Contracting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Builder Director (2 years) Jim Way, Pristine Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Builder Director (2 years) Walter Galitzki, Sun Path Custom Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . Builder Director (2 years) John Leage, JL Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Builder Director (1 year) Karla Cook, Cook Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Builder Director (1 year) Miriam Villiard, Heritage Builders NW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Builder Director (1 year) Leslie Peterson, Liberty Bay Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Director (2 years) Stuart Hager, Hager House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Director (2 years) Berni Kenworthy, Team 4 Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Director (1 year) Joe Hurtt, Kingston Lumber Supply . . . . . . . Assoc. Dir. (1 year) & State Assoc. Dir. (1 year) Wayne R Keffer, WRK Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State Builder Director (1 year) Justin Ingalls, Kitsap Trident Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State Builder Director (1 year) Ron Perkerewicz, Inspection & Permit Services . . . . . . . State Associate Director (1 year) John Armstrong, Armstrong Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State Alt. Director (1 year) Dale Armstrong, Orca Remodeling & Plumbing Services . . . . State Alt. Director (1 year) Brent Marmon, Pacific Northwest Title Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State Alt. Director (1 year) Kevin Hancock, W.J. Bradley Mortg. Cap. LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . State Alt. Director (1 year) Shawnee Spencer, Umpqua Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . National Associate Director (1 year) Mike Brown, FPH Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt. National Bldr. Dir (1 year) Jeff Coombe, JCM Property Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alt. National Bldr. Director

Please also thank the following who are rolling off the board after years of service to the Association: Greg Livdahl, Fairbank Construction & 2006 HBA Past President; Judy Granlee-Gates, Joe Gates Construction & 2010 Remodelers Council Chair; David Godbolt, Sentinel Construction & 2011 and 2012 Remodelers Council Chair; and Lary Coppola, Wet Apple Media.

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Member Advantage!

The Holidays are coming! Use your Member Advantage and save!

Whether you’re buying for employees, clients, friends or family your membership gets you discounts you should not ignore! Did you know you can save 20% on all the FTD orders you place? Considering a new Dell Computer? There are great benefits from using your Dell NAHB Member Advantage. Omaha Steaks offer a wonderful resource for quality, tasty and unique gifts. Check out their stackable 10% discount.

If you’ve never logged into the NAHB website, you will need to in order to access these great Member Advantage benefits. Just call the HBA and staff will be happy to give you your NAHB PIN number. Why spend more than you need to? Take advantage of your member advantage at www.nahb.org/ma.

Unsure about the future of your health insurance?

Get a free quote: Companies in Kitsap that are in construction related fields may find our health insurance to be a better quality and more affordable that the options available through the new Washington Exchanges. From arborists to waste disposal and beyond, our insurance program may be an option! It’s worth a quote, don’t you think? Please contact the HBA to receive an application. You do not need to be a member to get a quote for health insurance. However, if you decide to sign up for the insurance you do need to be a member and retain your membership in the HBA. The BIAW Health Insurance Trust is one of the very few association health programs considered to be bona fide by the Washington State Insurance Commissioner. Check it out!

Maximize Your Membership Update Your Directory Info: Is your company listing up to date on our website? Visit www.kitsaphba.com & check out the “Find A Member” tab.

Does your listing include your logo, YouTube video clips, Facebook link, etc.

You should add this and more! Call the HBA to learn how to maximize the website (360)479-5778.

Purchase A Print Ad: Consider purchasing an ad in the 2014 Membership Directory. Doing business with members is good business and having an ad in the directory to highlight your support of the HBA is a great way to start.

Ads are inexpensive and are sold by our publisher, E&M Consulting. They are calling members now. Be sure to take a minute to consider their offer. Please note! All members receive a listing in the directory for free! You do not need to pay anything additional to be in the directory. Ads are an option available to our members. There are many advertising options and some are very inexpensive. Don’t miss out! Anyone that purchases a single ad with a value of $599 or greater will receive a complimentary advertisement in two places on the HBA website.

Purchase An Online Ad: All members can purchase ad space the HBA website. These ads are very inexpensive and can be placed in the category you specialize in. The website is a great place to advertise as it is accessible by the membership and the public looking for services. Set yourself apart and be seen on the membership directory of the HBA website. Ads are sold in 6 and 12 month increments.

Member Advantage www.nahb.org/ma

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New shopping center planned on Silverdale’s north side

Tim Kelly photo

The area along Greaves Way just west of State Route 3 could see the start of new commercial development next spring on Silverdale’s north side. CenterCal Properties has plans to build a shopping center on the south side of Greaves Way, in an area Kitsap County rezoned as the Waaga Way Town Center when the $13 million connector road was built in 2009.

"We've had a lot of meetings with a variety of retailers that would like to be here, and it's been very positive. It's going to be a nice project."

Ruggiero said his company developed a couple large commercial projects in Silverdale, including the 131,000-squarefoot Lowe's store that went in on Myhre Road in 2008.

Without opening up the rezoned area along Greaves Way, he said, there wasn't much available development space left in the commercial core, the area roughly bordered by the state highway, Waaga Way and Bucklin Hill Road.

"While we were doing (the Lowe's project), that was like the last major site in Silverdale, as far as raw land that could accommodate a major anchor tenant," he said.

Although the rezoning created the impetus for commercial development,

some larger parcels in the area are owned by entities or individuals that had other uses planned for their land.

Central Kitsap School District recently

decided to sell 13 acres it owns on three adjacent parcels on Clear Creek Road north of the proposed shopping center site. The district had planned to use its property for a bus barn, but now intends to locate a new transportation facility with other service centers that will be built on Dickey Road, which is already the site of the district’s maintenance and grounds departments.

The school district bought the Clear Creek property in 2003 for $1.675 million.

The property will be appraised before it is put on the market.

Likewise, the New Life Church of the Peninsula has decided to sell a parcel of almost 9 acres. The property is listed with real estate agent Rich Rucker, who said the church — which has congregations spread around Kitsap County — at one time had intended to build a central worship/community center on the land, which is in between the school district parcel and the CenterCal project site.

For the The Trails shopping center development, CenterCal is acquiring a parcel of about 5.5 acres south of Greaves Way from the Rex Hinkle family.

Hinkle, a lieutenant with the Bremerton Fire Department, said his family has owned Silverdale, page 24

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November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 23

By Tim Kelly, Editor A California-based mall developer that’s built numerous projects in Washington and Oregon has its sights set on Kitsap County.

Site work could begin as early as next spring on a proposed new retail center called The Trails at Silverdale, which would add another movie theater to the area, plus a mix of restaurants and stores including some major brands new to Kitsap’s retail scene.

Because the proposed development by CenterCal Properties is on a site that includes wetlands, the company submitted applications earlier this year to the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Ecology. If CenterCal’s plans for mitigation of wetlands impact on the 17.6-acre site are approved, then the developer could apply for land-use and construction permits from the county.

“Our hope is to commence site work in the spring, and that should be achievable,” said Steve Ruggiero, president of First American Properties, a Bainbridge Islandbased development company involved in the CenterCal project.

The site is just north of State Route 3 along Greaves Way, a 1.5-mile connector road the county spent $13 million to build four years ago in anticipation of development pushing across the highway from Silverdale’s commercial core. The road connects with Waaga Way just west of the interchange with SR 3 and extends west to Old Frontier Road. In conjunction with building Greaves Way, the county rezoned 450 acres in the area to commercial and industrial, and adopted design standards for future development in what was designated the Waaga Way Town Center.

Ruggiero said CenterCal's planned shopping center is likely to bring in some national brand stores that haven't been in Kitsap County before, although no tenants have been confirmed at this point.

"They have relationships with a lot of retailers that always wanted to be in the Kitsap market," he said of CenterCal.

Solar energy campaign in South Kitsap will benefit Habitat for Humanity

24 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

A community-based solar energy campaign, Go Solar South Kitsap, has been launched in the Bremerton and Port Orchard areas. A collaboration between Community Solar Solutions and Habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County, the campaign offers special pricing and convenient financing on solar panels. With the goal of substantially increasing the amount of solar utilized in the South Kitsap area, the campaign will lead to solar energy systems going up on Habitat’s homes at its largestever building project in the county.

“This campaign offers special pricing for a special cause,” said Joe Deets of Community Solar Solutions, the Kitsapbased organization spearheading the effort.

“We’ve designed a way for people to effectively rein in their electric bills with solar panels made in Washington state, and all of the companies involved are pitching in to support Habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County.

“It’s not only an excellent opportunity for South Kitsap homeowners and businesses to enjoy special campaign savings for going solar, it’s going to directly benefit Habitat for

Kim Leonard stands on her roof by an array of solar panels installed in 2012 at her home in the Southworth area.

Photo courtesy Sunergy Systems

Humanity. The more people who go solar during the campaign, the more solar panels will be put on Habitat homes, at their new Harris Court Project in P ort Orchard.”

Support for Habitat for Humanity’s Harris Court project is coming from several

solar-based companies: Itek Energy of Bellingham is donating solar modules for every sale in the campaign; Sunmodo Corp. of Vancouver, Wash., is donating racking components; and Seattle-based Sunergy Systems is donating installation training.

“Habitat for Humanity has a long history of helping families build decent, energy-efficient, and affordable homes,” said Daryl Daugs, executive director of the Kitsap County affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. “Our Harris Court project is an example of why Habitat is the largest green builder in the U.S. It will be a beautiful neighborhood, with 32 energy-efficient homes, solar energy, fruit trees, community gardens, and sustainable landscaping.”

The four-month campaign will include free educational workshops in Bremerton and Port Orchard, and is offering free site

SILVERDALE

from page 23 the land for half a century, and their property and most of the land around it on the north side of Silverdale was farmland and pasture before State Route 3 was built through the area.

He and his brothers didn’t want to sell the property, Hinkle said, but their property taxes have gone up considerably since the zoning change from residential to commercial.

But he said the planned commercial development should benefit the area.

“I think this be will be good for the community,” Hinkle said. “I’ve seen some preliminary plans and designs for what the development’s going to look like. It will give people more options, and provide some employment and a little more stability to our economy.

“I know it’s taken long time to get there…”

Ruggiero has been involved with

assessments for homeowners and businesses that are interested in switching to solar.

Workshops will be held: • Nov. 16, 10-11:30 a.m. at Givens Community Center, 1026 Sidney Ave. in Port Orchard • Dec. 12, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Norm Dicks Government Cen ter, 345 Sixth St. in Bremerton • Jan. 11, 10-11:30 a.m. at Givens Community Center in Port Orchard The workshops will cover how well the technology works in the Pacific Northwest, the financial incentives available to help reduce up-front costs, and the production incentives that pay you for the electricity that you produce. Those attending the workshops and deciding to go solar also will be able to take advantage of the special pricing made available. Details can be found at www.GoSolarSouthKitsap.com.

A representative from Habitat for Humanity will be at each of the workshops.

• Community Solar Solutions is a subsidiary of the nonprofit organization Community Energy Solutions. With the aim of supporting the local economy, creating jobs and addressing climate change, its Go Solar Washington initiative has led to the installation of over 150 solar electric systems, comprising nearly 800 kilowatts of installed capacity, on homes and businesses in the state.

For details visit www.gosolarwashington.com.

planning for development in the area since the county decided several years ago to build Greaves Way and other infrastructure with it, and implement consistent design standards for future projects in the Waaga Way Town Center district, which includes most of the land between Clear Creek Road and Old Frontier Road north to Trigger Avenue.

He said it was good advance planning for anticipated development in the area.

“Development in the past had just been kind of a series of conditional-use permits,” he said.

His company worked to bring in CenterCal, which has developed numerous malls around the Pacific Northwest, and Ruggiero said Silverdale residents can expect to see a quality project.

“They’re not the kind of developer who builds something and wallpapers it with retail, then sells it,” he said. “They own their stuff long-term, they’re in it for long haul and they’re going to be part of community for long time.”

Running through the finish line

By Dan Weedin I spent one season in track. I was an eighth-grader at North Whidbey Junior High in Oak Harbor. I had just finished basketball season and I couldn’t play golf until my freshman year, and I needed something to do. Track and being bored were my only options. I chose track.

I was capable of running, but when compared to others in a straight-out 100-yard dash, I was slow. The coaches put me on the 880-yard race, which was the equivalent of being sent of to

Siberia on the track team. The 880 (yes we were still “yards” in the late 1970s) as it was called, was an agonizing eight laps around the track. We ran our endurance race while all the other cool stuff was being done in the field. This race was obviously not a sprint; it was more of a grind. It was akin to shoveling sand because the strides are fairly short, yet if you keep with it, the laps add up.

The one thing I was keenly aware of was the sprint at the end. No matter what happened the 780 yards previously, the race was won or lost in the last 100 yards. The guy who had the most left and who ran hard through the finish line was always the winner. I never won a race myself, but I always felt like I could compete with myself and run hard through the “tape” and finish

Eagle Harbor Books hosts series of author events

Poulsbo councilman to head PSRC Economic Development District Poulsbo City Councilman Ed Stern will take over as president of the Economic Development District of the Puget Sound Regional Council in 2014, replacing retiring Snohomish County Commissioner Dave Gossett.

The change was announced at the October meeting of the 35-member PSRC board. Stern, a board member since 2008 who represents Kitsap County cities, has been vice-president of the Economic Development District board the past year and a half and will serve a two-year term as president.

The EDD is one of three program functions of the PSRC, the other two being transportation and growth management.

Each operation has a board of elected and

appointed members of the public and private sector, to make policy and budget recommendations governing the fourcounty region of the Central Puget Sound.

This area comprises King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties.

The president and vice-president of each of the three boards are also appointed to the Executive Committee of the PSRC, where policy and budget matters for the entire organization are developed, in conjunction with the officers of the PSRC. “I look forward to working with PSRC staff and my capable board to help support workforce education, and development of family-wage jobs, while further diversifying our economy,” Stern said.

in the spring, only to be thrust to the back burner. Now is the time to revive those projects.

Work smarter. Stop doing things that aren’t productive (you know what they are) and start doing things that move you forward faster. The latter may not be as much fun, yet the results are.

Manage your time better. Ferociously guard your time. You will be pushed and pulled from all directions over the next two months. Be prepared to say no. Nothing is more valuable than your time, both professionally and personally.

Keep your eye on the ball. Yes, I’ve moved briefly away from track to any sport that has a ball. Even the most skilled professional in a ball sport knows the simple rule that becoming distracted will cause you to lose focus and drop the ball.

Many distractions are headed your way.

Keep your eye on the ball.

Bottom line — regardless of whether your business year has been good, bad, or somewhere in the middle, you still have two months left to make it great. When you do that, the ripple effect will touch your employees, your clients, your family, and your attitude. The sprint portion of the race is in front of you. How you finish will be determined by if you run through the finish line or not. That choice is all yours.

Okay now… Sprint!

• Dan Weedin is a Poulsbo-based strategist, speaker, and mentor. He coaches business leaders and executives to become stronger leaders, grow their businesses, and enrich their lives. He was inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant™ Hall of Fame in 2012. You can reach Dan at 360-697-1058; e-mail at dan@danweedin.com or visit his web site at www.DanWeedin.com.

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November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 25

A series of author events hosted in November by Eagle Harbor Books begins with story time at 3 p.m. on Nov. 3 when Bainbridge Island author George Shannon and local illustrator Jennifer K. Mann will launch their new collaboration Turkey Tot. Other upcoming events include: • Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m., West Seattle writer Nicole Hardy will talk about her memoir, Confessions of a Latter-day Virgin, a look at faith and the modern woman.

• Nov. 10 at 3 p.m., Pacific Northwest mystery/romance writer Marianne Harden will read from her new book Malicious Mischief, a funny, sassy mystery about career chameleon Riley Keys.

• Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m., Seattle author Nicola Griffith will take readers back into 7thcentury Britain in her new book Hild, based on the life of St. Hild of Whitby, who began her life as a pagan, and survived as the daughter of a crafty noblewoman and favored seer of King Edward.

• Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m., Eagle Harbor Books will cohost best-selling middle reader author John Flanagan as he talks about his latest Ranger's Apprentice book, The Royal Ranger.

The event will be at the Sons of Norway Hall, 18891 Front St. in Poulsbo.

• Nov. 17 at 3 p.m., Silverdale author Peter Stockwell will talk about his suspense/mystery Motive.

• Nov. 21, Bainbridge Island photographer Pete Saloutos will unveil his 2014 Arms Around Bainbridge calendar. This annual calendar, filled with images of the Pacific Northwest, helps raise money to provide support to members of the Bainbridge Island community facing overwhelming financial and emotional burdens associated with a serious illness.

• Nov. 23 at 1:30 p.m., Bremerton author Rosemary Adkins will meet and greet readers to tell them about her memoir Reflections of Mamie.

• Nov. 24 at 3 p.m., A celebration of the well regarded Walks on Bainbridge, by Alice and David Shorett. The Bainbridge Island Land Trust will join us in recognizing this longloved guide to walks around the Island.

All events are free and open to the public. Events, unless noted, are at the bookstore, 157 Winslow Way East on Bainbridge Island. For more information, call Victoria Irwin at 206842-5332.

the race strong.

Funny how a year in business is much like my old 880-yard races.

The year starts out with great promise and hope just like the start of the race. As you work through the strides (days) they eventually turn into seasons of the year (laps). Before you know it, you’re nearing that last turn for the sprint to the finish line (November). What do you have left in your tank?

Just like in any race, we may not always finish first. Situations both outside and within our control may cause us to stumble.

As I write this column, the government shutdown is still going strong; crises have befallen communities in West Texas and Moore, Okla.; and all of you have had to deal with some unforeseen adversity. On the other hand, we live in a country where we have more control of our futures than most. As business leaders we are nimble and resilient. And that’s how we find that intestinal fortitude to have overcome the past 780 yards and sprint hard to the finish line.

A sprint isn’t simply running as fast as you can (although for me that was about as much thought as I put into it). There is strategy, smarts and technique. So it is for our 2013 sprint. And for us, how we finish dictates how we start the 2014 race. So let’s get it right. Here are my five tactics in strategy, smarts and technique that you can use for your scamper: Don’t stop marketing. In fact, market more assertively than before. Too many businesses outside of retail think that everyone takes the holiday season off. That is a crucial mistake. They don’t and you shouldn’t either.

Finish what you started. Many projects with great intentions were initiated

Take advantage of ‘open enrollment’

By Denette Chu At many places of work, it’s “open enrollment” season — the time when you get to make changes to the various benefits you receive from your employer. As you review your overall benefits package, what areas should you focus on?

Here are three possibilities: Life insurance — If your employer offers life insurance as a benefit, and you haven’t already signed up for it, consider adding it during your open enrollment period — because life insurance can be important to your family’s financial security. If you already have life insurance with your employer, you may want to take the time, during open enrollment, to review your beneficiary designations. If you’ve experienced a change in your family situation, such as divorce or remarriage, you’ll want to update your beneficiaries, as needed.

However, the amount of life insurance offered by your employer in a group policy may not be sufficient for your needs, so you may want to consult with a financial professional to determine if you should add private, or individual, coverage. You may find that individual coverage is comparable, in terms of cost, to your employer’s coverage.

Also, individual coverage is “portable” — that is, you can take it with you if you change jobs.

Disability insurance — Your employer may also offer disability insurance as a lowcost benefit. The coverage can be invaluable.

In fact, nearly one in three women, and about one in four men, can expect to suffer a disability that keeps them out of work for 90 days or longer at some point during their working years, according to the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE). Again, as was the case with life insurance, your employer’s disability policy may not be enough for your needs, so you may need to consider additional coverage.

Retirement plan — Your employer may offer a 401(k) or similar retirement plan, such as a 403(b) plan, if you work for an educational institution or a nonprofit organization, or a 457(b) plan, if you work for a governmental unit. All these plans offer the chance to contribute pretax dollars; so the more you put in, the lower your taxable income. Equally important, your earnings can grow tax-deferred, which means your money can accumulate faster than if it were placed in an account on which you paid taxes every year.

Consequently, try to contribute as much as you can possibly afford to your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored plan. If you’ve gotten a raise recently, consider boosting your contributions during open

enrollment. Also, take this opportunity to review the array of investments you’ve chosen for your 401(k) or other plan. If you feel that they’re underperforming and not providing you with the growth opportunities you need, you may want to consider making some changes. You might also think about making adjustments if your portfolio has shown more volatility than the level with which you are comfortable. Your financial professional can help you

determine if your investment mix is still suitable for your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon.

Open enrollment season gives you the perfect opportunity to maximize those benefits offered to you by your employer.

So, think carefully about what you’ve got and what improvements you can make — it will be time well spent.

• Denette Chu is an Edward Jones fnancial advisor.

What does government shutdown mean to investors?

By Lori Morgan As you’re well aware, a partial government shutdown began on Oct. 1. No matter what one’s views are on the political issues that led to this event, it’s probably fair to say that a shutdown is not particularly good news, on many fronts. Although essential services will continue, including Social Security and Medicare payments, other governmental functions will be disrupted, and hundreds of thousands of workers will be furloughed. So, as a citizen, you may well have concerns about the shutdown. But how will the shutdown affect you as an investor?

First of all, you may want to take to heart the slogan popularized by the British in

World War II: “Keep calm and carry on.”

You don’t need to panic, nor do you need to make massive changes to your investment portfolio or even take a “time out” from investing. It’s highly likely that, like all political/economic traumas in the past, this one, too, shall pass.

To gain some perspective, you might be interested in knowing that the current situation is not unique. We’ve had 17 government shutdowns in the past, most recently in 1996. And the overall effect of these shutdowns on the financial markets has not been particularly negative. Stocks dropped during nine of these shutdowns Shutdown, page 27

We Understand 26 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

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3500 Anderson Hill Rd Suite 101 Silverdale

360 308-9514

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Glenn Anderson, AAMS

5775 Soundview Drive Suite 203-C Gig Harbor

3100 NW Bucklin Hill Rd Suite 115 Silverdale

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555 Pacific Ave Suite 101 Downtown Bremerton

19032 Jensen Way NE Poulsbo

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25960 Ohio Ave NE Suite 101 Kingston

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Hope for the best and plan for the worst was business guru's calling the bubble a "True Revolution."

On March 10, 2000, the NASDAQ hit an all-time record high of 5,048.62. Today the NASDAQ trades at 3,771.48 which is still about 34 percent below the record high. Hopefully, eventually, we will get back to where we were in 2000, but it's only been 13 years since then. Remember the market’s time horizon and your retirement time horizon may not agree. The one asset you have less of as you transition through retirement is time. The lesson learned is always diversify your time horizon as well as your investments.

Did you know that if you lose 30 percent in one year you actually have to earn about 43 percent the next year just to get back to even? For example, if you have a portfolio valued at $1 million today and you lose 30 percent ($300,000) in one year, then the next year you would start with a balance of $700,000 and would need a gain of 43 percent (approximately another $300,000) just to get back to even.

When you are drawing money out of a portfolio that is falling in value, you are making your situation much worse. For example, let's say at the beginning of the year you had an investment portfolio valued at $1 million. The prevailing wisdom says you should be able to take a 4 percent withdrawal every year and not worry about depleting your portfolio. So at the beginning of the year you took a distribution of $40,000 from your investment portfolio, which was the recommended 4 percent to supplement your retirement lifestyle, and then by the end of that same year you experienced a 30 percent loss.

As you began year two, your million dollars would only be worth $672,000. If in the second year, you only take 4 percent of that amount, then you would only have

SHUTDOWN

Try not to overreact to these price swings, if they do occur. If you feel you must do something with regard to your investments, why not take this opportunity to look over your long-term strategy to make sure it’s still properly aligned with your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon?

Over time, your personal situation can change in many ways, so it’s always a good idea to review your investment portfolio, and to make those changes that can help you continue making progress toward your objectives, such as a comfortable retirement.

Furthermore, if we do see some price declines, you may well be presented with the opportunity to buy quality investments at good prices, so stay alert for these possibilities.

Above all else, don’t let the headlines of today scare you away from investing for tomorrow. With patience, discipline and the ability to maintain a long-term perspective in spite of short-term events, you can develop good investment habits that will serve you well for a lifetime.

• Lori Morgan is an Edward Jones financial advisor on Bainbridge Island.

from page 26 and rose during the other eight. Once the shutdowns ended, the average stock market gain was 2.5 percent over the following three months and 13.3 percent over the following 12 months, according to an analysis of the S&P 500 stock market index.

Of course, as you’ve no doubt heard, “past performance cannot guarantee future results,” so you shouldn’t necessarily expect the market to turn in similar results once this current shutdown is over. Nonetheless, the history of the market’s performance following government shutdowns does tell us something about the tremendous ability of the financial markets to absorb shortterm crises — and then move on.

This isn’t to say that you won’t see some volatility in the days and weeks ahead if the shutdown continues for a while. The financial markets do not like uncertainty, and while some of this uncertainty may already have been “factored in” during the past few weeks, as the possibility of a shutdown increased, we may still see some significant price gyrations.

$26,880 of retirement income whereas the year before you had $40,000.

The problem is that most of the time most people don't want less income every year as they transition through retirement.

They generally want more income to help them keep up with rising costs. So in this example if the couple decides to continue to take the necessary $40,000 of income at the beginning of year two in order t o fully fund their retirement living expenses, their $672,000 is now down to $632,000. And even though you only lost 30 percent in one year due to stock market volatility, when you also factor in the retirement income needed from the portfolio you would now require a 58 percent increase or a gain of $368,000 in your investment portfolio just to get back to the $1 million you started with.

The problem of rev erse dollar cost averaging is one of the reasons that so many retirees are just now getting back to even in their investment portfolios even though the stock market as measured by the S&P 500 has continued to post fairly strong positive returns since 2009.

When you are about to retire be sure you make your plans based on a worst-case scenario. I've learned that it is better to plan for the worst and hope for the best than it is to plan for the best and experience the worst.

Remember that retirement is all about cash flow not your net worth. Start your retirement journey by having a very

accurate budget, calculating all of your guaranteed retirement income sources, design your retirement plan around your time horizon and not the markets, solve for your retirement income gap and create a plan that will generate the highest degree of certainty with the least amount of volatility.

And by all means, spend your most valuable asset (your time) with the people you love, doing the things you love. If at the end of our time all we have to show is a positive balance sheet then I'm afraid we have missed our purpose. This my friends is the formula for Thriving In Retirement.

• Jason Parker is president of Parker Financial LLC, a fee-based registered investment advisory firm working primarily 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 securities or insurance products. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however, no representation is made as to its completeness or accuracy. Please consult your trusted professional for advice and further information. Jason Parker is insurancelicensed and holds his series 65 securities license. He offers annuities, life and long-term care insurances as well as investment services.

Follow Jason’s blog at www.thriving-inretirement.com.

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 27

By Jason R. Parker I remember in 2008, when I was introduced to some folks who had recently retired, they came into my office and were very concerned about their investment portfolio.

They explained they had lost more than 30 percent of the value of their portfolio in less than 12 months. What was worse is they had made plans to draw income from this portfolio every year to supplement their retirement income needs.

In my industry a prevailing bit of wisdom you may occasionally hear from financial advisers when Mr. Market is experiencing a lot of turmoil is, "don't worry, over a long period of time the market goes up."

Or another favorite is, "Well at least you have not lost as much as..." Either way, many people we serve are generally not comforted by this advice. Once you have retired you may not have a long period of time to recover from a significant market sell-off.

I have a good friend who was heavily invested in the NASDAQ back in the year 2000. He was in his 40s at the time and had accumulated enough money to retire. But like so many people, he was earning incredible double-digit returns, so instead of taking his foot off the gas pedal of risk, he kept driving forward full speed ahead.

During what we now call the dotcom bubble, you may have read some of the headlines where folks were quoted as saying, "I don't see any end in sight," or there is a, "very powerful momentum pattern that started to form last year" and is likely to "remain strong." Or my favorite

28 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

Manufacturer’s move dovetails with OC training programs

By Tim Kelly, Editor A millennial and a Gen-Xer who weren’t on viable career tracks went back to school to learn some new skills. The Olympic College training program they enrolled in was a key factor in the decision of a company that does high-tech manufacturing of composites for the aerospace industry to relocate from Southern California to Kitsap County. That manufacturer, Omohundro Co., wound up hiring both those guys and several others from OC. The OC programs provided through an Air Washington grant dovetailed neatly with Omohundro's relocation, providing job opportunities for students and meeting the employer's need for skilled workers.

It's an ideal example of how Air Washington — a $20 million federal grant shared by 11 community colleges and technical schools in the state to develop aerospace-related training programs — is designed to be a collaborative effort with companies to help meet their workforce needs, said Stephanie Thompson, the grant coordinator for Olympic College.

"I wish it happened this way all the time," Thompson said. "The reality is we don't have a lot of aerospace employers in our region. By providing workforce training these companies need, hopefully these employers will continue to come to the region."

The Omohundro owners who decided to move their operation out of California said they explored a number of potential new sites, and one of many pluses they found in Kitsap was the program OC offers in composites manufacturing technology.

“The ease of hiring qualified people has been great,” Cindy Sparks said. “We’re glad we made the move.”

She and her husband, Mark, had about 30 employees working by mid-October at their company’s new site in the Port Orchard Industrial Park, where they bought a 42,000 square-foot building. They expect to have a workforce of 40 when Omohundro ramps up to full production at the site, which they started moving into Sept. 1.

Austin Templeton, one of the students mentioned earlier who completed the twoquarter composites program in April, was among an initial group of workers hired in Kitsap County who spent two months at Omohundro's facility in Tustin, Calif., before the company's move.

The owners had contacted Olympic College in May and arranged to visit the Bremerton campus. Thompson said they met with faculty members who gave the Sparks a classroom tour and discussed the curriculum with them, and afterward the

Tim Kelly photos

Mark and Cindy Sparks are the owners of Omohundro Co., and recently relocated their composites manufacturing operation from Southern California to a 42,000-square-foot building they bought in the Port Orchard Industrial Park. school arranged a hiring event.

Through Air Washington, OC offers programs in composites manufacturing technology, electronics, and manufacturing technology -precision machining. Students can earn short-term training certificates to acquire entry-level job skills, take more courses for advanced certification, or complete a two-year Technical Arts degree.

Mark Sparks said there are courses in a variety of skills applicable in Omohundro's designing, manufacturing and testing of hardware components made from composite materials such as fiberglass, Kevlar, carbon fiber and woven quartz fiber.

"I was impressed by their composites program, their CNC (Computer Numerical Control, for automation of machine tools) and their CAD (computeraided design) courses," he said.

Templeton, a 2004 Central Kitsap High School graduate, said he enrolled in the OC composites program because he thought it would lead to a better job. "I was working for three years before that slinging beer around," working for a distributor, he said.

Jeremy Barnard, 37, also attended CKHS and met Templeton last year when they started the composites program. He was hired at Omohundro in October, and had worked as a painter before enrolling at OC. "For the last 10 years I've been working in the summer, and scrounging during the winter. I couldn’t do it anymore," Barnard said. "I needed to think about my future, and that's when I saw an opportunity here

to get into something much more stable and year-round."

Templeton's father, Randy, has been the guidance counselor at CKHS for 21 years and said there's more focus in high schools now on letting students know about career opportunities through technical training in programs like OC's. He said a team of CK teachers went to an Air Washington seminar, and they developed a manufacturing design course at the high school a couple years ago.

"One of the real goals of that class is get kids interested in the aerospace manufacturing field," Templeton said. "Not to get them directly into the workplace, but to understand what the aerospace industry offers, and get them connected to next steps like the OC manufacturing programs."

Two students who took the high school design class are enrolled in the OC programs now, he said. As a counselor, he thinks that's a good — and relatively affordable — option for post-secondary education.

"I think the goal, really, is rather than having these kids wander around for five years … is to get them directed right out of high school into these programs, so right away they're learning some skills useful in a manufacturing environment," he said.

"We're still pretty highly focused on getting kids into four-year colleges, I think sometimes to the detriment of what kids should be hearing," Templeton added. "I think in education we sometimes lose sight of what college means. College can mean

these kinds of trade programs, and they're as appropriate for many kinds of kids as going to a four-year university."

Mark Sparks, who learned about manufacturing by working six years at his father's plastics company near Vancouver, Wash., and his wife place a high value on that kind of education in applied science and technology.

As business owners, they oversee a company that makes radomes that protect radar antennas on planes, drones, helicopters, ships and submarines; microwave reflectors for communication satellites; and ultra-lightweight ducting for aircraft.

As parents of two home-schooled sons ages 14 and 15, they sometimes bring their boys to Omohundro to utilize CAD systems and other company resources in projects they're working on.

Mark Sparks went to work at Omohundro as an assistant technician in engineering in the late 1980s.

"We got the opportunity to purchase the company in '95," he said, "and we took advantage of it."

Now they're taking advantage of an opportunity to hire a new generation of technicians through Air Washington's workforce training programs.

"It's a pretty successful program," Randy Templeton said. "With Omohundro coming up here, you're seeing the whole process come together and produce something tangible for the business community."

Austin Templeton, who completed an Olympic College training program in composites manufacturing technology, hooks up thermocouples and vacuums in an autoclave at Omohundro.

Olympic College campuses to add new baccalaureate programs another next year.

While many of the details of the program are still being determined, including the admission requirements, one decision was to make this a “hybrid” program —a mix of online and face-to-face courses — based on student requests.

“I believe the reason the hybrid model is popular with students is because they have the flexibility in schedule (with online classes) and still have an opportunity to meet with faculty face-to-face and take advantage of campus resources,” said Norma Whitacre, dean of business and technology. “We’re committed to offering a high-quality program that meets the needs of the community and has a flexible schedule to meet the needs of students.”

Western Washington Univ. expands presence Another new degree will be added at the OC Poulsbo campus next fall by Western Washington University, one of several universities that currently offer four-year programs at the Olympic College campus.

While Western currently has two four-year environmental degree programs at Poulsbo and others at the Bremerton campus, the new bachelor’s in business administration will bring WWU tenured faculty to OC for the first time.

Lois Longwood, director of degree and professional programs for Western Washington Extended Education, said the

institution has extension programs at four community colleges including OC, but this is the first time that a tenured faculty member would be placed at any of those campuses. Western anticipates redirecting either one or two tenured faculty to Poulsbo as well as hiring adjuncts locally.

“That’s a huge move for a university,” she said. “It signals a deeper commitment to the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula area.”

Support staff will also be added on site.

Jim Funaro, director of OC’s Poulsbo campus, said the addition of tenured faculty means not only an expanded partnership but also a long-term commitment by Western.

“Tenured faculty are established and understand the culture of Western. They have a huge investment in the success of the program,” he said.

The program, which will also be a hybrid model, will be offered next fall, with enrollment anticipated to start during Western’s regular admissions cycle in the winter. Western expects to enroll 35 to 40 students per cohort, with a new program starting each year.

OC will expand its coursework in math and in business electives to make sure all associate-level work leading to the bachelor’s degree is available, Funaro said, adding that the program is expected to attract students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and age groups.

“We hope this will lead to management opportunities for personnel and be a cornerstone for an entrepreneurial path for people in the community,” he said.

The effort to bring the program to Poulsbo has been in the works for a couple of years. “The administration at Olympic College has been asking Western to bring more programming. During community conversations, a strong interest emerged in a business degree,” Longwood said.

Western Washington University also plans to expand its popular environmental program at the OC campus. Currently, classes are offered via an interactive television model, with faculty coming to Poulsbo on a rotating basis with other extension campuses. Starting this winter, a tenured faculty member will be added to the program, and another will follow next year.

“The Poulsbo campus is a beautiful campus and a wonderful learning center.

It’s a little jewel,” Longwood said. “To have the strong administration backing of Olympic College is a blessing.”

Additionally, WWU is discussing the possibility of adding a master’s degree in environmental management.

(The university already offers a master’s in education administration at Bremerton.)

Plans, dreams for more Olympic College is already working on Olympic, page 33

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 29

By Rodika Tollefson Kitsap Peninsula students will soon be able to obtain four-year degrees in business administration and in computer information systems without leaving the area. Olympic College is working on implementing a baccalaureate of applied science program in computer information systems — its second four-year degree — and its partner, Western Washington University, is adding a four-year business administration program at the OC Poulsbo campus.

The baccalaureate in computer information systems, which is expected to enroll its first cohort next fall, is in the curriculum development phase. Olympic College received a $200,000 grant from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges to develop the program. The WSBCTC provided a total of $500,000 to five community colleges for developing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs, with Olympic receiving the largest amount.

Olympic currently has one other baccalaureate degree, in nursing. Several other four-year programs are also offered on the OC campus by partner universities.

“We were already in the process of planning another baccalaureate degree. …

We’ve been carefully selecting which program will be next,” said Mary Garguile, vice president of instruction. “This will be a generic degree that will meet the needs for large and small employers in the community. It will meet a local market need.”

As part of its needs assessment, OC conducted industry surveys and roundtables, as well as looking at a variety of data. A survey of 81 employers from Kitsap and Mason counties showed, among other things, that 65 percent prefer to hire employees with bachelor’s degrees (vs. associate’s) but 64 percent of those find it challenging to find qualified candidates because of the company’s location, and half of them because of the candidates’ education. Additionally, 79 percent of respondents to a November 2012 West Sound Technology Association survey said there was a need for a baccalaureate degree in computer information systems, and 92 percent selected a broad degree as “the most critical in addressing regional workforce demands.”

“A general degree will give a solid foundation in computer information systems,” said OC’s Workforce Development Dean Amy Hatfield. “We’ve had a lot of interest from local employers — clearly there’s a need for this degree.”

If everything goes according to plan — which includes sending the program for approval to the state college board in February — Olympic could start the admissions process into the BAS CIS program in spring and start the classes next fall. The first cohort can accommodate 2025 students, with estimated expanded capacity in the future. The college is in the process of hiring an additional full-time faculty member, and anticipates adding

30 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

Offering professional development opportunities is smart management

By Julie Tappero A recent Gallup Poll showed that about 70 percent of workers are not engaged in their jobs, and therefore are not reaching their full potential at work. They estimate this disengagement costs U.S. companies between $450 and $550 billion a year.

What creates engagement? In the 2012 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 83 percent surveyed said it was their ability and confidence that they could accomplish their work goals. Seventy-five percent said their ability to use their skills and capabilities contributed to their engagement. SHRM reported this as an increasing trend, with more employees now desiring the opportunity for career advancement within their organizations.

The poll found 86 percent of respondents reported that the organization’s commitment to professional development was either important or very important to them.

Why does this matter to us? Because as the economy improves, we are in an increasing war for talent. While the unemployment rate may still be hovering over 7 percent, top talent is much more quickly snapped up. In this global economy, our employees have more options. With social media recruitment, passive jobseekers can be recruited while they sit at their desks working. We also know that within the next five years, on average 40 percent of our management leadership is eligible to retire. There are 77 million baby boomers, and only 43 million Gen Xers coming up to take their place. Retaining an A-level performer, boosting the B-level performer to an A-level, and upskilling the C-level performers is just smart management. We cannot afford to have disengaged workers underperforming, or worse yet, our top talent seeking better opportunities.

Recognizing that over 90 percent of the U.S. workforce is employed by small businesses of 50 or fewer employees, how

can we provide cost-effective training solutions and career development opportunities for our incumbent workers?

Just a few years ago, MOOCs emerged.

MOOC stands for massive open online course. This game-changing educational technology makes free university-level courses available over the Internet to anyone. Some of the best universities in the country are involved, such as Stanford, MIT and Harvard. As Time magazine said, this has made “Ivy League for the Masses” available to anyone with Internet access.

The courses offered range from the arts to computer technology, medicine and science. Many of them are very technical, complex, and the most up-to-date curriculum available. While there is controversy about whether this is the best methodology to deliver education, sometimes you just can’t beat free. You can check out some of the best known MOOCs at www.coursera.org, www.udacity.com, www.moocs.co and www.edxonline.org.

In addition to online courses, there are other low-cost or no-cost forms of employee development and training. Many professional organizations offer free or nearly free professional development webcasts as a member benefit. Making these development opportunities available to employees, even if it’s outside their immediate job duties, is an opportunity to advance their skills without incurring great expense.

Job rotations, cross training and mentorships can all be done within the organization to enable employees to acquire new skills and try their hand at different positions and duties. In a small organization, it also can provide for business continuity when someone is out or quits. In our office a few years ago, our marketing assistant indicated an interest in accounting. Our accountant took her under his wing and she began providing some assistant duties for him. When funding became available for military spouses to get degrees, I passed the information on to her, and she went to school at night to get her bachelor’s in accounting. Today she’s a CPA, and it gives all of us pride that we helped her on her way!

Stretch assignments are another

opportunity for professional development.

Businesses often have projects come up that offer the chance for an employee to take on something outside their normal duties, utilizing untapped talents, experiencing something new, and really taking a stretch. Even if those opportunities aren’t available within your organization, they are available within the greater community. Nonprofit organizations always have projects, committees and events that could use new talent. Making an employee available to help provides them with new experiences and exposes them to new organizations and professionals.

On Oct. 17 the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) held its Decision Makers event focused on Leadership, The Essential Business Strategy.

In her keynote address, Dr. Dora SummersEwing discussed the role employee development plays in employee engagement and offered ideas for businesses.

Dr. Ewing mentioned tuition reimbursement programs, which have been around for a long time in large corporations. A smaller company may offer it on a limited basis for agreed-on professional development that benefits both the worker and the business. Another interesting idea was celebrating an employee milestone with a paid sabbatical.

In the university setting, these are used for research, study or other scholarly pursuits that benefit the educator and the university.

Imagine the possibilities in the business world where an employee could celebrate five or 10 years with the company with a

paid leave of two or four weeks to take some extra training, attend a workshop or conference, or pursue a course of study.

Another interesting idea was to gather employees together to watch TED talks, followed by discussions. This is a great way to bring new ideas into your workplace and build your team at the same time.

The Gallup Poll I mentioned in the beginning of this article states three things to do to accelerate employee engagement.

First, start by hiring the right employees.

Second, develop your employees’ strengths. Third, enhance their wellbeing.

It is not enough to do step number one and stop. According to Gallup, half of new hires are disengaged after six months on the job!

It’s a difficult and expensive process to make a good hire. Don’t stop there. Invest in your people, develop their talents, and you’ll benefit by retaining engaged productive workers.

• (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.)

Kitsap groups plan events to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week Kitsap County business and service organizations are partnering to offer a week of events as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013, the nation’s largest entrepreneurship-focused campaign.

This global event runs from Nov. 18-24 and will be encouraging current and aspiring entrepreneurs to take a step forward in their plans — whether that’s starting a business, seizing a new opportunity or finding out more about careers in enterprise.

The campaign offers practical events that can inspire and educate people about what support is available to entrepreneurs in Kitsap, across Washington state and beyond.

Entrepreneurs, page 31

West Sound Workforce

15 Years in Business!

Celebrating over 5000 successful job placements on the Kitsap Peninsula!

561320 – Temporary Help Services 561312 – Executive Search Services 561311 – Employment Agencies

Kitsap County

(360) 394-1882

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www.westsoundworkforce.com

Going back to school for career change, advancement

By Rodika Tollefson Tamara Sellman has been writing since she was 4 years old, and as an adult she’s built a successful career in the publishing industry. But after running an editing business, Writer’s Rainbow, for about five years, the Bainbridge Island mother of two was ready for a change.

“I missed my own writing as I was helping everyone else,” she said.

So she closed her business in 2010 and took some time off for writing, all the while thinking about a new career. After having a sleep study done, she became curious. Her research led her to Highline Community College, which offers a highly competitive certification program for polysomnographic technologists — the only program of its kind in the state. The fact that Olympic College offered prerequisites leading to that program closed the deal.

Sellman graduated from the yearlong degree program this past summer, and got a job within a week at Poulsbo Pulmonary Clinic. She works two nights a week doing sleep studies — a perfect schedule, she says, because she has two busy teens, and also a good way to earn a living.

“I love what I do and the people I work with. I love interacting with patients and working with the technology, and the blend of interaction and problem-solving,” she said.

She still gets to use her writing skills by writing occasionally for health-related publications, but making the midlife career change was a natural decision for her.

“I was excited to learn something brand new at 46,” says Sellman, whose undergraduate degree focused on

ENTREPRENEURS

Courtesy photo

journalism.

Sellman is part of a growing number of adults who are going back to school after an established career. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, age 25 and up is the fastestgrowing segment among the student population, a trend that’s expected to continue. About two-thirds of those adults are women.

Many, like Sellman, are making a career change in midlife but others are looking for ways to become more competitive, especially in a tight economy.

“I knew I had to go back to school for something, the way the market and the economy was,” said Andrea Jerabek, a Gig Harbor resident who is pursuing an online master’s degree in elementary education from Western Governors University.

Jerabek has an undergraduate degree in social work and has worked largely with geriatric populations, including for hospice.

Global Entrepreneurship Week activities are an obvious fit for Kitsap County, says John Powers, executive director of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance. “Kitsap is home to a deep pool of entrepreneurial talent in a variety of industries. And with over 600 patents and trademarks issued to Kitsapbased businesses in the past five years, Kitsap ranks second statewide when it comes to the development and registration of intellectual property. Kitsap is known for its innovative and entrepreneurial culture, and we are excited about launching Kitsap’s full-fledged participation in this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week.”

The events are offered in partnership with the Washington State Department of Commerce, area Kitsap Chambers of Commerce, Visit Kitsap Peninsula, the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, West Sound Technology Association, Kitsap Community Resources’ BE$T program, and Kitsap Entrepreneurial Center and Excell Puget Sound. Details and registration information are available at www.kitsapeda.org. Information about Global Entrepreneurship Week is available at us.unleashingideas.org and startup.choosewashingtonstate.com.

“It was such a privilege and an honor to work with them,” she said.

But after a left-leg amputation in 2005,

she needed to find an environment that was less physically challenging (She has a prosthetic leg but also uses crutches and a wheelchair, and also relies on a service dog.) Eventually, that led her to open her own businesses, Harbor Healing Hands, offering reiki therapy. The business doesn’t bring in a lot of money and Jerabek figured since she has a couple more decades left of her worklife, she could try something different. Becoming a teacher wasn’t that far-fetched, since Jerabek originally went to college to become an elementary teacher before changing majors several times.

“I love kids but we don’t have any of our own. Being able to work with young children is such a joy,” she said.

After a lot of research, Jerabek settled on Western Governors University because it was the least expensive option as well as convenient, since she didn’t have to commute to a campus.

“I knew I needed to go back to school and have a career that would work for me and give me a steady income,” she said.

Michele Laboda doesn’t want to change careers, but she felt a college degree would make her more competitive.

“As the economy became more challenging, it was clear to me I needed to prepare myself for whatever the future may hold. As I was getting older, I knew I Back to school, page 33

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 31

from page 30 “Many different organizations and leaders throughout Kitsap County have come together to collaborate for a global mission that supports and increases visibility for entrepreneurship in our region,” said Shannon Bruce, executive coach and group leader of Excell Puget Sound, who will be facilitating discussions at one of the events. She encourages individuals who own or are considering launching their own business to participate.

“This week is full of creative and innovative ways to support you as a leader as you grow your business.”

Kitsap Global Entrepreneurship Week events include presentations from Washington Filmworks on location filming opportunities for your business or property; John Tomizuka, one of the developers behind the official Presidential Inauguration mobile app; a luncheon featuring a panel of successful local entrepreneurs and resource trade show; a World Café Discussion Group; a seminar on government contracting; and networking events including Brews & Bites – Home Grown Businesses that Tourists Love.

Tamara Sellman, right, is shown with other students in a class photo of the polysomnography program at Highline Community College.

Producer’s quest is creating an engaging science project

32 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

By Tim Kelly, Editor As a television documentary producer, Katie Jennings knows that a close-up of a 3day-old penguin chick in the wild is an audience-pleaser. And while viewers are riveted on the fuzzy little critter in the palm of biologist Dee Boersma's hand, they're hopefully absorbing the simple ecology lesson delivered in the seven-minute video Jennings helped make for KCTS as part of the Quest multimedia science series.

Jennings, who lives on Bainbridge Island, returned to Seattle public television station KCTS to work as coordinating producer for the station's contributions to a new Quest project, The Science of Sustainability. KCTS is one of five regional

stations around the country collaborating on the project with KQED, the San Francisco station where Quest originated.

There will be five half-hour TV programs airing this fall, each presenting four videos produced by the participating stations — the others are in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina.

The first segment Jennings and her KCTS crew produced for the fall TV series was “A River Returns,” about salmon coming back to the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula after two century-old hydropower dams were removed. It was part of the second Quest episode, “Restoring America’s Waters,” which first aired on Oct. 23.

Jennings, who spent 15 years working as an executive producer at KCTS earlier in her career, is passionate about the Quest project in all its “multiplatform” content, not just the televised elements. Those are really just the hook, she explains.

To more fully explore topics presented in the broadcasts — or to watch any of the programs online — viewers are steered to the questscience.org website that offers radio reports from project partners, webonly videos (such as the widely viewed one on penguins), a wide array of articles on aspects of sustainable science, and other multimedia resources specifically designed for use in classrooms.

“There are interactive online articles, and links to more lengthy type of resources,” Jennings said. “I'm excited about how it's pushing people to the website where resources are even richer that what we can provide in a broadcast.”

The National Science Foundation provided a $2.5 million grant over two years for the Quest sustainability project, and about 10 percent of that funding came to KCTS. Jennings, who is working in a temporary grant-funded position, said everyone involved with Quest hopes the

for Self Help (CASH) entrepreneurship program in Kitsap County. Operating as Media Alley, she provides consulting to community and nonprofit groups.

But her primary focus now is on Quest, even though that means the mother of two teenage sons has to be a ferry commuter again (although she manages some of her work by telecommuting.)

Jennings said Quest will air three more original half-hour TV programs in the spring, and two of them will have a KCTS-produced segment.

One will be on otters, sea urchins and kelp; explaining how the return of sea otters — Tim Kelly photo they were nearly wiped out by Katie Jennings of Bainbridge Island is the coordinating the fur trade in the Northwest producer at Seattle public television station KCTS 9 for the — restrains the sea urchin Quest scientific education program. population, resulting in more kelp growing, which is good funding will be continued after the current for the marine ecosystem. grant period ends next year.

The other segment probably will be “We will be returning to NSF with about wolves. another grant proposal in January, and we “There’s a UW researcher studying the should have an answer by June,” she said. impact that predator species have on The educational focus of Quest appeals everything in the ecosystem,” she said. to Jennings, whose career also includes a And to explain to Quest viewers “the decade at Islandwood, the outdoor learning complex cascade of effects from the wolves' center on Bainbridge where she was return to the North Cascades,” the video will director of educational media. While there include footage from the researcher’s unusual she worked on projects for National technology application — deer cams.

Geographic and the National Science By next spring, along with the eight halfFoundation. Before joining the Quest team hour Quest television shows produced by at KCTS, she completed an online master’s the collaborating PBS stations, Jennings program in Media Psychology and Social said each station will have completed an Change through Santa Barbara, Calif.extensive educational package of additional based Fielding Graduate University. resources.

She also has her own business, Media She works with Jenn Morton, the Alley, which she started in 2011 with education coordinator at KCTS, on all assistance from the Community Alliance aspects of that. “We try to maximize the educational potential of everything we create,” Jennings said.

All the KCTS videos (which include another Bainbridge Island resident, Kayla Black, doing narration) and supplementary resources produced for Quest will be added to PBS Learning Media, an online repository of digital learning materials designed for use by preschool through high school teachers. Jennings said the Quest multimedia resources for classroom use are correlated with Next Generation Science Standards that have been adopted in Washington.

“The Quest science materials are specifically supposed to be a gateway to deeper scientific understanding by lifelong learners,” Jennings said. “We will be training local teachers how to use the multimedia materials at the 9 Media Lab” at KCTS. She said the collaborative nature of the project has been especially satisfying, both with the other PBS partner stations on the themed television programs, and with community partners that have cooperated Producer, page 33

BACK TO SCHOOL

PRODUCER

OLYMPIC

from page 29 its next four-year degree, which will focus on leadership. Garguile said they are collecting information about the needs, but the expectation is to have a general degree, possibly something along the lines of organizational leadership. The program may especially appeal to leaders in technical fields. It would take a couple of years to develop and approve it.

Garguiles said she also hopes to see additional offerings by the partner universities. As one example, she said OC would love to see a bachelor’s in electrical

mothers — especially after becoming a stay-at-home mom herself.

McIntyre, who lives on the Key Peninsula, has an undergraduate degree in art and got into the nonprofit world after being hired by the Tacoma Art Museum.

While focusing on her children, now ages 3 and 8, she continued being involved parttime with the local nonprofit The Mustard Seed Project.

Initially, she considered getting a clinical license in order to work with mothers but found limited opportunities in that career path. Instead, she is pursuing a master’s in social work from University of WashingtonTacoma. Although the program is parttime, McIntyre found that homework takes

sustainability from around the country together in a program presented nationally brings home that connection.

“You see a story about the largest solar farm in the world in California next to a piece about Ohio, which is struggling with groundwater issues from fracking, and you put them next to each other, and you realize the environment, and all the elements that sustain life, is not just a local problem,” he said. “It’s a collaborative problem that we all need to address together.”

engineering from Washington State University, which already has a four-year degree program in mechanical engineering at OC. In addition to Western and Washington State, other university partners that have a presence at OC include Brandman University, Old Dominion University and Western Governors University, with programs usually designed to offer a seamless transition into the last two years of a bachelor’s program — and, in some cases, on to a master’s.

“We’ve always been underserved,” Garguile said, “and we would very much love to move toward the idea of becoming a university center.”

at least 20 hours, so after trying to work and go to school for the first year, she decided being a mom and a student was enough.

“I love, love, love the learning community. Going to school as an adult is a completely different experience,” she said.

She had to work hard to get there, too — McIntyre was not accepted the first year.

So she went through a UW program that helps potential master’s students increase their admission chances, and worked with a professor to build up the experience she needed. That’s when she became involved with Children’s Home Society Key Peninsula Family Resource Center, and started on a path that embraced her new passion.

“Jud (Morris, program manager) gave me the opportunity to create new programs geared toward mothers,” she said.

Going back to school brought an unexpected result —McIntyre wasn’t

interested in politics before but she discovered how much it affects mothers.

She hopes to look at the big picture — including the policy-making process and lobbying — to make a bigger impact in her new profession.

“The learning experience has opened my eyes to new needs,” she said.

While adults going back to school find the experience different — partly because they’re more mature, partly because they have different motivations — they do find that a person needs to be doing it for the right reasons in order to succeed. Some people may have a romantic notion about it, but it’s very much hard work, Sellman said.

“Be prepared for it to take more energy than you think. You have to be willing to put your head down and get it done,” said Sellman, who walks to a nearby coffee shop every day to do homework for four hours, and uses her calendar to block off the time.

It helps to have the support of family and friends. It also helps to say no — Laboda, who is single, for example, is overworking less than she used to, while Sellman gave up some volunteering.

“I would not have the time to balance work-school-life without help from my family, friends and neighbors,” McIntyre said. “They have been, by far, my largest asset. When I gave up working, it meant less income for my family, which meant an even greater reliance on friends and family for childcare. I have found that most of my network is happy to support me in my goals and help out whenever they can.”

And the idea of working toward a goal is a great motivator, according to Jerabek.

“I’m excited about something and if you’re excited, you know there’s going to be challenges but that’s part of life,” she said.

No matter the challenges, McIntyre feels the effort — and the expense — will pay off in the end. “I believe strongly in education,” she said. “I don’t believe you can ever go wrong going back to school.”

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from page 32 on the videos and helped with development of educational materials.

“Part of the point of (Quest) is to highlight that we're all in this together,” she said.

As Quest executive producer Jason Black of KQED explained in a Columbia Journalism Review article about the project, putting local stories about

Courtesy photo

Michele Laboda, the public information officer for North Kitsap Fire District, enrolled at the University of Washington this fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in communication.

from page 31 couldn’t just rely on connections and relationships,” said Laboda, a Kingston resident who enrolled at the University of Washington this fall for a bachelor’s degree in communication.

Laboda has worked in her field for about 25 years, including as a self-employed graphic designer for political campaigns.

Since 1997, she has been serving as the North Kitsap Fire District’s public information officer. While she received an associate’s degree in 2012, for years she’d had the dream of a bachelor’s.

“I’ve been able to do very fulfilling and satisfying work without that degree, so it was easy to be distracted by other pursuits,” said Laboda, who had enough credits to come into the program as a junior, but also needs so many upper-division courses that she’ll most likely get a double major.

Laboda says a bachelor’s degree is a necessity — and there are some statistics to support that. According to a report released last year by the nonprofit Lumina Foundation, despite a historically high number of bachelor-degree holders, employers will need about 23 million more people with college degrees by 2025, which outpaces the number of graduates currently being produced in the United States.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and just getting there, in and of itself, is an achievement,” she said. “I feel like I’m working toward a goal and it’s invigorating and energizing on many levels.”

Janice McIntyre is not only working toward a goal, she has discovered a new passion that gave her a focus. After working in nonprofit development for 15 years, she wanted to provide more direct services to

2014 Acura MDX: Perfect blend of luxury, safety, efficient performance

34 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

By Bruce Caldwell Seven-passenger SUVs have improved dramatically from those early truck-based, gas-guzzling monsters like big-block V-8 ‘70s/’80s Suburbans and first generation V10 Excursions. Minimal sound insulation, harsh ride dynamics, and single or low double-digit fuel economy figures are a faint memory thanks to the current generation of innovative SUVs such as the 2014 Acura MDX. We recently tested a top-of-the-line 2014 Acura MDX with Advance, Tech, and Entertainment packages. The overall experience was much more like a luxury sedan than a vintage pickup truck. We recorded highway fuel economy numbers over thirty miles per gallon while cruising in total comfort and safety with room for seven occupants. With some or all of the back seats folded down there was room for large amounts of cargo.

Walkaround: The 2014 MDX looks like an SUV, but with more sedan/sport wagon influences than earlier iterations.

The grille is distinctively Acura. The most noticeable change is the five-lamp LED headlights (great lighting). Panel fit and finish are excellent.

Interior: Acura interiors have well deserved reputations as outstanding blends

of space, comfort, quietness, and technical innovations.

The 2014 MDX is no exception. The MDX is a three-row seven-passenger SUV. The first two rows are very spacious and the third row is fine for smaller or occasional passengers. The second row seats have several inches of travel that benefits third row passengers. Third row access is pretty easy thanks to a clever release system on the outboard second row seats.

The second row seats are heated with the Advance package. A big, wide center armrest is great when the middle position isn’t in use.

A flat floor helps make the middle position tolerable.

The second row is the best seat in the house for enjoying the fine DVD entertainment system.

Cargo capacity is substantial. Both second and third row seats fold flat in a variety of combinations. The rear doors and tailgate are all oversized, which eases cargo

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handling. The tailgate is power operated.

There is extra storage under the floor and lots of small item bins.

Active noise cancellation is a great feature that contributes to the quiet cabin.

Noise-insulating glass is used throughout the vehicle. Even the engine mounts were designed to minimize vibrations.

Under The Hood: Smooth, refined, and powerful are adjectives that describe Acura engines. Acura has long been a benchmark company for highly sophisticated V-6 engines. Early Acura engines did much to dispel the notion that V-6 engines in luxury cars were inferior to V-8s.

The MDX version of the reliably excellent Acura 3.5-liter V-6 produces 290 smooth horsepower and 267 lb-ft of torque.

It’s not a muscle car, but when the six-speed automatic transmission is placed in the “sport” mode the MDX moves out quickly.

Performance is especially impressive given the vehicle’s considerable heft and passenger capacity.

Fuel economy is very impressive. The EPA rates the all-wheel-drive MDX at 20mpg city and 28-mpg highway. We drove to Portland and back recording 31.5-mpg on the way down and 30.1-mpg on the return trip. Those figures were obtained at above posted limits (and below ticket speeds) without using cruise control. At the end of our 425 miles in the MDX the trip computer posted an overall average of 27.7 mpg.

Behind The Wheel: We put a lot of very pleasant miles on the MDX. The quiet, roomy interior and smooth highway ride make the MDX an excellent vehicle for long family trips. Driver comfort and visibility are superb. Legroom and headroom are very generous. The front seats are heated and ventilated with power lumbar support and 10-way adjustability.

Long trips can dull a driver’s attention,

but the sophisticated safety features will keep you securely in your own lane. With the Advance Package those features include lane departure warning and lane keeping assist. The lane keeping assist feature actually helps steer the MDX back into the proper lane.

If you’re not paying super close attention to following distances or a suddenly slowing vehicle there is a forward collision warning feature and a collision mitigation braking system that can apply the brakes before you react. We like the Blind Spot Information system in congested traffic. There is adaptive cruise control with a special low speed following feature.

Besides all these high-tech features the MDX is loaded with airbags including a new driver’s knee airbag. The side curtain airbags are tied to a rollover sensor.

The smooth ride can be fine tuned with a Driving Dynamics System. Setting choices are normal, sport, and comfort.

Most MDX owners will remain on paved roads, but the SH-AWD (super handling all-wheel-drive) 4x4 system (front-wheeldrive is standard) automatically varies power distribution depending on the traction conditions for each wheel. The system is ideal for nasty weather and snowy mountain passes. We’ve gone off-roading in an MDX without any problems, but its luxury nature doesn’t encourage back road bashing.

Whines: We’re stretching for anything to complain about. The styling is fine, but it doesn’t excite us. The engine requires premium fuel.

Bottom Line: The 2014 Acura MDX is a wonderfully engineered, technically innovative, and beautifully packaged multipurpose vehicle. It’s not sensual or viscerally exciting, but it does everything exceeding well and it’s a joy to drive and ride in.

The original hybrid is still on top Under the Hood: Introduced with the secondgeneration Prius and continually enhanced with lighter, more efficient components, Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive unites the output of a 98 horsepower, 1.8liter Atkinson-cycle, fourcylinder engine, with an electric motor utilizing nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, resulting in a combined net of 134 horses.

A full hybrid, the Prius can run strictly alone on the gas engine, the battery, or a combination of both. The driver can select from four driving modes — Normal, Power, ECO and EV. The EV mode allows driving on battery power alone at low speeds for about a mile, conditions permitting.

The Power mode increases sensitivity to throttle input for a sportier feel; ECO helps drivers enhance fuel economy by adjusting throttle input and climate control habits.

The 2014 Prius is certified as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) and an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) in California, and in states like Washington that have adopted California’s emission standards.

The Prius Plug-in Hybrid employs newly developed lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries and can be plugged in like an EV to extend its range. According to Toyota, the Plug-in Hybrid will allow true EV operation for up to 15 miles at speeds up to 62 mph. The Plug-in Hybrid comes with an easy-to-use external charging cable, but you’ll want a professional electrician to set up a dedicated fast-charger for quickest charge times.

Fuel economy is the number one reason people buy the Prius. The Prius is EPArated at 51/48 mpg City/Highway, with a combined rating of 50 mpg, and runs on Regular. The Plug-in Hybrid is also rated 51/49 and 50 mpg Combined. Because it also runs on electricity, the Environmental Protection Agency gives it a special rating of 95 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe).

Behind The Wheel: While fuel economy is remarkable, acceleration can only be termed as leisurely — 0 to 60 in 9.8 seconds. However, the continuously variable transmission (CVT) is pretty smooth — something not prominent in all CVTs. Handling is comfortable around town, but on the road, if you drive aggressively, it corners heavy and slow. Ride quality is far from stellar, and even with the 17-inch wheels on our Prius Five test vehicle, it could get pretty rough over marginal roads.

The slower you drive, the better it is. We also experienced some road noise The four-wheel disc brakes are sensitive — possibly because of the regenerative braking system — the more you brake, the more battery power you build up, enabling

you to use EV mode more.

Whines: In our view, the quality and finish of some interior materials don’t quite measure up for a car at this price point. The seat-heater button is inconveniently located on the floor under the console. The doors sound a little tinny when you shut them — as if sound-deadening material was left out as a concession to gas mileage.

Bottom Line: There’s lots of reasons the Toyota Prius is the best-selling hybrid

on the planet. It’s practical, comfortable, and highly efficient with plenty of cargo space, But the design is getting dated and competitors are beginning to nip at its heels. Other hybrids like new Ford C-Max — available as both a hybrid and a plug-in — and Chevy Volt have a fresher look and sharper driving dynamics. However, in our view, Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive is still the best, most proven hybrid powerplant available — for now.

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November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 35

By Lary Coppola After 12 years, and more than three million vehicles sold worldwide — half of them in the U.S. — the venerable Toyota Prius remains the most popular hybrid vehicle on the planet. Now in its third generation, the Prius first debuted in 2000 as a 2001 model. It was redesigned for 2010, and the plug-in version debuted as a 2012 model.

The 2014 Prius comes in four versions — Prius Two, Three, Four and Five. The Three and Four offer the world’s first sliding glass moonroof packaged with solar panels, and located over the rear seating area, as an option. They power a ventilation system that helps reduce interior air temperature when the car is parked in the sun. The system allows remote operation, enabling the driver to lower the interior temperature before getting into the car.

Walkaround: Not much has changed over the years. The tall, wedge shape Prius remains one of the most identifiable cars on the road, while its styling has evolved through subtle tweaks. Blue-tinted headlights are housed in wraparound trapezoids, while the optional LEDs consume 17-percent less battery power.

The taillights are standard LED, reducing power draw 88 percent.

The huge rear wiper is effective at keeping rain off the split glass back window.

The Prius Two and Three feature matt black trim around the windows, while the Four and Five sport a nicer satin black finish.

Interior: The Prius interior offers a nice cozy feeling from behind the wheel. There’s a stylish, sloped, center console that runs from dashboard to between the seats, in a floating design, that’s ergonomically friendly.

The adjustable front seats are roomy and comfortable. The trim is made of plantderived resin, which, Toyota says, is highly recyclable. The Prius will seat five, but four make the ride more confortable.

The split 60/40,rear seats, which feature a folding center armrest between them with two cupholders, offer 36 inches of legroom.

When dropped flat, there’s an impressive 39.6 cubic feet of cargo volume that’s easily accessible through the large rear liftgate.

There’s also another two cubic feet of space in a tray under the floor of the cargo area for laptops and/or tools. The compact spare is positioned another level below that.

The four-spoke steering wheel offers buttons to work many of the car’s functions, including climate control and audio. The center positioned digital instrumentation screen displays basic information along with graphs and images related to driving efficiency. There’s also an Energy Monitor that displays the battery charge in real time viewable in several different modes.

Forward visibility is pretty good, even over the long dashboard, stretched by the steeply raked windshield, in spite of not being able to see the front corners of the car. Rear visibility is hindered somewhat by the bar that separates the two pieces of rear glass.

Publisher Lary Coppola Editor Tim Kelly Advertising Sales Dee Coppola Pre-Press Operations Steve Horn Webmaster/IT Greg Piper Graphic Design Kris Lively Office Administration Jennifer Christine Web Host PCS Web Hosting LLC Contributing Writers Rodika Tollefson Don Brunell Dan Weedin Julie Tappero Jason Parker Press Releases

36 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

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Lonesome Larry has lots of friends

By Don C. Brunell Association of Washington Business In 1992, a single male sockeye salmon managed to swim 900 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River to Redfish Lake in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, the end of his migratory journey. Biologists dubbed the sole survivor, “Lonesome Larry.”

By 2010, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council happily reported recordsetting runs for sockeye —nearly 387,000 had climbed the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam. The numbers, which fluctuate annually, stand at 186,000 this year.

The resurgence of the sockeye is not unique.

As of Oct. 9, more than 1 million chinook entered the mouth of the Columbia River, crushing the old record of 400,000. As of last week, they were coming in at 500 to 800 per day.

This is the largest return of fall Chinook since fish counting began at Bonneville Dam back in 1939. Even sweeter, four of the five highest returns of fall Chinook have occurred in the past decade.

With all of this good news, what could possibly be wrong? Heck of a good question, yet activists continue to pursue a single goal: removal of the four lower Snake River dams. They insist that it’s the only way to save the salmon.

Northwest RiverPartners, a coalition of farmers, barge operators, utility customers and other river users, wants people to consider the facts. Taxpayers have spent more than $1.6 billion over the past dozen years to retrofit dams in our federal hydro

system with new fish passage technologies that are getting young fish through the dams at very high rates of survival.

Even though we in Washington get 75 percent of our electricity from hydropower, hydro operations also have been radically changed. At critical times, water is “spilled” through the dams to help salmon migrate downstream, which means we are generating much less clean renewable energy.

The states and tribes are halfway through implementing a $1 billion habitat restoration program on major tributaries to the Columbia and Snake rivers that is improving habitat for salmon rearing and spawning. That this has all been accomplished in just a few years can be attributed both to the effectiveness of the plan and the collaborative way in which it is being implemented.

Extremists ignore this remarkable success, vowing not to stop until the Columbia and its tributaries are free-flowing.

They blithely dismiss concerns about flood control, river commerce, irrigation and power generation. For them, it is not a matter of balance: It is winner-take-all.

Never mind the 7.8 million acres of irrigated land in the Columbia Basin that allows farmers to feed the Northwest and the world. The Northwest is the thirdlargest grain exporter in the world and the number one wheat and barley exporter in the USA. Much of that grain is barged down the Snake and Columbia rivers.

Never mind that more than $20 billion worth of cargo is shipped annually down the Columbia and Snake rivers and hydro operations saved Portland from an estimated $3.2 billion in additional flood damage in 1996.

Never mind that Northwest families and businesses have spent more than $12 billion in higher electric bills over the past

30 years for fish and wildlife protection and mitigation measures. In recent years, fish and wildlife costs equal about one-third of total Bonneville Power Administration costs.

There are more fish in the Columbia River today than at any time since the first dam was built at Bonneville in 1938. Many are hatchery fish, but wild populations are trending upward as well.

Lonesome Larry isn’t lonesome anymore. It’s time to stop the lawsuits and get on with fish management.

• Don Brunell is president of the Association of Washington Business. Formed in 1904, the AWB is Washington’s oldest and largest statewide business association, and includes more than 8,100 members representing 700,000 employees. AWB serves as both the state’s chamber of commerce and the manufacturing and technology association. While its membership includes major employers like Boeing, Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser, 90 percent of AWB members employ fewer than 100 people. More than half of AWB’s members employ fewer than 10. For more about AWB, visit www.awb.org.

LETTERS

from page 37

Poulsbo the best place it can possibly be to live, work, raise a family, and retire.

Melody Sky Eisler is not only an excellent choice for Poulsbo City Council, she is the best choice. I write to encourage you to join me, … encourage you to join us … in the support of Melody for City Council.

Melody Sky Eisler is the “future” of our great City.

James R. Weaver Poulsbo

Global Entrepreneurship Week: How to make an idea real

By John Powers Kitsap Economic Development Alliance “To make an idea real” — this is the laser focus of an entrepreneur, and the core objective of entrepreneurship. And, it is the driving force behind Global Entrepreneurship Week to be celebrated here in Kitsap, and around the world, Nov. 1822.

After engaging in many, many entrepreneurial endeavors throughout my multifaceted career (real estate and finance, law, public service, and economic

development), I believe the essence of entrepreneurship is “to endeavor to make an idea real."

Turning to a rather entrepreneurial information service — Wikipedia, today’s go-to digital encyclopedia — you’ll find the following widely circulated definition of entrepreneurship: “Entrepreneurship is the quality of being an entrepreneur, i.e. one who 'undertakes an enterprise’" Wikipedia goes on to describe entrepreneurship as an endeavor in which an individual, or enterprise, assumes risk in the pursuit of the creation of a new business or the revitalization of an existing business in response to a perceived unmet market need. Often times such entrepreneurial

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Vote Yes on Prop. 1 for city manager in Port Orchard

Support Eisler for Poulsbo City Council Melody Sky Eisler should be elected to the Poulsbo City Council. The City of Poulsbo needs a passionate, professional and informed leader like Melody Sky Eisler to join the elected officials guiding our future.

In the years I have known Melody, I cannot imagine a better candidate to represent the growing needs of this community. Melody is one who truly studies and researches each issue, ensuring careful consideration for each decision this City Council makes and how those decisions would impact our Poulsbo families.

Melody has already given countless hours of her time to her community, not only as a librarian and through her efforts in Leadership Kitsap, but in her day to day devotion to this city. Melody is one who is familiar with the hard work required to improve her community.

She is an intelligent, thoughtful, caring, generous person who always conducts herself with the highest degree of integrity in both business and personal matters.

In my years of municipal service, I know of no one who will work harder for Poulsbo or cares more genuinely about this community. Melody listens to the community and commits herself to the task of public service fully and for the duration. With your vote, Melody will represent you well on City Council, she will work very hard and do whatever she can to make Letters, page 36

entrepreneurial community on an eclectic array of topics aimed at stimulating entrepreneurial endeavors. The topics include: Is Your Business Location a Star?; Dealing With Chaos – or Opportunity; Kitsap Entrepreneurs’ Success Stories; Government Contracting for Startups; Social Media Networking; and Homegrown Businesses that Tourists Love. These creative programs promise to be informative, entertaining and affordable — fees range from free to $20. You can review event details and register at www.kitsapeda.org.

Kitsap is home to a deep pool of entrepreneurial talent in a variety of industries (advanced manufacturing, medical devices, ICT, e-commerce, and specialty food products.) And, Kitsap ranks second only to King County among Washington’s 39 counties when it comes to the development and registration of intellectual property (over 600 patents and trademarks issued to Kitsap-based businesses in the past five years.) Kitsap is known for its innovative and entrepreneurial culture, and we are excited about launching Kitsap’s full-fledged participation in this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Come join in the fun; and, learn how to make an idea — your idea — real!

• John Powers is executive director of Kitsap Economic Development Alliance.

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 37

The opposition to Proposition 1, changing the form of government in Port Orchard, continues to state that this change will cost more with no corresponding benefits to the City.

In a recent letter to the editor, Mr Whittleton states, among other things, "There is no statistical data available to show that the council/manager plan of government is better than a mayor/council plan."

On page 8 of an IBM white paper (Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: An Operations Efficiency Benchmarking Study of 100 American Cities), in a paragraph entitled “Management Matters (And It Matters A Lot)”, the following conclusion regarding efficiency is drawn from this study of 100 American Cities: “Management appears to be the key and the study provides some evidence for this. Cities with city manager forms of government are nearly 10 percent more efficient than cities with strong mayor forms of government. This finding appears to validate the assumption underlying city manager forms of government, notably that investing executive authority in professional management shielded from direct political interference should yield more efficiently managed cities.

“To put it another way, even if a city operates within conditions most favorable for efficiency – no collective bargaining, geographically compact, and peaking on all scale curves – management choices can still lead a city down the path to inefficiency. It is both a sobering and encouraging conclusion.”

Source: Smarter, Faster, Cheaper An Operations Efficiency Benchmarking Study of 100 American Cities, by David Edwards, IBM Global Business Services: https://governmentresource.com/files/IBM_SmartFastCheap.pdf For a city such as Port Orchard with a $9 million annual operating budget, this increase in efficiency will save almost $900,000 per year, every year. Even if only half of this benefit is obtained, the annual savings will total $450,000 each and every year. Reasonable people will conclude from this impartial study that the change of government in Port Orchard will provide substantial benefits to everyone in Port Orchard.

Please vote YES on Proposition 1.

Richard H. Peterson Port Orchard

enterprises are referred to as "startups" or “next-generation” endeavors.

As you might imagine in this information age of entrepreneurship, there is a ton of online information on how to be an entrepreneur and what it takes to launch a successful start-up. All those aspiring new entrepreneurs are, no doubt, creative and innovative enough to figure it out on their own. However, it has been my experience in pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors that there is real value in directly engaging other more seasoned entrepreneurs to gain perspective and insight on the real life “how-to” of launching a startup.

Your opportunity to do just that is staring you right in the face. Circle the third week on November’s calendar now!

The Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA), in concert with Washington State Department of Commerce, is partnering with our local Chambers of Commerce and a host of other regional strategic business partners (Visit Kitsap Peninsula, KCR, Kitsap Entrepreneur Center, WSTA, Excell Puget Sound, and XLR8 Kitsap), sponsors (Kiana Lodge, Baymont Inn & Suites, and Morgan Stanley) and presenters (Washington Film Works) to present a weeklong portfolio of entrepreneurship programs at multiple locations throughout Kitsap.

We have partnered to present six different programs to educate our local

Local Republicans shoot themselves in the foot... again I’ve written many times over the years in this space that it’s my belief there isn't a way for the Kitsap County Republican Party to shoot itself in the foot that it hasn't thought of, but that I have great confidence in its ability to invent new ones. And once again, they haven't let me down. The most recent blunder came when the party mailed out a piece in South Kitsap endorsing Democrats over its own Republican incumbents in a nonpartisan race. Yes, you read that correctly.

You have to feel sorry for local party chair Chris Tibbs, who is being undermined by his own people — people's whose personal agenda is more important than the good of the party, or in this case, the good of Port Orchard.

The first time I met Tibbs, he was running for county commissioner in Central Kitsap, and I didn't care for him. He was uninformed about basic issues any candidate seeking the commissioner’s seat should have known.

Afterwards, the Republican Party elected him chair, and as I've gotten to know him, have come to realize he's really not a bad guy at all. He also keenly understands what must happen for the party to succeed in drawing electable candidates into its fold — the main thing it’s failed miserably at for almost two decades under its former leadership. Tibbs understands the infighting between the conservative and moderate factions in the

party has to stop or it will just be business as usual — no one running for anything who is close enough to the center to actually win an election in a decidedly liberal LARY COPPOLA county, and a party that’s been The Last Word marginalized into near obscurity by its own actions. Tibbs has made it his goal to turn that around and is building on a number of small successes.

However, situations like what happened in South Kitsap negate any progress he makes.

This is written about a week and a half before Election Day, and by the time you read it, these issues will most likely be settled. However, there has been a battle going on in Port Orchard for the hearts and minds of voters for several months. There are two issues combined on the ballot — the change from a second-class city to a code city, and changing from the strong mayor form of government to a council/city manager form — plus four City Council seats up for grabs.

As mayor, I brought both these issues forward, separately, in 2010. The Council passed the code city change — it doesn’t require a vote of the people — but later rescinded it, caving in to political pressure

brought about by a bogus petition worded to scare low-information voters into signing, and would have cost the city about $30,000 to have on the ballot. That petition was engineered by one of the very same people behind the Republican mailer endorsing Democrats — Gil Michael, who is also referred to by many as Mayor Tim Matthes’ puppetmaster.

A second-class city must have a planning commission of three to 12 members. A code city must have a planning agency — which can be a planning department, a person, staff or body, rather than a planning commission.

The Port Orchard Planning Commission is Michael’s base of power. If Proposition 1 passes, his power base dissolves — which would be a good thing for Port Orchard.

It’s no secret in Port Orchard that Michael would like to control City Hall — and to some extent already does. He handpicks slates of candidates he can control every election. His choices this time — whose names appear on that mailer — are Eric Gonnason and Bek Ashby. Fred Chang, who is unopposed, is already aligned with Michael and the mayor.

Since Michael is the Republican PCO for that area — and Chang the Democratic PCO for the same area — am I the only one who finds it unusual that incumbent Republican Jerry Childs was not endorsed, but his challenger, Gonnason, a newcomer

surrounded by residence issues, was?

A source of ours met with Gonnason and confronted him with proof about his lack of residence and some other issues recently, and Gonnason admitted he had been personally recruited by Matthes to challenge Childs, and Matthes had introduced him to Michael. He further said the plan was for Gonnason to challenge Childs, Jeff Braden to challenge Rob Putuansuu, Ashby to win the open seat vacated by longtime council member Carloyn Powers, and Chang to run unopposed. Combined with the mayor he already controls, Michael would own the four votes needed to control City Hall with an iron fist.

Somewhere they got their wires crossed because Gonnason and Braden both filed against Childs. Braden droppe d out, but too late to avoid the city paying for a runoff election.

Oh yeah, Michael opposes Proposition 1, which the flyer recommends a “No” vote on as well. Since that would also eliminate his puppet mayor along with the Planning Commission, I can’t say I’m surprised. But this is a case of a personal agenda trumping what’s best for not only the city, but the local Republican Party as well. Meanwhile, Chris Tibbs is one of the most frustrated people I know. Personally I think it’s time for state party chair Susan Hutchinson to step in and clean up this mess, because it sure stinks.

38 • Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com November 2013

Don’t like billionaire’s campaign spending here? That’s Citizens United The race between Jan Angel and Nathan Schlicher is the most expensive campaign for a legislative seat the state has ever seen, because it’s a critical opportunity for Republicans in the narrowly divided Senate to gain a seat that had been a virtual lock for Democrats when Derek Kilmer held the post.

When Kilmer gave up his 26th District Senate seat and was elected to Congress — where he’s trying to establish himself as a voice of reason in a place where being reasonable is not in fashion — Schlicher was appointed to the position temporarily.

Angel, a popular Republican and former Kitsap County commissioner, easily won re-election a year ago to a third term representing the 26th District in the House, and would continue in that post should she lose the special Senate election. In the primary in August, she had a 9-percentagepoint lead over Schlicher, an emergency room physician from Gig Harbor.

That seems like a lot of ground for Schlicher to make up, but because there’s so much at stake for both parties in the November election, big money has rolled in. The total amount of campaign spending — by both candidates and independent outside groups — has topped $2.5 million.

The source of the single biggest chunk of that spending has drawn a lot of attention, and criticism. Tom Steyer, a hedge fund manager from San Francisco, is

the latest billionaire in the spotlight for his substantial spending, in Washington and elsewhere, through a political action committee he formed called the Next Gen Climate Action Committee.

His PAC has spent $400,000 to help get Schlicher elected.

Some of that TIM KELLY money went to the She’s Editor’s View Changed PAC to pay for TV ads that provoked an angry reaction from Angel’s campaign, because the ads suggest she supported legislation that would cut funding for breast cancer screening. The Seattle Times concluded in a recent “Truth Needle” analysis that the claims made in those ads were “mostly false.”

Shocking, isn’t it, that political attack ads are misleading or false?

Angel’s campaign also has gotten major funding from out-of-state corporate contributors, and has leveled its share of dubious, out-of-context claims about her opponent and his supporters. (For example, a deceptive Republican Party mailer calls Steyer an “extreme environmentalist.”

Anybody on the other side with a big checkbook has to be characterized as some kind of extremist.)

The cancer-related claims in the She’s Changed ads are particularly unseemly, but that’s what you get in this Citizens United era. That controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision unleashed unlimited political spending by independent groups, and many of them have shown they have no scruples about distorting the truth to viciously demonize a candidate or cause.

This cuts both ways; huge amounts were spent by conservative groups for Republicans in the 2012 election cycle, so they can’t complain when they get the same treatment from big spenders backing Democrats.

In a recent report on the AngelSchlicher race, radio station KUOW noted that groups backing Angel’s campaign have been funded by “out-of-state businesses including tobacco, beer, insurance, paper and railroad companies.” Her campaign manager, Keith Schipper, tried to make the case that those contributions manifested a legitimate interest in state politics, while Steyer’s spending is unwelcome meddling.

“There’s a big difference between businesses that employ Washingtonians investing in a race that has implications on their corporation, and a billionaire, retired Wall Street speculator who has a new hobby of funding obscure legislative races in a state that’s not his own,” Schipper said.

Sorry, but you can’t try to have it both ways and whine that “it’s different when

they do it.” Especially not when Angel, as the KUOW report noted, has close ties to the “conservative group known as ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers.”

Also, it’s not surprising at all that someone such as Steyer, with an interest in climate change, would try to influence a race involving a candidate like Angel, who expressed doubts about the validity of climate science at a recent candidate forum.

A spokesman for the Next Gen PAC told KUOW that Steyer’s spending to advance a clean energy agenda is “just leveling the playing field of electoral politics long influenced by coal, oil and other business interests.”

The reality of $2.5 million flooding a small legislative district race is that neither candidate controls all the spending on his or her behalf.

But if Jan Angel or any other candidate, Republican or Democrat, objects to huge outside spending by independent groups, well, that’s the unsavory state of our political process these days.

And for that, you can thank Citizens United and the Koch brothers. Until that misguided court ruling is overturned — which is the long-shot goal of dedicated activist groups like Move to Amend — we’re all stuck with it.

ON THE SCENE AT KIANA LODGE (SEE PAGES 16 & 17 FOR THIS YEAR’S WINNERS)

Congratulations to the 40 Under Forty Class of 2013 The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal’s ninth annual “40 Under Forty” event recognized a diverse group of people with an impressive list of accomplishments, both in their business careers and in their community involvement. The distinguished panel of judges who selected the honorees from this year’s nominees were Doña Keating, president and CEO of Professional Options consulting firm; Rick Flaherty, CEO of Leader International Corporation; and

Cary Bozeman, former Mayor of Bremerton and Bellevue. Special thanks to our sponsors: Kitsap Bank, Harrison Medical Center, Suquamish Clearwater Casino, Betty Skinner Insurance/Allstate, My Printing Services, Custom Picture Framing, and West Sound Workforce. Our keynote speaker this year was Jan Angel, State Representative for the 26th Legislative District.

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3 Serving Poulsbo, Silverdale and Bremerton

PROPERTY FOR SALE OR LEASE Poulsbo #CBA509029 Development opportunity directly across from Poulsbo's new 59,000 sf Safeway, opening December 2013. .75 acres, approved for 4,790 sf building. Perfect for medical or office project. Great visibility w/views of Olympic Mtns. Offered at $300,000. Kelly Muldrow at 360-710-0509 or Joe Michelson at 360-509-4009.

Silverdale #389401 $435,000 Former Bistro Restaurant, charming building in commercial zone on .59 acres on Bucklin Hill Road.

Great location, good visibility & traffic. Other suitable uses may include professional offices & retail. Mark Danielsen 360-509-1299.

Bremerton #CBA531826 Office space for lease within moments of Bremerton National Airport and SR3. Multiple configurations possible in this clean, affordable office space.

Christine Salo 360-509-0908.

$612,000 Poulsbo #CBA525540 7600 sq.ft. warehouse for sale. Seller will lease back 1/2 and there is a long term tenant in 1/4 of the building leaving 1800 sq.ft. to lease or use by new owner. Joe Michelsen 360-509-4009.

Ridgetop #CBA482119 Very competitive lease price in Silverdale. Plenty of parking. Bob Guardino 360-710-7844.

Kingston #CBA218220 Built out office space in a retail center. Great visibility to Hwy 104. Former Real Estate office.

Joe Michelsen 360-509-4009. $375,000 Bremerton #462745 Best location in the airport. Best used as hanger but current use is warehouse/industrial with office. Large expansion/lay down area available for new building/jet hangar or other use. Bob Guardino 360-710-7844.

Bremerton #CBA512042 $850,000 Multi use building on Pacific Ave in downtown Bremerton. 3 commercial suites and 11 residential units and the adjoining 53 space parcel parking lot. Solid cash flow investment. Victor Targett 360-731-5550.

Auto Center Way #528221 $1,000,000 High visibility + traffic, flat 1.36ac corner commercial pad w/freeway access. Off-sites done include sewer + storm drainage. Site plan for drive thru bldg. Zoning allows office, retail & industrial.

Mark Danielsen 360-509-1299.

November 2013 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal • KPBJ.com 39

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