Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal - November 2014

Mobile POS and other useful tech services enhance businesses Page 4

The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal Post Office Box 259 Bremerton, WA 98337

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November 2014 Vol. 27 No. 11

Est. 1988

An edition of the K i t sa p Su n

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Business Calendar Nov. 4 Why video matters to small business (Video storytelling for business) Part of the Tuesdays@Noon Business Skills Workshops throughout November.

Where: OfficeXpats LLC, 403 Madison Ave. N, #240, Bainbridge Island

When: Noon Info: officexpats.com/how-touse-video-in-your-marketingstrategy/ Nov. 5 Contraction Coffee Hour Hosted by KEDA, this is an open forum for businesses with questions about con-

tracting with the government.

Where: KEDA, 4312 Kitsap Way, Suite 103, Bremerton When: 7:30-9 a.m.

Info: kitsapeda.org Nov. 5 Silverdale Greendrinks Bring it together and keep it

local. This month benefitting Habitat for Humanity.

Where: Maxwell Salon When: 5:24-8:03 p.m.

Cost: $10 cash Info: silverdalegreendrinks. com Nov. 6 20 Under 40 Celebration

Twenty bright, emerging leaders of our future, nominated by their peers and the public for professional and personal excellence, will be recognized. Hosted by the Kitsap Sun and Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.

Where: Kiana Lodge, Poulsbo When: 5:30-8 p.m.

Nov. 11 What business videos you should create (Building a video strategy) Part of the Tuesdays@Noon Business Skills Workshops throughout November.

Where: OfficeXpats LLC, 403 Madison Ave. N, #240, Bainbridge Island When: Noon Info: officexpats.com/how-touse-video-in-your-marketingstrategy/ Nov. 17 Innovative Business Spaces Following the growing trend of shared business spaces, OfficXpats will facilitate a group of local panelists who own Kitsap businesses and moved out of their garage/home. Preregistration required.

Where: Mossback Café, 26185 Ohio Ave. NE, Kingston When: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Info: 360-377-9499, kitsapeda.org Nov. 18 We’re All in Sales Discuss the status of the sales function in business today, how it has changed, and what companies must do to support it with Steve Hayes, sales vice president for Watson Furniture. Preregistration is required.

Where: Kitsap Conference Center, Bremerton Harborside When: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Info: 360-479-3579, kitsapeda.org Nov. 18 How to create business videos (DIY vs. Hire, etc.)

Part of the Tuesdays@Noon Business Skills Workshops throughout November.

Where: OfficeXpats LLC, 403 Madison Ave. N, #240, Bainbridge Island When: Noon Info: officexpats.com/how-touse-video-in-your-marketingstrategy/

Nov. 19 How to play well with others for fun and profit Attend this workshop for business leaders on building relationships while producing profitability. Includes a World Café discussion to help glean insight from colleagues and more. Preregistration is required.

Where: Cavalon Place, The Doctors Clinic, Silverdale When: 9-11 a.m.

Info: kitsapeda.org Nov. 19 Social Media Workshop How to tap into conversations on social media platforms to create brand awareness. Preregistration is required.

Where: KEDA, 4312 Kitsap Way, #103, Bremerton When: 9-11 a.m.

Info: kitsapeda.org Nov. 20 Entrepreneur Workshop This event is for entrepreneurs with tight budgets looking for answers to legal and financial questions. Learn about topics from IRS laws to practices to be put in place to keep the business legal. Preregistration is required.

Where: Kitsap Regional Library, 700 NE Lincoln Road, Poulsbo When: 3-5 p.m.

Info: kitsapeda.org Nov. 20 Geeks, Beer and an Hour of Code Part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Meet and greet with IT professionals and business professionals. Learn about the Hour of Code and ask questions on IT-related business needs. Preregistration is required.

Where: The Slippery Pig, 18801 Front Street NW, Poulsbo When: 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Info: kitsapeda.org Nov. 21 Entrepreneur Workshop This workshop covers the places entrepreneurs can go to find help in local resources, how to build a team, and more. Preregistration is required.

Where: Kitsap Community Resources, 845 Eighth St., see calendar | 6

WWW.KPBJ.COM ON THE COVER J.C. Figueroa swipes a credit card using his Square card reader that’s plugged into his Ipad’s audio port. Figueroa uses the portable card reader for purchases made at his smooth-e food trailer. Story, page 4 Photo by Steve Zugschwerdt

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE • Technology columnist Charles Keating, 8

• Two generations mark local moving

company’s milestone, 24

The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal is published by the Kitsap Sun the first week of every month, and distributed to business addresses through Kitsap County, North Mason and Gig Harbor.

Brent Morris, Publisher brent.morris@kitsapsun.com David Nelson, Editorial Director david.nelson@kitsapsun.com Tim Kelly, Managing Editor tim.kelly@kitsapsun.com editor@kpbj.com

Mike Stevens, Marketing Director mstevens@kitsapsun.com Jeremy Judd, Digital Director jeremy.judd@kitsapsun.com For inquires to receive the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal at your business, contact Circulation Sales Director Hugh Hirata at 360-7925247 or hugh.hirata@kitsapsun.com.

To advertise in the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, contact Michael Stevens at 360-7923350.

TO SUBMIT NEWS: Tim Kelly, Managing Editor tim.kelly@kitsapsun.com 360.377-3711, ext. 5359 Standard mail postage to be paid at Bremerton, WA POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Kitsap Sun, PO Box 259, Bremerton, WA 98337-1413 © 2014 Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal / Kitsap Sun ISSN 1050-3692 VOLUME 27, NO. 11

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INTRODUCTION | DAVID NELSON

Technology as a disruptive, positive force

T

he other day I saw a technology writer mocking the worry that digital innovations continue to eliminate traditional jobs. There’s a number of you who know how true that threat has been, and the stark reality isn’t lost at all on a guy in my seat. Print journalism has felt the brunt of digital disruption the past decade.

But I don’t complain. After all, the same goes for those of you in banking (anyone do mobile deposits rather than visit the teller?) to accounting (TurboTax is a welcome relief if you procrastinate until April 14) to selling books (Amazon isn’t rebuilding the Seattle skyline because they feel generous).

I believe there are always two sides to disruption’s coin. So the optimist in me enjoys how this issue outlines some technologies that small businesses have put into practice to look forward. Frankly, even we in the newsroom know this — delivering a print edition of either the Sun or the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal to every one of the folks we now reach through social media sounds nice, but it’s impossible. The revolution brought on by Facebook means our “likes” come from read-

ers we’d never have met just a decade ago.

And I think that’s positive in the long run, if not immediately for the expanded reach of our digital audience.

On the other hand, I’m not completely enamored with the loss of local control brought on by technology’s scale. Zappos. com knows my shoe size, but Poulsbo Running knows not to suggest I try a different brand of running shoes, and they will invite me to a race coming up next month that I should have on my calendar. This is a balance we all deal with as consumers — what’s face-to-face service worth to us? — and sometimes as a business owner as well — what can I offer that a national competitor cannot? (This, as my little promotional aside, is where the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal will continue to find its niche.)

Our cover story highlights how technology has helped grow the local economy in small ways, by freeing up resources that allow solo entrepreneurs to launch a mobile business, or providing a small shop the tools to track and monitor its customer base in a way that may have been guesswork in the past. In the broader scale we take a look at our long-term future, where organizations like WSTA and schools continue to host events and class-

es that encourage students in computer science, so tomorrow’s engineers coming from Kitsap County — and ideally staying in Kitsap County — work with composite materials and steel machinery as commonly as binary code and cyber security. We’ve spoken with a notable tech firm that has flourished locally to see how they’ve stayed on top of the talent curve, hopefully setting the stage for continued growth in that sector locally.

About eight years ago my supervisor asked me where I thought our newsroom would be in five years. I said I wanted to be at a place where we could look back and say we were one of the newspapers that had adapted to what the digital world offered. I’ve realized we’ll never completely be there — but I can see what we’ve done to change our routine, the skills we’ve added to our staff, how we’re reaching more readers with the technology that’s readily available, and how the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal’s future benefits from those innovations as well.

Now I’m looking forward to the next five, even if it feels like those digital years come by each week.

• David Nelson is editorial director of the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.

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TECHNOLOGY

Small biz owners utilize tech for efficiency, savings

By Rodika Tollefson KPBJ contributor When Juan “JC” Figueroa was getting ready to launch his business, smooth-e, he knew he would need some tools that were as flexible and mobile as his business model.

Smooth-e, which offers smoothies, power bars and blended soups made from fresh ingredients, operates from a trailer at rotating Bainbridge Island locations.

Figueroa has worked in the information technology industry for more than 20 years.

He did extensive research on mobile point-of-sales systems and landed with Square.

For the investment price of an iPad and an inexpensive stand, Figueroa found not STEVE ZUGSCHWERDT only a way to process credit J.C. Figueroa, owner of smoth-e, sells smoothies made cards without monthly fees, from his own recipies out of a trailer at various locations but also an entire POS syson Bainbridge Island. He is in his first year of business tem and register with a roand still adding to his menu of healthy energy drinks bust analytics program. and food.

“We couldn’t do our busiThe cloud-based service requires an Inness without Square,” he said.

Square allows merchants like Figueroa ternet connection but also has an offline to accept credit card payments on the go mode. by using their tablets or smart phones.

The company offers the card read-

er for free and only charges 2.75 percent tant the ability to access the information per swiped transaction (slightly more for from any device. Figueroa, in fact, can frekeyed-in entries), with no setup or monthquently be seen on his laptop in the trailly fees. er, in between serving customers, working In addition to credit card processing, on accounting or payroll.

Square merchants can create virtual registers “This revenue-based funding (from on their smart devicSquare) is much more flexible. If that es. In Figueroa’s case, the register uses photos program wasn’t available, I either of the smooth-e products, and tapping on an would have not taken the chance to icon provides a screen with add-on options. expand the business, or would have The system calculates waited until I had the cash.” the price and the tax — even if the customer smooth-e owner J.C. Figueroa pays with cash — and can also include tips.

At the end of the day, Figueroa gets a tally of all sales, which Recently, Figueroa used Square to fihelps him set aside sales tax. He can also nance an expansion — he borrowed $1,400 track how his products and locations perthrough Square Capital, a new program that essentially gives eligible businesses a form. cash advance based on their sales volume.

“All those features are at no extra He used the money to buy equipment and a charge,” he said. “I use the data to make couple weeks’ worth of ingredients in order business decisions and conduct back ofto introduce his new line, blended soups. fice work.”

The loan cost smooth-e $160 — less than That POS data is integrated with a bank loan, Figueroa said — and without smooth-e’s cloud-based accounting systhe complicated process of a traditional tem, a virtual version of QuickBooks. Not banking system. Square will keep 8 peronly does this automate the tracking and data entry, but it gives Figueroa and his cent of his credit card transactions until wife, Sarah Cash, as well as their accounSEE TECH | 5

Q&A: Attracting, keeping tech talent Kitsap companies need

By Teri Gleich KPBJ contributor During his two-and-a-half years at Silverdale-based Applied Technical Systems, recruiting coordinator Matt Linkemyer has always been looking to hire new talent.

“The search never ends,” he said. The software development company, whose clients include the Army, Navy and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, employs 53 people in two Silverdale offices. About half are tech Matt workers.

Linkemyer On its website, the 34-year -old business, which also has offices in Virginia, says it’s always looking for senior software engineers, software architects, project managers and coordinators, senior configuration managers and integrated logistics specialists.

To attract qualified applicants, the company offers a full range of benefits and promotes its friendly, fun atmosphere, pointing out that ATS employees like each other so much, they choose to spend time together outside of work on the company’s

soccer team and as “Adopt-a-Road” volunteers.

The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal recently asked Linkemyer about the challenges of recruiting and retaining tech talent and what it’s like to compete with Seattle giants such as Amazon and Microsoft.

KPBJ: What’s the key to recruiting top people in your field?

Linkemyer: There are two main things we really focus on, that we try to emphasize when we recruit. One is that when you come here, you know you’re going to work with other very intelligent, creative and excited engineers…. The second is the culture. Even though we’re giving the government a product, we still have kind of a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Employees still go out to lunch together. All the people you’re working with are excited to be working here.

KPBJ: Your company website calls your employees “athletes.” Why? Linkemyer: Even though they are tech employees, they are not going to sit here and do that all day, every day. We want employees to be multi-talented, to be able to talk on the phone, write a proposal and

do the tech side. And, maybe, if they’re out on vacation or at a seminar and a business opportunity becomes available, we want them to be able to talk to that person about what we do and bring in more work. They are not just hired for one thing. They can help the company overall in almost any aspect.

KPBJ: It sounds like your employees have a lot of flexibility. Why? Linkemyer: Because of the type of personalities that developers typically have — they’re laid-back, nonchalant, they like to come in at 10 or 10:30 in the morning and I will get e-mails at 1 in the morning because that’s when some people like to work. The main part of it is showing that your company is flexible and that the environment is fun and open. That’s almost become a standard (in the industry) to succeed and keep talent. You need to have that kind of working schedule because so many other companies are out there doing it. If you don’t, you’re at a disadvantage.

It’s such a tough market for recruiting people. Developers have that diva attitude.

Most of the people we talk to don’t need a job. To get them, you have to lure them in.

You have to provide what others aren’t.

KPBJ: What does your company do that others don’t?

Linkemyer: We started having hack days. We take one day and the developers come in. We provide food, drinks, entertainment and they have 24 hours to work collaboratively. We give them the environment. They can work on anything they want to. They can do whatever they want for 24 hours. We hope it will open up their brains, get the creative juices flowing and recharge them. It’s this really cool thing we started doing here about a year ago.

The first one was last October. The second one is in November. It’s been about once a year but the idea is to do it more than once a year.

KPBJ: Is it a disadvantage to be so close to Seattle and to have to compete with companies like Amazon and Microsoft for tech talent?

Linkemyer: When we’re recruiting for Silverdale, we market ourselves to designers and developers by saying we’re not the crazy Seattle traffic. We’re in a quiet area, in a nice office on the water, within walking distance from coffee shops. There are the same perks, but it’s a completely SEE TECH TALENT | 6

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TECH | F ROM 4

he’s done paying it off (with the difference between the 8 percent and the regular 2.75 percent going toward the loan).

“This revenue-based funding is much more flexible,” he said. “If that program wasn’t available, I either would have not taken the chance to expand the business, or would have waited until I had the cash.”

For Figueroa, cloudbased tools have been integral for his small business — and he’s not alone.

Square itself has millions of merchants, from consultants and coffee shops to retailers. Since the company pioneered its mobile payment system five years ago, many new players have entered the market, including PayPal, Intuit and, most recently, Amazon.

This growth not only caters to the increasing trends in mobile use, but also an increase in U.S. consumer use of debit and credit cards.

A 2013 Federal Reserve payments study showed that debit card transactions tripled between 2003 and 2012, while use of credit cards grew from 20 billion to 30 billion transactions between 2009 and 2012, after a slight decline the previous three years.

The report also said that while some of the card payments are replacing checks, the “increase in the number of card payments has far exceeded the decline in the number of check payments” — which means consumers are generally spending more.

This trend is reflected at Ross Michaels salon in Bremerton. The hairstyling salon, which recently relocated from Silverdale, has been in business for 25 years but only began taking credit cards — through Square — about three years ago.

Now, owner Michael Lowenstein estimates that as much as 75 percent of sales are through credit or debit cards.

“What I’ve noticed is that customers using debit and credit cards are

Colleen Fisher stops by J.C. Figueroa’s smooth-e food trailer for a fruit smoothie after a work out at the fitness center in Winslow.

STEVE ZUGSCHWERDT

“We used to save files on zip and thumb drives.

Now people can check paperwork from home,” said Jan Coen, executive director of FISH food bank more likely to add a retail product,” he said, adding that the built-in Square analytics allows him to track product and seasonal performance and create promotions to boost business.

Kristy Ewing, who owns Ewing Creative in Port Orchard with her husband, Ed, said that using Square not only allows for faster customer payments but also streamlines accounting because of the free invoice creation that comes with the service. The couple were early adopters of Square and use it as much without the card reader as with it.

“By having it, it’s encouraged people to move forward with a project they may have waited with before, because they know they can charge it now,” she said.

Ewing Creative has also adopted cloud-based storage service Dropbox to share files back and forth with customers. Previously, the process was more complicated by using FTP (filetransfer protocol), which was challenging for many clients.

“Streamlining things takes less time and saves us money,” Ewing said.

“It’s really impressive to me how versatile and knowledgeable our clients are in using all these apps and services.”

Productivity, file sharing and collaboration are among the top advantages of cloud services, besides cost. According to data compiled by IBM in late 2013, 25 percent of businesses that moved to the cloud saw a decrease in IT costs and 55 percent saw an increase in efficiency.

KITSAP BANK 4X8.500 KPBJ-NOV KITSAP BANK JR 30004041

in Gig Harbor, which began migrating to the cloud about six months ago.

IT manager Casey Turecky, who volunteers his time for FISH, uses a hybrid system — some files are stored in Dropbox and Google Drive so volunteers and staff can access them from anywhere, but he still makes a copy of everything on his local server.

“There isn’t much upkeep if the server goes down — I don’t have to go in and troubleshoot it.

And it’s friendlier than FTP, which was cumbersome for smart phones,” Turecky said.

“This streamlines the process and allows people in the field to communicate with people in the office,” he said.

Continuity is anSEE TECH | 8

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TECHNOLOGY

Kitsap’s broadband network ‘on par’ with other regions

By Tad Sooter Kitsap Sun High-speed Internet is the lifeblood of modern business. In West Sound, Kitsap Public Utility District has quietly built the arteries needed

to keep it pumping.

The utility district began installing a fiber optic network a decade ago. Since then, the district has rolled out more than 200 miles of cable, stretching from Mason County to North Kitsap and across to Bain-

Kitsap PUD Fiber 8/18/2014 Legend Cable Status Planning Engineering PSE Permitting Other Permitting Awaiting Award Under Construction Completed

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different atmosphere. The technologies we’re working with are the same.

We’ve had several people come over to work for us from Amazon.

The schedule there is crazy. They’re expected to be available 16 hours a day. They had to pay for parking.

They had to commute. They had to be in the office every day. Here, it’s flexible. They can come in when they want. They can leave to take the kids

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to school or go to a doctor’s appointment. It’s a family-oriented atmosphere. Because we are flexible, our employees like to reward us for giving them that leeway and they work hard for us. It’s a fair trade-off.

Because the tech companies are there (Seattle), we have a chance to attract (their employees) if they’re not happy.

KPBJ: Where do you find good employees?

bridge Island (see map).

It’s an ever-expanding system that puts Kitsap “on par” with neighboring regions as far as broadband capability, said Paul Avis, Kitsap PUD’s telecom superintendent.

The federally funded infrastructure provides links between government offices and public safety buildings, allowing information to keep flowing during emergencies. For businesses, the availability of the public network lowers the cost of connecting to a broadband network, and makes the county more attractive to companies looking to relocate.

Under state law, utility districts can’t sell Internet services to consumers. Instead, private Internet providers build off the district’s fiber network, link in customers and sell broadband products. About 15 ISPs use the Kitsap PUD backbone to some extent. They range from small local firms to telecom giants such as Comcast.

Extending Kitsap PUD’s fiber network into more areas of the county lowers the cost of tying in. Even with the backbone in place, Avis said the expense of extending fiber to a specific property, the “last mile” as it’s called, can be very expensive.

“It comes down to what the cost we’re all willing to pay,” he said.

Continued build-out of the public fiber backbone will make connecting easier.

For now, most of Kitsap PUD’s lines follow main arterials through the heart of the county. Denser clusters provide more coverage in areas projected for heavy use, like downtown Bremerton and the industrial area surrounding Bremerton National Airport.

Kitsap PUD plans to keep building its network as funds are available. A project is currently under way to tie in South Kitsap School District.

Expansions in the areas of Port Orchard, Seabeck, Miller Bay, Port Gamble and elsewhere are still in the works. Some new lines will reach into underserved areas, others will create redundancy in the system to improve reliability, Avis said.

For more information, go to www. kpud.org.

Linkemyer: The one difficult thing about recruiting for tech is that more times than not, anybody I would want to hire is probably not floating their resumé around on the Internet. We get them through referrals. Our developers meet someone or they hear about us and contact us.

It’s pretty much word-of-mouth. It’s pretty rare to be on monster.com and find someone we would want to hire.

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Bremerton When: 9-11 a.m.

Info: kitsapeda.org Nov. 25 What you should do with your business videos Part of the Tuesdays@Noon Business Skills Workshops throughout November.

Where: OfficeXpats LLC, Bainbridge Island When: Noon

Info: officexpats.com/how-touse-video-in-your-marketingstrategy/ Nov. 26 Edward Jones Financial Coffee Club Donald Logan, a local Edward Jones financial advisor, hosts a coffee club the fourth Wednesday of every month.

Where: Edward Jones office in Silverdale When: 8:15 a.m.

Info: 360-698-7408

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NOVEMBER 2014 | 7

APS, Upsolar offer financing package for residential systems Poulsbo-based APS America, a leading manufacturer of microinverters for solar energy systems, is partnering with solar panel manufacturer Upsolar to offer a turnkey financing and installation package for residential customers.

Blue Frog Solar, APS America’s sister company in Poulsbo, launched its Simple Solar campaign earlier this year. It offers special financing through a credit union partner for owners of new homes to install rooftop solar systems with little out-of-pocket investment, by taking advantage of a federal Investment Tax Credit and the generous incentives available in Washington.

The APS-Upsolar package is based on the same concept but is geared toward a broader market.

“It is similar,” said Michael Ludgate, vice president of business development for APS America.

“This program is national in scope, as opposed to just Washington state.”

Upsolar’s 20-year Energy Freedom Loan offers the advantages of system ownership while overcoming what has been the primary barrier to adoption — high upfront cost. The package is aimed at homeowners who want to capitalize on the benefits of solar energy without the commitment of a long-term lease, which is a common arrangement for solar installations in some

states.

“What this does, is give you a really good alternative to a power-purchase agreement,” Ludgate said.

In power purchase agreements offered in some states, homeowners lease solar equipment from their local utility company.

The APS-Upsolar partnership reflects a recent trend in residential solar away from the leasing of equipment, in favor of loan options and direct ownership of systems. The trend is driven by the declining costs of components, bringing solar investment within reach for homeowners at all levels.

Ludgate said the loan program Upsolar is offering has a low interest rate, and the loans may be refinanced after a year, when homeowners apply their federal tax credit to reduce the balance.

“It’s kind of a lump sum payment, then your (refinanced) loan payment is less than a power-purchase agreement or a lease payment,” Ludgate said.

Under the partnership, residential installations use Upsolar’s PV modules and APS microinverters, which maximize the output of the generating system.

Ludgate said the partnership joins two emergent and complementary companies in the global solar market.

“Upsolar picked APS to partner with because of

TECH TALENT | F ROM 6

be in the kitchen and talking about ideas or whiteboarding. There are white boards everywhere. It’s a really friendly and familyoriented environment that definitely makes it enjoyable to come to work every day.

We know what our employees are capable of.

They’re the reason why we have most of our work.

They say we should go after this project because we want to work on this.

They’ll tell us what’s new technology-wise. We go after work that meets their skillset. We leverage their ideas and their passion to bring in interesting work.

KPBJ: Once you’ve hired talented people, how do you keep them?

Linkemyer: Retention comes from the atmosphere, the cool projects we work on, the hack days, the way the building is set up. We have separate offices with one to two people in them, but everybody has a laptop and they will unplug and go sit in with other people or go in the conference room and work together…. Everybody is up and moving around, having a good time, collaborating and bouncing ideas off of each other. They’ll

our unique microinverter solution, both in technology and cost,” he said.

Incentives vary by state, and some states are phasing out their incentives for solar energy, but the federal tax credit for up to 30 percent of the cost of installing a system is available through 2016.

Ludgate said the loan option for residential solar installations has become more popular the last couple years “because the perceived risk of solar has come down so much.

“The cost of capital is continuing to fall, so now got you’ve people willing to fund this kind of pro-

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gram,” he explained. “Wall Street and those folks have gotten a lot more comfortable in the last 10 years and especially the last three to five years. So you’ll see that trend continue, the cost of capital coming down.”

Upsolar, founded in 2006, is an international devel-

oper and producer of solar modules, working in both established and emerging PV markets to accelerate global solar energy adoption. The company has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.

For information, see www.upsolar.com or www. apsamerica.com.

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TECHNOLOGY | CHARLES KEATING

What’s next after awesome discussion sparked at summit?

L

ast month, West Sound Technology Association held its 13th annual summit, which many attendees said again hit the mark.

We have been blessed with many great speakers from near and far, and this year was no exception.

Our keynote speaker, Renee Radcliff Sinclair, led Apple’s Strategic initiatives for over four years. She talked about the stages in moving technology upstream from enhancement towards transformation. There were many points, one being a chart showing the dates of introduction for technologies that have existed during the entire lives of students in different grades. She also challenged the traditional educational format by suggesting that asking students to put away their devices and face forward to receive a lecture in classrooms is not only shutting them down, but ignores the fact that with these devices they can provide individualized learning, access resources, create videos, and collaborate with other students. This is not unlike what will be expected of them in future workplaces.

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Office 365, which includes cloud-based email and Office apps, cloud storage and other services.

“If the power or the Internet goes out, they can still use phones for things like email,” said Keating, who also leads the nonprofit West Sound Technology Association. “Their business doesn’t stop and it’s no longer tied to whether there’s power and Internet running in the building. A lot of the work can still be done while they’re down.”

Office 365’s business plans cost as little as $60 per year per user. Although Internet connectivity is a limiting factor, Keating said with the cost of cloud computing getting cheaper all the time, many businesses are realizing they don’t necessarily need their own server. And although

Congressman Derek Kilmer reminded us that we are now in competition, every minute of every day, forever, with everyone. This makes it all the more concerning that we might leave 1 million technology jobs unfilled if we don’t increase our access to technology education, which could cost $500 billion in lost economic opportunity if we don’t prepare future workers for jobs that require technology skills.

Norma Whitacre, Dean of Technology and Business at Olympic College, spoke about how Washington state community colleges only recently received approval to provide four-year degree programs.

Most, including OC, jumped at the opportunity, which will increase the number of students in STEM programs. OC is also in the running for the prestigious Aspen Institute award, one of 10 top community colleges nationwide being considered.

This is clearly a tremendous achievement and testament to the quality resource we have. Norma also presented me with an award from OC for my leadership of WSTA’s efforts to promote excellence in technology education. I proudly accepted this acknowledgment and look forward to

security is still a concern for many, they’re feeling more confident, he said.

“Local servers are just as likely to get hacked if you don’t patch them regularly,” he said. “Cloud hosting is as secure as the key you use to lock the front door.”

In its 2014 State of the Cloud Report, cloud portfolio management company Right Scale found that concerns about cloud security declined compared with 2013. Among the 1,068 IT professionals surveyed, about one-third of those representing “cloud beginner” companies were concerned about security, compared with 13 percent of those representing “cloud focused” ones.

“If businesses are not thinking about (cloud services) because they’re concerned, they’re really missing out on opportunities,” Keating said.

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more efforts to address these needs.

A summit favorite was the significant Q&A, where many other related issues were raised: greater access to broadband, net neutrality, funding and resources, security and privacy, how we value students with different career paths, and more. It shows that much still needs to be done, especially with Kitsap losing ground (more on that later).

Bill Huckabee, our association secretary, recently moved to Washington, D.C. for an exciting IT opportunity at Peace Corps HQ. That made me the last active WSTA board member standing at the summit. Thankfully, several people volunteered to help lead our efforts on the board. We have some contracted professionals, such as strategic advisor Doña Keating of Professional Options — cofounding member and past WSTA president – who is a source of focus, inspiration and endless visionary and collaborative ideas while making many strategic connections for us. And Rodika Tollefson is a skilled multimedia producer and writer who helps with some of our communications. We have reason to be proud of what we’ve achieved, but still need those board members!

What’s Next?

At the summit, we made a major announcement. Next year, WSTA will shift its monthly meeting format to quarterly briefings as the mainstay. Whether it’s innovation, tech/STEM education, entrepreneurship, or tech policy, we’ll bring to-

gether excellent speakers to address relevant issues while ramping up partnerships with other organizations. Sometimes we’ll lead, at other times we’ll build upon and broaden partner efforts.

On Nov. 20, our meeting will be a part of Global Entrepreneurship Week along with other Kitsap-wide events. While enjoying craft brews at Slippery Pig Brewery in Poulsbo, we’ll also kick off our 2014 Hour of Code events during CSEdWeek (Dec. 8-14). This year we’re partnering with Kitsap Regional Library to co-host four Hour of Code events at Sylvan Way, Poulsbo, and Port Orchard locations. Last year, 40 million students worldwide participated in Hour of Code, including 5,000 from the Kitsap region where we helped launch the initiative locally. This year, 100 million students are expected to participate in the world’s largest education event.

On Dec. 18 we will hold our annual holiday celebration and community retreat, and welcome all who recognize that Kitsap needs more help to meet the challenges for a technology- and innovation-driven economy.

• Charles Keating is president of Keating Consulting Service, Inc. (www.kcsco.com), an IT consulting firm serving global clients since 1983. He is also a partner in K2 Strategic Solutions (www.k2strategic.com) and Professional Options (www.professionaloptions.com), and current president and co-founding member of West Sound Technology Association (www.westsoundtechnology.org).

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human resources | julie tappero

Dealing with workplace impacts of domestic violence

I

t was painful to watch the NFL and Roger Goodell make misstep after misstep in their handling of Ray Rice’s domestic violence incident. As a human resources professional and as a business owner, I asked myself repeatedly, “Where are the NFL’s HR people, and why don’t they already have policies and procedures in place?”

ers, etc. And more specific to the workplace itself, domestic violence victims lose 8 million paid days of work every year and the impact on businesses exceeds $8.3 billion, which includes $727.8 million for lost productivity.

There are two main areas of concern, then, for business. What will you do if an employee is accused of committing domestic violence? And what will you do if an employee is the victim of domestic violence?

In order to not be caught

What will you do if an employee is accused of committing domestic violence? And what will you do if an employee is the victim of domestic violence?

Domestic violence impacts the workplace in a variety of ways. In the Rice situation, the accused is the employee and the impact is on the business’s public image and reputation. In other situations where the perpetrator is the employee, there may be concerns about the safety of others in the workplace. On the flip side, the effects of domestic violence also impact the workplace when the victim is the employee, which brings its own set of issues.

If you think this is unlikely to be a concern in your business, consider a few statistics from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In the United States, 20 people every minute are victims of physical violence by a partner.

On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines field more than 20,000 calls. A study of homicides involving domestic violence revealed that 20 percent of the time the homicide victim is not the domestic violence victim, but instead it is family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, bystand-

unprepared like the NFL, putting some thought into this now could save a business some agony and embarrassment, and could also ensure employee safety.

If an employee is accused of domestic violence, or any type of assault crime, a company could legitimately consider what course of action to take.

In the normal hiring process, employers don’t consider arrests unless they result in a conviction. But that thought pattern could change when it concerns an active employee.

Employers must consider whether the presence of the accused in the workplace might present a safety concern to other employees. Under OSHA’s general duty clause, employers are required to provide a workplace that is free from recognized hazards that might cause serious physical harm to employees. It’s easy to extrapolate that an employer could be found negligent if an employee accused of violence remains in the workplace, and as a result causes harm to a co-

worker.

Obviously, we can’t predict the future or what actions an employee might take, and we know people are innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, employers need to proceed with thought and caution. No two situations are likely to be the same. After fact gathering, an employer could choose to do nothing, or to put the employee on paid or unpaid leave until the issue is resolved.

Keep in mind that while taking timely action is important, you must get as much detailed and accurate information as quickly as you can. You don’t want to act on inaccurate information and have to reverse course later, as we saw the NFL do.

If your employee is the victim of domestic violence, Washington state has some laws pertaining to the victim’s rights. Under the Domestic Leave Law, victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking may take paid or unpaid reasonable leave from work for the purpose of handling legal or law enforcement needs or to obtain health care. This right extends to their family members who are helping them as well. You cannot terminate, demote or in any way discriminate against someone based on their status as a victim.

Also keep in mind that the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act may also come into play.

It’s important to create a work environment in which your employees feel comfortable and safe letting their supervisor know that they are being victimized. If you suspect your employee is a victim, you can open the channels of communication, but you also must respect their right to privacy. Some companies put information about domestic violence hotlines in employee gathering spaces to ensure

victims know where to go to get help.

If your employee does disclose their situation, how can you help? First of all, it’s important to protect their confidentiality to the extent possible. Let them know whom you have to disclose it to. It might be a security person or their direct supervisor, for instance. Second, remember that you are not the domestic violence expert, but make sure you know who is, and refer your employee

to the appropriate services and resources.

Talk with your employee about their safety at work and how you can assist them. It might be something simple like giving them a parking space close to the door. For a period of time, it might be helpful to let them flex their hours, alter their schedule, or telecommute. If they have to move into a shelter or relocate, for a period of time they may need to lessen their responsi-

bilities or hours at work.

It may be that their phone calls need to be screened, or their workspace moved so it is not as accessible to the public.

While your entire staff may not need to know the details, they should always know what to do if someone enters the workplace and is a threat to anyone.

Put those procedures in place and talk about them regularly with your staff at your safety meetings. see tappero | 10

10 |NOVEMBER 2014

People in business Harrison Medical Center hires exec from Overlake as new president CHI Franciscan Health announced that David Schultz has been hired as the new president for Harrison Medical Center. Schultz, who will start at Harrison on Dec. 15, has been serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Overlake Medical Center, a 349-bed hospital located in Bellevue.

“We believe that David Schultz, with his many years of hospital leadership experience, will benefit Harrison as he leads the organization through a period of tremenDavid dous change and growth,” CHI Franciscan Schultz Health CEO Joe Wilczek said in an Oct. 16 news release.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to join Harrison Medical Center and CHI Franciscan Health and make a positive difference throughout the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas,” Schultz said. “I look forward to becoming part of the community and partnering with the medical staff to help Harrison further its culture of quality, as well as advancing the organization’s strategic plan.”

Harrison board chair Jim Civilla said Schultz will “play a pivotal role in leading our organization’s Vision 2020 initiative to construct a single, regional acute care medical center in Silverdale and help us expand our health services throughout the peninsula, including a new health care facility for Bremerton.”

Schultz has nearly 18 years of experience at large and small hospitals and in- and outpatient care settings. He joined Overlake in 2007 and while there he helped guide the installation of the Epic electronic health records system, which was recently installed at Harrison. He also oversaw numerous facility improvement projects and expanded the growth of the Overlake Medical Clinic physician network from 30 to more than 100 physicians.

Schultz has a master’s degree in health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

He succeeds Scott Bosch, who retired in July after nearly a decade with Harrison.

New chamber director hired in Poulsbo Marc Abshire has been hired as the new director of operations for the Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce.

The retired Air Force lieutenant colonel was selected based on his experience, and his enthusiasm and vision for the Poulsbo area, according to a chamber news release sent out Oct. 24.

Abshire has more than 20 years of experience in organizational leadership, marketing, corporate communications, public relations and operations. He has been Marc a consultant to a variety of business, govAbshire ernment and nonprofit organizations. A graduate of Port Townsend High School, Abshire graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and has a master’s degree from the University of Colorado. He will start in his new position Nov. 3.

“The board is thrilled to have found a candidate who has his breadth of experience in business, marketing, communications, and team operations,” chamber president Jessie Nino said.

Mark W. Costa, a chamber board member who was chair of the search committee for a new director, said Abshire exceeded the chamber’s requirements for the position.

Abshire succeeds Jan Harrison, who announced in September she was stepping down after two years with the Poulsbo Chamber.

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As you keep in mind that you’re not the expert, know that there are many experts out there, and they can also assist you, the employer. Don’t hesitate to call a hotline for advice yourself.

The YWCA is a great resource in Kitsap County. Their shelter program provides temporary emergency housing and other supportive services. The WRAPS Project is a professional clothing and everyday at-

tire program which provides clothing and accessories for victims and their children. They have a Legal Advocacy program to provide essential free services. And their 24-hour crisis line can be reached at 800-5005513.

We all hope and pray that domestic violence won’t be an issue for anyone we know. But in my life, I’ve had co-workers, friends and family victimized, and I bet you also know at least one person yourself. Better to plan ahead for the problem, and nev-

er need to execute the plan, than to be frantically in the midst of a crisis and end up with people calling for your resignation, as they’ve done with Roger Goodell.

• Julie Tappero is 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.

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12 |NOVEMBER 2014

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business openings

Mall outlet gives Brothers Powersports more exposure

By Tim Kelly KPBJ editor The business that his grandfather started has been in Kitsap for more than half a century, but Brian Nilsen decided more exposure would help Brothers Powersports. So last month he opened an apparel outlet store in the Kitsap Mall.

It’s good timing with the holiday season approaching. The shop carries specialized riding gear — like a Timbersled Mountain Horse kit ($5,900) that converts a motocross racer to an extreme snow machine — but there’s also a more typical retail array of T-shirts, sweatshirts, ballcaps, sunglasses and other items to appeal to shoppers who will never straddle a dirt bike.

“Our merchandise is available only to motorcycle dealerships,” Nilsen said, so it’s apparel that other stores don’t carry.

The popular Fox brand of clothing is one example.

“We have it at our dealership but we wanted it here as well,” he said. “We had to sign an agreement with them to have a moto store, but if we couldn’t get Fox in here we wouldn’t have opened up. You’ve gotta have it.”

The new outlet offers a more extensive selection of the apparel, gear and accessories that are available at the Brothers Powersports dealership that sells motorcycles, ATVs and some watercraft.

There are a couple motorcycles at the mall store for display, and Nilsen figures riding enthusiasts who notice those may find their way to Brothers Powersports in West Bremerton’s Auto Center district.

Nilsen, co-owner of the dealership with his uncle, Jeff Nilsen, said they signed a three-month lease through December at the mall for the outlet store. They plan to operate it on a seasonal basis, but might

tim kelly photos

Above: Brian Nilsen is co-owner with his uncle of Brothers Powersports. The motorcycle/ATV dealership has opened an apparel outlet store for the holiday season at Kitsap Mall.

Right: On display among the store’s racks of shirts, caps and other moto apparel is a Timbersled kit for converting a dirt bike to a snow machine for riding in the winter. consider keeping it open year-round depending on how the business does this initial season.

“I look at it like this, it’s marketing for

our dealership,” he said. “So I can justify the lease expense as a marketing expense to drive people to the dealership.”

Nilsen said it’s frustrating when he talks

with people who are longtime Kitsap residents but don’t know where the Brothers dealership is, though they may have heard of the business.

“So from a marketing standpoint, to have a presence where there’s a lot of people is going to help us out,” he said of the outlet store, which has Victoria’s Secret as a neighbor in the mall.

Other unique specialties at the Brothers outlet include stand-up paddleboards on one wall, and Nilsen said the sturdy inflatable boards are from the Yamaha watercraft line the dealership carries.

There are also some tiny two-wheelers — Strider bicycles — designed for future motocross riders to get started on as soon as they’re able to walk.

“You can get a kid who’s 2 or 3 years old on one of those and they take right to it.

They will learn how to ride a bicycle really (easily),” Nilsen said, “and eventually, obviously, a motorcycle.”

A holiday shopper looking for the coolest gift for the motocross rider on their list might go for a GoPro. For the uninitiated, GoPros are high-tech compact video cameras that can be attached to the helmet of a biker, skier, snowmobiler or other high-speed adventurer.

“They have attachments galore,” Nilsen said, noting that a GoPro even can be put on a drone, which can be controlled by an iPhone app to follow 30 feet above the person being filmed.

He said the popularity of accessories such as GoPros and new items like the Timbersled kit show how the moto industry is about “a lifestyle.”

“It’s becoming more and more popular,” Nilsen added, “and that’s another reason for this (outlet) store, is to capitalize on that growth.”

A home at last for organic bakers

By Tim Kelly KPBJ editor

tim kelly

Chase Butterfield, granddaughter of business owners Jo and Cliff Ridlon, works at the newly opened location of Dpio organic bakery. The skeleton from Jo Ridlon’s collection of Halloween decorations was named “Doughbones” in a customer contest.

When Jo Ridlon finally found a home for Dpio, her organic bakery that had a transient existence for more than a year and a half, she worried that no customers would show up when the place opened.

“Oh gosh, I thought I was going to open the door and nobody was going to come,” Ridlon said recently, sitting by the storefront windows in the small bakery’s freshly painted space.

“I thought it’s just going to be crickets when I open

the door, but it’s been pretty good.”

Keeping the crickets at bay are old and new customers who come for raspberry almond fauxnuts, bacon maple bars and other Dpio specialties made

with natural, organic, allergen-free ingredients.

The idea for that kind of bakery came from Jo’s dietary changes that were part of her breast cancer treatment. see bakery | 24

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financial focus | Edward jones

When is it time to make portfolio changes?

Article by Edward Jones for use by financial adviser Teresa Bryant of Bremerton.

T

he kids are back at school and summer vacations are now just fading memories, so it must be autumn.

But the seasons don’t just move on the calendar — they also change in your life.

And, speaking of changes, you’ll have to make many of them as you move through the years — and that includes changes to your investment portfolio. But how will you know when it’s time to take action?

Just as Mother Nature sends out “signals” to indicate a change in seasons — blooming flowers, falling leaves, warmer or colder temperatures, longer or shorter days, etc. — your portfolio will frequently “tell” you when you need to make adjustments. Here are a couple of indicators you may want to heed: • Out-of-balance portfolio — Even the

best stocks can lose value when the overall market is down, but if you only own stocks, you could take a big hit during a downturn — and if it happens repeatedly, you may find it hard to even stay invested.

After all, stocks will always fluctuate in value, and protection of your principal is not guaranteed. Yet you can at least help defend yourself against market volatility by balancing your portfolio with a mix of stocks, bonds, government securities, certificates of deposit (CDs) and other investments, with the percentage of each type of asset based on your individual goals, time horizon and risk tolerance.

• “Overweighting” of individual investments — Related to the point made above, you can also have too much money kept in a single investment, such as an individual stock or bond. Sometimes, this “overweighting” can happen almost on its own, as when a stock, or stock-based vehicle, has increased so much in value that it now takes on a larger percentage of your portfolio than you had intended — possibly bringing with it more risk than you had intended, too. As a general rule, no single investment should take up more than a small percentage of your entire portfolio.

Your own life may also send you some messages regarding changes you may need to make to your investment and financial strategies. Here are just a few of the milestones that may trigger necessary moves: see portfolio | 14

Acronym helps investors consider key USES of cash Article by Edward Jones for use by financial adviser Jeramey Probert of Silverdale.

A

s an investor, you may find that the elements of your portfolio that seem to draw most of your attention are stocks and bonds. After all, these investment vehicles, and others derived from them, provide you with potential growth and income opportunities — which is why you invest in the first place. Yet, you also may find significant value in a more humble financial asset: cash. In fact, you might be surprised at the various ways in which the cash, and cash equivalents, in your portfolio can help you complete your financial picture.

One way to understand the uses of cash is to look at the “USES” of cash. In other words, consider the acronym USES: • Unexpected expenses and emergencies — You’ll need sufficient cash for sit-

uations such as a job loss, a home repair or an unplanned medical expense. During your working years, you should keep three to six months’ worth of living expenses in a cash account specifically designed to meet unexpected expenses.

Once you’re retired, you may be able to get by on a smaller emergency fund — up to three months’ worth of living expenses, although you will need more for everyday spending.

• Specific short-term savings goal — Are you anticipating a big expense —a wedding, a big vacation, a down payment on a new home, etc. — sometime within the next few years? If so, you’ll want to set aside sufficient cash, with the exact amount depending on your specific shortterm goal.

• Everyday spending — It goes without saying that you’ll need adequate cash for your everyday spending needs — groceries, utilities, entertainment, mortgage/ debt payments, and so on. Of course, while you’re working, you will probably handle most of these costs with your paychecks, but you may still need to set aside one or two months’ worth of living expenses. Once you’re retired, though, it’s a somewhat different story. While your expenses may go down in some areas (such as costs associated with employment), they are likely to go up in others (such as health care). So your overall cost of living see cash | 14

14 |NOVEMBER 2014

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business strategy | dan weedin

Fiercely guarding your time

Y

ou protect what you most value.

This isn’t a startling statement. You would certainly agree that we would vigorously defend our family, our home, our faith, and our country. We all have prized possessions that we would safeguard. And, as many a wealth management expert will encourage you to do, you staunchly guard your money.

Why is it then that we do such a crummy job of guarding what might be one of our most valuable possessions, something that can never be recaptured or insured, and something that we all too often complain we don’t have enough of? That “possession” is time. I submit to you that if you make fiercely guarding your time an early New Year’s resolution, that all your goals, objectives and dreams will come true in 2015. The good news is that I’m about to tell you how to do it. You just have to have courage, conviction and discipline.

Last month, I resigned from the school board that I had been elected to in 2009. I held the office of president since 2012, and had one year left in my term. I already decided against re-election. My decision to resign early came after a self-assessment of the current situation. My discretionary time is precious, and over the past year, the negativity emanating from a small vocal group of community members was distracting to a point of encroaching neg-

ativity into my personal and professional life. I dreaded everything about the job, from opening emails to board meetings.

When I realized I was eagerly waiting for December 2015 as the end of my term, and it wasn’t even December 2014 yet, I knew there was a problem. Life is too short and I wasn’t about to wish my life away. It was time to allegorically throw baggage off the train!

In order to reach all of my goals for the rest of the year and beyond — both professional and personal — I needed to free up space. We can’t grow if we don’t occasionally unload that baggage that holds us back, or is even a roadblock. We need to create metrics for the activities in our lives and determine whether their expiration date is up, so we can bring in new, fresher ones. I didn’t just toss this baggage; I flung it with both hands!

Your turn for self-assessment — What are you doing today that causes you stress or anxiety? What is wasting your valuable time with little return on that investment?

Are you allocating that time to things that won’t advance your personal or professional goals? This is the time of year for self-assessment. Instead of thinking about resolutions to add things to your life, perhaps you should resolve to dump your own baggage. Here’s your simple, threesectioned assessment tool. The only rule is that you be candid with yourself.

1. Career/Job — Are you surrounding yourself with positive people? Do you love

cash | f rom 13

portfolio | f rom 13

may not drop much, if at all. Consequently, it may be a good idea to set aside 12 months’ worth of living expenses, after incorporating other sources of income, such as Social Security and outside employment. In addition, you’ll have to decide on the most efficient way of drawing on your other sources of income, including Social Security and investment accounts such as an IRA, a 401(k), etc. It’s especially important to create a sustainable withdrawal strategy for your investment portfolio because you don’t want to run the risk of outliving your money.

• Source of investment — You’ll want to have some cash available in your portfolio — perhaps 2% to 3% of the portfolio’s value — to take advantage of investment opportunities as they arise. Also, having even a small percentage of your portfolio devoted to cash can modestly improve your overall diversification — and a diversified portfolio is your best defense against market volatility. (Keep in mind, though, that diversification can’t guarantee a profit or protect against loss.)

So, there you have it: four key USES of cash. Taken together, they provide some good reasons to keep at least a modest “stream” of liquid assets in your portfolio.

• New child — You’ll need to review your life insurance to make sure it’s sufficient to help provide for a newborn or newly adopted child, should anything happen to you. You may also want to begin investing in a college savings vehicle, such as a 529 plan.

• New job — Assuming your new job offers you a retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or similar vehicle, you’ll have some choices to make. How much can you afford to contribute? How should you allocate your dollars among the investment choices offered in the plan? How can you best integrate your 401(k) or other plan into your overall investment portfolio to avoid duplication?

• Impending retirement — As you enter retirement, you may want to adjust your portfolio to help reduce its short-term fluctuations and to provide more current income opportunities. At the same time, you may still need to invest for growth — you could be retired for two or three decades, and you’ll need to stay ahead of inflation.

Pay close attention to the messages coming from your portfolio — and from your life. These “signals” will give you a good idea of when it’s time to make the right investment-related moves.

what you do? Do you gain personal satisfaction from your efforts? Do you wake up everyday excited about new challenges and opportunities?

Believe me, I understand there are tough days, and even periods of time. However, if you’ve been dealing with negative energy (people, processes, mission), then you might need to look at a change. Life is too short to spend nearly 40 percent of your life doing something you dislike just for a paycheck.

Change can be scary. I left a good-paying job over nine years ago to start a consulting practice, so I get it. The price you pay for unhappiness though is too steep.

You have the choice to change your attitude or the situation.

2. Social media — How many “friends” do you have on Facebook? Probably significantly more than you would really count as true friends. The problem is that you’ve perhaps allowed people to insinuate themselves into your stream of conscience with negativity. You see it all the time. You don’t have to acquiesce to constant complaining, use of bad language, or editorial rants about politics or religion just because it shows up on your timeline.

I’ve started either “hiding” or “unfriending” people on social media. You might just find that dumping some of that baggage is refreshing!

3. Volunteer — Volunteering is an investment of your discretionary time.

There are scads of great causes out there, yet you don’t need to be involved in all of them, even if you’re asked. Choose one

that you have a great passion for and get deeply involved. If there are several, you can allocate different levels of time and financial donations. The point is you can’t possibly lead them all, be on boards for all of them, or manage the upcoming auctions. Volunteering is the finest form of generosity. However, overdoing it can drag you down to a point where it’s bad for you and for the organization.

Bottom line — We humans must consistently grow and develop mentally and physically to enjoy a healthy and happy life. In order to do that, we must fiercely guard our time against forces that try to steal it. Many of these forces are actually good causes and well-intentioned people.

The time may just not be right for you.

This is where you learn to just say NO! There are other “time thieves” that are more invidious because they are often stealth and masquerade as essentials. You have more control than you think. Choose to spend your time focusing on people and activities that make you better. You can always make another dollar, but you can’t make another minute. Be fierce in guarding it.

• Dan Weedin is a strategist, speaker, author and executive coach. He helps business leaders and executives to become stronger leaders, grow their businesses and enrich their lives. You can reach him at 360-697-1058; e-mail at dan@danweedin.com or visit his website at www.DanWeedin.com.

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16 |NOVEMBER 2014

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business openings

Décor store’s allure led woman to open her own in Kitsap

By Tim Kelly KPBJ editor In a juxtaposition of finery and heavy machinery, an equipment rental company’s cranes back up against a chain link fence just steps away from a new purveyor of unique home décor items.

“I know, it’s crazy,” says Vicki McRoberts, who recently opened Real Deals on Home Décor in East Bremerton. “But that’s another draw with Real Deals; most of us are in some form of warehouse, because we have warehouse prices.”

The nondescript commercial building where McRoberts leases roughly 2,400 square feet for her shop is sandwiched between the Star Rentals and United Rentals lots on busy State Route 303.

The space is divided between showroom and storage for the frequently rotating inventory of eclectic, affordably priced items.

Shoppers will find mirrors, wall art, frames, lamps, ceramic accent pieces, seasonal decorations and more, including a striking array of the shopkeeper’s favorites — clocks in all shapes and sizes. McRoberts has one currently in storage that’s nearly 6 feet in diameter.

As her business gets established, she plans to add more furniture items such as tables and cabinets.

It took a little wrangling with the corporate honchos to get the OK for locating her Real Deals franchise in the site she found after much searching.

The Twin Falls, Idahobased company — with about 75 stores in the U.S. and Canada — regulates franchisees’ rent, overhead, days and hours of operation, and advertising.

“Only because they want you to succeed,” McRoberts explains.

She hoped to find a spot in Kingston, where she lives with her husband, who’s been the pastor at Bayside Communi-

Merchandise displays are changed weekly at the store, which is open only Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. ter who lives there took McRoberts to a Real Deals store.

“I fell in love with it,” she says. “Because it was not just a store; it was warm when you walked in, it was inviting, it always smelled good in there.”

She was so impressed with the appealing and reasonably priced home décor items, she thought she’d like to open her own store someday.

“So when we moved back

Tim kelly photos

Vicki McRoberts has a penchant for clocks, with plenty on display at her new business, Real Deals on Home Décor. ty Church since the couple moved back to the Northwest in summer of 2013.

“I thought Kingston would be a great place,” she says. “Then when I started talking to people they said, you know, Kingston is where people come to get on the ferry; they don’t shop in Kingston.”

She looked in Poulsbo but couldn’t find a suitable location, then found the East Bremerton site with the help of a friend in real estate. McRoberts thought it was ideal, but the lease was a little out of the company’s “dirt cheap” range for renting space.

“I talked to Real Deals headquarters and asked them to come up just a bit,” she says. “I said ‘if you want me to open a Real Deals on the Kitsap Peninsula, you’re going to have to change what you’re willing to allow me to do, because I cannot come that low; it’s just not

going to happen.”

She finally convinced them, and got to work in July setting up her shop, which opened in early September and had its official ribbon-cutting Oct. 22 with the Bremerton and Silverdale Chambers of Commerce.

The retail newcomer had only been open a few weeks when she availed herself of the opportunity to take the last available booth space at last month’s Peninsula Home & Remodel Expo at the Kitsap County fairgrounds.

McRoberts also is utilizing Facebook and couponmailing service Valpak to get the word out about her new business.

She and her husband are both from Oregon originally, and she was on the police force in Corvallis when they lived there for a dozen years. Several years ago they moved to Minnesota, and their daugh-

out here I told my husband, I want to open a Real Deals,” McRoberts says.

The company was founded and is operated by five sisters, who opened the first store a decade ago in a former creamery next to railroad tracks in a mostly empty industrial area of Twin Falls. One of the sisters and her husband also formed an import company for supplying its stores with merchandise.

Part of the Real Deals

business model is locating stores in nontraditional, no-frills locations with minimal overhead. The company website has detailed information on starting a franchise, and estimates an initial investment of $125,000 to $160,000, depending on store size.

The stores are open only three days a week (originally it was two), to foster a sense of discovery when bargain hunters find their way to Real Deals.

McRoberts explains that since her store is open only Thursday through Saturday, she’s able to change the inventory on display each week. “So it’s like a new store almost every week,” she says. “It’s just a fun shop because you know every time you come in, there’s going to be new things and it’s going to look different, it’s going to feel different. That’s part of the charm of it.”

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business openings

Coffee banter led to plans for pizza place

By Tim Kelly KPBJ editor

tim kelly

Ronda Looney stands with her son-in-law, Joey Franton, in front of Mama Looney’s, a new take-and-bake pizza place in Port Orchard. Looney also owns Café Soleil in the same retail center, and Franton is manager at Mama Looney’s.

Kitsap events set for Global Entrepreneurship Week Events in observation of Global Entrepreneurship Week are scheduled around the Kitsap region during the week of Nov. 17-21.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week website says it is a “celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups,” and that it’s intended as “more than just an awareness campaign. It is a platform for connection and collaboration — engaging all players along the entrepreneurship spectrum.”

Here’s what’s scheduled in Kitsap: • Monday, Nov. 17, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mossback Café, Kingston Innovative business spaces — Moving beyond the garage, den or kitchen table $20 fee. Presented by: OfficeXpats and Kitsap Economic Development Alliance • Tuesday, Nov. 18, 7:30-9 a.m., Cavalon Building, 2011 NW Myhre Road, Silverdale

A happy hour chat set Ronda Looney on the path to starting a second business.

This wasn’t a wine-after-work conversation, though; it happened during the early-morning happy hour at the drive-thru espresso window of Café Soleil, which Looney has operated for nearly a decade in Port Orchard.

“It was 4:30 in the morning, and you know you’re just kind of bantering,” Looney said.

The coffee customer was the husband of a woman who visited Café Soleil for its tanning and hairstyling services. When Looney learned he was a logger, she told him she wished her property still had trees to be felled.

“I said well, if I had any logs left I’d have you log it, and I’d take the money and I’d start a new business right over there,” in an empty building across the parking lot from Café Soleil in the Sedgwick Landing retail development at the corner of Sidney Road and Sedgwick Road.

The logger asked what kind of business she had in mind, and the first thing that came to mind for Looney was a take-and-bake pizza operation.

“He said you should talk to my wife … she used to have a pizza place on the Key Peninsula,” Looney recalled the man saying, “and all of her pizza equipment’s sitting in my warehouse.”

About a year and half later, the business they bantered about that

How to play with others for fun & profit — A World Café discussion on the power of collaboration No fee continental breakfast.

Presented by: The Silverdale Chamber of Commerce, Excell Puget Sound and Morgan Stanley • Tuesday, Nov. 18, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton All-chamber luncheon — We’re all in sales $20 (early bird), $25 fee. Presented by: Kitsap area Chambers of Commerce • Wednesday, Nov. 19, 9-11 a.m., KEDA office, Bremerton Social media workshop — How social does your business need to be?

No fee. Presented by: The Kitsap Economic Development Alliance • Thursday, Nov. 20, 3-5 p.m., Poulsbo Library community room How not to screw up! — An attorney, financial advisor & CPA answer your questions No fee. Presented by: Greater Poulsbo see events | 24

morning has become a reality — Mama Looney’s opened in October, and yes, she purchased the kitchen equipment her customer had in storage.

There was more serendipity involved in the process.

When Looney opened Café Soleil in its original location off Bethel Road in 2005, she became friends with the owner of a neighboring nail salon.

That woman had since left town, but she called the week after Looney’s chat with the logger.

“She wanted to come back to Port Orchard, and she said ‘Can you help me get in one of the buildings over there where you’re at now?’

“And I said, yes I can, but I’m going to use you for leverage,” Looney told her.

That leverage was with The Rush Companies, developer of Sedgwick Landing and adjacent apartment complexes.

Looney said she invested a lot of money in the build-out of her space for Café Soleil four years ago, so she called Rush to negotiate a deal on the building that wasn’t filled with tenants yet. She said her friend wanted to lease part of the building, but in exchange for the referral Looney wanted Rush to build out the rest of the space for her to use.

“They called me back the next day and said OK,” she said. “So I thought, oh my gosh, it must be meant to be.

“She opened up a nail salon (Landing Nails & Spa) next door, and we’re neighbors again.”

To differentiate Mama Looney’s from franchise take-and-bake places,

Looney touts her offerings as “create & bake gourmet pizza.”

“I use all fresh, natural ingredients.

Everything is 100 percent real, there’s no processed foods,” she said, noting that she uses barbacoa meats for toppings and Grande cheese.

The new pizza place also offers delivery service, covering a large area of South Kitsap County and extending into Mason County around Belfair.

Looney, who’s lived in the area since she was 14, is a single mom with three daughters who all have worked at Café Soleil.

Her son-in-law, Joey Franton, is the manager at her new business — where he’s learning on the job after his previous livelihood was doing excavation work.

Looney said they plan to expand the menu soon to offer hot panini sandwiches and soup for take-out, and she’d eventually like to get set up to sell pizza by the slice.

Besides using Facebook as most small businesses do, Looney also does outreach to the surrounding customer base in the apartment buildings Rush has built in the burgeoning area west of Highway 16.

She’s distributed Welcome Wagonstyle baskets promoting Café Soleil to tenants, and now is adding Mama Looney’s menus and coupons.

She said the response has been good so far at her new business, which is open today because after that suggestion at the drive-thru window one morning, “It just kind of all kept falling together.

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The kids are alright Siblings have taken over from parents at moving company celebrating 50 years

By Tim Kelly KPBJ editor It was 1964, the year the historic Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who would go on to win the fall election in a landslide over Republican Barry Goldwater. Julie Andrews won an Oscar for “Mary Poppins,” and the James Bond spy flick “Goldfinger” was No. 1 at the box office.

That was also the year John Loidhamer went to work as a mover in Bremerton.

“I bought a truck and a permit from a company in Enumclaw,” he said. It cost him $3,500. “Then I brought the permit to Bremerton and was working with my dad.”

Fifty years later, the company he built up “truck by truck” is still a thriving family business. And his original Chevrolet moving truck is still around — though it was retired long before John and his wife, Carol, turned their United Moving & Storage business over to their two children.

The old truck underwent a restoration recently, and Loidhamer said it’ll be running again soon with a rebuilt engine.

Their business — which held an open house in October to celebrate its 50 years in the community — now has about 35 trucks and trailers between Bremerton and an operation in San Bernardino, Calif., that the family bought in 1996.

The business they took over is only about an hour’s drive from Palm Desert, where John and Carol have a winter home.

The family business is now managed by their son, Craig Loidhamer, and daughter, Shauna Loidhamer Washburn.

“They’ve been running it for about the last three or four years,” John said, drawba k ery | f rom 1 2

She started Dpio in early 2013, renting space in a commercial kitchen in downtown Bremerton.

The business did special-order organic cakes created by an artistic decorator who worked with Ridlon, and on many a Friday morning she and a helper would set up a table before sunrise at the corner of Fourth Street and Park Avenue, selling Dpio pastries to shipyard workers going to and from work.

“It’s funny, people will come in here and say ‘I remember you guys sold donuts down at the corner,’” Ridlon said.

The persevering cancer survivor has set up shop amid a few other businesses adjacent to a gas station on the northwest corner at the busy intersection of State Route

ing a laugh when he adds, “and I keep my nose out of it.”

They’ve had plenty of on-the-job training since both started working there as teenagers.

“I’ve probably been here 30 years,” said Shauna, the older sibling, during a recent interview with all four family members at their Bremerton office. “Everybody worked here in the summer when they were kids. Even I had to drive a truck and pick up pack materials.”

“Soon as she got to be 16,” her dad confirmed.

“I had to sweep the floors; I didn’t get as glamorous a job,” her brother quipped.

“We’re proud of the way they handle the company. There aren’t a lot of second generations that can do that, and run a successful company, and they’ve really done a fabulous job for us.”

Carol Loidhamer They still consult with their retired parents on some things, and they all get along, which obviously is important to the success of their business.

“They work really well together,” Carol said of her children. “We’re proud of the way they handle the company. There aren’t a lot of second generations that can do that, and run a successful company, and they’ve really done a fabulous job for us.”

303 and Fairgrounds Road.

The available space needed some work, but was in better condition overall than some other locations she and her husband had considered.

“This one the paint colors were awful, and there was a wall that if you leaned on it, you’d probably fall over,” she said.

Fortunately, Cliff Ridlon, who retired from the shipyard at the end of last year, was available to shore up the wobbly wall, install ovens and display cases, and put a fresh coat of whitewash on the walls.

It took a few months to be ready to open, but the baking continued in the meantime.

“While he built, we did things for people that had been following us and had been steady customers, and are still steady custom-

tim kelly

John and Carol Loidhamer, right, at United Moving & Storage with their son, Craig, and daughter, Shauna. The family business that John started in Bremerton 50 years ago is now managed by the retired couple’s children.

Shauna has taken over the operations side of the business from their dad, while Craig handles the finances that their mother used to manage.

Craig said he and his sister stick to their roles, following their parents’ example.

“That’s the reason (Shauna) and I work so good, and that they worked good, is because we do different things,” he said. “So we keep those separate and it seems to work pretty well.”

They’ve adapted their moving business to weather the economic downturn of recent years. Shauna said they started marketing their services to seniors who were downsizing in retirement, helping them manage a move to a smaller home or a re-

ers, now they’re coming here,” Jo Ridlon said.

Last year the couple was in negotiations for several months on a possible lease of the former Morningside Bakery building on Bay Street in downtown Port Orchard, but that site didn’t work out.

“We wasted a whole lot of time over in Port Orchard on that place,” Cliff Ridlon said. “I’m glad we didn’t get it now. The location here is real good.”

“I like this place better,” Jo concurred.

Dpio is more visible now, too, since Cliff installed a large lighted sign above the storefront at the end of October.

Altough Jo Ridlon operates Dpio, she’s not the baker. That’s handled by her small staff that includes two of her granddaughters.

tirement community.

United also started offering indoor and outdoor storage for RVs, boats and trailers.

The latest expansion of their services is renting portable storage containers.

“That was the last thing (dad) got us into,” Craig said.

They signed on as a dealer for Go-Mini’s containers, which come in three sizes and are useful for people who want a temporary storage option delivered to them, such as during a home remodel.

“There’s a need for it, and it’s just an easy add-on for us that complements our full-service moving and packing,” Shauna said.

Some people also use them for local moving, Craig said.

“Instead of renting something that they

Besides pastries, the bakery offers a few breakfast and lunch items, such as the one-of-a-kind doughwich — a breakfast sandwich of bacon, egg, cheese and potato on top of a doughnut.

They’re already taking orders for gluten-free holiday pies, as well.

The bakery’s offerings will continue to expand as they get settled in.

“I’m thinking about doing soups and some breads, and maybe one day a week staying open a little later,” Jo Ridlon said.

Everything is baked fresh each morning, and so far they’ve sold out every day.

“When it gets time to close … or after closing, if there’s anything left I’ll stick it in a box and say (in a Facebook post) the first one to come in gets it for 10 bucks,” she said. “They’ve all gone.”

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ev en ts | f rom 18

Chamber of Commerce • Thursday, Nov. 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Slippery Pig Brewery, Poulsbo Geeks, beer & an hour of code — Hour of Code 2014 kickoff event No fee. Presented by West Sound Technology Association • Friday, Nov. 21 9-11 a.m., Kitsap Community Resources, 845 Eighth St, Bremerton Reach the next level — Get the help you need to grow your business No fee. Presented by: Kitsap SCORE

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Team Sports closing, leaving retail site near empty Owner says store was impacted by closing of neighboring businesses, online competition

By Tim Kelly KPBJ editor

LARRY STEAGALL photos

Above: Team Sports owner Ralph Rogers is closing the East Bremerton business.

He says the store probably will be gone by the end of November.

Left: Employee Rose Vancil, who has worked at Team Sports for 13 years, uses a machine to embroider labels for Children of the Nations custom jackets.

He’s turning off the lights at the small business he’s run for 27 years, but Ralph Rogers is also, in a way, passing the torch to his son.

“My legacy was the business to the kids, but it hasn’t worked out that way,” the 64-year-old Rogers said recently while sitting behind the sales counter at Team Sports in East Bremerton, where a going-out-of-business sale is in progress.

It’s not the way he wanted to go out, but Rogers still seems upbeat.

“Make sure you tell everybody on our sale,” he calls out to a familiar customer leaving after making a purchase.

The combination of online vendors and big-box stores drawing away customers, the economy’s struggle to recover from the recession, difficulties with the landlord, and the loss of neighboring businesses in recent years has pushed his store too far into the red to survive, Rogers said.

He once had 13 employees and two other shirt shops. “We’ve gone from almost $1 million in (annual) sales down to under $400,000, ” he said. “Thirteen employees down to three, and

sometimes we have a hard time finding work for three. I had to lay off a guy that worked for me for 20 years.”

Rogers originally opened a screenprinting business that operated in a second-floor space in Brownsville. He later bought an embroidery shop and eventually added sporting goods in his store.

He said the screenprinting and embroidery are still doing well, but sales of sporting goods have dropped off dramatically. He stopped selling bats a few years ago because he couldn’t compete on price with online sellers, and sales are rare for gear such as the batting helmets lined up on his store shelves.

He said he lost business on school team uniform sales when local school districts signed contracts with Nike to outfit all their sports teams.

“That hurt us, and all the Little Leagues have gone Internet,” Rogers said, noting that he used to do uniforms for youth teams all around Central Kitsap. “We can’t compete with the Internet sales, and I didn’t do one Little League this year.”

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People in business Port Orchard chamber’s new director back to his roots A former board member of the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce has been hired as its new executive director.

Matt Murphy started his new position in mid-October. The position had been open since Christine Daniel resigned in July, reportedly for health reasons, after just over a year with the chamber.

Matt Murphy, a 1983 graduMurphy ate of South Kitsap High School who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gonzaga University, lives in the Burley area south of Port Orchard. He most recently worked as a marketing consultant for Dex One. “I’ve lived here my entire life, so I’m excited about the opportunity to really return to my roots here in Port Orchard,” Murphy said.

Before joining Dex in 2012, he operated

his own business, Northwest Online Solutions, for two years, doing website design and helping small business owners develop their online presence. During that time he was a member of the Port Orchard Chamber and served as the organization’s treasurer.

He had applied for the chamber director job when the position previously was open in 2007.

Murphy, 49, said his first local business venture was a book store he opened in 1989 after graduating from Gonzaga. It was called Book Nook Etc. and was located in downtown Port Orchard, on Frederick Street behind the old Jordan’s Western Wear store.

He sees his new job as a continuation of what he’s done through most of his career.

“I’ve worked with small businesses in one capacity or another almost my entire life,” he said.

Murphy said he’s getting to know current chamber members, and wants to increase the exposure and influence of the chamber in the community, while helping local businesses with their marketing.

“I want to be working with local businesses on training and education, to help them improve their business,” he said.

Financial advisor earns Ameriprise Platinum status Peter Taafe has become an Ameriprise Platinum Financial Services advisor based on the success of his business in 2013. Taafe, with offices in Silverdale and Belfair, is one of approximately 25 percent of the nearly 10,000 Ameriprise financial advisors to achieve this status.

The platinum status was achieved through exceptional performance, com- Peter Taafe pletion of specialized training and attainment of advanced industryrecognized qualifications.

As an Ameriprise advisor, Taafe is focused on providing advice and financial solutions for clients with high asset levels.

He is knowledgeable on a variety of topics

and strategies including retirement, tax and estate planning, insurance and asset management.

His offices are located at 9222 Bay Shore Dr. NW, Suite 100, in Silverdale, and 10 NE Creelman Lane, Suite C, in Belfair. Taafe can be reached at 360-516-6820 or via www. ameripriseadvisors.com/peter.j.taafe.

Silverdale real estate office adds new broker to staff Karin Kay Properties has added Art Conrad to its staff of real estate brokers.

He is the seventh new broker to join Karin Kay during 2014.

Conrad has 15 years of experience selling real estate in Kitsap County and joins his wife, Roni Conrad, at the firm, where they will act as a team to meet the needs of their clients. He can be contacted at Artconrad@comcast.net 360-620-3300.

Karin Kay Properties is located in Old Town Silverdale at 3594 NW Byron St., Suite 105.

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Submarine-themed bar now has one

By Josh Farley Kitsap Sun The yellow submarine has landed in Bremerton.

Having resided for years near the former Lone Rock Grocery in Seabeck, the curious vessel was purchased for $1,000 by Mike Looby and Larry Timby, owners of the Horse & Cow submarine bar franchise, a few years ago.

There was some confusion over ownership but all now is settled, JOSH FARLEY photos the owners said.

Mike Looby, left, and Larry Timby stand with the On Oct. 29, Chico Towing vol19-foot yellow submarine in their Horse and Cow unteered to move it from LooPub & Grill in downtown Bremerton. by’s home to downtown BremerRight: A tow truck unloads the sub outside the bar. ton, where it will reside inside the new Horse and Cow Pub & Grill on business. It took only a few minutes.

Fourth Street.

“That was easier than we thought it Looby and his staff painted — “overwould be,” Looby said after moving the hauled” says Looby — the 19-foot, sub into place.

2,300-pound submarine over the weekend A grand opening for the restaurant and and affixed it to a dolly to push it into the bar is slated Nov. 8. te a m sports | f rom 2 6

Road just west of the intersection with Highway 303/Wheaton Way. The store previously had operated for several years in a building a block south that fronts Wheaton, but Rogers had to move when the pawn shop operators who owned the property wanted to expand their business into the whole building.

“We were gonna close down then,” Rogers said, which was what his wife wanted him to do. But he and his son Matt, who began working in his dad’s store when he was 12, decided to check out the location on Riddell, where most of the commercial spaces had tenants at the time.

“We sat there in the front window and watched the traffic, and this parking lot was solid people, all day long,” Rogers said.

Convinced it would be a good location, they moved in and Rogers said their business improved. With-

LARRY STEAGALL photos

Team Sports on Riddell Road in Bremerton is closing at the end of November. in six months, sales were back up to 2007 levels. “My customers had a hard time sometimes finding a parking spot out front, and that’s the truth,” he said.

Then, however, an exodus of businesses from the strip mall began — the pizza place left, Chips Casino (which once had more than 100 employees) became a restaurant/ bar with no gambling and eventually closed, a check cashing place and a stereo

store next to Team Sports shut their doors.

“The biggest hit of all was the DOL,” Rogers said, referring to the state Department of Licensing office that used to do driving tests and often had long lines of young applicants. “The parents instead of sitting over there waiting for their kids, they came over here.”

The DOL office is one of the few remaining tenants at Redwood Plaza, but the

driving tests are done elsewhere.

“Now we’re in this empty complex and we’ve lost all of our walk-in traffic,” Rogers said.

The store did get a bump in sales for a few months starting late last year, thanks to the Seattle Seahawks’ run to the Super Bowl.

“The Seahawks stuff started flying out of here.

I was ordering Seahawks stuff every day,” he said,

but after a while sales fell off again.

Seahawks apparel is the only merchandise not marked down 30 to 50 percent for the store closing sale, but “it’s been not like it was during the Super Bowl run,” Rogers said.

He also used to carry Huskies and Washington State sportswear, “but nobody wants to buy when they’re having losing seasons.”

The shopping center is in receivership, and Rogers said the bank that took it over is working to improve the buildings, but he’s doubtful the efforts will attract any new tenants.

All five of his children worked in the store over the years, but Matt Rogers is the only one still involved with the business.

He does the screenprinting work at his house, and is preparing to open a new store called 360 Disc Golf when Team Sports closes at the end of November.

Matt Rogers is buying his dad’s inventory of disc

golf specialty items, and his store will carry pro sports apparel — “Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, that’s the only thing selling right now,” Ralph said.

Matt Rogers also will take the embroidery operation with him to his location in the nearby Wheaton Way complex that includes Petco and Goodwill.

Ralph Rogers, a former Navy nuclear weapons technician who came to Bremerton aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise 37 years ago and stayed after retiring from the service, said he plans to help out at his son’s new store for the next few months. He’ll also continue to serve as a commissioner for the Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue.

Other than that, “maybe just enjoy life for awhile,” he said.

His wife might retire in 2015 after 30 years working for the Central Kitsap School District, so “I’m looking forward to getting some time off.”

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Health Alliance report shows hospital charges in state vary widely for similar procedures PRNewswire-USNewswire

The Washington Health Alliance has published a new report that details tremendous variation in billing prices for common procedures among hospitals in the state. The analysis, Hospital sticker shock: A report on hospital price variation in Washington state, finds that price variations from 200 percent to 400 percent and more are common, putting some consumers at financial risk.

The report relies on data released in April by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“Reducing the cost of health care is a top priority of our organization,” said Nancy A. Giunto, executive director of the alliance. “But as a community, we cannot reduce costs if we don’t know them. The results of this report confirm what the alliance and others in the health care community have always suspected: Just as there is with quality, there is significant variation in pricing among hospitals.”

Hospitals billings, also known as retail fees, facility fees, list prices or “sticker prices,” are analogous to the price appearing in the window of a new car in the sales lot. Unlike a new car, however, the health care consumer won’t see the price until after the hospital treatment.

The report examines hospital sticker price variation by looking at the average amounts billed to Medicare by hospitals for 12 common, uncomplicated in-patient 5 0 y e a r s | f rom 2 4

have to drive, we drop it off and they can load it or unload it at their pace,” he said.

One of the most challenging moves the company ever handled was for a Vashon Island family who lived on the water. It was impossible to drive a 53-foot trailer to their house, so a container was delivered by barge to the beach, where a stairway of 50 steps led up to the house.

As United Moving & Storage marks its 50-year milestone, it’s not just John’s original truck that’s been around a long time.

Carol said a number of their employees have been with them for 20 to 30 years.

“That’s the real reason it’s done so well

procedures upon conclusion of the hospital stay, as well as the amount that Medicare paid. The report addresses only the hospital facility fee, or the price for using the hospital premises. It does not include professional services fees, which cover the services of doctors, surgeons, anesthesiologists or other practitioners, or other downstream costs — such as further testing, follow-up care and possible re-admissions associated with the initial hospital stay.

For example, for uncomplicated stroke care at 35 hospitals statewide, a hospital’s average bill was as low as $10,835 and as high as $37,066,. Medicare’s average payment to these hospitals, however, shows a much narrower range: $3,703 to $7,583 per discharged patient. Medicare pays hospitals according to a separate, prearranged formula, adjusting its reimbursement to recognize drivers of operating costs that can vary between hospitals.

Billed amounts are potentially payable by certain patients in particular circumstances. Depending on the design of their health insurance plan, or if they are uninsured, consumers may be hit with large, unexpected medical bills after receiving treatment in a hospital.

Understanding hospital sticker prices in advance of a hospital stay can help both insured and uninsured patients reduce sticker shock. Because more out-of-pocket costs are being shifted to consumers and because unpaid medical bills have become a leading reason for personal bank-

ruptcy, it’s important for health consumers to understand the financial risks they might face as patients — whether they have insurance or not.

The report and an accompanying infographic give tips for consumers to reduce hospital sticker shock. These include knowing exactly which hospitals are in your plan’s network, using your health plan’s cost calculator to anticipate out-ofpocket costs for non-urgent services, and checking that you can afford to pay your plan’s deductible in full on short notice.

The billing and payment data in this report are not indicators of clinical quality.

Information released by Medicare does not indicate how patients fared during or after their hospitalizations. When evaluating their options, consumers should not look at price without also looking at quality.

The report is the first public report on prices that the Washington Health Alliance has released.

“This report, paired with reports on quality like you can find on our Community Checkup website (www.wacommunitycheckup.org), is important information for health plans, employers, providers and consumers,” Giunto said. “Still, while this Medicare claims data can be used as proxy for health care sticker prices, they don’t provide a complete picture. We need to continue to work together to support true price transparency via an all-payer claims database, private-public partnerships and market-based solutions.”

over the years, is that they started a company where they really took care of their employees,” Craig said of his parents.

The company has 35 employees in Bremerton and 25 in San Bernardino, with seasonal staff increases in the busy summer season.

John recalled that some summer employees started when they were in high school and worked their way through college that way, including a local dentist.

Craig recalled another former longtime worker, Bob Batterman, a teacher at East High in Bremerton and coach of the school’s 1976 state championship baseball team.

“He worked here when I was sweeping

floors,” Craig recalled. “He worked in the summers for us forever, and then when he retired (from teaching) he came in and was a salesman for us.”

That’s the kind of lasting connections a business makes over 50 years, especially when the owners are strong community supporters.

“My parents have always been very philanthropic, and they give back a lot to the community,” Shauna said, noting their support for organizations such as Kitsap Community Resources, Holy Trinity Parish and St. Vincent de Paul, Harrison Hospital and the Red Cross.

“We like to reinvest in our community, and provide services and help where we

business briefs Franciscan Health opens gynecologic oncology clinic on Gig Harbor campus Gynecologic Oncology Associates is now open in the Milgard Medical Pavilion on the St. Anthony Hospital campus in Gig Harbor. It is the second gynecologic oncology specialty clinic in the CHI Franciscan Health (www. chifranciscan.org) system; the other is located at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.

The new clinic will Dr. Michael Bidus serve patients in Gig Harbor, Port Orchard and the greater Key Peninsula area. The clinic will partner with the Jane Thompson Russell Cancer Care Center, also located in the Milgard Medical Pavilion, to offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to patient care.

Dr. Michael Bidus, who specializes in gynecologic oncology with an emphasis on ovarian and endometrial cancer, is accepting new patients at the clinic.

“We recognize the need for women to receive state-of-the-art cancer care in a setting that is close to home and family for support, and yet offer comprehensive surgical, chemotherapy, and radiation oncology services all in one location,” Bidus said.

The clinic is located at 11511 Canterwood Blvd. NW, Suite 100, in Gig Harbor. It is open Tuesday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To schedule an appointment, call 253-382-8150. can,” she said. “It’s very important to our family.”

John said one of his most satisfying projects was designing and building the 50,000-square-foot warehouse/office facility that the business moved into in 1996.

The Loidhamers are among about 100 agents who own stock in United Van Lines, which has grown into an international company.

“When we first owned stock with the van line, it was an investment on our part to try to develop that business,” John explained. At that time, he said, United was the 13th-largest moving company, “and now they’re No. 1 in the world as far as van line size.”

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Site of century-old building cleared for sale to city Port Orchard buying downtown property, hoping to attract developer for new project

The final piece of the facade is torn down at the former Los Cabos Grill in downtown Port Orchard on Oct. 23.

By Chris Henry Kitsap Sun Bite by mechanical bite, a large backhoe clawed away at the vacant Los Cabos building in downtown Port Orchard until all that was left was a large pile of rubble.

That was hauled away by Oct. 28, leaving a blank slate at 640 Bay St. The two-story building — known around town for the last of several restaurants that occupied it — was constructed just after the turn of the 20th century and was the original home of Kitsap Bank. But age and a fire in July 2013 had rendered it an eyesore.

The building was in receivership when the city of Port Orchard made an offer to buy it in August for $148,000. The offer was contingent on the current owner, Turnaround Inc., removing asbestos and demolishing the building. The city will get to inspect the job before the sale is final.

Then what?

When the City Council approved the sale Aug. 12, there was talk of a public-private partnership, but council members have differing opinions about what form that could take. And Mayor Tim Matthes has his own ideas.

“What I would love to see of course is nice retail on the ground floor,” with an exterior facade of rounded doorways and decorative wrought iron, Matthes said. Parking on an upper floor is also a possibility.

Having the city maintain some form of ownership of the property will allow for more control of what goes in there, the mayor said.

“I have several ideas, but I haven’t really fleshed them out yet. We’re hoping to find public-private partners on that,” Matthes said. “It will give us a chance to sit back and think of, by example, what we want our downtown to look like.”

“I would like to see something that has retail on the ground, possibly with offices upstairs,” Councilman Fred Chang said.

That’s in line with design standards established for the city’s downtown core, the Downtown Overlay District.

Chang’s opinion is at one end of a spectrum on how long the city should stay directly involved.

“I’d like to have the city have some skin in the game on Bay Street,” he said.

At the other end is Councilwoman Cindy Lucarelli, who voted against buying the property, saying the city shouldn’t be in the business of buying property for potential development. Lucarelli, at the Aug. 12 meeting, decried the city’s purchase of property across from City Hall nearly a decade ago potentially for a parking garage.

Plans for the garage stalled, and the prop-

MEEGAN M. REID

Far left: The Los Cabos building as it appeared before the 2013 fire.

Left: The building at 640 Bay St. in Port Orchard was the original home of Kitsap Bank. (Photo courtesy of Kitsap Bank)

“My personal preference would be to sell it to a developer and not be a landlord ourselves. My biggest concern is that we get that building replaced as soon as possible.”

City Councilman Jeff Cartwright erty is now a gravel lot for city employees.

The purchase price was nearly $500,000.

Chang, who was on the council then, said they were given a professional appraisal that indicated the property was worth the price. In hindsight, he said, “I was very unhappy about that parcel.”

The Los Cabos sale is a fraction of the price, and the city needed to take

charge of getting rid of the dilapidated building, Chang said.

Council members John Clauson and Jeff Cartwright represent the middle ground.

“My personal preference would be to sell it to a developer and not be a landlord ourselves,” Cartwright said. “My biggest concern is that we get that building replaced as soon as possible.”

“What I’m hoping the city will be able to do is market that space as available for developers. I don’t want it to just sit vacant,” Clauson said.

City residents commenting on Facebook expressed a mixture of relief to see the unsightly building torn down and nos-

talgia for a piece of Port Orchard’s history crumbling. The building housed Kitsap Bank, founded in 1908, until current headquarters went up across Bay Street in 1977.

Rhine Demolition of Tacoma, the company that tore down the building, found two bank vaults but nothing inside them, said employee Deanna Peters. One of the vault doors was given to Kitsap Bank as an artifact of its past.

Another charred shell downtown, the former Myhre’s restaurant, has sat vacant since a fire in 2011. The owners lost the building in foreclosure, and it was purchased by Mansour Samadpour, who owns seven other properties downtown. Local businessman Don Ryan, who worked with Samadpour to develop the Port Orchard Public Market, said there are plans in the works for the Myhre’s building, but he couldn’t elaborate on the details.

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BUSINESS BRIEFS Bainbridge manufacturer receives excellence award at annual AWB conference Ozone International of Bainbridge Island, which makes ozone generation systems for the food and beverage industry, received the Operational Excellence Award on Tuesday night at the Association of Washington Business annual Manufacturing Summit, held this year at the ShoWare Center in Kent.

Cadet Manufacturing of Vancouver, the family-owned maker of high-efficiency heaters, was named 2014 Manufacturer of the Year.

TigerStop, a Vancouver manufacturer of systems that automate and increase productivity of industrial cutting processes, received the Innovation Award. The Green Manufacturing Award went to Emerald Services of Tacoma, which captures and recycles industrial fluids, and Manhasset Specialty Co., a Yakima-based music stand maker.

The 2014 Manufacturing Excellence Awards are sponsored by UPS and the AWB Institute, AWB’s nonprofit arm dedicated to manufacturing and workforce development.

“A strong manufacturing sector is the foundation of a strong economy,” said Kris Johnson, AWB president. “These employers are doing their part to innovate, to make sustainability a priority and to find better ways to do business.

“We are pleased to honor them as examples of what Washington state’s manufacturers can accomplish.”

Ozone International makes ozone-generating sanitation systems for more than 500 global customers in the food and beverage industry. Founded in 2003, Ozone has reshaped its production methods over the past two years and improved efficiency by 25 percent and capacity by 80 percent.

The company was able to cut production time for each unit from 27 days down to nine. The company also cut overtime costs by spreading out work from their busiest seasons to slower times at the beginning and end of the year.

Video profiles of each of the five award winners will be available soon via the AWB website. Award photos will also be available online.

Formed in 1904, the Association of Washington Business is the state’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.

TIM KELLY

Clearwater expansion continues with new hotel wing The next phase of a multiyear expansion project at Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort is a new hotel wing under construction. When the five-story structure is completed next year, Clearwater will add nearly 100 hotel rooms, all with water views, on its property by Agate Pass between Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island. The resort has already built a new parking garage, and the expansion also will include a new convention center and expanded casino.

Harrison to host open house at new Bainbridge facility, and joint replacement talk

Nov. workshop series at OfficeXpats focuses on video in marketing strategy

Harrison Medical Center announced it will host a community open house at its new health care facility scheduled to open Dec. 1 on Bainbridge Island.

The two-story, 17,000-square-foot medical building at 8804 Madison Ave. North will offer 24/7 urgent care, primary care, specialty care, expanded imaging and lab services, and other outpatient services.

The open house will be from noon to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20. The new facility will be open for tours, and visitors can meet providers and learn about services available to the community.

Harrison also will host a talk on joint replacement that is free and open the public. Dr. Dawson Brown will discuss treatment options available at Harrison’s Orthopaedic Center in Silverdale. The talk will be from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, 550 Winslow Way East.

Registration for the Nov. 12 session is available by calling 866-844-WELL (9355) or online at www.HarrisonMedical.org/ OrthoTalks.

Harrison Medical Center (www.HarrisonMedical.org) is part of CHI Franciscan Health (www.CHIFranciscan.org) and operates facilities in Bremerton, Silverdale, Port Orchard, Belfair and Poulsbo offering medical, surgical and emergency services.

OfficeXpats is presenting a free workshop series for small business owners in November on “How to Use Video in Your Marketing Strategy.” Matt Longmire of Northwest Films will give the presentations as part of the Tuesdays@Noon Business Skills Workshops that are open to the public.

Need a few reasons to make video part of your marketing strategy?

• Search Engine Optimization: YouTube has the second-biggest audience of people searching for answers to queries.

• Engagement and Community: Online video watchers like to engage and respond.

• Conversion: Higher percentage of people who find their answers proceed to the next stage of the buying cycle.

• Analytics: Get good statistics about your videos and measure the video marketing strategy you are generating.

In this series, Longmire will help participants understand “story” and how it fits into a marketing strategy to build SEO for inbound marketing and create relationship with viewers. (Please note, this class is not hands-on DIY video production, but it will help prepare you for any video project, DIY or professional.)

The weekly sessions will include: • Nov. 4: Why video matters to small business (Video storytelling for business)

• Nov. 11: What business videos you should create (Building a video strategy) • Nov. 18: How to create business videos (DIY vs hiring, etc.)

• Nov 25: What you should do with your business videos (Hosting, publishing and promoting) Preregistration is recommended for the workshops, which will be held from noon-1 p.m. at OfficeXpats, 403 Madison Ave. N, #240 on Bainbridge Island.

OfficeXpats serves as an informal business accelerator for the large numbers of cottage industry businesses on Bainbridge Island and in North Kitsap County. It has more than 100 members, most of whom use OfficeXpats as a place to get targeted business skills classes or to connect with other professionals through weekly workshops and monthly recurring events.

Learn more about OfficeXpats and Tuesdays@Noon Business Skills Workshops at www.officexpats.com/how-touse-video-in-your-marketing-strategy/

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County leaders hear recommendation for passenger-ferry service

By Ed Friedrich Kitsap Sun Consultants laid out their cross-sound fast ferry plan to community leaders at an Oct. 29 meeting in Bremerton, then stepped aside so others could deliver the sales pitch.

“This program will have as much impact on our ability to grow as anything we can do in the next five years,” former Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman said.

“It would enhance our already very strong role in the regional economy,” said John Powers, Kitsap

MEEGAN M. REID

The high-speed passenger ferry Rich Passage 1 in 2012.

Economic Development Alliance executive direc-

tor. “We’ve got an opportunity laying in front of us.”

The final business plan and long-range strategy will be accepted by Kitsap Transit’s board of commissioners in November.

The nine members are expected to decide in January whether to pursue it.

The consultant team recommends phasing in routes to downtown Seattle from Bremerton, Kingston and Southworth.

Crossing times would be about 30 minutes. Each route would offer at least three round trips during the morning commute and three in the afternoon, costing a few bucks more

than the car ferry. Kitsap Transit would own the service and contract with King County, which already operates two routes, to run it. It would cost $44 million in mostly federal funds to set up and $8 million a year in voter-approved operating subsidy.

The turnout of 100 business and political leaders at the conference “shows you’re very interested and want to make this work,” said Mike Anderson, who consulted on the plan.

Anderson, the former Washington State Ferries director, said his company,

Rice Fergus Miller selected for Silverdale library design work Kitsap Regional Library has awarded a contract to Rice Fergus Miller Architects of Bremerton to develop a conceptual design and rendering for the new Silverdale Library.

The contract envisions a public process to gather ideas the community has for the library and its site adjacent to Clear Creek at the corner of Bucklin Hill Road and Blaine Avenue, and then the development of a conceptual rendering that can be used in the fundraising process. KRL hopes to have the rendering by the end of this year when it will begin to approach potential major donors to the library project.

“The rendering will not be

a specific or final design,” said Jeff Brody, KRL director of community relations.

“Before creating the actual library design, we would want to engage the community in a conversation about the library and values the building should express. But we do need something that can help potential donors visualize the possibilities at the site.”

The proposed 10,000square-foot library will be funded through a capital campaign spearheaded by the KRL Foundation. It intends to pay for the property and construction of the building using grants and donated funds. KRL will not start construction on the project until all need-

ed funds have been donated or pledged.

Rice Fergus Miller has worked previously with KRL on the design of the proposed new Kingston Library and on site analysis and selection for the Silverdale Library.

A total of 11 architectural firms responded to a Request for Qualifications issued by KRL in September after the Silverdale site was selected.

Four firms with extensive library design experience around Washington state were selected as finalists and participated in a presentation/interview process on Oct. 6.

“We absolutely love this opportunity to design a

People in business Keyport center names new technical director Alan Kent has been named as the new Technical Director of Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport (NUWC Keyport). Along with that position comes the rank of Senior Executive Service (SES). Kent is the first SES appointed among the nine Naval Sea Systems Command Warfare Centers to have come through the ranks of the command that he will now lead.

The Technical Director is the highest ranking civilian of the command and is responsible for leading 1,946 civilian and military scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel who specialize in undersea test and evaluation, in-service engineering, maintenance and repair,

fleet support and industrial-based support for undersea warfare systems.

The SES role was introduced in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, to be a corps of executives selected for their leadership qualifications, and to serve in key positions just below top Presidential appointees.

Kent replaces James VanAntwerp who retired from that position in January of this year. Kent had been the acting Technical Director until a selection was made.

NUWC Keyport is commemorating 100 years of providing technical capabilities that support America’s operations in the undersea domain. NUWC Keyport is headquartered in Washington state, and has facilities and operations in California, Guam, Hawaii, British Columbia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, and personnel working in several other states and countries.

public building where all people can come together and enjoy state-of-the-art access to a universe of resources,” said Steve Rice, principal with Rice Fergus Miller and the lead architect on the project. “The Central Kitsap community has shown a real attachment to new facilities that fill a void. What’s great

is KRL has made it clear we’ll be working with community members right out of the gate. Folks who care about their library will have a hand in planning it with us. It’s going to be wonderful.”

The contract with RFM is only for the conceptual design, but allows Kitsap Regional Library to

KPFF Consulting Engineers, conducts feasibility studies around the country and often recommends against ferry service.

“We’re not saying that here at all,” he said. “It’s something you should really go for.”

Several have tried to provide passenger-only ferry service to Kitsap. All have failed, primarily because they weren’t adequately funded, the consultants said. The state’s boats between Bremerton and Seattle were highly popular before being slowed see ferry | 36

continue working with the firm as the process moves beyond that toward the actual design of the building.

In the weeks since the KRL board of trustees chose the Clear Creek site, the library has been working with the property owners to develop a formal agreement. KRL hopes to have a purchase agreement for approval at either the Oct. 28 or the Nov. 25 board meeting.

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Northridge 4X4 revs up for growth

By Tad Sooter Kitsap Sun SILVERDALE — The clatter of heavy equipment on Newberry Hill signals yet another stage in Northridge4x4’s relentless climb to the top.

The off-road vehicle shop is in the midst of an expansion that will roughly double its footprint in Silverdale and accommodate its startling growth.

“This is our hub, our world headquarters as you’d call it,” founder David Johnson said with a laugh. He wasn’t really joking.

Johnson started Northridge4x4 in his dad’s Seabeck garage 12 years ago. Today, the company is going global.

In the past four years, Northridge increased its staff to 30 from five. Idahobased Premier Performance bought out Johnson’s partners in 2012 and the influx of capital allowed Northridge to open shops in Colorado and Kentucky.

Exploding Internet sales prompted Johnson to expand his “world headquarters” on Newberry Hill.

“We’re bursting at the seams,” Johnson said.

Two warehouses are under construction adjacent to the existing shop and stockroom. Northridge will use one 11,000-square-foot building to house its expansive parts inventory and free more space for its service department. John-

LARRY STEAGALL

Northridge 4X4 CEO David Johnson with his custom-built 2013 Jeep Wrangler JK outside of the company in Silverdale. son hopes to lease the second building after it opens in January, but he expects Northridge to eventually fill it, too.

The 33-year-old attributes the turbocharged success of his business to a number of factors. First, there’s the popularity of the modern Jeep Wrangler, which is more refined and driveable than its barebones predecessors.

“It used to be a toy for weekends,” Johnson said. “Now, we drive them everywhere.”

Jeeps are Northridge’s specialty, though it works with most other 4x4 brands. The company sells and installs aftermarket bumpers, tires, engines, suspensions, body armor and myriad other parts. Some customers come for new headlights and a

roof rack. Some drop $100,000 on a complete overhaul.

No matter how wild the alterations, Johnson said, every Jeep that leaves the yard is as capable on the street as in the mud.

“We want them to look cool, but we also want them to drive fantastic,” he said.

Northridge stocks nearly all the parts it carries at its seven warehouses scattered across the continent. Solid customer service and aggressive online marketing bolster sales, Johnson said.

He gives the most credit to his employees, who’ve helped shoulder the burden of building the business. When Northridge started, it was just Johnson and his dad, Brian, grinding through 16-hour days to get the company off the ground. Now Johnson can put that energy into expansion.

“It’s fun,” he said. “But it’s also very stressful, very demanding.”

The fun is evident in the parking lot, where Jeeps owned by employees fill many of the spaces. Every year, Johnson and some of his staff at Northridge take their custom rides to a rugged location and test the gear. Recently, it’s been Moab, Utah, where they rumble over rocks and launch off sand dunes.

“Our new slogan is: ‘Why crawl when you can fly?’” Johnson said.

He was talking about Jeeps, but he could have been talking about his business. Northridge4x4 is already airborne.

f er ry | f rom 3 4

because wakes damaged Rich Passage beaches. Kitsap Transit oversaw development of a new-style boat, the Rich Passage 1, that doesn’t harm the shoreline.

Rob Gelder, Kitsap County commissioner and Kitsap Transit board chairman, told the crowd that fast ferries are a good match for the county’s growing population.

“Think what a 35-minute commute would mean to each one of these communities,” he said. “It suddenly opens up to a whole other realm of thinking. What do we want to be?”

Kitsap plays a major role in the Puget Sound region economy that would only be expanded by better access, Powers said.

“What we have that they don’t have is a balanced quality of life,” he said. “What we need is access to the broader region. When we can enhance our access, take advantage of our proximity, we gain a competitive edge. That’s why I see fast foot ferries making a difference.”

Bozeman said the fast ferries were running when he was first elected mayor and were helping to spur investment in Bremerton. Home sales and prices increased. Now two things the area relies heavily on — state ferries and the Navy — face uncertain futures.

“We are totally at the mercy of the United States Navy here,” he said, “but we’re only 35 minutes from one of the greatest economies in the world.”

The final fast ferry report will be published in November.

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regional economy | john powers

Big boots, big ideas and … big recognition for Kitsap

L

ast month, The International Economic Development Council, the world’s preeminent economic development organization, convened its Annual Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. This conference drew over a thousand economic development professionals from around the globe, and a dozen from Washington state, including three from Kitsap.

Steve Politakis, CEO of Kitsap Bank and board chair of our Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA), Kathy Cocus, business development director for KEDA, and I traveled to the land of big boots and big ideas. We experienced three days packed with education, networking, prospecting, and award recognition of the world’s best economic development programs, practices, partnerships and mar-

keting materials.

Every year the IEDC recognizes the most effective and successful programs and promotional materials aimed at creating stronger, more vibrant local and regional economies. At this year’s conference, Kitsap’s Economic Development Alliance received recognition in two separate categories. KEDA’s innovative KitsapConnected multimedia marketing campaign was awarded bronze in the video/multimedia category. The Kitsap Aerospace & Defense Alliance (KADA) received silver in the special purpose website category.

KitsapConnected (www.kitsapconnected.org) is a multimedia campaign designed to tell and sell the story of the character, composition and competitiveness of Kitsap’s economy and its role in the Greater Seattle regional economy.

At the center of the campaign is “Kitsap

business commentary | don brunell

Connecting the dots to lower gas prices

I

t’s often difficult to “connect the dots,” to show people how the global marketplace affects their daily lives. But plunging gasoline prices are giving Americans a firsthand lesson in the law of supply and demand.

The law of supply and demand holds that when a commodity is in short supply, the price of that commodity goes up. When the supply of that commodity increases, producers compete for market share by lowering their prices.

As a result, consumers benefit.

That’s what happening with gas prices.

The price of gasoline has been dropping steadily over the summer, down to less than $3 a gallon in the Seattle area for the first time since 2010. At this writing, regular is selling for $2.74 a gallon in Tacoma, $2.89 in Spokane. Gasoline prices are dropping because the global price of crude oil is dropping. A barrel of crude is selling for around $80, down 20 percent since June.

That’s great news for us, because each 1-cent decline in the retail price of gasoline for a year amounts to $1.2 billion in savings for U.S. consumers, according to Chris Lafakis, Moody’s Analytics senior economist.

– Work & Life – Connected,” an engaging 10- minute video that depicts the competitive attributes of doing business in Kitsap and our unique balanced lifestyle. Supporting this core video is a series of a dozen 90-second vignettes featuring individual Kitsap businesses and economic sectors that provide a glimpse into personal experiences and connections. This portfolio of videos was produced by Hal Calbom of the Sustainable Media Group, and was also recognized for its innovation by the Washington State Department of Commerce last year.

KitsapConnected was made possible through the leadership and generous underwriting support of: Puget Sound Energy, Port Madison Enterprises, The Doctors Clinic, Harrison Medical Center, West Sound Workforce, Kitsap Credit Union, Olympic College and Western Washington University, Applied Technical Systems, Pacific NW Title, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, City of Port Orchard, and Kitsap Bank.

KADA’s special purpose website (www. kitsapaerospace.com), designed by KADA steering committee member Steve Garfein of RPM Systems, is laser-focused on promoting business opportunities in Kitsap’s defense sector and emerging aero-

space industry. It too contains a series of short testimonial videos from a variety of industry and community leaders, including Congressman Derek Kilmer, Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent, Bainbridge Island Councilman Steve Bonkowski and KADA co-chair Tim Thomson. KADA is public/ private consortium led by Kitsap County, the City and Port of Bremerton, several local businesses, and our 33-year-old Kitsap Economic Development Alliance.

This national and international recognition by the IEDC provides our alliances with an even larger platform from which to tell and sell our story of economic opportunity in Kitsap County. In addition to being presented the awards in front of hundreds of economic development professionals, peer organizations, business executives and site selectors, news of our IEDC awards was picked up by over 250 local, regional and national publications and news sources. A special thanks to the Rockfish Group for disseminating our story on the news wires.

Now, that’s what I call — unabashedly telling and selling “Kitsap’s Story”!

On Kitsap!

Lower energy prices are a stimulus for the entire economy. Manufacturers spend less to produce goods and distributors spend less to get them to market. And because consumers have more money in their pockets because they’re paying less for gas, they tend to spend that money on consumer goods, further stimulating the economy.

A more vibrant economy makes it possible for businesses to create more jobs.

So, what’s driving down the cost of crude oil? We are.

Since 2004, U.S. oil production has increased 56 percent, the equivalent of pumping an extra 3.1 million barrels a day. Most of that is coming from fracking, a new technology that makes it possible to extract oil that wasn’t accessible before. At the same time, demand in Europe has declined as those countries continue to struggle with their sluggish economies — economies hobbled by excessive regulatory

While global economics and geopolitics seem rife with hidden agendas, one thing is clear: The more oil America produces, the stronger our economy will be and the more power we will have to influence the world events that directly affect our nation’s security and our daily lives.

see brunell | 38

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

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CAR REVIEW | 2015 NISSAN ALTIMA

A good thing keeps getting better

By Lary Coppola For KPBJ

A

fter four highly successful generations, the venerable Nissan Altima entered its fifth generation as a totally new vehicle in 2013 for the 2014 model year. Boasting a combination of innovative mechanical improvements, painstakingly tuned ride and handling, coupled with advanced cockpit connectivity and sleek styling, the Altima feels and drives like it’s in a class above its crowded midsize segment.

In its third model year of this generation, changes for 2015 include the 3.5-liter V6 SV and SL trims now featuring the Technology package, which adds NissanConnectSM with Navigation and Mobile Apps, Blind Spot Warning (BSW), Moving Object Detection (MOD) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW) as standard

equipment. It remains optional on the 2.5 SV and the 2.5 SL. Also, the remote ignition system can detect the ambient temperature and activate climate/defrost functions accordingly, and all SV models add a standard eightway power driver seat. Most other changes are cosmetic.

The Nissan Altima competes strongly in the most crowded market segment, which includes the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Mazda 6, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Volkswagen Passat, Chevy Malibu and Ford Fusion.

Model Lineup: The 2015 Altima is offered in seven models — starting with the Altima 2.5, 2.5 S, 2.5 SV, and 2.5 SL (our test vehicle). All feature a 182-horsepower, 2.5-liter DOHC inline 4-cylinder engine. The 3.5 S, 3.5 SV and 3.5 SL all boast the 270-horse, 3.5-liter V6. All Altimas come with a continuously

BRU N EL L | F ROM 37

costs, high unemployment and expensive social programs.

“Weak global demand and the highest U.S. oil output in almost 30 years is keeping downward pressure on global oil prices, not to mention hurricanes have not been a problem this year in the Gulf of Mexico,” said AAA spokeswoman Jana Tidwell. “Barring any unforeseen circumstances, AAA expects gas prices could drop another 10 to 20 cents between now and end of the year.”

Usually, when crude oil prices drop, Saudi Arabia cuts back production to shore up prices, but not this time.

variable transmission (CVT).

Walkaround: With its sporty, aggressive, muscular-looking stance, the 2015 Nissan Altima features sleek, aggressive styling that gives the appearance of being a class above its competitors.

A chrome-trimmed grille and smooth-looking headlight cluster meet the short hood, and all flow easily to the steeply raked windshield. A single character line runs cleanly along the side towards the rear. Chrome trim around the windows and bright 10-spoke wheels add to Altima’s near-luxury allure.

At the rear, a bold chrome bar rides above the ending of the side character lines at the bottom of the trunk. The trunk has a convenient low lift-over height and the design signs off with dual chrome tailpipes.

Interior: The Altima lineup offers a varied range of interior trim

Why? One theory is that Saudi Arabia is maintaining production to hurt three of its adversaries: Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Those nations depend on oil revenues to sustain their economies and they need high oil prices to stay solvent. A sustained drop in crude oil prices could send their economies into freefall.

Another theory is that the Saudis are letting crude oil prices drop to harm America’s burgeoning fracking industry, which, because of the highpriced technology involved, needs prices of $70 to $80 a barrel to remain viable. Some analysts think the Saudis see America’s booming oil in-

levels, depending on the model.

The white-on-black instrumentation is extremely legible, and surrounded by nice soft-touch dashboard padding. The Advanced Drive-Assist™ Display comes standard and is customizable, easy-to-use and integrates key information right in front of the driver. Located in the center of the instrument display between the tachometer and speedometer, it features a 4-inch color display, more than 400 percent larger than the previous generation, and utilizes more natural 3D-effect graphics. On vehicles equipped with NissanConnectSM with Navigation, the display shows navigation destination turn-by-turn information.

Nissan’s Zero-Gravity seats are designed to provide consistent support from pelvis to chest, which we found extremely comfortable for both freeway driving as well as on winding two lane blacktops.

The new Altima also boasts great electronic connectivity.

All models come with Bluetooth hands-free phone connections and streaming audio. Available audio systems include an AM/ FM/CD design with RDS, MP3, aux-in and six speakers, along with an available kickass ninespeaker Bose Premium Audio System designed in conjunction with Bose engineers during vehicle development.

SiriusXM Satellite Radio is standard on Altima 2.5 SV, 2.5 SL, 3.5 SL and optional on 2.5 S. With the available HandsFree Text Messaging Assistant (via NissanConnect) drivers can manage incoming text messages via voice control without taking their hands from the wheel.

Drivers are alerted to incoming texts and can hear the text read out loud, and respond via voice recognition, or via the steering wheel switches using pre-set return messages.

Under The Hood: The Alti-

dustry as a direct threat. U.S. producers say they’re okay for now, but are closely monitoring the situation.

So, while global economics and geopolitics seem rife with drama and hidden agendas, one thing is clear: The more oil America produces, the stronger our economy will be and the more power we will have to influence the world events that directly affect our nation’s security and our daily lives.

• Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer and columnist. He recently retired as president of the Association of Washington Business, and now lives in Vancouver. He can be contacted at theBrunells@msn.com.

ma features the aforementioned 2.5-liter four-banger that puts a surprisingly peppy 182 horses to the highway — or the more forceful 270-hp version of Nissan’s revered 3.5-liter V6 — which has replaced the small-block Chevy for being universally recognized as one of the best, strongest and most versatile powerplants ever built.

Both powerplants are married to a vastly improved Nissan CVT, and the 2.5 delivers a segment-leading EPA highway rating of 38 mpg.

Behind The Wheel: We found the 182-horse 2.5 worked hard to deliver above-average performance for this segment. Nissan says it does the 0-60 drill in 7.14 seconds. We found 8 seconds to be more realistic — and for 38 mpg, you can handle 8 seconds.

Meanwhile, the 3.5 V6 is a brilliant performer, doing the same drill in a very honest 6.2 seconds.

The Altima’s highway manners are superb. The multi-link suspension provides excellent handling on all terrains, and the 4-wheel ABS disc brakes are equipped with electronic brake distribution, delivering minute degrees of braking control in slippery conditions. Understeer control, vehicle dynamic control (VDC) and traction control — each of which are fully automatic and self-activating — combine to deliver the full meal deal of modern safety and security.

Whines: On the 2.5, intelligent circuitry and the CVT regulate engine speed automatically, but we missed paddle shifters — available only on the 3.5 models.

Bottom Line: Terrific fuel efficiency, great handling, unusual quietness, innovative connectivity and extraordinary creature comforts make the Altima a stylish, affordable and tempting choice — regardless of the trim level you choose. The 2015 Altima interior feels like anything but a midsize car.

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NOVEMBER 2014 | 39

CAR REVIEW | 2015 DODGE DART

Old name adds Italian spice to Dodge lineup

By Lary Coppola For KPBJ

I

f you’re old enough to remember the Dodge lineup from 1960 to 1976, you’ll recall a sporty 340 cu. in. muscle car, as well as that quintessential Pacific Northwest icon — the fourdoor Dodge Dart with the seat belt hanging out the door and Uff Da bumper sticker traversing the environs of our beloved Ballard. Yaa, sure, ya betcha…

The Dart nameplate was retired in 1977 but resurrected in 2013 to headline Dodge’s line of compact sedans. Debuting for model year 2014, it’s déjà vu as the Dart occupies the very same spot in Dodge’s lineup as the original — the difference being this Dart is Dodge’s first car engineered by corporate parent Fiat.

This Dart is a front-wheeldrive compact sedan taking on substantially stronger competition than the ’70s version — Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, VW Jetta, Chevy Cruze, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, Nissan Sentra, Mazda 3 and Subaru Impreza.

How does it stack up? The structure is solid, the engineering excellent, and the equipment and trim choices outstanding.

Its fundamental foundation was adapted from the Alfa Romeo Giulietta — Fiat’s smart Italian hatchback.

The Dart is Detroit Iron. While some of the engines feature Fiat’s innovative Multi-Air induction technology, all three powerplants are built at Chrysler’s Dundee, Michigan plant, with final vehicle assembly in Belvidere, Illinois.

New for 2015 is a touchscreen adding Android compatibility for Bluetooth phones and streaming music, as well as USB connectivity to your devices. The CD player is no longer standard on all models, but a stand-alone option available on certain trims. Also, the 2.4-liter engine is now available with Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) specifications.

Model Lineup: The Dodge Dart SE comes standard with cloth upholstery, air conditioning, four-speaker AM/FM radio, power windows and a 12-volt outlet.

The SE is powered by a 2.0-liter I-4 engine, mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

The Dart SXT adds the 2.4-liter Tigershark I-4 engine with MultiAir2 technology. It’s mated to a standard six-speed manual transmission or the available sixspeed Powertech automatic. It offers LED tail lamps, automatic headlamps, Uconnect 200 AM/ FM/CD/MP3 radio with audio input jack, Bluetooth with voice command and rearview mirror microphone, steering wheel with audio controls, cruise, trunk pass-through, six speakers, security alarm, and illuminated vanity mirrors.

The Dart Aero includes the 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine, mated to the manual, or available six-speed automatic transmission. The Aero adds unique 16-inch aluminum wheels, bright chrome grille, 8.4-inch Uconnect touchscreen media center with illuminated floating island bezel, 7-inch full-color, reconfigurable digital gauge cluster display, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, leather-wrapped shift knob, automatic headlamps, and tire inflator kit.

The Dart Limited (our test vehicle) includes the features on the SXT, plus premium Nappa leather seating with perforated inserts, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, 10-way power driver seat, including fourway power lumbar adjust, power front windows with one-touch up/down, full-color reconfigurable digital gauge cluster with tach and compass, push-button start, Uconnect featuring an 8.4-inch touchscreen, Garmin navigation, SiriusXM Radio, SiriusXM TravelLink, rear backup camera, dual-zone automatic temperature control, remote start, touring suspension, rear stabilizer bar, ambient interior LED lighting, garage door opener, power sunroof, projector fog lamps, bright crosshair grille with body-color surround, chrome headlamp bezels, bright door handles and 17-inch Satin Silver aluminum wheels.

The Dart GT builds on the SXT and Limited by adding frequency-sensing sport suspension and performance steering, per-

Fiat’s positive influence on Chrysler is obvious. The Dart is attractive, roomy, comfortable, well-appointed and optioned. formance gear ratios, unique engine calibration, 18-inch aluminum wheels, integrated dual exhaust with bright tips, black fascia with Hyper Black grille, darktinted automatic headlamps,and projector fog lamps.

Safety features on all Dodge Darts include 10 airbags, ABS with brake lock differential, stability and traction control.

Walkaround: The Italian styling is al dente, although not exactly stunning. It’s aggressive looking, in a semi-bland sort of way, with its crosshair grille, and flared front and rear wheel wells. Active grille shutters reduce aerodynamic drag by closing when cooling air isn’t needed. The underbody is fully enclosed, with a rear diffuser managing underbody airflow and enhancing stability.

The tail lamp treatment is adapted from the Dodge Challenger, and spreads 152 LEDs across the entire rear end.

Interior: Roominess is abundant and well-appointed. Nothing looks cheap, and soft-touch surfaces abound. We found the Nappa leather seats both longhaul comfortable and sportyfeeling.

Thoughtful storage touches include a glovebox big enough for a laptop computer, and a bin under the right front

passenger seat.

Chrysler’s answer to Ford’s Sync infotainment system — Uconnect — offers audio, upgrade audio, satellite radio, and connections for MP3, iPod, Pandora, etc.

Under the Hood: There are basically three engine choices: a 1.4-liter, turbocharged Multiair 4-cylinder, putting out 160 horses; the 2.0-Liter DOHC Tigershark 4-banger which also puts 160 ponies to the pavement; and the 184-horse, 2.4-Liter Multiair 2 Tigershark, which powered our test vehicle.

Behind The Wheel: We only drove the Limited with the 2.4 and 6-speed automatic. Our experience included a couple hours of hard freeway driving on I-75 beginning in Tampa, Florida, as well as some tooling around town in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral. Since Florida is flat, there wasn’t any opportunity to gauge

the Dart’s performance on winding, hilly terrain. However, on I-75, where 70 mph is a mere suggestion, the Dart had no problem keeping up with traffic — which often exceeds 90 mph with cruising speeds above 80 routine.

Handling was excellent with one of the best electric power steering systems in this class — accurate and nicely weighted.

Ride quality is comfortable, yet firm enough to suggest a European feel, while gentle enough to take the hard edge off bumps and bad pavement. A little suspension road noise was evident depending on pavement surfaces, but no wind noise.

Whines: The seat positioning is strange. I had to bend my head at an uncomfortable angle to get in, and lowering the seat all the way made no difference.

Bottom Line: Fiat’s positive influence on Chrysler is obvious.

The Dart is attractive, roomy, comfortable, well-appointed and optioned. It offers an exceptionally solid feel, with adequate performance and above-average road manners. Attractive pricing makes the Dart worth a showroom visit.

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40 |NOVEMBER 2014

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