A special publication of the Yakima Herald-Republic
➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ PAGE 1F
Risk Takers
stories of Yakima Valley entrepreneurs About this section “Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.” ELVIS PRESLEY Every day, hundreds upon hundreds of ambitious Central Washington residents risk their money, labor and good names as they go about running their own businesses. They are entrepreneurs. They range from Jere Irwin and the Shields family, whose large and complex manufacturing plants employ hundreds, to Benedito Aguilar and her daughters, who run a four-person cheesemaking company. Their backgrounds and stories are as varied as their businesses. Today and next Sunday, the Yakima Herald-Republic will profile some of the local men and women who own farms, restaurants, construction companies and dozens of other kinds of businesses. Some are modest, others multimillion dollar operations. Each has had its share of challenges and successes. For every business profiled here, there are dozens of other entrepreneurs equally worthy of attention. All, however, share the dream and risk of owning their own business.
•••
Submit your own Risk Taker Despite the many businesses you’ll read about in these pages and online, there are scores of other entrepreneurs whose stories are just as interesting. That why we’re asking for your help. Visit www. yakimavalleyrisktakers. com/submitbusiness for information on how you can include your business information for online publication. We’ll start publishing those entries in mid-April.
•••
Next week Part II of Risk Takers will be published in the Yakima HeraldRepublic and www. yakimavalleyrisktakers. com on April 10.
•••
Purchase photos Photos that appear in Risk Takers can be purchased at yakima. mycapture.com.
Photos by TJ MULLINAX/Yakima Herald-Republic
Above: Michael Moritz teaches a “gentle yoga” class at the Stillpoint Resources studio in Yakima in February. Moritz and his wife, Sharon Grandi, have provided classes in yoga, T’ai Chi, somatic education, meditation and massage therapy at their studio since 1992. Below: Linda Iasella rests between yoga positions.
Way of life becomes way to make a living By ERIN SNELGROVE
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Michael Moritz farmed with his father near Zillah. Sharon Grandi worked as a massage therapist in Kansas City, Mo. But after meeting in 1983 at a t’ai chi summer camp in the Colorado Rockies, the two became partners in life and in business. The Toppenish couple, married for 25 years, opened Stillpoint Resources in the early 1990s. Their business focuses on the healing and meditative properties of yoga, t’ai chi and massage therapy — practices that identify not only what they do but who they are. “It’s a part of how we attempt to live,” said Moritz, 60. “We don’t view the work as something separate.” Six years before opening Stillpoint Resources, the couple’s main concern was finding large and affordable studio space. They taught classes at gymnasiums and churches throughout the Valley before finding a more permanent location within the former Fifth Avenue Village on Tieton Avenue. They worked there for 14 years before moving to their existing location on River Road more than three years ago. “You just dive in and do it and somehow it works out,” said 60-year-old Grandi, who describes their business formation as organic. “One of the things that sustains us is we have very loyal clients and students. We have a core group of people, who’ve been with us for 15 to 20 years, who value what we do.” These clients are predominantly women age 40 and older from Yakima and the Upper Valley.
Comprised of health-care professionals, educators and business owners, the clients take classes in a studio with hardwood floors, large windows and a variety of brightly colored blankets and foam mats. There, they’re taught lessons on breathing, selfintrospection, balance and movement, Grandi said. “This is a lifestyle, not just a job,” she said. “People will either accept it or not. The type of work we do and teach can support your health system.” To stay competitive, Moritz has diversified his offerings over the years, hooking people’s interest with catchy class names. He relies on word-of-mouth for advertising, and he teaches most of the classes while his wife specializes in massage therapy. Prices range from $12 to $15 for a class to $60 for an hourlong massage. Financing has and continues to be their biggest challenge, the couple said. During their start-up years, they took painting and cleaning jobs to support their careers. And now they’re confronted with paying their own health insurance. But despite the hassles, they said they enjoy the freedom to make their own schedules — a perk that lets them spend time with their adult son and three grandchildren, and travel the country to attend concerts and visit other family members. “It’s a totally nontraditional way to earn a living,” Grandi said. “You don’t put your finances as your main goal.”
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STILLPOINT RESOURCES Owner: Sharon Grandi and Michael Moritz Product or service: Classes and private sessions in yoga, t’ai chi, contemplative meditation, restorative body work and massage therapy Location: 3205 River Road, Yakima Length of ownership: About 20 years Number of employees: Just the owners Average number of hours worked by owners each week: 60-plus
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 2F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
An eye for detail keeps sweet business growing By ROSS COURTNEY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
PROSSER — Pamela Montgomery’s Chukar Cherries has become a household name for Northwest gift givers, shipping up to 2,000 packages a day during the Christmas rush. But the 23-year-old chocolate and fruit confectionery business got there with caution. “When you’re starting a company and you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s very important to not get ahead of yourself,” said Montgomery, CEO and founder of Chukar Cherries. Careful growth, attention to detail and learning to say “no” have helped Montgomery turn her company from a whim in 1988 to a factory of 40 year-round employees. The number swells to near 90 during the Christmas rush.
Montgomery, 59, grew up in the Puget Sound area and worked in marketing in Seattle in the 1980s. Wanting to raise her three daughters in a small town, she purchased an 8,000tree cherry orchard near Prosser in 1984. One late summer day, after harvest, she tasted a few shriveled but sweet leftover cherries. Using window screens, she dried the cherries without preservatives or sugar, contrary to expert advice. That gave her the idea for a business selling dried cherries, figuring choosy consumers of the late 20th century were ready to embrace delicacies that reflect a sense of place. She named the business for upland game birds
that commonly roam Yakima Valley hills. Montgomery borrowed small amounts of money from family members to purchase a dryer for $50,000 and rent a building at the Prosser airport from the Port of Benton. She learned how to dip dried cherries in chocolate and developed recipes for preserves, sauces and toppings. Early on, Chukar Cherries won the state’s Small Business of the Year Award and, in 1992, the business opened a second store at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Montgomery and her husband, JT Montgomery, whom she married in 2005, have steered the company
Pamela Montgomery, the founder of Chukar Cherries, started the business in 1988.
Photos by SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic
Felix Salgado ties tags onto bags of milk chocolate honey pecans at Chukar Cherries in February. The business, which started out specializing in dried cherries, has expanded to include many varieties of specialty foods, including fruit and nut mixes, sauces and pie fillings. through attention to detail. JT, the 69-year-old chief financial officer, checks website traffic and sales against the previous year on a daily basis. He carefully monitors cash flow and the couple scrutinizes every marketing ploy, from Groupons to software pitches. “Small businesses are really all about keeping your eye on the ball,” JT said. The couple hikes and cooks in their spare time, but never really logs off work, JT said. “We don’t even keep track because it’s 24/7 for us,” he said. “Pam works two to three times what I do.” That might be exaggerated, Pamela said. True, the couple spends countless hours outside the office researching and discussing new ideas, but they take breaks, too, she said. They have four adult children between them. And Pamela said she has learned from her mistakes. Among her biggest was trying to dry split cherries shortly after her 1988 opening — again, in spite of advice against it. The splits let in mold spores, costing them about $200,000 in ruined fruit and lost labor. Today, challenges involve keeping up with rising health insurance costs and the state’s minimum wage, the highest in the nation. For the future, she envisions tinkering with new recipes, putting cherry and nut mixes in Ziploc
CHUKAR CHERRIES Owner: Pamela Montgomery Product or service: Naturally dried chocolatecovered cherries and nuts, plus sauces, preserves and energy snacks Location: 320 Wine Country Road, Prosser Length of ownership: 23 years Number of employees: 40 year-round; nearly 90 during Christmas rush Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 45-50 bags and renovating the Prosser store. She also plans to open a new retail outlet, though is still undecided about the location.
Aurea Mondragon packs dried apple slices into bags and weighs them.
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 3F
“
He (a former boss) said, ‘You will never make it without me.’ I took that as a dare. And I have four brothers, so you don’t want to dare me. nadine warren
”
Nadine Warren runs Accent Tours, which organizes excursions throughout the United States and the world. Behind her is a photograph of the Oregon coast. GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
Business plan put her on road to travel firm By PAT MUIR
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Twenty-two years ago, Nadine Warren’s boss told her not to leave her job, told her she’d never be able to sustain a business on her own. Warren was 26 at the time, working as a manager for Empire Tours in Spokane. The doubting boss was Randy Ammerman, an old friend she’d worked with for years, first at P&W Charters in Yakima then at Empire. They’re still friends, actually, and they can laugh about the whole thing now, especially because that business Warren started, Accent Tours, has indeed survived. “I told him I was going to come back
to Yakima and start my own business,” she said, sitting in an office full of travel brochures. “He said, ‘You will never make it without me.’ I took that as a dare. And I have four brothers, so you don’t want to dare me.” Warren knew she could make it work. She had been in the tour industry for a few years already, had started making connections in the Yakima business community and had a business plan that penciled out well enough to get startup loans. “I think a lot of people just have a great idea, but they don’t do the research,” she said. “I did a lot of work. I went to the Small Business Administration and talked to their counselors. I went to the Chamber of Commerce. I laid out my business plan before I got started.” More than that, though, she knew there
ACCENT TOURS Owner: Nadine Warren Product or service: Guided motorcoach, cruise and fly-away tours Location: 1017 S. 48th Ave., Yakima Length of ownership: 22 years Number of employees: 3 Average number of hours worked by owners each week: 50 would be sacrifices and was willing to make them with the help of her family. It was a matter of patience, she said, of resisting the temptation to put proceeds in her pocket instead of back into her business. “I lived with my parents the first couple of years I owned a business,” Warren said.
“My mother helped me clean the buses.” Nowadays, Warren has a part-time assistant and two tour directors working for her. Accent Tours offers day trips by motorcoach as well as group cruises and flyaway vacations. The destinations range from area casinos and wineries to locales such as Scandinavia and Russia. Warren and her employees book and plan the trips and then accompany the groups to ensure everything goes smoothly. It’s like a travel agency and a tour-guide agency all in one. And it has remained profitable even during this economic downturn, Warren said. Her old boss should have known better than to challenge her. “It really is a sacrifice,” she said. “I eat, breathe and sleep Accent Tours. Fortunately for me, it is an amazing job. I love it.”
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 4F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
Basics keep customers coming back By MARK MOREY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
UNION GAP — At Jean’s Cottage Inn, servers greet customers by name. The regulars sit at the same table each week, scanning the menu while their coffee is poured. But after a minute or two, they typically order their usual — the T-bone or the cheesesteak sandwich. “It’s kind of like ‘Cheers,’ a place where everyone knows their name,” owner Allan Marks said about his patrons, most of whom hail from the Yakima Valley. “Everyone here is like family.” Very little has changed at the mom-and-pop restaurant since it opened 65 years ago. Desserts aren’t offered. The restaurant is closed on weekends and holidays, and the menu consists of steak, hamburgers and all the trimmings. “People don’t like change,” said Marks, 43, who runs the diner with his wife, Kristi. “It’s like home to people. They know they will get a good meal and will see a friendly face.” The restaurant was established in 1946 as Tick Tock, which was famous for its foot-long hot dogs, Allan said. In 1962, the business moved across the street to 3211 Main St. and was renamed Jean’s Cottage Inn. The Marks bought the restaurant in 1997 after Allan had worked as the cook for seven years. His goal was to keep everything the same — including the low prices. “We cut our own meat, that way you know what you are getting,” the Yakima native said. “Nowhere else in town can you order a 12-ounce T-bone steak with french fries, a dinner roll and a salad for $11.25.” Because of the slump
“ We cut our own meat, that way you know what you are getting. Allan Marks
”
in the economy, the Marks added breakfast service nearly two years ago. They also keep the menu small and simple to reduce waste, and they don’t offer desserts — as that slows table turnover. “We added root beer floats three to four years ago,” Allan said. “That’s as far as we’ll go.” In his free time, Allan said he enjoys wood turning — a form of woodworking that involves the use of a lathe — to make pens and wine stops. He watches football and he plays golf in the summer. He and his wife also spend their weekends making Deccio’s Seasoning spices, which are used in the restaurant and shipped to retailers throughout the world. “This restaurant is our life, it really is,” said Allan, whose 20- and 19-year-old sons have worked there. “I enjoy what I do. I enjoy coming to work every day.”
Photos by ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic
Above: Allan Marks prepares a steak for the grill at Jean’s Cottage Inn. Below: Kristi Marks delivers food Feb. 9 to, from left, Roy Willson, David Sharp, Tom Sharp and Pat Sharp — all regulars at the restaurant.
JEAN’S COTTAGE INN Owner: Allan and Kristi Marks Product or service: Diner selling mostly steaks and hamburgers Location: 3211 Main St., Union Gap Length of ownership: 14 years; established in 1946 as Tick Tock; became Jean’s Cottage Inn in 1962 Number of employees: 8 Average number of hours worked by owners each week: 50
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 5F
Carefully designed career path By ERIN SNELGROVE
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Some people thought she was crazy. After all, what single mom in her right mind would quit her job to open an interior design company? But Patty Maggard-Prediletto didn’t care what anyone thought. She had faith in herself. “I’m a really positive thinker,” said Maggard-Prediletto, who works out of a home office. “I never thought about the drawbacks. I only thought about what I could do with it and where I could go.” With that mind-set, MaggardPrediletto, 51, opened Colours By Design in 1996. By that time, she had 11 years of experience in interior design, most recently at Standard Paint & Abbey Carpet in Yakima and Ellensburg. That background had allowed her to cultivate relationships with distributors and community members. But by being her own boss, she said she was no longer limited by what tile, paint and fabric products she could use. “I enjoy the newness to it,” she said about decorating, adding that 90 percent of her business comes through referrals. “I enjoy the people. You get close to your clients.” From the start, MaggardPrediletto said her then-14-year-old daughter was her top priority. That’s why she doesn’t work nights or weekends. And because she takes both residential and commercial clients, she has never had a lack of work. “All my eggs aren’t in one basket,” said Maggard-Prediletto, who’s lived in Yakima most of her life. “If I did only new construction, I’d be starving right now. There has always been that balance.” Most of her clients are middle
Patty MaggardPrediletto, right, meets with new homeowner Maureen Garrison on March 9 to help Garrison pick out colors for new Naches home. MaggardPrediletto is the owner of Colours by Design. Photos by GORDON KING/ Yakima Herald-Republic
class, middle-aged women from throughout the Yakima Valley, she said. And although there are other interior decorators in the area, Maggard-Prediletto said her true competition comes from established businesses like her former employer. That’s why she believes in the importance of building close relationships with her clients. Her job is to help them discover what they want and to deliver what she promises — whether it’s a remodeled kitchen or a new wall color. Sometimes she works with clients on one room. Other times, she’ll draft a three- to five-year plan to update their entire home. “When you’re done with a project, you feel like you’re breaking up with your boyfriend,” she said. “You miss them.” As an extension of her business, Maggard-Prediletto opened Quality Consignment Furniture
Colours By Design
Maggard-Prediletto, right, and Garrison discuss interior color possibilities for Garrison’s new home. in Yakima three years ago. Run by her now adult daughter, the store sells a wide array of gently used and high-end furniture, which she oftentimes receives from her
interior design clients. Through her two businesses, Maggard-Prediletto said she’s able to use both her creative and social skills. She’s also able to carve out
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time to golf, travel and play with her two grandsons. “I truly love what I do,” said Maggard-Prediletto, who remarried six years ago. “Not many people can say that.”
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 6F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
“ I was born here on this ranch. I guess it’s in my blood. Kyle Shinn
”
Farmer Kyle Shinn looks over hop plants about to go into the ground in a field near Granger on March 18. ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic
Diversity a plus on the farm By PHIL FEROLITO
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
SATUS — Kyle Shinn says three things are important to farming: Good weather, good land and good people. His grandfather found all three in the Yakima Valley when he started Shinn & Son in 1951. And today, the 5,000-acre farm situated just south of Granger in the rural Lower Valley area of Satus continues to thrive. Here, Shinn grows hops, corn, grapes, raspberries, alfalfa, wheat and mint. He began working full time on the farm in 1981 after graduating from Granger High School, and has been here ever since. He took over the farm from his father five years ago, and is now grooming one of his
sons, Ky, to eventually take the helm. “I guess we’ve been here a long time and got no reason to go anywhere else,” said Shinn, 48, as he gazed out his office window overlooking hop fields. “I was born here on this ranch. I guess it’s in my blood.” But running a farm isn’t easy. “We’ve been through years when we’ve had down markets — commodities at even price levels — we just have to tighten our belts and watch our spending.” This year, however, commodity prices are up. “Even with our economy being down right now, agriculture is well,” he said. “Prices are looking good.” There is more to farming than just prices. There’s Mother Nature to contend with. Damage from frost, hail and drought sometimes can ruin an entire crop. Below-zero temperatures in December killed half of his grapes this season, he said. Crop insurance will help cover some of
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But in the end, it’s good employees who keep his farm successful. “They put in a lot of hours, (so) we give them a month off a year,” he said. “They’re better employees when you give them some time off.”
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Owner: Kyle Shinn Product or service: Hops, grapes, mint, raspberries, corn, wheat, alfalfa Location: 790 Hop Road, Satus area Length of ownership: 60 years Number of employees: 25 full-time permanent; roughly 150 seasonal Average number of hours worked by owners each week: 60-plus
oldwell Banker Associated Realtors in Yakima was recently purchased by Real Estate Broker Mike Kokenge. A licensed realtor since 1985, he is a former president of the Yakima Association of Realtors and was named Realtor of the Year in 2008. The firm was established in 1961 and quickly became one of the area’s largest real estate agencies. Currently, Coldwell Banker has 22 REALTORS® and a support staff of three. Along with his involvement with the local real estate association, Kokenge is a member of the Yakima Rotary Club and is active in United Way and Habitat for Humanity, and a strong supporter of giving back to the community in which we live.
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the loss, but he’s not expecting any profit. “I don’t feel so bad about it because we’ve got these other crops coming off. If we weren’t diversified and only had grapes, then we’d be in trouble.” Contending with droughts has been equally tough, he said. During the 1994 drought, Shinn remembers having to choose which crops to let go dry, and running pumps to divert water. “They are expensive years to operate because of all the things you have to do,” he said. “They’re very stressful years.” Loss of some crops and high electricity bills are the norm during drought, and there is no such thing as drought insurance. Little by little, Shinn has been installing drip irrigation to help conserve water. For the first time this year, all the hops will be watered through a drip system. “That’s a big improvement and a big investment,” he said.
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 7F
Video business grows, changes with economy ‘I’ve loved video ever since I was little,’ owner says By SCOTT A. MAYES
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Lance Blair believes hard work matters. It’s something that has always been the driving force behind his business, Blue Ribbon Video. “The bottom line is it seems like in all of this, I’ve had a lot of ideas that I’ve tried to make work,” said Blair, 60. “Those ideas — some never panned out, but other things just came along. Divine intervention, I guess. I think if you’re a nice guy, you’re honest and you work hard, things will work out.” Blue Ribbon Video specializes in transferring media of all kinds to DVDs or external hard drives. Blair says a lot of his business is in transferring VHS tapes onto a newer format. He also gets requests to transfer 8 and 16 millimeter film, as well as slides and old photographs. At the heart of the work is preserving memories from years gone by. But, getting the business off the ground was far from simple. Blair relocated his family here in 1981 and initially couldn’t find a job that suited him, or one that would support his family. Now a father of seven, he had three children at the time he made the move to Yakima from Southern California. He ended up working at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation for 13 years as a quality assurance engineer. After the first year, he knew he wanted to do something different. When he would get home from Hanford each day, he would spend several hours working on video projects. He would also spend weekends working on his dream to make the selfemployment dream viable. “It’s hard to be self-employed,” Blair said. “I’ve loved video ever since I was little, so I was trying to figure out what I could do next.”
GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
Lance Blair, owner of Blue Ribbon Video, extracts a video file from a client's data storage card on Feb. 25. It's just one of the services the Yakima business offers. Blair said he spent about $20,000 over the 12 years on his original idea, creating a personalized birthday video for kids that, in his words, didn’t exactly pan out. But it did leave him with video equipment that he used to produce some wedding footage and some senior videos at Eisenhower and East Valley high schools. From there, he started doing film transfers, which would turn out to be the foundation of his future business. The business has seen peaks and valleys. It started out of Blair’s home in 1991. Once it outgrew the home, Blair bought a 1,200-square-foot home on Nob Hill Boulevard to house his business. In 1995, with the business booming, he bought the current facility, a 150,000 square-foot building near the Yakima Air Terminal. The business continued to grow for another five years or so, with Nikken, a multi-level marketing company, supplying 95 percent of the business. Most of the work for Nikken included taping and producing presentations that consultants could then use to market their products. During those times, Blair had 15
She never planned to be a Risk-Taker YCCS was originally founded in 1948. Sheila Burns, a single woman, purchased the collection agency in 1976. At a time when female owned businesses were not very common, Sheila had a vision. 35 years later, with Sheila’s hard work and dedication, YCCS has grown to be one of the largest and most successful collection agencies in Central Washington. Sheila’s son, Richard Christensen, grew up watching his mother’s hard work and dedication to her clients. His desire to become involved in the collection industry and work side-by-side with his mother came to fruition almost a decade ago.
employees and gross sales of about $15,000 a day. Today, Nikken is about 5 percent of the business and there is just one employee, with gross daily income of about $1,000, Blair said. Continuing to provide for his family — who now range in age from 18 to 33 — has meant a lot of adjustment for Blair as the revenue has declined. A 1976 graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in construction technology, Blair put that education to work. He has divided up into rental units what was once a warehouse so that now his business takes up only a portion of the facility. There are 12 other business at that location and two businesses in the house on Nob Hill. “After about four or five years here, the (Nikken) business started to go down and that’s when I really started to work on attracting local business,” Blair said. “So, then I became a landlord. I started using my construction experience to build office space.” Blair said that half of his income now
comes from renters, while the other half comes from his work in video production. Throughout all the years and all the hours he’s put in, Blair says his wife, Karen, has always been supportive. “She would look at why it wouldn’t work and I would see how it could and try to make it work,” he said. “We’re really a good team. She makes me see reality.”
BLUE RIBBON VIDEO Owner: Lance Blair Product or service: Video production and duplication Location: 2807 W. Washington Ave., Yakima Length of ownership: 15 years Number of employees: 1 Average number of hours worked by owners each week: 60
You’re invited to an OPEN HOUSE to meet our new doctors!
At YOUR place! If you would like to have one of our new physicians speak to your club, school, or business they would love to come and meet you. We are proud of all our providers and excited to welcome these new physicians serving Sunnyside, Grandview and the Valley. So, let us know, and we'll bring the "open house" to you!
Mother and son…working together to put collection dollars back into our local community; Sheila, Rich and their employees are all local…so our money stays in the Yakima Valley, too. If you are tired of collecting bad debt…give us a call today.
248-1610 Tired of Collecting Bad Debt? Consider us your collection department. We’re... In town...locally owned so your dollars stay here. In house...our staff is not outsourced to a foreign country.
We Believe Building a Stronger Community Rests With Support And Promotion Of Local Businesses.
Fair but Firm
248-1610 • 1-800-841-5873 2021 S. 3rd Ave., Yakima www.yccsusa.com
Ana Garcia, M.D. & Stacey Hedlund, D.O Pediatricians Amr Khalil, M.D. & Sophie Zhao, M.D. O.B./GYN & Women’s Health Patrick Moran, D.O. & Derek Weaver, D.O. Family Medicine & O.B. New patients referrals call 837-1601 (Spanish,) or 837-1624 (English.) Or contact the clinic direct.
Most of our providers are accepting new patients! Birch Street Medical Center
Specialty Center Surgical Group
882-3500
837-7722
222 E. 2nd St. • Grandview
500 S. 11th Street • Sunnyside
Grandview Medical Center
Sunnyside ENT, Allergy & Audiology
208 N. Euclid Rd. • Grandview
2925 Allen Rd. • Sunnyside
882-1855
837-1570
Lincoln Avenue Family Medicine 803 E. Lincoln Ave. • Sunnyside
Sunnyside Pediatrics
812 Miller Ste. C • Sunnyside
837-7551
837-6911
Valley Internal Medicine 1000 E. Edison • Sunnyside
837-4949
We Treat You Like Family!
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 8F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
A broker customers can count on “
By ROSS COURTNEY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
SUNNYSIDE — Risa Campos didn’t grow up speaking Spanish, but learned the language in her 20s after realizing how much it would help with customer service. “It wasn’t forced. It didn’t feel like I had to. I did it because I wanted to better understand where the client was coming from,” she said. The 39-year-old real estate broker said her desire to relate to customers has steered her career, and it permeates her work as the owner of Coastal Pacific Real Estate Corp. “Clients are not silly people,” she said. “They are smart people, and clients know when they are being helped well and when they are not being helped well.” Campos said that idea has served her during her entire working life through fast-food restaurants, banks, insurance and mortgage representation, and now real estate. She opened the company in 2004 as an addition to businesses already owned by her husband, Luis Campos — Coastal Pacific Mortgage Corp. and Coastal Pacific Financial Services. Risa Campos is licensed as a home insurance salesperson, real estate broker and mortgage loan officer. Together, she and Luis advertise their three independent businesses as
Clients are not silly people. They are smart people, and clients know when they are being helped well and when they are not being helped well. Risa campos
”
one-stop shopping for those looking to buy a home. She estimates her real estate firm generates from 20 percent to a third of her family’s income, which has allowed them to set aside money for their two children’s college educations, purchase season tickets to the Seattle Opera House and take in a few University of Washington football games. Other activities include ski trips and gatherings with extended family members. Campos grew up in Yakima, graduating from Eisenhower High School and earning an associate’s degree at Yakima Valley Community College. She and her family lived in Sunnyside for many years before moving to Yakima about seven years ago.
SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic
Coastal Pacific Real Estate Corp. owner Risa Campos is seen through the window of her Sunnyside office. Likely setting Campos apart from other real estate agents is her 40-hour, Monday to Friday work week, something she grew accustomed to during her banking days. Many of her customers followed her to real estate and never expected her to change. For her, there are no
weekend house showings or after-hour key deliveries, tasks so common to her trade. When other agents ask her to perform errands on weekends, she politely refuses. But it still raises their eyebrows from time to time, she said. “I’ve never believed in that schedule,” she said.
Coastal Pacific Real Estate Corp. Owner: Risa Campos Product or service: Real estate brokerage Location: 2590 Yakima Valley Highway, Suite 1,
Sunnyside Length of ownership: Seven years Number of employees: Just herself Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 40
You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go. T. S. Elliott
Yakima…The community we call home. Heritage Moultray Real Estate Services, locally owned and operated, we are dedicated to helping our customers make informed decisions about our local real estate market.
Angie Beaudry, owner of Planet Sun & Salon Latour pictured with daughter, Raevyn
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5625 Summitview • 248-9400
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 9F
Grade A business Los Juanes:
Delivering a cut above By MIKE FAULK
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
UNION GAP — They met at work. One was a meat cutter and the other was a janitor. Now the two friends with the same first name own the meat distributorship where they first met and now are taking it to new levels. Los Juanes, formerly Seatac Meats, has seen business double since 2004 when Juan Carlos Gutierrez, 33, and Juan Antonio Salazar, 53, bought the enterprise. But it took a lot of hard work, and still requires erratic hours and some restless nights to keep it going, the two Juans said. “We say we don’t work weekends, but sometimes we have to,” said Salazar, who along with the other Juan will make unscheduled deliveries if their employees aren’t around. The two started out doing small tasks around the business but soon split their time between making business calls and taking care of daily manual labor around the shop, such as loading trucks and cleaning the warehouse. Gutierrez, whose father and uncles ran their own stores in Mexico, and Salazar, who had more than a decade of working in meat distribution, built off those experiences as the owner gave them more responsibilities. When the owner wanted to sell the business, Gutierrez and Salazar immediately stepped in to make it their own. “We saw there wasn’t another business like us that specifically marketed to Hispanic customers locally,” Salazar said. Gutierrez said more than 90 percent of the businesses they serve, from restaurants to meat markets to taco carts, are run by Latinos. He said one of their goals now is to reach a broader base of buyers. “Getting new customers is the hardest part,” Gutierrez said. “They don’t know us.” The meat distributor delivers to 400 customers around Washington and northern Oregon with just five trucks, Gutierrez said. He said they’re hoping to open more routes to reach new customers this year.
ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic
Juan Carlos, left, and Juan Saladar of Los Juanes Distributors in Union Gap on March 17. In the last four years, the owners said they have added a warehouse behind the business, remodeled their original retail store in the front and opened a new grocery store in Pasco. Just recently they began charging a delivery fee as gas and diesel prices have risen. They said it surprised their customers at first but they try to keep the charges low so they don’t discourage business. “It’s not like we want to do that,” Salazar said. The two Juans said they charge about $2 in delivery fees for moving their products within the Yakima and Union Gap area. Customers perusing the choice cuts
at Los Juanes will notice everything they can find at a typical grocery store with a few uncommon additions such as cow feet, oxtail, intestines and white rolls of pork skin. Gutierrez recommends the oxtail. Aside from meat, they also offer produce, spices, condiments and beverages. “We guarantee our produce,” Gutierrez said. “We’ll go pick it up and pay (our customers) back if they don’t like it.” Gutierrez and Salazar said the pleasure of being their own bosses and earning the respect and loyalty of their customers is what makes their job so meaningful to them. “I like that the customers trust us,” Gutierrez said. “They want to talk to us always.”
LOS JUANES Owner: Juan Carlos Gutierrez and Juan Antonio Salazar Product or service: Meat distributor and grocery retail Location: 909 Ahtanum Road, Union Gap Length of ownership: Seven years Number of employees: 22 Average number of hours worked by owners each week: 60
BBS DiStriButing, inc. 1010 Rock Ave., Yakima, WA 98902
Phone: (509) 452-3211 E-mail: jkoreski@bbsdistributing.com
In 1997, Pat Shields founded BBS Distributing, Inc. in Yakima, Washington as a supplier of Industrial Packaging Products. With the over competitive/ saturated market of packaging products in agriculture Pat saw a need for a supplier in Central washington that could focus their attention and specialize to that of the manufacturing community. Today BBS’s unique approach to lean principals combined with our partnerships with both suppliers and manufacturers allows an efficient supply chain assuring that all partners are successful in their roles. BBS Distributing floors our products for our customers to allow a fast reaction time to their needs and wants. Our main goal at BBS is to reduce our customers on hand inventory resulting in a wealth of benefits that directly impact the bottom line and warehouse space. BBS handles a wide variety of Industrial Packaging Products, if we do not have a product in our stock our knowledgeable staff at BBS can help with your packaging needs. Contact us regarding your unique packaging needs!
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 10F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
Steve Hart’s management and ownership of Sea Galley attracted the owners of Sage Restaurant and Wine Bar. Hart was hired to relaunch that restaurant, now called Creekside West Bar & Grille. Hart said that ownership of Creekside is a possibility down the road. Photos by SARA GETTYS/ Yakima Herald-Republic
Restaurant owner bellies up to new challenge By MAI HOANG
Sea Galley
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
UNION GAP — After more than two decades of opening and operating restaurants nationwide, Steve Hart began his career as a restaurant owner in the Yakima Valley. Hart arrived in Union Gap in 1996 to run Sea Galley. He was no stranger to the seafood restaurant as he’d spent 11 years working for the Seattle-based corporation that operated it. But by his arrival, the restaurant was independent of the corporation, which had filed for bankruptcy a few years earlier. Starting a restaurant from scratch is challenging, although Hart said taking over an existing one is equally tough. “It was an established business with its own personality,” he said about Sea Galley. Shaping that personality was the restaurant’s charismatic operator, Panayiotis Petropoulu, who was killed in a 1997 car accident. Unrelated to the accident, Hart gained majority ownership of Sea Galley the same year. In any case, customers were initially distrusting of Hart, who
Hart talks to employees Darrylynn Reid, left, and Karlee Harris about evening reservations at Creekside West Bar & Grille on Feb. 21.
Owner: Steve Hart Product or service: Seafood restaurant Location: 25 E. Valley Mall Blvd., Union Gap Length of ownership: 14 years Number of employees: 55 Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 65 hours between Sea Galley and Creekside West Bar & Grille, which he operates
Hart and Reid greet customers and seat them during a recent lunch hour at Creekside West. describes himself as neither charismatic nor outgoing. “You’re the new stepfather,” he said. “It took a long time (for customers) to get over that.” But over time, he gained the customers’ trust, and sales at the restaurant increased. The restaurant currently has annual revenues of $2.4 million. “You had prove to people you’re willing to put in the time and
effort,” Hart said. The restaurant has continued to face challenges, such as the recession and last year’s construction of roundabouts on Valley Mall Boulevard that limited access to the restaurant. Hart, a former climber, said that running a restaurant is like a mountain climb. While some days are tougher than others, Hart said he keeps
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going for the sake of the others working in the restaurant. “You really have to claw your way through,” he said. Hart now has a new mountain to climb. In August, he was hired to reopen the former Sage Restaurant & Bar, which had closed in June under different operators Like Sea Galley, he took over an existing restaurant. But this time the restaurant, which reopened in January, had a new menu, staff and name — Creekside West Bar & Grille. It felt more like a blank slate, he said. The building also helps the restaurant stand out, Hart said.
While people criticized Sage in online reviews, most noted that they liked building’s modern look and its features such as big windows that let in plenty of light. “I don’t think a lot of people would build a restaurant (building) like this,” he said. “For me, it’s a rare advantage. There’s nothing like it.” And though Hart doesn’t have an ownership stake in Creekside West — though there is a possibility down the road — he takes this restaurant as seriously as the Sea Galley he’s owned for nearly 15 years. “Yakima can be critical of (new) restaurants, but it’s because (new ones) are few and far between,” he said. “It isn’t about food and drink. It’s about making friends.”
25 Years Experience
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 11F
15.838004.RT/M
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 12F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
“Our strength comes from great employees. We encourage every employee to reach their full potential. Your degree of success is only limited by your team spirit and desire to reach for your goals.” - Les Schwab
Les Schwab - 1952
Les Schwab, a self-taught businessman, started with humble beginnings in 1952 with one tire store. He had the vision to remain a family owned business dedicated to providing honest service to customers and unsurpassed opportunity to employees.
Les Schwab - Today
Les Schwab’s vision lives on today with over 420 stores and over 7000 employees. We continue to provide tremendous service to our customers and opportunities for our employees.
Taking care of our employees and their families is our top priority. We do this by providing exceptional employee benefits for all our qualified full-time employees including medical/ dental/vision coverage, an employee purchase program and one of the best retirement programs in the retail industry.
Thank you for letting us serve the Yakima Valley over the past 36 years!
YOU REASON... ARE THE
YAKIMA 702 E. Yakima 452-3993
Gary
YAKIMA 2002 S. 1st St. 248-1052
Ryan
WAPATO 403 W. 1st. St. 877-3722
Bob
TOPPENISH 105 Asotin Ave. 865-4005
Brandon
SUNNYSIDE 1537 Lincoln Ave. 837-2002
Collin
GRANDVIEW 812 W. Wine Country 882-1269
Jere
PROSSER 310 Wine Country Rd. 786-2540
Mark
ELLENSBURG 1206 S. Canyon Rd. 925-6922
Eric
SELAH 365 N. Wenas Ave. 698-3400
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Brian
You are the purpose of our work, the reason we run, the reason we serve. We will treat you with respect, like our family and friends because you have feelings and emotions. We are dependent on you, the lifeblood of our company. We will treat you like our business depends on it, because it does.
A special publication of the Yakima Herald-Republic
➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ PAGE 13F
Risk Takers
stories of Yakima Valley entrepreneurs
SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic
Jason Young, owner of Cyclops Tattoo, tattoos customer Tony Harris on March 1. Knowing that his art will adorn someone’s body permanently is a big responsibility, he says, one that sets his business and product apart. “It’s not like going to buy a pair of shoes,” he says.
Think before you ink By ROSS COURTNEY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Tattoo shop owner Jason Young gave himself his first tattoo at age 17. He used a sewing needle and some ink he stole from his high school art class to draw a skull on his left forearm. It was horrible, he said. “It looked like a light bulb with a face on it.” He hid it from his parents for years by wearing longsleeved shirts. That was almost two decades ago and, needless to say, Young’s handiwork has improved, both in quality and safety. Now 36, the entrepreneur owns Cyclops Tattoos in Yakima. Young has always liked visual art, doodling pictures inspired by heavy metal album covers during class as a boy in Moxee. After graduating from East Valley High School, he worked odd jobs, tattooing for friends as
Cyclops Tattoos Owner: Jason Young Product or service: Tattoos Location: 1406 Fruitvale
Blvd., Yakima
Length of ownership: Five
years
Number of employees: 3 Average number of hours worked by owner each week:
50
“I don’t see myself doing anything else at this point,” Young says. an amateur, something he does not recommend for an aspiring artist today. He has been tattooing professionally for about 10 years, starting in Kennewick at the shop of a friend. He first opened a studio in Yakima about six years ago under the name Tattoos by Jason. After about a year, he moved to his current location and renamed the business to make room for a second selfemployed artist, who operates
similar to a hair stylist working independently at somebody else’s salon. He chose the name Cyclops because he likes mythology and it conveys a variety of visual meanings. His portfolio contains everything from realistic-looking sketches of crouching tigers to brightly colored flowers to demented clown faces. He has tattooed plenty of hearts, skulls and animals. And yes, he does occasional odes to “Mom.” He has tattooed lots of names,
and covered a lot of them, too. He does not do removals. Clients range from doctors to nurses to a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent with tattoos all over his body. Gang tattoos are off limits, though it’s sometimes hard to recognize them. And unmentionable body parts are not indulged. Young may ask clients to think twice before he tattoos their faces, but in the end, he figures it’s up to them. After all, tattoos cover his arms and his neck. “How am I supposed to tell somebody they can’t have something?” he said. Young isn’t married and has no kids, but has been dating
Jodi Campbell for seven years. She now has more tattoos than he does and has modeled his artwork at competitions. The cost is $100 per hour with a $50 minimum. That may sound like a lot, but rent, equipment, fees and taxes add up, Young said. Last year, the state began licensing tattoo artists, requiring safety and sterilization techniques and equipment that he said he’s already been using. In fact, he suggests clients ask tattoo artists — himself included — lots of safety questions and to see sterilization equipment before getting a tattoo. The business supports him, the other artist and a clerk who books appointments. He figures his income would support a family of four, if he had one, and he is in the process of buying his own home. “I’m not a millionaire but I do just fine,” he said. Young dabbles in other forms of visual art, including paintings and airbrushed skateboards. However, he has no plans to try anything different with his career. “I don’t see myself doing anything else at this point,” he said.
➤ INSIDE THIS SECTION ➤
➤
➤
In case of emergency, he’s got you covered.
You’ll find them in the field — often before anyone else.
Wineglass Cellars makes the case for small wineries.
Page 15F
Page 21F
Page 22F
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 14F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
Industry’s ups and downs put dairyman’s expertise to the test By DAVID LESTER
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
SUNNYSIDE — As a youngster growing up, Bill Scheenstra wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. He thought about a number of careers, including accounting. But the dairy farm his father started in 1961 became an irresistible magnet, drawing him home following graduation from Washington State University with a degree in agricultural economics. He and his wife, Susan, took over the family dairy 11 years ago. They now have 1,400 cows on two dairies. It is a lifestyle he grew up with and one he wants to continue for his family, which includes two sons and a daughter. “I control my own destiny. I like it out on the dairy,” said the 45-year-old. “I’m on the farm and not behind a desk.” But running a dairy and farming operation forces him to spend more time managing the business and less time outdoors. While prospects for dairy prices appear to be more stable this year, the industry is coming out of a difficult period in 2009, when prices dipped to less than $14 per hundred pounds while feed prices rose. Prices paid for fluid milk during that period were below the cost of production, eating away at equity built up in prior years. Scheenstra calls it the most challenging period he’s faced. Producers responded in a number of ways — borrowing, cutting labor and other expenses. Scheenstra didn’t lay anyone off. Instead, he delayed equipment purchases, did more equipment repair on the farm and performed more of the work himself.
GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
Bill Scheenstra checks the condition of high-moisture corn during his morning rounds of his Sunnyside dairy March 8. The corn will be used as feed. “We put it (the corn) up last fall and I’m sure glad we did the way corn prices have taken off,” Scheenstra said. He also borrowed to operate, which also ate away at his equity. He hopes those tough times are over. “I think a lot of dairy operators are cautiously optimistic. It feels good not to be losing money,” Scheenstra said. Managing the volatility and uncertainty in milk markets is the greatest challenge he and fellow dairy operators face. He tries to contain the uncertain costs by growing more of his own feed, which accounts for about 60 per-
cent of a dairy’s costs. “Managing your costs is what it comes down to,” he said matter-of-factly. The other way to reduce volatility is to lock in milk prices. Scheenstra does it by forward contracting a portion of his milk production. Working with a broker, he has purchased what is known as a “put,” the right to sell a futures contract at a certain price, which amounts to an insurance policy
against declining prices for his milk. Forward contracting through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange allows Scheenstra to assure at least a minimum future price for a portion of his milk, which is marketed through Farmers Cooperative Creamery, based in McMinnville, Ore. The milk from his dairy operation goes to bottling plants in Portland, operated by major supermarkets that serve the region.
SCHEENSTRA DAIRY Owner: Bill Scheenstra Product or service: Milk Location: 1790 Alexander Road, Sunnyside. Length of ownership: 11 years Number of employees: 21 Average number of hours worked by owner per week: 14-hour days are common
“St. Paul Cathedral is a diverse body of Catholic People whom God calls by name, given a mission by Jesus Christ to be a faithful sign, a realistic foretaste and an instrument of the Kingdom of God. As Cathedral parishioners, we recognize our responsibility to show leadership by example and provide service to God’s people.”
The Most Reverend Carlos A Sevilla, S.J., Bishop Rev Msgr. John A Ecker, Pastor
15 S. 12th Ave., Yakima, WA (509)575-3713
15.836340.ANN.M
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
➤ MIND YOUR BUSINESSES
TIETON VILLAGE DRUG / TERRACE HEIGHTS PHARMACY
3708 Tieton Drive and 4040 Terrace Heights Drive Owner: Phil Luther Age of business: 44 years for Tieton Village Drug; 5 years for Terrace Village Length of ownership: 13 years for Tieton Village Drug; 5 years for Terrace Village Pharmacy What the business does: Retail pharmacy Number of employees: 35 For more information: 509966-6850 (Yakima), 509-2483311 (Terrace Heights)
Canopy Country RV Center
2904 S. Main, Union Gap & and Exit 106 off I-90 in Ellensburg Owners: Todd Munson and Jason Carroll Age of business: 37 years in Union Gap; 6 years in Ellensburg Length of ownership: Two years. What the business does: Sell RV’s, travel trailers, fifthwheels, and used RV’s Number of employees: 15 For more information: www.canopycountry.com or 800-777-7050 (Union Gap) and 866-925-9545 (Ellensburg).
Submit your own Risk Taker
Today and again next Sunday, Risk Takers — Stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs will profile dozens of Central Washington residents who own and operate their own businesses. Was it possible to cover every deserving business? No, of course not. For every business owner we wrote about, there are scores of other entrepreneurs also worthy of attention. That why we’re asking for your help. Starting in mid-April, you will be able to nominate locally owned businesses for an online posting with this project. Visit www.yakimavalleyrisktakers. com/submitbusiness for information on how you can submit your business information for online publication.
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 15F
Agent offers a chance to share life’s risks By ADRIANA JANOVICH
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Just in case. The house burns down. The car crashes. Or accidental death or dismemberment occurs. Just in case. Eric Silvers says his goal is simple. He wants to help people avoid the risks of everyday life. “Insurance is being able to spread the risks around,” says the 52-year-old Silvers, a State Farm Insurance agent for 20 years. “And I can educate.” The former middle school music teacher switched careers in 1990. When he did, he says, State Farm helped him go into business for — but not by — himself, eliminating at least some of the risk of becoming his own boss. Agent training includes a sevento nine-month paid internship as well as a signing bonus. After that, Silvers started in an established office in Grandview before opening his own in Yakima in 1997. He says he likes the challenge of running his own business and being his own boss. But with that freedom comes responsibility. “I had to put a lot of money that I made back into the business to be able to build the business,” he says. Today, Silvers has about 1,500 clients from Bellingham to Seattle and Vancouver, and Spokane to the Tri-Cities. Most of his customers, however, come from the Yakima Valley. “There’s a lot of competition,” he says. “There are lot more online services, less people walking into the office.” And Silvers isn’t the Valley’s only State Farm agent. There are nine in Yakima, 13 in the entire
GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
State Farm Insurance agent Eric Silvers leads a team meeting at his Yakima office on March 1.
ERIC SILVERS, INSURANCE Business: State Farm Insurance Product or service: Insurance and financial services Location: 1 N. Ninth St., Yakima Length of ownership: Since 1990 Number of employees: 4 full time, including owner; 2 part time Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 45
county, he said. “I try to be pretty visible,” advertising on billboards and working at “keeping my name out there.” While he works to grow the business, he also gives back to the
community. He serves on the advisory board for Central Washington University’s School of Business and is a member of the Downtown Yakima Rotary Club. In fact, he recently returned from an
outreach trip to Africa with Rotary to help immunize people against polio. Silver’s a native son. He grew up in southeast Yakima, graduated from Davis High School and calls himself a major Seahawks fan. He still makes time for music, although he doesn’t teach anymore. He plays the organ at Yakima’s Greater Faith Baptist Church and at weddings and funerals. At home, he plays piano just for fun. Through it all, he says he tries to abide by the national slogan: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 16F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
Real estate partners weather market volatility By PHIL FEROLITO
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
An effort to avoid Monday night football at home plunged Deby Gunter into a life of home sales and a partnership in Heritage Moultray Real Estate Services. While her husband and children gathered around the television Monday evenings, Gunter headed to Yakima Valley Community College, where the only class offered on Mondays was in real estate. She enrolled and completed the class. Then by coincidence, the state real estate exam was being administered at the same hotel where her husband’s company was holding a Christmas banquet. “So I took the test and passed it,” the 57-year-old said. That was more than 20 years ago. Success in home sales coupled with community contacts eventually led Gunter to a business partnership with two other agents — Rick Lind and Bill Moultray. Together, the trio has managed to turn profits amid one of the worst national housing slumps in history. Although the housing crash didn’t hit the Yakima Valley as hard as it did elsewhere, is has slowed.
GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
Rick Lind, left, Bill Moultray, center, and Deby Gunter joined forces seven years ago to form Heritage Moultray Real Estate Services. Lind and Gunter focus on residential sales, while Moultray concentrates on commercial sales. But the company persevered through previous downturns. “The years that were supposed to be bad — we had some very good years,” she said. Focused on residential sales, Heritage Brokers was co-owned by Gunter and Lind, 60, before merging seven years ago with Moultray, who develops and sells commercial property. “It was a really good move for the agents that each company had,” she said. “It gave the agents a lot more internal inventory to chose
the three partners said. “We function together and somewhat apart — it works well,” said Moultray, who would only say that he is in his late 60s. “I kind of ignore what they do and they kind of ignore what I do and it kind of works well that way. “I should be retired right now, and could easily do it, but I tell my friends that I have as much fun in the office as I do on the golf course. It’s fun, and when it isn’t anymore I’ll quit.” But the property business isn’t always easy. Two years ago, when the
HERITAGE MOULTRAY REAL ESTATE SERVICES Owners: Deby Gunter, Rick Lind and Bill Moultray Product or service: Commercial and residential real
estate
Location: 5625 Summitview Ave., Yakima Length of ownership: Seven years Number of agents: 27 Average hours owners work: 50-60
from.” The company is built on friendships. Gunter, Lind and Moultray all went to West Valley High School and so did their kids. Gunter’s son
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played baseball with Lind’s son. “We were both parents of the baseball pack, so we knew each other socially,” Gunter said. And that built trust and openness in the office,
Great Recession rippled across the Yakima Valley, buyers had a tougher time getting bank loans and making down payments. “The lenders kind of put the kibosh on the zero-down lending, which they should have,” Gunter said. But the company remained aggressive and continued to close sales, she said. “There is no crystal ball. We just all work hard,” she said. Lind said when he bought Heritage Brokers in 1996, he struggled at first. “The commissions didn’t come in regularly,” he said. “There were some months when the commissions didn’t meet the expenses — sleepless nights wondering how you work yourself out of the hole.” Moultray agrees that the property business can be challenging. He said his toughest time came when he launched the Orchards shopping center at 72nd Avenue and Tieton Drive in the early 2000s. He said he had to invest a lot of money and time that stressed him and his family financially and emotionally. “I put everything I had on the line,” he said. But eventually the project came to a close, and retailers started filling the shops in the roughly 170,000-squarefoot center, giving Moultray a return on his investment. “In development, so often the prize is at the very end,” he said. “You spend hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars and don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel until the very end.”
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 17F
Regulars keep Taco Loco owner busy By MARK MOREY
TACO LOCO
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Malena Espinosa knows how to make Mexican food worth buying time and time again. And she likes people. Between the two traits, she has built Taco Loco, the storefront restaurant on a downtown stretch of Yakima Avenue, into a lunchtime attraction with a crowd of regulars. Espinosa, 52, started at the business as an employee. Within a year, the owner offered her the opportunity to take over, which she did in 2002. “I love cooking, working with the people,” she said. In the 1990s, Espinosa wanted to start a tortillamaking business, but the machinery turned out to be too big for the Tieton Drive location she had available. She ran a restaurant there for a few years and later went to work for the state, supervising foster care visits. When her hours were cut, she needed something else. That’s when the Taco Loco job became available, developing into the opportunity to own the business. “It was just a risk I had to take,” she said.
Owner: Malena
Espinosa
Product or service:
Mexican food Location: 19 W. Yakima Ave., Yakima
Length of ownership:
Under current ownership since 2002 Number of employees: 2
Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 40-plus
Photos by GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
Malena Espinosa, the owner of Taco Loco, carries lunch orders to a table at the Yakima restaurant on March 10. She’s tried serving breakfast and dinner but those meals weren’t profitable, so she settled on selling lunch only. The business is open for lunch only, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Espinosa starts cooking about 7:30 a.m., then runs the front counter as her single assistant prepares the plates in the back. Espinosa
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won’t leave until about 4 p.m. During the lunch rush, she knows many of her customers by name and will put in their orders as they come through the door. They sometimes threaten to order
something different just to confuse this time-tested system. She jokes right back: “You’re not at Burger King — you’re at Taco Loco. You get it my way.” As with many businesses,
the economy has taken a toll. Two years ago, Espinosa had to lay off a third employee. She’s considered expanding into a neighboring space — which would allow her to enlarge
the cramped kitchen and offer more menu items — but decided not to take the risk. She’s used to working five days a week and doing her own bookkeeping. “When I get a three-day weekend, it seems long. I want to be here,” she said. But the single mother also takes time for her 19year-old son. She said she is encouraging him to finish high school through an online program even though she dropped out of Davis High School to start working. That allowed her younger siblings to stay in school, she said. The family traveled between Texas and Washington for field work before settling in the Yakima Valley in the 1970s. Espinosa said she has been lucky to run her own business. “You have to like what you’re doing,” she says.
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 18F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
Gym business a good fit By MARK MOREY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Steve Pratt was always willing to work for his money. Even before he left high school, he had started a painting business. After earning a bachelor’s degree in business and communications from Washington State University, he planned to move up the sales ladder in the fresh fruits and vegetables industry. Then his father asked that he take over The Racquet Club, now known as the Yakima Athletic Club. “They thought it would be kind of a neat niche for me to try,” he said. The club — established in 1978 by Pratt’s father, Earl, and a busiS. Pratt ness partner, Max Vincent — was intended to capitalize on the racquetball craze that had spread through California. But the concept was struggling in Yakima, where the Yakima YMCA was considered the popular gym for racquetball enthusiasts. Within the first few years after taking over, Pratt persuaded his father and Vincent to diversify by taking out several of the racquetball courts and using the space for a free weight room, a swimming pool and a group exercise space. Since he started as manager, the seven-daya-week club has grown to occupy nearly twice its original 15,000 square feet. About a dozen of the club’s 150 employees are full-time. Pratt’s brother, Mike Pratt, is a partner in the business, but has his own full-time job. By 1996, when YAC launched a Gold’s Gym franchise in Terrace Heights, the club had seen “decent growth” from fewer than 500 members about a decade before. He declined to release the current membership number.
YAKIMA ATHLETIC CLUB Owner: Mike and Steve Pratt
Product or service:
Fitness and exercise facility Location: 2501 Racquet Lane, Yakima
Length of ownership:
Established in 1978; now run by second generation Number of employees:
150
Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 70
Ten years after the Gold’s purchase, the Pratts decided to continue its operation as an independent part of the business. Pratt says good employees strengthen the operation. Some have been around for many years. “You’ve got to have people that are vested,” he said. Pratt says he’s built up the business by listening to his customers and taking well-informed risks in the fast-changing fitness industry. “I have this intrinsic ability to work through trends and fads to be able to pick and choose what the marketplace will support, with the help of some of my core staff,” he said. One example: In the craze-filled industry that is today’s fitness and exercise world, the machine of the moment comes and goes. Pratt recently considered buying a wall-based exercise system that was being pushed by one company. Although close to a purchase, he decided against it. Another company, TRX, hired some of the
Photos by TJ MULLINAX/Yakima Herald-Republic
Beji Stephens, left, steps through his workout at the Yakima Athletic Club while David Fast, right, warms up before his “Pump” class on March 9 in Yakima. Stephens and Fast have been members for more than 20 years and “They have really upgraded many of the machines,” Fast says. “The club has gone through quite a change over the years.” same people to produce a suspension-based exercise method. Pratt was the first to sign on and the gamble paid off. He now has multiple trainers offering small classes using the TRX system, a purchase that paid for itself in six months. Despite the club’s success, “I’m still very cautious,” he said. Nearly 30 years after his somewhat unintended start in the fitness business, he still enjoys it. “I like the flexibility. Every day is different,” he said. And he will keep looking for the next good idea, whether it comes from himself, an employee or a customer. “I’ve always been a driven individual,” he said.
What once was began as The Racquet Club in the late 1970s is now known as the Yakima Athletic Club and has grown beyond its racquetball roots to embrace a philosophy that helps its members achieve greater wellness, says owner Steve Pratt.
➤ MIND YOUR BUSINESSES Stop and Go Drive-in
2820 Fruitvale Blvd., Yakima Owner: Christine Wade Age of business: 63 Length of ownership: 15 What the business does: Fast food Number of employees: 8 For more information: 509-4524641
SUBMIT A BUSINESS
Ripplinger Insurance Address: 220 Division St., Grandview Owner: Neal Ripplinger Age of business: 10 years Length of ownership: 10 years What the business does:
Insurance
Number of employees: 1 For more information:
Harvest Valley Cleaners 144 W. Second, Grandview Owner: Mike Edwards Age of business: 11 years Length of ownership: 11 years What the business does:
Cleaners
Number of employees: 3 For more information:
Ralph’s Barber Shop Address: 1207 Mead Ave.,
Prosser
Owner: David Bantam Age of business: 1957 Length of ownership: 1997 What the business does: Barber
shop
Number of employees: 1
For more information: www.farmersagent.com/nripplinger www.harvestvalleycleaners.com or or 509-882-1465 509-786-2946 509-882-5631
Today and again next Sunday, Risk Takers — Stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs will profile dozens of Central Washington residents who own and operate their
own businesses. Was it possible to cover every deserving business? No, of course not. For every business owner we wrote about, there are scores of other
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entrepreneurs also worthy of attention. That’s why we’re asking for your help. Starting in mid-April, you will be able to nominate locally owned
1527 Summitview Ave. Yakima Owners: Henry and Shyun Sook Kang Age of business: 6 Length of ownership: 6 What the business does:
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businesses for inclusion in the online presentation of this project. Visit www.yakimavalleyrisktakers. com/submitbusiness for information on how you can submit your business.
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 19F
Doing the Lord’s work By ROSS COURTNEY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
GRANDVIEW — For Jose A. Magaña, entrepreneurship was never the goal. Owning his Genesis Income Tax business was only a means to a loftier end. Since starting in 2002, Magaña has turned his firm from a seasonal venture into a year-round bookkeeping company with two locations and seven employees. But the Pentecostal minister only did it to raise money to purchase a church for his small congregation — before he bought a home for his own family of five. “I think I did the right thing,” Magaña said. “When we pass away, we have a building for our children to praise the Lord. It’s hard for Hispanic churches to get a building.” The 47-year-old warns people they may not believe his story about how he came to own the Grandview business. He moved from Mexico to Los Angeles in 1985, taking classes in computer technology and bookkeeping. He also picked up some accounting skills while working part time for a firm owned by one of his instructors. In 1999, he said, the newly minted U.S. citizen and bornagain Christian had a dream in which God told him to move to the Yakima Valley, where he had extended family members. He did and found a job fixing computers at Staples, which had a store in Sunnyside at the time.
Genesis Income Tax Owner: Jose A. Magaña Product or service: Income
taxes, bookkeeping and accounting Location: 227 Division St., Grandview Length of ownership: Nine years Number of employees:
Including himself, seven during tax season, three the rest of the year
Average number of hours worked by owner each week:
45-50 during tax season, 25-30 rest of the year
ROSS COURTNEY/Yakima Herald-Republic
TOP RIGHT: Jose Magaña works in the Grandview office of his Genesis Income Tax business. ABOVE: Magaña opened Genesis Income Tax business to save money to purchase this church, the former Salvation Army worship center, for his Grandview congregation. In 2002, he said, God sent more instructions through a dream: Open your own business. So, he charged $3,500 for two computers, two desks and one month’s worth of rent to his mother’s credit card. He filed 180 tax returns the first year, 350 the next. In 2004, he opened a second office on Edison Street in Sunnyside while also founding his congregation
— Palabra de Vida — that rented worship space in Sunnyside at first, then met for more than a year in the back of his Grandview office. In 2005, he began keeping his business open year round. He purchased his Division Street store front in Grandview in 2007 and has since branched out to handle bookkeeping duties for
a few business clients, such as landscapers or restaurant owners. Virtually all his customers speak Spanish. About 90 percent of them work in farm labor and some of them have limited reading skills in any language. So they come to him, watching Spanishlanguage television in his lobby and taking a number to wait their turn for help deciphering their
obligations to the IRS. Through the years, Magaña stashed away $100,000 in personal savings from his business a little at a time. In 2009, he used it to pay for half the price of the former Salvation Army sanctuary across the street from his office. The Salvation Army still runs a social services office next door to the church. In contrast, he and his wife, Luzvinda, purchased their Grandview own home just last year. The congregation is financing the other half, but Magaña’s large down payment makes it possible for the church to do other things. For example, the members are raising money to establish a dialysis clinic for a poor village in Guatemala. Meanwhile, Magaña’s still working on his real ambition. “What I want to do is retire and go to work full time in the church,” he said.
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ern Holbrook purchased Aspen Real Estate in 1981 for $12,000 after being in real estate for 16 years. He has since turned it into one of the most successful locally owned real estate offices in the Yakima Valley. Vern has been through many market cycles in real estate as is the nature of the business and this year Aspen is happy to be celebrating 30 years of service to the community in meeting their real estate needs. During his career in real estate, he has been involved in every aspect of real estate… as an agent working with buyers and sellers of all types of property, as a
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developer of property and as a landlord providing rental properties. Vern has executed numerous 1031 Deferred Tax Exchanges, sometimes with multiple properties to multiple buyers. Recruiting and training is a crucial part of any successful real estate company. Over the years Vern has recruited and trained more than 60 agents. In 2005, Vern designed and built a beautiful new 5,100 square foot office building at 2010 W. Nob Hill Blvd. which is where the business is currently located. Please stop by to meet Vern and the rest of Aspen’s Brokers.
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PAGE 20F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
Johnsons rooted in success By ADRIANA JANOVICH
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
The cherries come first, signifying the start of harvest. And they’re probably Eric Johnson’s favorite. He calls them the farm’s “signature crop.” “The longer they hang on the tree, the sweeter they get,” he says. “We try to pick a very tree-ripened cherry.” The 55-year-old fourthgeneration farmer grew up on the family farm, working here as a kid and returning in his 20s to help run the place. “It’s a heritage farm,” he says of the 107-year family tradition. “The history is very important to me.” The farm has been in the Johnson family since 1904, when it was founded by Eric’s greatgrandfather Alfred, a Swedish immigrant. The farm passed on to Roy Sr., Eric’s grandfather, and then his father, Roy Jr., now 87, and finally, to Eric. He diversified, planting more varieties and focusing on retail sales as well as making the orchard an agritourism destination. “It makes us, personally, way busier,” says his wife, Jill, who keeps the books. “We’re working every day,” says Eric, who estimates 80 percent of their business is local. In fact, Jill says, “We’ve got a customer that’s been coming here since before Eric was born.” The couple still lives on the homestead in the house Eric’s great-grandfather built. Back then, it was out in the country. Today, the orchard sits on two sides of Summitview Avenue, a main arterial — 10 acres on one side, 17 on the other. “There aren’t many growers that have a ranch on a four-lane road,” Eric says, adding the biggest challenge is something that’s faced farmers since the beginning of farming: the weather. In 2008, because of cold weather, Johnson Orchards lost its cherry crop. “Since I’ve been here, that was the first crop failure,” Eric says. “There weren’t enough cherries out there to make two pies. It was
Photos by SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic
As the season winds down, Eric Johnson bags up the last apples at Johnson Orchards. Johnson specializes in selling fruit directly to customers rather than focusing on large wholesale orders. The fruit warehouse where customers can come pick out whatever is in season was built in 1916.
JOHNSON ORCHARDS Owners: Eric and Jill Johnson Product or service: Cherries,
peaches, pears, nectarines, pluots, plums, apples, apple cider, U-pick; bake shop coming soon Location: 4906 Summitview Ave., Yakima Length of ownership:
Johnson family founded in 1904 Number of employees: 4 full-time year-round, peaking at 26 part-time seasonal workers during harvest
Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 70
in summer, 40 in winter
Jill Johnson rings up two bags of apples for customers at Johnson Orchards.
tough,” more so emotionally than financially. “It was just a sadness, a deep sadness.”
Happiness is a tree-ripened cherry, picked fresh daily during
harvest season. Customers send emails of gratitude, including
photographs of Johnson fruit being enjoyed in faraway places. Soon, Johnson Orchards will be branching out again in the form of a mother-daughter project for Jill and her daughter, Adrienne Engelhart, 32. Their bake shop, where cups of coffee will be cheap — likely a quarter — is slated to open in May. They’re also expanding into organic salad greens and “maybe a few tomatoes,” Eric says, making the old homeplace feel more like a small farmers market. One child in the blended Johnson family still lives at home. Eryn, a 17-year-old junior at West Valley High School, works in the warehouse and will be involved in the bake shop when it opens. Meantime, Eric says, “It’s been a great life. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”
➤ MIND YOUR BUSINESSES John Gasperetti’s Floral Design
4001 Summitview Ave., Yakima Owner: John Gasperetti Age of business: 20 years Length of ownership: 20 years What the business does: Floral designs and gifts Number of employees: 6 For more information: 509-972-2670
SUBMIT A BUSINESS
Perfect Printing and Signs 708 Sixth St., Prosser Owner: Donna Barnard Age of business: 39 years Length of ownership: 39 years What the business does: Commercial printing, signs, invitations, etc. Number of employees: 7 For more information:
www.perfectprintprosser.com or 509-7867672
Today and again next Sunday, Risk Takers — Stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs will profile dozens of Central Washington residents who own and operate their
BLACK TOP Grading & Paving • Residential & Commercial
Vaile Thompson, owner and operator of Perfect Pavers, Inc. was born and raised in the Yakima Valley and is a Veteran of the Vietnam War. Perfect Pavers, Inc. is known for its grading & paving of light commercial & residential and opened in 1983.
5110 Tieton Drive, Yakima Owner: Lucho de La Combe Age of business: 11 years Length of ownership: 11 years What the business does: Italian food Number of employees: 45 For more information:
www.zestacucina.com or 509-972-2000
entrepreneurs also worthy of attention. That’s why we’re asking for your help. Starting in mid-April, you will be able to nominate locally owned
businesses for inclusion in the online presentation of this project. Visit www.yakimavalleyrisktakers. com/submitbusiness for information on how you can submit your business.
YAKIMA DERMATOLOGY & SKIN SURGERY CENTER
D. Michael Pehlke, M.D. P.S. Patricia A. Nichols, P.A.-C
Passion for Excellence Since 1976 COSMETIC PROCEDURES
• Cool-lipo • Botox • Juvederm • Restylane • Radiesse • CO2 Resurfacing
VEIN PROCEDURES
• Face Veins • Spider Veins • Cool Touch Superior Laser Technology for Varicose Veins
Board Certified Dermatologist Diagnosis & Treatment of Skin Cancer
PERFECT PAVERS 3106 River Rd. • Yakima Cellular 945-0424
Zesta Cucina
329 S. Sixth St., Sunnyside Owner: Joe Tovar Age of business: 17 years Length of ownership: 17 years What the business does: Heating and air conditioning Number of employees: 5 For more information: 509-839-8840
own businesses. Was it possible to cover every deserving business? No, of course not. For every business owner we wrote about, there are scores of other
We’ve been serving the Yakima Valley for 28 Years! “WE EXCEL AT WHAT WE DO BEST”
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TJ’s Refrigeration
509-575-6888
1111 W. Spruce St., Suite 24 Yakima, WA 98902 15.29522412.RT.M
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Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 21F
Getting their hands dirty By PAT MUIR
FULCRUM ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
The thing about entrepreneurial risk is that it can be a pretty strong motivator. The way Fulcrum Environmental Consulting owners Peggy Williamson and Ryan Mathews see it, being accountable for the success of their business isn’t about risk so much as it is about self-determination. That is to say, by being their own bosses they control their own fate. “There was an absolute difference in the level of commitment when we became owners,” Williamson said. “We essentially bought our jobs.” They took over from Don Hurst in 2004 and now make up two-thirds of Fulcrum’s ownership. Travis Trent, who operates the company’s Spokane office, is the other third. The company’s roots go back to the 1980s in Montana, but it’s had a Yakima presence since 1994 when Williamson opened the local office as a manager. She hired Trent in 1995 and Mathews in 2001 after Trent moved to the Spokane office. In the years since
Owners: Peggy Williamson, Ryan Mathews and Travis Trent Service: Assessment of air, water and ground contamination; environmental impact and mitigation plans for developments Location: 406 N. Second St., Yakima Length of ownership:
Seven years
Number of employees: 9 Average number of hours worked by owners each week: 60
GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic
Ryan Mathews and Peggy Williamson are principals in Fulcrum Environmental Consulting. The firm provides a variety of services including soil sampling and investigations, help with project permits and regulatory compliance and worker safety. Fulcrum came to town, the company has worked on some of the highestprofile construction and development projects in the Yakima Valley. Fulcrum consultants assessed environmental risks and impacts for the North Star Lodge cancer treatment center, the West
Valley Walmart and the upcoming replacement of Eisenhower High School among scores of others projects. Those types of assessments help Fulcrum’s clients — sometimes private developers, sometimes government entities — determine the environmental feasibility of
the project and what, if any, mitigation needs to be done. “We’re often the first ones in the door (on a project),” Williamson said. The company has nine employees including 41/2 full time here in Yakima. By design, they come from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds.
Mathews, for instance, earned degrees in biology and economics from Central Washington University. Williamson majored in animal sciences with an agriculture-economy minor at Washington State University and Trent is a geologist from Eastern Washington University. The
common link is that they all have backgrounds in hard science, and they can all crunch statistics and write well. Of course, Mathews and Williamson say they’d rather be out on site getting their hands dirty. “We all got into this because we like the field work,” Mathews said. “We’d like to be in the field all the time.” But they’re owners now, and if that means putting in a 60- or 70-hour week full of office work, then that’s exactly what they will do.
➤ MIND YOUR BUSINESSES Escrow Pacific 311 N. Fourth St., Suite 106, Yakima Owner: Larry Goodman Age of business: 22 years Length of ownership: 22 years What the business does: Escrow collection Number of employees: 4 For more information: www.escrowpacific.com or 509248-8828
Green Baron 1206 N. Sixth Ave., Yakima Owner: Jeff Roll Age of business: 26 years Length of ownership: 11 years What the business does: Total landscape maintenance Number of employees: 25 For more information: 509-248-3130
Johnson’s Auto Glass 119 S. First St., Yakima Owner: Jerry Runge Age of business: Family owned since 1940 What the business does: Auto glass repair, replacement and upholstery Number of employees: 7 For more information: www.johnsonautoglass.com or 509-248-5030
15.837512.ANN.M
“Protecting and Serving our Community” 15.837914.ANN.M
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
PAGE 22F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
The case for small wineries By MAI HOANG
Wineglass Cellars
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
The decision by David and Linda Lowe to open a winery in the early 1990s came out of another one — to move away from Seattle. At that time, the couple had grown weary of the hectic schedule and traffic that came with working in commission-only sales in the city. The lifestyle made it difficult to spend time with their children. The couple wanted their offspring to have childhoods more like theirs — both grew up in smaller communities where everyone knew each other. So in 1991, the Lowes and their children moved to Wenatchee, where David continued to work for IBM selling computers for small businesses. But soon they talked about other possible careers. Eventually, the idea of starting a winery came up. “We loved wine,” Linda said. “We would go on wine tours several times a year.” So David, armed with advice from friends and a 27page winemaking guide from the University of CaliforniaDavis, made his first batch of wine with grapes he purchased from a Yakima Valley grower. He admits those early batches weren’t very good, but he knew that he was on to something. “It was fulfilling and I knew I wanted to do this for a living,” said David, 62. By January 1993, the couple had moved to Zillah and was committed to starting a winery. In their first year, they worked at other wineries, learning the nuts and bolts of the business. In August 1994, Wineglass Cellars opened. David was the winemaker while Linda took care of the business and financials. It’s an arrangement that remains nearly two decades later. Looking back, it was a good time to start a winery. At that point, pioneers of the craft had paved the way for growth through the Washington wine industry. And when the winery
Owners: David and
Linda Lowe
Product or service:
Winemaking and selling Location: 260 N. Bonair Road, Zillah. Length of ownership:
Opened in August 1994
Number of employees:
Just the owners
Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 40-50
Photos by ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic
TOP: Linda Lowe packs boxes for wine club shipments at the winery’s tasting room in Zillah. ABOVE: David Lowe of Wineglass Cellars manages open bottles in the winery’s tasting room March 13. received a warm welcome from Seattle wine shops, it was clear there was plenty of room for a new player. “Our timing was impeccable,” David said. “It made us look smart.” Like many other small
business owners, David continued working in sales full time during the winery’s early years. By June 1998, business was good enough for the winery to occupy him full time. Over time, Wineglass
Cellars’ customer base grew thanks to a mix of visitors to its tasting room, wordof-mouth and a mention in Frommer’s travel guides, which attracted visitors from outside the state. But managing the growth
was a great challenge, especially with no other employees. The winery started with 300 cases, growing to 5,000 cases by 2002. That proved to be too much, especially
Frank Beem Founder 1934-1967
Valley Hills has grown to become a leader in local services by being family owned and offering affordable services. Yakima’s only family owned funeral home and private crematory.
Vance and Shirley Hall Owners
considering that David and Linda were doing all the distribution themselves at the time “It was quite clear to me that we needed to be small,” said Linda, now 59. Today the winery distributes about 2,500 to 3,000 cases a year, with the majority sold at their Zillah tasting room. About 25 to 30 percent of its sales are through a distributor who delivers the wines to shops and restaurants throughout the state and about 5 percent are through The Tasting Room Seattle — Wines of Washington. The cooperative offers tastings and sells product on behalf of several other Washington wineries. Wineglass Cellars mostly limits its distribution to Washington state, though it has done short-term distribution deals outside the state and internationally. The couple believes its competition is other small wineries throughout the state, but they are not threatened. If anything, it’s important to be aware of what the others are offering, David said. “We rarely drink (just) our own wine,” he said. “You get tunnel palate if you do that.” At the same time, the Lowes differ in that unlike many wineries, they aren’t open every day of the week, limiting tastings most times to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Working hard is an important part of running a business, but so is maintaining a balance, David said. While they live next door to the winery, they leave work at the winery when they are at home. “If (work) is all you do, you get cynical and sour,” David said. “And you aren’t having fun.”
A
s a young man from South Dakota, Frank Beem had always wanted to be a medical doctor. He left the farm in South Dakota and journeyed to California where he met and married Verona Lawson. After three years in California the couple came to the Yakima Valley. Frank read all he could about medicine because Mrs. Beem had her share of illnesses. He read an article about a Dr. Shadduck from Portland, Oregon who had written several articles in The American Medical Journal on Preventative Medicine. This was the beginning of Beems Diet Foods, which started in 1934 in a small little corner of a building next to the Capital Theatre. The business is now in it’s third generation of family operation and has two Beems Nutrition stores; Beems Chesterley Nutrition and Beems Valley Nutrition, and two gift shops; Cobblestones at Chesterley Park and Valley Home and Gifts across from Macy’s. CHESTERLEY NUTRITION – 452-2400 3715 W. River Rd. - Yakima – At Chesterley Plaza
David and Amber Humpherys Julia Humpherys
VALLEY NUTRITION – 453-5940 Union Gap – Adjacent to Miners
Cobblestones Daughter – Janet Hall – Manager of Cobblestones Son – Mark Hall – Manager of Beems 15.837194.ANN.1M
27 Years 3715 River Rd. - Yakima 457-4540
ValleY Home & Gifts 14 Years Union Gap - Across from Macy’s 575-7939 15.837503.ANN.M
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ PAGE 23F
15.837722.RSK.M
PAGE 24F ➤ SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011 ➤ YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC ➤ YakimaValleyRiskTakers.com
Risk Takers ➤ stories of Yakima Valley Entrepreneurs
15.837773.RSK.M