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Lincoln Street student housing project revived [Page 6]

The BuzzNew downtown officePhase one is almost done. Two houses across the street from Aslan Brewing Co. could be moved to make way for mixed-use buildings in later phases.

DOWNTOWN OFFICE, 9

Business toolkit

Engagement killers come in all shapes and sizes.

MIKE COOK, 21

local e-cig industry employing 150 could vanish if tax bill becomes law

Electronic cigarettes went from obscurity to a $2.5 billion indus-try in the U.S. in the last five years, and Mount Baker Vapor has followed a similar trajec-tory. The Bellingham company’s website went live in August 2011, hit 100 orders three months later, and reached 1,000 orders

the next spring. Now, Mount Baker Vapor has more than 130 employees and ships nicotine-infused liquid and other products as far as Australia, Europe and Japan.

The industry is mostly unregu-lated, but more than 20 states are currently considering bills regarding e-cigarettes or “vaping” products.

Washington legislators are con-

sidering several bills, including one proposed by Gov. Jay Inslee aimed at curbing the increase in teenagers using e-cigarettes. The bill would tax the products at a rate that Mount Baker Vapor and other local compa-nies say would kill the local indus-try and have the unintended effect of making vapor

products harder to get for adults who use them as an alternative to cigarettes.

Vapor, PAGE 10

E-cig bill targets teen use but could nudge adults back to cigarettes

Vaporized

Tyler Kamp, store manager at Mount Baker Vapor’s retail store in Lynden, demonstrates a personal vaporizer. OLIVER LAZENBY PHOTO | THE BBJ

BY OLIVER LAZENBYThe Bellingham Business Journal

Tame your inbox today.

PATTI ROWLSON, 16

Changes for small businessesC.J. Seitz, interim director of the Small Business Development Center, discusses raising capital, breweries and other changes to business in Bellingham.

Q&A, 22

Your money matters

Save money with tax season personal finance advice.

MONEY, 14

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The Bellingham Business Journal April 20152

A division of Sound Publishing Inc.

Mount Baker Vapor says its e-cigarette products help people quit smoking, but lawmakers are discussing taxing the industry at the same rate as tobacco.

[1] Up in smoke

Local businesses strive to measure progress towards social and environmental goals using QuickBooks.

[5] Accounting

C.J. Seitz, former business adviser at WWU’s Small Business Development Center, returned as interim director in February. She discusses changes in local business.

[22] Q&A: New SBDC director

Contents

Little bottles of nicotine-infused liquid are big business for Mount Baker Vapor. The com-pany employs more than 130 and ships products to Australia, Japan and Europe.OLIVER LAZENBY PHOTO | THE BBJ

The Bellingham Business Journal

How a little extra work can let you keep more of your hard-earned money this tax season.

[14] Financial advice for tax season

Connect with us

[7] Market Indicators[8] People On The Move

[16] Business Toolkit[18] Public Records

On Twitter@BBJToday

On Facebookfacebook.com/BBJToday

On Google+Bellingham BusinessJournal

1909 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225Phone (360) 647-8805 Fax (360) 647-0502

Visit us online at www.BBJToday.com

Editorial Department: Oliver Lazenby, associate editor, [email protected] (Send press releases, story pitches and general inqueries to [email protected])

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The Bellingham Business JournalApril 2015 3

BUSINESS BRIEFSFebruary unemployment rate at 7.2 percent

Whatcom County’s unemployment rate was 7.2 percent in February 2015, the same as the revised rate for January 2015, according to the latest data from the state Employment Security Department.

One year ago, Whatcom County’s unem-ployment rate was 7.8 percent. Shortly after, the unemployment rate fell and stayed below 7 percent from April 2014 until December 2014.

The county added 4,100 jobs between February 2014 and February 2015.

Most industries in Whatcom County grew between February 2014 and February 2015, with state government and mining, logging and construction growing the most by percentage. Leisure and hospitality is the only industry that declined since last February.

The statewide unemployment rate for February was 8.8 percent. King County, at 4.9 percent, had the lowest unemployment rate in the state, and Ferry County had the highest at 14 percent. Skagit County’s unemployment rate was 8.3 percent.

Whatcom County adds 7,000 resi-dents in four years

Washington’s population swelled to more than 7 million people last year, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The census bureau recently released estimates of how the population of U.S. counties and cities changed between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014. In that time, What-com County grew by 1.2 percent, adding 2,103 residents. The estimated total popu-lation of the County as of July 1, 2014 was 208,351. The 2010 census counted 201,140 residents in Whatcom County.

The fastest-growing counties in Wash-ington during that time period were Kit-titas County (1.8 percent), Snohomish County (1.8 percent), Clark County (1.7 percent), King County (1.6 percent) and Pierce County (1.4 percent).

January foreclosure rate down to 0.75 percent

The rate of foreclosures among out-standing mortgage loans decreased again, according to the latest data from CoreLog-ic, national providers of financial, property and consumer data. The delinquency rate, or rate of mortgage loan payments 90 or more days delinquent, also decreased.

Both figures have been declining for more than two years.

The rate of foreclosures on outstanding loans in Bellingham was 0.75 percent in January 2015, the latest month for which data is available. That’s a 0.34 percent decrease compared to January 2014, and a 0.03 decrease compared to December 2015.

The mortgage delinquency rate in Bell-ingham decreased to 2.10 percent, which is down 1 percent from January 2014 and 0.08 percent from December 2015.

Tech Help acquired Ovation Tech-nical Services

One local IT support company acquired another recently when Tech Help acquired Ovation Technical Services.

Ovation Technical Services worked with

small and medium-sized businesses on issues ranging from network and server monitoring to maintenance and support. Those are basically the same services that Tech Help provides, said Brooke McClary, marketing manager for Big Fresh. Tech Help is the IT division of Big Fresh, which is a website design and development com-pany.

“It was really obvious that the goals of Ovation aligned with ours,” McClary said. “The owner, Mark (Knittel), he’s a really great guy. We had a good report with him so it was an easy decision.”

Ovation started in 2006 and had clients in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Ovation’s four employees will be moving into Big Fresh’s offices at 2211 Rimland Drive, in the Barkley neighborhood.

Tech Help now has 10 employees and clients in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties. The combined tech teams will work together to serve the companies cli-ents, McClary said.

Big Fresh is owned by NVNTD (pro-nounced “invented”), which was founded by Doug DeVries and Mark Lee, founders and co-owner of Tech Help, along with local real estate developers Troy Muljat and Ben Kinney.

Tech Help started in 2000 and joined Big Fresh in 2002.

WWU signs lease on outreach office in Herald Building

Western Washington University signed a lease on a new downtown office that it will use to better connect the university with its surroundings, community and 15,000 local alumni.

The university plans to open the office, at 1155 N. State St. on the ground floor of the Herald Building, on June 19, according to a news release from the university.

The 2,500-square-foot office will include a conference and events room, facilities and opportunities for the public to learn about campus life, a public reception area and office space for nine university staff members. The news release calls the office a “welcome-to-Western center in the heart of the city.”

“The distinctive character, values and relationships that the City of Bellingham and Western share are key parts of what makes this such a great place to live, learn, work and play.” said Western President Bruce Shepard in the news release. “We’re excited to deepen that engagement and broaden our sense of community with this new presence downtown.”

Western signed a two-year lease with options for three additional annual exten-sions, according to the news release.

The office is a partnership between Western, the WWU Alumni Association and the WWU Foundation.

Engineering firm with Belling-ham office expands to Tukwila

Materials Testing and Consulting (MTC), an engineering firm with a Bellingham office, acquired Analytical Resources Inc.’s Geotechnical Division in Tukwila, Washington, on Feb. 23, 2015.

The new office is MTC’s fifth location

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Local businesses use QuickBooks to measure more than profitACCOUNTING

Boundary Bay Brewery has always worked toward supporting Whatcom County’s economy and doing less harm to the planet, owner Ed Bennett said. The brewery donates beer to help nonprofits raise money and gives employees time to volunteer for local causes and events. Boundary Bay’s beer garden is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a back-yard wildlife habitat.

But tracking progress toward goals like spending more money in Whatcom Coun-ty and doing it in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment isn’t easy.

Bennett and other Bellingham busi-ness owners worked to find new ways to measure progress toward social and environmental goals at a Sustainable Con-nections member lunch on March 5. Chris McGee, business counselor with Business Support Services Northwest, led a seminar and demonstrated ways to use QuickBooks software to account for what he calls “sus-tainability factors.”

Most businesses use QuickBooks or other accounting software programs to chart all the variables that can make or break the bottom line, McGee said. But very few track how much waste is pro-duced in the course of business or how

much of the businesses purchases are made locally, he said.

At the talk, titled “Accounting for Sus-tainability,” McGee recommended using

the “class tracking” function in Quick-Books to group together variables that contribute to non-financial goals. The talk wasn’t a lecture, but a discussion where

McGee and business owners brainstormed and helped each other solve accounting problems.

Some solutions are simple. Jack Lamb, CEO of Aslan Brewery, said during the discussion that he’s looking for a way to keep track of how much waste his brewery produces. Businesses in the building indus-try can track the total weight of waste they take to the landfill because they pay per pound to drop it off, but Lamb pays a flat rate to for waste disposal.

Mark Peterson, sustainable business manager for Sustainable Connections, sug-gested a simple if inelegant solution—draw lines that mark when the garbage bin is a quarter full, half full and three-quarters full, and record how high the waste is piled on pick-up day.

Supporting local businesses is one of Chuckanut Builders’ core missions, owner Ian Rae said. The green building firm start-ed accounting for where geographically its money went in 2012 and in 2013 it man-aged to spend 89.8 percent of its budget in Whatcom County. Accounting for where the money goes makes it easier to increase the amount spent locally, Rae said.

“Anytime you’re tracking something like this it makes you more motivated to improve,” he said. “The side benefit is you get better relationships with local suppliers and the prices are often similar.”

Businesses track waste, energy-use, and where money goes to measure progress toward nonfinancial goals

The building that became Birthroot Midwives and Birth Center during a remodel in 2013. Chuckanut Builders reused doors, windows and lumber from the project. The firm tracks how much waste it produces. PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNY RAE/CHUCKANUT BUILDERS



A national real estate invest-ment company is preparing to break ground in the Puget neigh-borhood and revive a student housing project that ceased when Campus Crest Communities Inc., another national real estate investment firm, left town last November.

CA Student Living, a subsid-iary of CA Ventures, bought land south of Lakeway Fred Meyer between Interstate 5 and Lincoln Street in January and plans to construct housing for hundreds of students by fall 2016, said John Diedrich, CA Ventures’ VP of Investments. He said in late March that the company hopes to start construction in a couple weeks on 13 buildings with 230 units and about 640 bedrooms.

The site is west the future Lin-coln Commercial Center between Lincoln Creek and the freeway.

The rentals will cater to stu-dents, but also multifamily rent-ers, Diedrich said. The company is still developing a plan for the rental cost of the apartments.

CA Ventures bought the prop-erty from Campus Crest, a North Carolina-based firm that acquired it in 2013 and planned to build 10 apartment buildings with 216 units and 584 beds on the site by this fall. Campus Crest sold the site, along with eight other undeveloped sites throughout the country, as part of a cost-cutting plan aimed at boosting value for its shareholders.

CA Ventures bought two parcels totaling 15 acres from

Campus Crest Bellingham for $4.5 million on January 21, 2015, according to the Whatcom County Assessor’s website. The properties are at 1251 Lincoln St. and 1617 E. Maple St.

Diedrich said enrollment numbers at Western Washing-ton University and other factors attracted the company to Belling-ham. Western has about 15,000 students, and on-campus housing for 4,000.

“There is just not a lot of space for new development and really no national players in the mar-ket,” he said.

CA Student Living manages apartment buildings in Chicago; Eugene, Oregon; and Tucson, Arizona. Its closest project to Bellingham is an eight-story, 206-unit apartment building across the street from the University of Washington in Seattle.

The project will be similar to the proposed Campus Crest project but some buildings will be reconfigured to better account for topography, Diedrich said. One building on the site will include a commons building in addition to apartments.

Before abandoning the site,

Campus Crest received approval on several building permits from the City of Bellingham. Kathy Bell, City of Bellingham planner, said CA Ventures’ proposed proj-ect is similar enough to Campus Crest’s plans that the firm can begin construction on some parts of the site, including stormwater facilities, without resubmitting permits for the work.

CA Ventures, in partnership with Wanxiang American Real Estate Group— the domestic real estate arm of Chinese auto parts manufacturer Wanxiang Group Inc. — and Core Investments,

acquired six former Campus Crest properties, according to a press release from CA Student Living. The properties are in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Allendale, Michigan; Tempe, Arizona; Sacre-mento, California; Boca Raton, Florida; and Bellingham.

There are multiple projects going on south of Fred Meyer. The CA Student Living housing project is at the northeastern edge of the area between Lincoln Street and Interstate 5.

Adding 640 bedrooms to Bellingham could make a dent in the tight apartment market, said Giovanni Isaksen, CEO of Ashworth Partners, a Bellingham-based real estate consulting firm.

Bellingham’s apartment vacancy rate was 1.3 percent last September, according to a survey by the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington. Washington had an average apartment vacancy rate of 3.5 percent, according to the study. The national apartment vacancy rate was 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.

“If you consider that there are 17,000 full-time students between Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College and Western, 640 is not a huge,” Isaksen said. “But I would expect to see vacancies trend up a little bit.”

National real estate firm revives student apartment project near Fred Meyer


Construction could start this month on 13 buildings with 640 beds for fall 2016

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

The site of CA Student Living’s apartments geared toward students is just west of the future Lincoln Commercial Center, on the west side of Lincoln Creek. OLIVER LAZENBY PHOTO | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL

in Western Washington. Other offices are in Burl-ington, Olympia, Silver-dale, and Bellingham at 2126 E. Bakerview Road. The company’s offices are strategically located, according to its website, and the new office is its closest office to the Seattle area.

The acquisition expand-ed MTC’s services, which range from field inspection to geotechnical laboratory testing, according to a press release from the company.

Harold Benny, Silver-dale office manager, is also managing the new office in Tukwila, according to the

news release.

Wander Brewing doubles its brew-ing ability with new tanks

Less than a year after opening, Wander Brewing doubled its brewing capac-ity with three new brewing tanks.

The brewery, at 1807 Dean Ave. in Bellingham, installed two new 40-bar-rel cellaring tanks and one 40-barrel bright tank, said owner Colleen Kuehl. The tanks will all be used for fermentation. The expan-sion will allow the brewery

to create new recipes and brew larger batches of its core beers.

“We’ve been very happy and we feel very fortunate that we’ve had such an amazing first year. This has kind of always been in our plan,” Kuehl said about the expansion.

Along with the expanded capacity, Wander Brewing is hiring more employees.

The brewery also acquired 2,000 square feet of extra brewing space to use for its 10-month-old Wine Barrel Project, which involves brewing sour beers in wine barrels. The new space is two doors down from the brew hall.

To celebrate its expan-sion and anniversary on

May 2, Wander Brewing is hosting a celebration at its brew hall.

Washington gains 100,000 new jobs

OLYMPIA — Wash-ington gained more than 100,000 new jobs in the past year and most of it was in the private sector, the state’s labor economist said today.

January’s monthly employment report from the state Employment Secu-rity Department estimates employment increased by 100,500 from January 2014 to January 2015, on a not seasonally adjusted basis.

Of those, 89,800 new jobs were created in the

private sector and 10,700 new jobs in the public sec-tor.

“This is another good labor market report,” state labor economist Paul Turek said in a statement. “With more than 100,000 new since January 2014 and continued growth in the labor force, Washington’s economy remains strong.”

The mining and logging industry lost 100 jobs from January 2014 to January this year.

Washington’s unemploy-ment rate for January 2015 was 6.4 percent while the U.S. unemployment rate was 5.7, according to pre-liminary estimates by the Bureau of Labor Statistics released today.

Unemployment in the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area was at 4.6 percent.

The top five industry sectors with the largest employment gains from January 2014 to January 2015 were:

Professional and business services with 17,200 new jobs;

Construction with 17,000 jobs;

Retail trade with 16,200 jobs;

Education and health services with 13,000 new jobs; and

Government with 10,700 new jobs.—Everett Herald Business Journal

BRIEFS, FROM 4

Oliver Lazenby, associate editor of The Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext. 5052, or [email protected].

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Chapters 11,13Chapter 7

BankruptciesFebruary 2015 total: 34 Annual change: �14.70%Includes �lings for Chapters 7, 11 and 13 in Whatcom County

2013 2014 2015

60.0

62.5

65.0

67.5

70.0


Labor force participation rateFebruary 2015: 63.7% February 2014: 63.3 %

Includes non-seasonally adjusted �gures for Washington State

2013 2014 2015

SOURCE: U.S. BANKRUPTCY COURT, WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS SOURCE: WASHINGTON STATE UNEMPLOYMENT SECURITY DEPARTMENT

3%

6%

9%

FJDNOSAJJMAMFJDNOSAJJMAMFJ2013 2014

Unemployment rateFebruary 2015: 7.2% February 2014: 7.5 %

Includes non-seasonally adjusted �gures in Whatcom County

2015

Jobs: Unemployment rate stays flat

0.5M

1M

1.5M

2M

2.5M


Sales-tax distributionFebruary 2015: $2,148,311 Annual change: 4.12%

Includes basic and optional local sales tax to Bellingham

2013 2014 2015

�

$0.0

$0.2

$0.4

$0.6

$0.8

$1.0

$1.2


Canadian dollarFebruary 2015: $0.80 January 2014: $0.90

Includes monthly averages (Canada-to-U.S.) at market closing

2013 2014 2015

SOURCE: WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE SOURCE: BANK OF CANADA SOURCE: CITY OF BELLINGHAM

0

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$10M

$15M

$20M

$25M

$30M


Building-permit valuesFebruary 2015: $9,238,908 February 2014: $13,3883278

2013 2014 2015

Spending: Sales-tax distribution up seasonally

Housing sale pricesAverage: February 2015: $281,600 February 2014: $256,727Median: February 2015: $258,000 February 2014: $222,000

250K

300K

350K

FJDNOSAJJMAMFJDNOSAJJMAMFJ2013 2014

Average price

Median price

2015

100

200

300

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Housing salesClosed, February 2015: 196 Annual change: +29.90 %Pending, Febuary 2015: 319 Annual change: + 38.10 %Includes sales of single-family houses and condos in Whatcom County

Closed salesPending sales

2013 2014 2015

SOURCE: NORTHWEST MULTIPLE LISTINGS SERVICE SOURCE: NORTHWEST MULTIPLE LISTINGS SERVICE SOURCE: CORELOGIC

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JDNOSAJMAMFJDNOSAJJMAMFJ

Foreclosures & delinquenciesDelinquency rate: January 2015: 2.10% January 2014: 3.03%Foreclosure rate: January 2015: 0.75% January 2014: 1.04%

Foreclosure rate

Delinquency rate

2013 2014 2015

Housing: Spring starts early for house sales

0

10K

20K

30K

40K

50K

60K

70K

80K


Airport tra�cFebruary 2015: 37,749 Annual change: -9.11%Includes total enplanements at Bellingham International Airport

2013 2014 20150

1K

2K

3K

4K

5K

FJDNOSAJJMAMFJDNOSAJJMAMFJ2013 2 0 1 4

Cruise terminal tra�cFebruary 2015: 2,275 February 2014: 1,065

Includes inbound and outbound passengers at Bellingham Cruise Terminal

2 0 1 5

SOURCE: PORT OF BELLINGHAM SOURCE: PORT OF BELLINGHAM SOURCE: CASCADE GATEWAY DATA

0

100K

200K

300K

400K

500K

600K

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Border tra�cJanuary 2015: 425,243 Year-over-year: � 3.67%

Includes southbound passenger-vehicle crossings into Whatcom County

2013 2014 2015

Other factors: Airport traffic lags behind 2014

Notes: Graphs include the most recent data available at press time. Annual changes show cumulative difference from the same time period during the previous year. Data include raw numbers only and are not adjusted to account for any seasonal factors.

Market IndicatorsThe Bellingham Business JournalApril 2015 7

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People On The MoveTiger construction hires three

Tiger Construction of Everson recently hired Derek LoPresti, Aaron Wagenaar and Brady Jonas as project managers.

LoPresti will be manag-ing the company’s Ana-cortes and Lynden sewer projects and the Geneva area water main replace-ment.

Wagenaar will be work-ing on the City of Bell-ingham’s Federal Building Renovation.

Jonas is working on proj-ects at Bellingham Techni-cal College and the Port of Bellingham.

Architect honored by American Institute of Architects

Local architect Rick Ben-ner will be honored at the 2015 American Institute of Architects convention in Atlanta this May.

The institute named Ben-ner to its College of Fel-lows, a position awarded to members who have made significant contributions to

architec-ture and society, accord-ing to the institute’s website.

Ben-ner is Western

Washington University’s University Architect. In that role, he has influenced everything from campus planning and budgeting to transportation infrastruc-ture, facility development and development of the campus character, a press release said.

Goering named to Waddell & Reed’s Leadership Council

National financial advis-ing firm Waddell & Reed named Timothy Goering, a regional managing princi-pal in the firm’s Bellingham office, to its Leadership Council.

The firm awards the Leadership Council desig-nation to its top eight man-aging principals nation-wide, based on investment

and sales generated in the previous year and other cri-teria. The company has more than 160 offices and was founded in 1937.

This is the fourth time that Goering has earned Leadership Council status. The council meets peri-odically with firm man-agement and advisors to discuss goals, management issues, products and client services.

Goering joined Waddell & Reed in 1995.

Semiahmoo hires VanZanten

Semiahmoo Resort Golf and Spa hired Megan Van-Zanten as its new catering and convention services manager. VanZanten is in charge of new and existing catering accounts, main-taining strong relationships

Rick Benner

Timothy Goering

People, PAGE 9

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New downtown office part of multiphase project

Plan includes replac-ing houses on North Forest Street with mixed-use buildings

The two-story brick building that went up over the winter at 310 E. Magnolia St., next to Schweinhaus Biergarten, is nearing completion. Michael Schacht, founder of Schacht Law, plans to move his law office in once the building is completed in May, he said.

Schacht owns the site and his mas-ter plan for it includes moving the two houses on the lot, which are on North Forest Street, southeast of the new build-ing, to construct two mixed-use build-ings with storefronts at street level and apartments above.

Schacht said the future buildings will be similar to the one that’s under con-struction now, and his goal is to match the look of other downtown buildings.

Schacht Law will move from its office at 2801 Meridian St., into the top floor of the building. The building has extra space to accommodate a tenant or future growth for the law firm.

Schacht Law’s new office building at 310 E. Magnolia St. OLIVER LAZENBY PHOTO | THE BBJ


with custom-ers and facilitat-ing event planning and prep-aration, according to a news

release.Most recently, Van-

Zanten worked for two years as the catering event manager for Aztec Shops, a nonprofit dining service for San Diego State University. She has also worked as ser-vice manager for Sodexo, an international catering, food service and facilities management corporation.

Cruikshank joins Skagit Bank as vice president

John Cruikshank joined Skagit Bank as vice presi-dent and commercial loan officer in February. Crui-kshank is part of the bank’s business banking team and will work at the downtown Bellingham office at 128 E. Holly St.

Cruikshank has 25 years of banking experience in Whatcom County. He

spent the last three years as a commercial loan officer at Whidbey Island Bank. Before that, he was senior vice president and manager of the Bellingham branch of Business Bank.

Cruikshank said his main attraction to Skagit Bank is that it feels like a “true community bank with a great hometown feel.”

Occhiogrosso named to regional chamber leadership council

The Western Associa-tion of Chamber Execu-tives named Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce President Guy Occhiogrosso to its Emerg-ing Leaders Advisory Council.

Council members give ideas and program feed-back to the Western Asso-ciation of Chamber Execu-tives, and advise its board and president. The group is an association of chamber of commerce executives and staff members in 20 western states and Canada. Its mission is to enhance development of chamber staff.

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Inslee’s bill, HB 1645, originally proposed a 95 percent tax on all vapor products — the same rate applied to tobacco prod-ucts. In late March, a new bill proposed a 60 percent tax on the products.

Mount Baker Vapor representatives said even a 60 percent tax would force them to move out of state, since they compete with businesses across the U.S., and currently only Min-nesota and North Carolina impose an excise tax on vapor products.

Michael Sullivan, Mount Baker Vapor’s marketing director, started smoking when he was 15 years old. He kicked the habit at 25 by switching to e-cigarettes, he said, before taking a drag from his e-cigarette.

As he inhales from the rectangular black personal device, a heating coil heats nicotine-infused liquid to its boiling point, vaporizing the liquid drawn into Sul-livan’s lungs.

Sullivan is sitting on a couch at Mount Baker Vapor’s retail location on the Guide Meridian in Lynden. The staff said the store helps the company

be part of the community, and they enjoy interacting with customers. But the main part of the business is manufacturing and distrib-uting nicotine juice, which users load into their refill-able e-cigarette, or personal vaporizer. Mount Baker

Vapor is one of the larger online distributors of nico-tine juice in the state.

The company’s employ-ees are all paid more than minimum wage, and full-time workers get benefits including health insurance and 401(k) options, Sul-

livan said. He blows out a cloud of

vapor, which smells faintly of his favorite flavor — Vanishing Oatmeal Treats — before it dissipates. For Sullivan, vaping mimics the feel of smoking. It delivers nicotine to the bloodstream without the harmful effects of tobacco smoke.

By vaporizing nicotine infused liquid, Sullivan doesn’t inhale arsenic, tar, benzene or other products of tobacco combustion. He’s

tapering off the amount of nicotine he’s ingesting. When he started vaping, he used nicotine juice with 24 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter of liquid. Now he’s down to 9 milligrams per milliliter.

Though he agrees that e-cigarettes could be a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes for adults, Jason McGill, one of Inslee’s health policy advisors, is alarmed by how many kids who have never smoked

cigarettes are trying e-ciga-rettes, he said.

Nicotine is both addic-tive and toxic, and Inslee’s health policy team thinks the products, which come in flavors including zebra stripe gum and cotton candy, are too attractive to kids.

“We will have this whole new generation of people who will be addicted to nicotine,” McGill said “We’re doing this is to pre-vent youth access to this innovative, sexy product marketed to kids.”

Washington state’s 2014 Healthy Youth Survey found that 18 percent of 10th graders had tried e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. That’s up 14 percent from 2012, when 4 percent had tried e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. The sur-vey didn’t collect data on whether teens who used e-cigarettes had previously used cigarettes, but a 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention found that more than a quarter-million youth who had previously never smoked tried e-ciga-rettes in 2013.

Traditional cigarette use is dropping, even in teen-agers. Between 2012 and 2014, the percentage of 10th graders who smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days fell from 9.5 percent to 7.9 percent, a drop that McGill doesn’t think cor-responds to the increase in 10th graders using e-cigarettes.

“I don’t think that is related at all,” he said. “For e-cigs you have an immense jump. It is not a one-to-one correlation.”

Health risksResearch conclusions on

the dangers of e-cigarettes vary. A puff of e-cigarette

Austin Masters, right, owner of Masters of Vapour, talks with a customer in his retail vaping shop at 206 W. Magnolia St. in Bellingham. Masters opened the shop in June 2014. OLIVER LAZENBY PHOTO | THE BELLINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL

VAPOR, FROM 1

Vapor, PAGE 12

The Port is nearing an agree-ment with Ireland-based Har-court Developments to develop a new commercial and residen-tial area on 19 acres of Belling-ham’s downtown waterfront, on land which was once part Georgia-Pacific’s pulp and tis-sue mill. The opportunity to reenergize Bellingham’s waterfront econo-my was one of the primary rea-sons the Port acquired Georgia-Pacific’s pulp and tissue mill in 2005. After years of visioning and planning, an agreement with Harcourt would set a timeline for a significant infu-sion of public and private capi-tal. Under the terms of the pro-posed Master Development Agreement, Harcourt will complete two major build-ing projects on the downtown waterfront by 2021. Harcourt will adaptively reuse the 45,000 square foot Granary Building by 2019, and complete con-struction of a second building with a minimum of 40,000 square feet of mixed-use space by the end of 2021. Develop-ment of the first two buildings might occur faster, but no later than the deadlines specified in the agreement. The Granary Building, built in 1928, is located at the entrance to the downtown waterfront redevelopment area and is dis-tinguished by an iconic cupola structure. The City of Bellingham will build new roads and parks for the public to access the down-town waterfront beginning in 2016. Public and private investment

into Bellingham’s central water-front will create new amenities to enhance the economy and livability of the surrounding areas. The Central Business District’s largest untapped asset is arguably connectivity to a waterfront which has historical-ly been off limits. New water-front residential opportunities will provide easy access to downtown Bellingham’s emerg-ing arts district which includes

the Lightcatcher museum, the Pickford art-house cinema, and the refurbished historic Mount Baker Theatre.In total, Harcourt would develop 1,000,000 square feet of mixed-use buildings by 2034. The Port can terminate the Master Development Agree-ment if certain performance

standards are not met, however extensions will be granted to accommodate fluctuations in market conditions. The Port and City’s Master Plan for the downtown waterfront calls for the total development of 33-acres of new waterfront parks and trails which will attract new residents, visitors, and tourists to the benefit of downtown businesses.Harcourt has developed a wide range of international projects including offices, retail, hotels, and residential; and has expe-rience working on city-center waterfront redevelopment proj-ects. Harcourt’s highest-profile project is the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland – a large scale commercial and res-idential development centered on a Titanic museum, on the site of the shipyard where the ill-fated ocean liner was built. Titanic Quarter is one of the world’s largest urban-waterfront regeneration projects.

Bellingham's waterfront visions & plans comes to fruitionPORTPORTPORT NEWSNEWSNEWS

April 2015

PORT OF BELLINGHAMCONTACT:Port Administrative Offices360-676-2500

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vapor contains 1 percent of the cancer-causing free radicals found in a puff of cigarette smoke, a study by the John Hopkins Bloom-berg School of Public Health found. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that e-cig-arette vapor can contain more formaldehyde — a known carcinogen — than cigarettes when vaporized at high temperature.

Professor Michael Siegel at the Boston University School of Public Health, did his own analysis and

wrote in the Wall Street Journal that formaldehyde could only be produced when the nicotine was overheated, and he couldn’t detect formaldehyde under normal use.

A University of Wash-ington report titled “E-cig-arettes: evidence and policy options for Washington State,” summarizes the research this way: “E-cig-arettes, then, exist on a continuum of risk; relative to conventional cigarettes, they are almost undoubt-edly safer because there is no combustion that occurs. However, it is too soon to declare them safe, and we

do not yet know enough about whether their use will produce widespread population-health effects, either positive or negative.”

The report goes on to say that “In medicine and pub-lic health, risk from phar-maceuticals and related products can be viewed in absolute terms, or as rela-tive to other, more harmful products.”

Or, as Kenny Davis of Mount Baker Vapor said, Inslee and his health policy advisors want to compare the use of e-cigarettes to breathing air, but he com-pares e-cigarettes to tradi-tional cigarettes.

Unintended conse-quences

Davis and Inslee have one shared goal—They both want to get people, especially teenagers, off cigarettes. But they disagree on the role e-cigarettes can play in reaching that goal.

Davis, the chief of gov-ernment affairs at Mount Baker Vapor, thinks Inslee’s bill will have the unintend-ed consequence of driving adults away from vaping and back to traditional cigarettes.

As a child, Davis watched his grandfather die from emphysema. His mom

also smoked, quit for 14 years, and then started again. Davis has a 5-year-old daughter, and he told his mom that he wouldn’t bring her over to her house and risk exposing her to second hand smoke. So he helped his mom find an e-cigarette alternative that she liked, and now she no longer smokes cigarettes.

“She wanted to quit forever, but cigarettes just have that hold on you that doesn’t let go,” Davis said. “I believe in the industry and that’s why I’m in it. I believe that we are trying everything in our power to make a difference.”

Mount Baker Vapor and other vape shops run promotions where smokers can get free or discounted products by throwing away a pack of cigarettes.

Davis thinks e-cigarettes and vaporized nicotine products are a healthy alternative to cigarettes and have been more effective at getting smokers to quit cigarettes than nicotine patches or other stop-smoking aids.

“The problem is if you make us cost the same, what’s to deter people from cigarettes?” Davis said. “Your highest smoking population in the U.S. is the under $20,000 a year income bracket. They’re making a switch because its cheaper.”

The governor’s economic analysis shows that even if vaping products are taxed they’ll still be a bargain compared to cigarettes, McGill, the health policy advisor said.

Comparing the cost of e-cigarettes to traditional cigarettes is difficult. When not on sale, 15 milliliter bottles of liquid nicotinr, or e-juice cost between $6.99 and $24.99 at Mount Baker Vapor, and last most users one-and-a-half to two weeks, Davis said. E-juice comes in strengths rang-ing from 24 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter to 0 milligrams per liter. One cigarette contains about 1 milligram of absorbable nicotine, according to a University of Washington fact sheet on nicotine.

At that rate, vaping is much cheaper than ciga-rettes, which cost nearly $10 per pack of 20. But there are other variables, Davis said. For example, studies suggest that other chemicals in cigarettes can enhance the effects of

VAPOR, FROM 10

Vapor, PAGE 22

“The problem is if you make us cost the same, what’s to deter people from cigarettes?”

KENNY DAVISCHIEF OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRSMOUNT BAKER VAPOR

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Destination Marketing Hits the Trade Show TrailLast week Mike Mors, Member

Services Manager for Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism, and I did a recap of our first quarter trade show participation and proceeded to update the calendar for the rest of the year. We were both shocked when the spreadsheet expanded into a second page!

There are several traditional leisure travel shows that the tourism bureau has attended for years. And every year we add one or two more until they, too, become a regular part of our marketing strategy.

The number of consumer marketing events on our calendar has grown to include broad-based destination travel and recreation trade shows, along with events that showcase niche markets like water sports, golf, and military travel. In an age of increasingly technology-based communication, it appears there continues to be a significant (and growing) market for face-to-face conversation.

During the first quarter of 2015, BWCT had a promotional presence at the NY Times Travel & Adventure Show, Vancouver Golf & Travel Show, The LA Times Travel Show, Seattle Golf & Travel Show, Seattle Bike Expo, Two Nation Vacation in Portland and Seattle, The Great Outdoor Adventure Show in Vancouver, The Vancouver Bike Show, NW Recreation Expo, Spring Business Showcase, and the Zoomer Show in Vancouver.

These 1-4 day events put the tourism bureau and our partners face-to-face with hundreds of thousands of people who have been to Whatcom County in the past and who might need a reminder about the great things to do and see in order to prompt their next return visit.

They also provide BWCT a cost-effective opportunity to introduce Bellingham and surrounding Whatcom County to those attendees who have little or no familiarity with our destination.

How do we know it’s a good investment of our time and resources? Analytics of course.

Each trade show is immediately followed by a “spike” in online traffic and information requests from that show’s host city and surrounding region. For example, last year, we participated in a Bay Area travel show for the first time. Targeted ad placement and media relations support was scheduled to coincide with the trade show exposure. The next month (and for several months afterward) San Francisco rose to the top 5 in our online feeder market.

Hundreds of attendees at each show “opt-in” to our monthly e-newsletter, The Traveler, which showcases attractions, events, activities and what’s new in and around Bellingham. The open rate of our e-newsletters continues to hover around 25-27% -- an astonishingly high rate – with very few un-subscribers.

We could not participate in all of these trade shows without the cooperation of our business and hospitality partners. They help off-set the booth expenses, provide getaway packages and door prizes to entice attendees to our booth, and send their own staff to help us work the booth. We are extremely grateful for their support.

Although first quarter is the

busiest portion of our trade show calendar, we have several more between now and the end of the

year – including an Outdoor Adventure Expo at Whidbey Island Naval Base, a Military Travel Fair in Tacoma, an H20 Adventure Show in Seattle, Here & There Travel Show in Portland, and the West Coast Women’s Show in Abbotsford.

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YOUR MONEY MATTERS

Tax season is in full swing and if you are like most people, once your returns are submitted, you can’t wait to be done. This year, however, I encourage you to take a step back and do something great for your financial future: plan ahead. By taking just a few minutes to review your form 1040, you can build a plan that could significantly ease your tax burden in the future. Your review can be as simple as this:

What is your taxable income? The amount of federal income tax you pay is based on

your taxable income – line 43 of the 1040. Examine line 43 to determine your taxable income.

What is your Marginal Tax Bracket? Review the federal tax brackets and determine what

marginal tax bracket you are in. Also examine where you fall within the range (are you at the higher end of the bracket, lower end, or somewhere in the middle?) It is important to understand that tax brackets are progressive. This means you pay a higher tax rate on each additional dollar of taxable income as you bump into higher marginal tax brackets.

How does your current marginal tax bracket com-pare to your future marginal tax bracket?

We can’t predict the future, but we can make an educat-ed guess as to our current tax bracket relative to the future. If I am just starting my career, for instance, I may assume I am in a lower tax bracket now than I will be during my peak earning years. If I am in my peak earning years, my tax bracket may drop once I decide to retire. If I own investment properties, the income may currently be offset by depreciation and other deductions, resulting in a lower tax bracket, but I can predict that future rents may be higher and the deductions will be gone, forcing me into a

higher tax bracket. Analyzing our current situation relative to the future allows us to build a plan around when we should pay tax.

Where to save?One of the best ways to control

your tax bracket is to take advan-tage of the tax incentives provided by the government for retirement savings. Qualified retirement plans all have the benefit of tax-deferral (income generated annu-ally through dividends, interest, and gains is not taxed annually), but some offer an immediate tax deduction. Qualified Retire-ment Plan accounts that offer an immediate tax deduction we call “tax-deferred” and those that don’t we call “tax-free”. Contribu-

tions to tax-free accounts are made after you pay tax on the income, but are withdrawn tax free later as long as you make a qualified distribution. Withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts will show up as ordinary income in the year in which they are withdrawn. Tax-deferred accounts include traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, deferred com-pensation plans, simple IRAs, SEP IRAs and solo 401(k)s. Tax-free accounts include roth IRAs, roth 401(k)s and roth 403(b)s.

Once you know your taxable income, marginal bracket, and have estimated future tax brackets, you can use your knowledge of qualified retirement accounts to control your future tax brackets.

For example, if I am a single filer and my 2014 tax return reveals I have a taxable income of $50,000 I would be in the 25 percent marginal tax bracket. If I believe I will

be in the 15 percent marginal tax bracket in retirement and I have $18,000 to save in 2015, I may want to save my first $12,550 in a tax-deferred account like a 401(k) that avoids current income tax and the remaining $5,450 in tax-free account (Roth) that I pay tax on now, but will grow tax free. The end result would be dropping my tax-able income to $37,450, thus putting me in the 15 percent bracket and saving $3,137.50 in current year taxes. By saving in both tax-deferred and tax-free accounts I create tax diversification which will open the door for additional withdrawal strategies in retirement.

Where to withdraw?What if I am a single retiree and I need $50,000 a year of

inflow to maintain a comfortable retirement? In that case I might withdraw the first $36,000 from a tax-deferred account that shows up as ordinary income and the remain-ing from a source that won’t generate any income tax like a bank account or tax-free account. This strategy results in keeping me in the 15 percent marginal tax bracket and avoids spiking income into the 25 percent marginal tax bracket, reducing current year taxes by $3,137.50.

By understanding your current tax situation and just a few tax basics, you can make informed decisions regarding where to save or withdraw assets in a way that enables you to keep more of your hard earned money.

How to use investment accounts to control your taxes

W. Devin Wolf

On Financial Planning

W. Devin Wolf is the chief investment officer and leads the 401(k) branch at Financial Plan Inc. He partners with business owners, CEOs and executives to create comprehensive financial solutions. Learn more at www.financialplaninc.com

Find more tax season financial advice and review the federal tax brackets online at

www.bbjtoday.com

By Alex PetersonIn a community as diverse as Whatcom

County, there is always a need for good leaders. Leadership Whatcom is designed to prepare those leaders, who will help shape the growth and change in the county in the coming years.

“The unique quality of life we enjoy in Bellingham and Whatcom County is a result of strong leaders and responsible citizens,” said Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Guy Occhiogrosso. “Leadership Whatcom is a program offered by the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber that presents a rare op-portunity for individuals to develop their leadership strengths, gain direct access to local movers and shakers, and defi ne their roles as true stewards of our community.”

Occhiogrosso and Mary Dumas, president of Dumas and Associates, have developed this year’s program for Leader-ship Whatcom. The program helps teach two key elements of leadership: learning about the key issues facing our commu-nity and listening to everyone’s ideas and perspectives.

“I believe a good leader is someone who is informed and someone who can con-sider varying perspectives,” Occhiogrosso said. “Leadership Whatcom’s curriculum informs participants about the issues and teaches soft skills like listening.”

Leadership Whatcom is entering its 10th year as the county’s leadership program and is accepting applications until April 20. The nine-month program begins April 24.

The class size is 12-24. Those students will have an experiential learning process involving panels of local experts on topics including economic vitality, government and education, and meeting basic needs of the community.

Class visits to local businesses and organizations help participants understand how the community works and allows them to have discussions with other com-munity leaders about the issues they face. During the government and education ses-sion, participants meet with local and state policy-makers to gain a better understand-ing of how government works.

Another benefi t to the course is the varying leadership styles participants are exposed to.

“Leadership Whatcom provides people an opportunity to build their skills in the company of other professionals and com-munity members who may have different perspectives and experiences, which cre-ates a very rich environment for learning,” Dumas said.

“This year, we’ll do more to include the program’s alumni,” said Occhiogrosso.

“The Chamber engaged alumni, spon-sors and leadership curriculum profession-als in focus groups over the winter, and we are excited to roll out a revamped program that offers participants and alumni several opportunities to apply their talents in a range of service projects and community conversations throughout the program

year,” Occhiogrosso said.There are almost 150 Leadership

Whatcom alumni from the previous nine years per Occhiogrosso. “The goal is to involve our alumni in building the content for each subject,” he said. “It allows them to put into practice the skills they learned when they took part in the program.” This includes assisting in the facilitation of programs and sharing their experiences to give students real-world applications of the material they are learning.

The chamber will also offer Leadership Whatcom alumni exclusive educational opportunities and networking events so they may continue their professional development.

“Leadership Whatcom is a continuing experience of learning and service through supporting robust thinking about impor-tant community issues and the leadership qualities needed for the future,” Dumas said. “As adults our learning is never complete and this provides an ongoing environment to practice and showcase our skills.”

So why is the chamber involved in de-veloping new generations of leaders?

“Chambers have always been about relationships,” he said. “Over the past 30 years our society has called this network-ing, but when you boil it down, it’s build-ing relationships. That’s why the Chamber is involved, because it’s important to facilitate those healthy relationships.”

By helping develop leaders, the chamber brings a community of different people and perspectives together.

“Few community organizations interact with government leaders, nonprofi t lead-ers and business leaders,” Occhiogrosso said. “There are only a few of us that can facilitate this type of discussion among those different types of people. We do this all the time in our regular programming, so it’s a natural fi t to house a leadership program in the chamber.”

The sessions are a commitment of one day each month, with no sessions in July or August. Program participants need the full work day dedicated to Leadership Whatcom so they can take trips, meet with expert panels and hold group discussions.

Tuition for Leadership Whatcom covers transportation, food and facilitating and curriculum costs. The cost for chamber members is $1,000 and $1,200 for non-members. Payment is due to the chamber by the April 20 registration deadline.

A big part of being a leader in What-com County is learning more about the community and how it works together. Leadership Whatcom gives that continued education and opportunity for making your voice heard.

“Seize the moment,” Dumas said. “There’s no better time to step into new leadership and expand your network. In this, our 10th year of Leadership What-com, we’re bringing the best of our leadership studies and our alumni together throughout the year and we hope you’ll join us.”

Leadership Whatcom: Developing our future leaders

R E P O R TWH TCOMBellingham / Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry : Representing Businesses Across Whatcom County

The 2012 class of Leadership Whatcom toured of the former Georgia Pacifi c site. This year’s program will also include site visits.

Leadership Whatcom met with Representative Vin-cent Buys, Senator Doug Erickson and Representa-tive Jason Overstreet in a 2013 trip to the state capi-tol in Olympia. Program participants can expect to meet with state and local political leaders.


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Business Toolkit

Taming the email beast frees up more time for marketingA business peer recently

mentioned that they receive more than a hundred emails a day and that they hit the delete button on most of them.

Some of the emails came from blogs they subscribed to a few years ago and the content is no longer valu-able so they don’t make the time to read it. Delete.

Another set came from networking contacts who added them to email news-letters without permis-sion and they don’t want to offend that contact by unsubscribing from their emails. Delete.

Purchasing products online using a work email address (instead of a per-sonal email address) led to even more emails. Now sales-related emails show up all the time from those merchants and other com-panies they didn’t even buy from. Delete, delete, delete.

Everyday it’s a process of receive, scan, delete and

repeat—this will sound familiar to many of you.

Sorting through unwant-ed emails is a huge time waster, even if you’re just scanning the sender’s name, email subject line and then hitting the delete button. It’s a task that distracts or delays company owners, managers and employees from taking care of mean-ingful activities every day.

Recapture valuable time by taming your email inbox

Say it takes about 30 minutes to filter through and delete a hundred emails every week day—that’s two and a half hours every week or 10 hours per month that could be spent on more productive tasks. Stop and think about that. There is an opportunity to re-capture approximately 10 hours of time each month by simply taming your email inbox.

You may be surprised to hear this advice from me, as a person who encourages small business owners to use digital media, blogging and email marketing to reach their target audi-ences, but here goes. I’m suggesting that you work to clean up your inbox by turning off redundant social media notifications and unsubscribing from newsletters, blogs and mar-keting emails you no longer find value in.

The goal is to decrease distractions, increase effi-ciency and reclaim extra time in your week for pro-ductive tasks, like business development and market-ing for example.

Here are three simple tips for taming your inbox:1. Unsubscribe

Unsubscribe from all email newsletters and blog articles you rarely read. Be honest with yourself—do you ever read the infor-

mation or do you always intend to but never get around to it? Scroll to the bottom of each newslet-ter/blog email and click “Unsubscribe.” 2. Separate business from personal

Turn off all email noti-fications from retail stores you buy from online, or have those emails sent to a personal email account instead of your business email account. Scroll to the bottom of each email to look for an “Unsubscribe” option or log into your account with those mer-chants and change contact preferences in your user profile. Also uncheck any boxes that give permission for the merchant’s third party friends to send you emails.3. Adjust social media set-tings

Adjust notification set-tings on social media profiles. Stop receiving an

email every time someone likes a photo or favorites a tweet—check out “Settings” and “Email Notifications” on your social sites. Turn-ing off email notifications does not mean you won’t know when activity hap-pens on your account (you’ll still see notification flags or icons each time you log onto those social sites),

it just means you won’t receive an email telling you there was activity on the profile.

Over the course of a month, using these three simple tips will greatly reduce the number of unwanted emails received at work so you can be more focused on productive tasks.

So, what will you do with 10 more hours each month? How about attend-ing networking events, writing blog articles for your company website, making sales calls or even interacting with consumers on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. The options are limitless and the choice is yours.

Patti Rowlson

On Social Media &

Marketing

Patti Rowlson is a marketing consultant and social media manager at PR Consulting, Inc. Learn more about small-business marketing by visiting www.pattirowlson.com.

It’s your Money!Workman’s Comp refund programs return

thousands of $$$ to local businesses

biawc.com 1650 Baker Creek Place, Bellingham, WA 98226 360-671-4247

April 2015By the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County

What does this mean for businesses enrolled in the ROII Select® program?

• Construction risk classes carry the highest hourly L&I rates – lower your costs & be more competitive.

• Leverage improvements in workplace safety through a performance-based refund model.

• Participate in a full suite of program benefits to help you maximize your return.

• Improve the quality of your workforce through better hiring practices.• Receive professional claim assistance, loss control and safety services to

get injured workers back on the job – the number one priority!

R.O.I.I. Select® program participants have access to safety services, such as safety program development, jobsite safety workshops, on-site safety consultations, on-site compliance inspection assistance, and scattered-site safety and code update classes.

What does this mean for customers of retro participating construction companies?

• Lower cost of services to customers resulting from contractors achieving lower premium costs attributed to their safety practices.

• Peace of mind knowing their contractors are licensed and bonded (participants must be registered and in good standing with L&I).

• Proven commitment to work place safety – good for all parties involved.

It’s your money! How do you get involved?You can participate in a Retro program as an individual employer or as part

of an association-sponsored group. To find a group that meets your needs, visit the L&I website (www.lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/Insurance/Reduce/Qualify/MemberAssoc/default.asp) to find out which Industry Category your business falls within. An L&I Retro representative can help tailor a Retro plan just for you. Your representative will offer tools to make your workplace safer and help you understand what drives up your rates, and how to keep your costs down.

To join the Building Industry Association of Washington’s R.O.I.I.® Select Program, visit www.biaw.com/ROII_Overview.aspx. After approval by BIAW and L&I, your business will become an R.O.I.I.® Select member for the upcoming plan year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year.

What are these ‘Retrospective Rating’ Programs?The Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) retrospective rating

programs (retro) allow employers the opportunity to earn some of their workman’s compensation premiums back. If your premiums exceed your claims, you may be able to collect a refund.

There are 33 Retro programs in the State of Washington specializing in 14 industry categories for services ranging from manufacturing to health care to retail and wholesale stores. Eight retro programs are specifically for building or construction related services. The Building Industry Association of Whatcom County (BIAWC) encourages business owners to consider joining one of the many retro programs offered in Washington. It’s your money!

In 2014, the BIAWC returned more than $700,000 to Whatcom County businesses enrolled in the Return On Industrial Insurance (R.O.I.I.)® program. The Building Industry Association of Washington’s (BIAW) R.O.I.I. ® program began in 1982, and currently involves over 4,100 member companies that pay over $100 million per year in L&I premiums. This is the largest premium base of any Retro program in Washington. As one of the largest and oldest retro groups in the state, the R.O.I.I.® program has returned more than $400 million in refunds to participating construction-related companies. Last year, R.O.I.I.® Select earned the highest refund percentage (45 percent!) of all construction-related retro programs. This is the highest first adjustment refund in the R.O.I.I.® program’s 33-year history.

Workman’s compensation insurance coverage is monopolized in Washington. There is no competitive “market” for this coverage because it is not allowed to be sold through the private sector. Only four states: Ohio, North Dakota, Wyoming and Washington administer their own workman’s compensation insurance programs.

Retrospective Rating (Retro) is a safety incentive program offered by The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). In Retro, you can earn a partial refund of your workers’ compensation premiums if you reduce workplace injuries and lower associated claim costs. Any employer with an industrial insurance account in good standing can participate – either as an individual business or in a Retro group.

Any time an employee is injured, it costs the company. The loss can be in production, hiring and training a replacement, rescheduling work or the loss of aproject or job. Plus, the injury can cause your workers' compensation premium rates to go up. In Retro, you have an opportunity to turn your good safety performance into a refund from L&I by preventing injuries and controlling losses.

For more information on the R.O.I.I.® Select Program, e-mail BIAWC’s Executive Officer, Brian A. Evans, ([email protected]) or call the BIAWC office (360-671-4247).

BIAWC retro program member and family enjoying the annual ROII Select® refund barbeque and celebration in June.


Public Records

BUSINESS LICENSESListings, which feature both new and renewed licenses in Bellingham, include business name, licensee name and the business’ physical address. Records are obtained from the City of Bellingham. 109 34th St. Llc, 109 34th St. Llc, 2616 walnut St., Bellingham, WA 98225.2608 walnut St. Llc, 2608 walnut St. Llc, 2616 walnut St., Bellingham, WA 98225.2731 walnut St. Llc, 2731 walnut St. Llc, 2616 walnut St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Aegis Windows L.L.C., Aegis Windows L.L.C., 3446 Cottonwood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Aesthetic Lawn & Landscape, A New Horizon Lawn & Garden Llc, Po Box 1322, Bellingham, WA 98229.Affordable Fountain Llc, Affordable Fountain Llc, 2633 Goshen Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.Allison-Writes, Allison Snow Roberts, 1229 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Arcus Technical, Llc, Arcus Technical, Llc, 2642 Mcleod Rd., Bellingham, WA 98225.Ascia’s Defiance, Chris Glynn Runnels, 3700 Alabama St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Aurora Harbor, Inc., Aurora Harbor, Inc, 60 N Point Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229.Avian Zeppelin Embroidery, Emileigh Kinnear, 1320 Lakeway Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229.Bellingham It, Josh Charran Davis, 200 E Maple St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Bellingham Truck Wash, Llc, Bellingham Truck Wash, Llc, 3463 Cedarville Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.Blake Van Roekel, Blake Van Roekel, 675 N Lake Samish Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229.Body Rejuvenation, Vanessa Justine Haycock, 1116 Key St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Brewster Design Build, Matthew Winthrop Brewster, 114 W Magnolia St Ste 505, Bellingham, WA 98225.Bulls Eye Construction, Bulls Eye Construction Inc., 3641 E Rusley Dr., Bellingham, WA 98225.Burleson Creations, Josh Jay Burleson, 800 High St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Caliber Home Loans, Inc, Caliber Home Loans, Inc, 11241 Slater Ave Ne Ste 100, Bellingham, WA 98226.Carol Sheppard Photography, Carol Susan Sheppard, 1381 N Parkstone Ct., Bellingham, WA 98229.Casstown Photography, Cassie Ann Atkinson, 2812 Erie St., Bellingham, WA 98226.Chatoyancy, Jordan Louise Langen, 2412 Cherry St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Chickaroonie, Llc, Chickaroonie, Llc, Po Box 32386, Bellingham, WA 98226.Chinle Properties, Llc Chinle Properties, Llc 2616 walnut St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chipotle Services, Llc, 1401 Wynkoop St Ste 500, Bellingham, WA 98226.Christine Marie Carson, Christine Marie Carson, 1629 Fruitland Dr., Bellingham, WA 98226.Climax Film, Aleksandr Kuksenko, 1958 Eaton Ave., Bellingham, WA 98229.Darren C Clark Insurance Agency Inc., Darren C Clark Insurance Agency Inc., 814 E Douglas Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Deep Blu Therapeutic Massage, Deep Blu Northwest, Llc, 1612 Wilson Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Discovery Counseling & Consulting, Inc., Discovery Counseling & Consulting, Inc., 192 E Bakerview Rd, Bellingham, WA 98226.Discovery Eccf Llc, Discovery Eccf Llc, 2623 S Harbor Loop Dr., Bellingham, WA 98225.Donald W Grandy, Donald W Grandy, 4949 Samish Way, Bellingham, WA 98229.DSW Shoe Warehouse #29541, Dsw Shoe Warehouse, Inc., 810 Dsw Dr Bellingham, WA 98226.Dynasty International Llc., Dynasty International Llc., 3123 Brandywine Ct., Bellingham, WA 98226.Eco-Friendly Gardens For Families In Need, City Of Lost Satellites Landscaping, 3317 Alderwood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Ecodomestic, Amanda R Poole, 4550 Rural Ave., Bellingham, WA 98226.

Eevee Evolutions, Alycia Anna Ulyshen, 439 31st St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Eli’s Premium Tackle, Eli Rene Michael, 1400 Moore St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Elysium, Joseph Steven Hackler, 3856 Magrath Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.Embarking The Pet Dog, Amber Lyn Todd, 294 Sudden Valley Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229.Erica Kulm, Erica L Kulm, 22 Creekside Ln., Bellingham, WA 98229.Floare La Mare, Liubovi Boyko, 3017 Haxton Way, Bellingham, WA 98226.Freedom Entertainment, James Wade, Po Box 3004, Bellingham, WA 98226.FSB Consulting, Fredric S Berman, 3354 Bellevue Pl., Bellingham, WA 98226.Fused Glass and More by Linda Lane, Linda Louise Lane, 5868 Salakanum Way, Bellingham, WA 98226.Garcia Mowing Services, Garcia Elias Cruz, 5362 Northwest Dr # 40, Bellingham, WA 98226.Geo Sales Consulting, Gerald Edward O’connor, 3488 Mt Baker Hwy., Bellingham, WA 98226.Glacierscapes Llc, Glacierscapes Llc, Po Box 30558, Bellingham, WA 98226.Go Grill, L.E.G. Prosper Corp., 3432 Ruth Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.Gracious Living Adult Family Home , Gracious Living Adult Family Home , 702 Kentucky St # 223, Bellingham, WA 98229.Handy Woman Services, Austin Papritz, 515 Fern Rd., Bellingham, WA 98225.Hannah Zoe Enterprises, Hannah Zoe Knechtel, 1461 Humboldt St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Hanuman Corp, Hanuman Corp., 1466 Electric Ave., Bellingham, WA 98229.Happy Heart Gallery, Lauren K Ponder, 1503 Lincoln St. Apt 103, Bellingham, WA 98229.Health And Exercise Prescriptions, Jaime Joe Hernandez, 2006 J St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Hunt And Gather, Tara Bock, Po Box 142, Bellingham, WA 98225.Hyperdynamic Llc, Hyperdynamic Llc, 515 W Bakerview Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.Intuito Websites Llc, Intuito Websites Llc, 1135 Ellis St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Itek Energy Solar Testing Project Llc, Itek Energy Solar Testing Project Llc, 3886 Hammer Dr., Bellingham, WA 98226.J. J. Gauthier, Judith Jean Gauthier, 2331 Fir St., Bellingham, WA 98229.J.A. Carson Unlimited, Jeffery A Carson, 1221 Harris Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.J’star Combat Sport Entertainment & Boxers Career Service, Delano Ricardo Young, 4028 Academy St., Bellingham, WA 98226.Jacey Murphy, Jacey Mae Murphy, 6824 Vail Dr., Bellingham, WA 98225.Jacob Jans, Jacob Jans, 2508 Park St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Jason Wood, Jason Jullian Wood, Bellingham, WA 98229.Jessica Ardern-Wilson, Nd, Jessica Ardern-Wilson, 1313 E Maple St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Jh Social Media, oshua David Hale, 128 Crestline Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229.Josh Shupack, Josh Shupack, 3021 Racine St., Bellingham, WA 98226.Jrg Distributing, Jrg Distributing Llc, 1321 King St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Kandl Productions, Kory Heptner, 13 Rocky Ridge Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229.Kathryn Martin, Kathryn Martin, 4168 Aldrich Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.Katia’s Cleaning Services, Rosman Puerto, 500 Sterling Dr Apt 102, Bellingham, WA 98226.Knik Knack Stitching, Julia Rosalie Nelson, 3150 W Maplewood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Kyle Harris, Kyle Harris, 1500 W North St., Bellingham, WA 98225.La Sirene, La Sirene Llc, 2211 Iron St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Lab Connection Us, Peter Antons, 1971 MidWay Ln, Bellingham, WA 98226.

Lee Lee’s Boutique, Phuong T Le, 1326 King St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Lindsay Mcdevitt, Legal Nurse Consultant, Lindsay Mcdevitt, 4200 Alice St., Bellingham, WA 98226.Linville Construction, Nathan Paul Linville, Po Box 29153, Bellingham, WA 98226.Little Bubble Communications, Jennifer Ida Mason, 210 Texas St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Lucy Be Hair, Jaymi Lynn Bivens, 2336 James St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Lvidesign, Llc, Lvidesign, Llc, 616 Bayside Rd., Bellingham, WA 98225.Maria Dannette Parks, Maria Dannette Parks, 5402 Parkridge Pl., Bellingham, WA 98226.Marvdog’s Ultra Adventures, Garrett James Froelich, 3305 Allen Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Matty Louise Klopp, Matty Louise Klopp, 2528 Undine St., Bellingham, WA 98226.Maverick Construction, Richard John Qualls, 11 Valley Crest Way, Bellingham, WA 98229.Moirai Hair Studio, Michelle Megan Nelson, 1200 Lakeway Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229.Mojo Enterprise, Mojo Enterprise Llc, 414 W Bakerview Rd Ste 107, Bellingham, WA 98226.Mountain Pawz, Llc, Mountain Pawz, Llc, 1206 E Maplewood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.My Two Hands, Analynn Trinidad Smith-Richard, 3000 Eldridge Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Ng Yoga, Laifong Ng, 2220 24th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Ngw Productions, Alexis Babcock, 2209 J St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Nick Braman, Nick Braman, 2421 St Paul St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Nifty Tools, Llc, Nifty Tools, Llc, 1814 BroadWay St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Novato Shop & Studio, Wear Your Art Llc, 2627 Humboldt St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Options Cabinetry & Interiors, Rpm Design Works, Llc, 4071 Hannegan Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.P-N-Dub Properties Llc, P-N-Dub Properties Llc, 622 Van Wyck Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226.Pacific Northwest Urology Specialists, Pllc, Pacific Northwest Urology Specialists, Pllc 1134 Brighton Crest Dr., Bellingham, WA 98225.Pc Technologies, Inc., Pc Technologies, Inc., 3463 Pinehurst Ct., Bellingham, WA 98226.Perfectly Paired, Matt & Robin Enterprises, Llc, 108 Bender Rd., Bellingham, WA 98225.Personal Training NW, Nathan Thomas Wilford, 3502 S Grace Ln., Bellingham, WA 98226.Peter Rand Creative, Peter Rand, 2137 1/2 Ellis St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Placemakers Management, Llc, Placemakers Management, Llc, Po Box 2041, Bellingham WA 98229.Pollendale Llc,Pollendale Llc, 3210 White Swan Ln., Bellingham, WA 98226.Psy Phy Consulting, Joseph Mcintyre, 121 S Garden Ter, Bellingham, WA 98225.Rachel Bartee Counseling, Rachel Bartee Counseling Llc, 1613 Brookview Pl., Bellingham, WA 98225.Ragfinery, Ragfinery, 802 Marine Dr., Bellingham, WA 98225.Reflections Of Hawaii, Deborah A Leikvoll, 4637 Bedford Ave., Bellingham, WA 98226.Reveal Design Studio, Carol J Holland Design Llc, 909 Harris Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Rhazes Health & Beauty, Rhazes Corporation, 1313 E Maple St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Rude The Dude, Rudy Lucas Erickson, 1309 Taylor Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Schwindt- Campbell Properties, Llc, Schwindt- Campbell Properties, Llc, 808 11th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Seafood Resourcing, Martin Richard Mendell, 4152 Meridian St, Bellingham, WA 98226.Seatthole, Inc., Seatthole, Inc., Po Box 3137, Bellingham, WA 98225.Sew Like The Wind, Elizabeth Anne Baker, 2230 Cornerstone Ln, Bellingham, WA 98226.Slanted Sun Farm, Anna Morris, 617 E North St., Bellingham, WA 98225.

Sparrow Salon Inc, Sparrow Salon Inc, 753 E Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98225.Squalicum Acres, Squalicum Acres, L.L.C., 2691 Mt Baker Hwy., Bellingham, WA 98226.St Joseph Medical Center, St Joseph Medical Center, 2901 Squalicum Pkwy, Bellingham, WA 98225.Stonehaven Realty, Stonehaven Realty, Llc, 1210 10th St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Studio Of Healing Arts, Rebecca J Hamilton, 119 N Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Studio Pink, Llc, Studio Pink, Llc, 1115 Easton Ave., Bellingham, WA 98226.Subdued Brewing Co., Subdued Brewing, Llc, 2529 Grant St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Terrific Me! Terrific Me! L.L.C., 4877 N Village Ln., Bellingham, WA 98226.Thanh Le Agency, Thanh Le, 3651 Woodlake Rd., Bellingham, WA 98225.The Cheerful Gardener, Erin E Meier, 3102 Racine St., Bellingham, WA 98226.The Crows Farm, Matthew W Cioni, 2537 Undine St., Bellingham, WA 98226.The Paint Connection,The Paint Connection Llc, 4241 Jones Ln., Bellingham, WA 98225.The Pedal Pusher, Virginia Hall Wilson, 2106 Cody Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225.Three Leaves Counseling Ma Lmhca, Inc, Three Leaves Counseling Ma Lmhca, Inc, 1101 N State St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Tiny Mr, Angela Doliente, 10 Spinnaker Ln, Bellingham, WA 98229.TNB Custom Farms, Bryan Trent Vanweerdhuizen, 5400 Noon Rd, Bellingham, WA 98226.Trick Dog Catering, Llc, Trick Dog Catering, Llc, 2011 Harris Ave.,. Bellingham, WA 98225.Until You’re Home Pet Sitting, Llc, Until You’re Home Pet Sitting, Llc, 2709 Texas St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Velvet Vintage, Mary Samantha Burwell, 2000 Franklin St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Walk My Fluffy, Frances Mary Devries, 251 W Bakerview Rd Apt 101, Bellingham, WA 98226.We Three Fairies, Elli Marie Anderson, 2927 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Whatcom Events, Whatcom Events, 2227 Queen St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Whatcom Information Technology Services, Jeremy Noone, 1508 35th St., Bellingham, WA 98229.Whatcom Tree Service, Whatcom Tree Service Llc, Po Box 29731, Bellingham, WA 98226.White Pockets, Llc, White Pockets, Llc, 2616 walnut St., Bellingham, WA 98225.Win Win Window Cleaning, Jeff Lloyd Wicklund, 601 N State St Unit 301, Bellingham, WA 98225.Window Coverings & More, Kayley Tomiko Yasuoka, 3157 Sunset Way, Bellingham, WA 98226.WWUproperties.com, Sehome Investments, Llc, 1329 N State St Ste 205, Bellingham, WA 98225.

BUILDING PERMITSIncludes commercial building activity in Bellingham with an estimated valuation listed at $10,000 or more. Records are obtained from the City of Bellingham’s Permit Center. Status updates on permits are available on the city’s website at http://pnw.cc/sVCen.3/9/15 to 3/13/15issued permits1235 W Bakerview Road, $40,000 for tenant improvement: interior remodel of existing ice cream store to create sub shop: Port of Subs. Contractor: Moceri Construction. Permit No.: BLD2015-00061. 3/9/15.1000 F St. 101, no calculated value listed for temporary commercial coaches inside existing building: Storkcraft. Permit No.: BLD2014-000583. 3/9/15.405 32nd St. 201, $10,000 for tenant improvement: remove two interior walls and add two new walls in existing office. Contractor: Dawson Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2015-00079. 3/10/15.1 Bellis Fair Parkway 512, $15,000 for tenant improvement: interior remodel for new tenant. Contractor: Credo Construction. Permit

No.:BLD2015-00074. 3/10/15.1100 BLK Creekwood Lane, $24,000 for construction of 480-foot-long by 10-foot-tall ecology block retaining wall. Contractor: Skeers Construction Inc., Permit No.: BLD2015-00080. 3/11/15.1115 E Sunset Drive 100, $20,000 for commercial repair: reconstruct front entry posts and beams damaged by rot also replace exterior stucco. Contractor: Henifin Construction LLC. Permit No.: BLD2015-00059. 3/11/15.4420 Aldrich Road, $60,000 for new portable classroom building: Cordata Elementary. Contractor: Aries Building Systems. Permit No.: BLD2015-00076. 3/12/15.3105 Old Fairhaven Parkway, $450,000 for commercial: new 6,000-square-foot shell building. Permit No.: BLD2014-00589. 3/12/15.655 Telegraph Road, $488,599 for new six-unit multifamily building. Permit No.: BLD2014-00568. 3/12/15.1200 Sunset Drive, $143,371 for commercial addition: 300-square-foot addition to existing building for new tenant: Verizon Wireless. Contractor: Oracle Contracting Services. Permit No.: BLD2015-00036. 3/13/15.1201 N. Forest St., $300,000 for commercial: alteration to existing structure to accommodate new mechanical work. Contractor: Johansen Mechanical. Permit No.: BLD2015-00024. 3/13/15.203 E Laurel St., $5,820,544 for new 60-unit multifamily building above parking garage. Contractor: Dawson. Permit No.: BLD2014-00546. 3/13/15.Pending applications3920 Affinity Lane, $85,000 for new swimming pool and spa. Contractor: Taylor Industries Inc. Permit No.: BLD2015-00085. 3/9/15.250 N State St., $75,000 for commercial: enlarge window openings and add balconies to multifamily building. Permit No.: BLD2015-00086. 3/9/15.1330 N State St., $24,000 for commercial: new roofed structure with open sides. Permit No.: BLD2015-00090. 3/10/15.1701 Birchwood Ave., $38,000 for structural modifications to reinforce existing Monopole Wireless Facility. Permit No.: BLD2015-00089. 3/10/15.635 Telegraph Road, $20,000 to construct new stormwater detention vault to serve 635 and 655 Telegraph Road. Permit No.: BLD2015-00062. 3/11/15.1251 Lincoln St., $75,000 for tenant improvement: new offices. Permit No.: BLD2015-00094. 3/11/15.218-228 N Samish Way, $300,000 for commercial: new single story commercial building with two tenant spaces. Permit No.: BLD2014-00529. 3/11/15.1 Bellis Fair Parkway 310. $40,000 for commercial: racking for tenant remodel. Permit No.: BLD2015-00095. 3/12/15.1515 Cornwall Ave., $50,000 for tenant improvement: construct offices and conference room for new tenant with no change to the exterior. Permit No.: BLD2015-00099. 3/13/15.Demolition permits102 W Champion St., $14,000 for commercial: removing drywall from interior of building. Contractor: Caz Energy Audits. Permit No.: DEM2015-00014. 3/11/15.3/2/15 to 3/6/15Permits issued8 Bellis Fair Parkway, $150,000 for tenant improvement: installation of finishes and sales fixtures: DSW. Contractor: Carroll & Sons. Permit No.: BLD2015-00034. 3/2/15.1015 Girard St., $13,000 for commercial: repair foundation and replace rotten floor system with slab on grade. Contractor: Roy Construction. 3/3/15.1404 N. Garden St., $100,000 for tenant improvement: remodel portion of first floor of existing single family residence into chiropractic office, remaining first floor & entire second floor to be remodeled & remain residence; includes new sidewalk. Contractor: Coast View Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2015-00039. 3/3/15.1103 Railroad Ave. A101, $50,000 for new concrete slab foundation and manufactured walk-in cooler. Contractor: Faber Construction Corp. Permit No.: BLD2015-00035. 3/3/15.

RECORDS, PAGE 19


468 W. Horton Road, $871,143 for commercial: 9,920-square-foot addition to existing building: Flax 4 Life. Contractor: Roosendaal Honcoop Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2015-00027. 3/4/15.RK Western Washington University, $3,700,242 for commercial alteration: interior renovation of Ridgeway Kappa residence hall. Contractor: Dawson. Permit No.: BLD2014-00556. 3/5/15.Pending applications4301 Harrison St., $40,000 for underground stormwater vault to serve four-lot subdivision. Permit No.: BLD2015-00077. 3/2/15.405 32nd St. 201, $10,000 for tenant improvement: remove two interior walls and add two new walls in existing office. Permit No.: BLD2015-00079. 3/3/15.405 32nd St. 301, 302, $70,000 for tenant improvement: construct new walls in an existing shell for new offices. Permit No.: BLD2015-00082. 3/4/15.3929 Spur Ridge Lane 101, $40,000 for tenant improvement: interior demo, new kitchen and plumbing for marijuana growing: Mt. Baker Homegrown LLC. Permit No.: BLD2015-00081. 3/4/15.714 Ohio St., $285,000 for tenant improvement: remodel former bakery wholesale/retail for paint wholesale/retail tenant; includes two concrete pads for trash enclosure and delivery pad. Contractor: The Franklin Corporation. Permit No.: BLD2015-00045. 3/6/15.1200 E. Sunset Drive, $143,371 for commercial addition: 300-square-foot addition to existing building for new tenant: Verizon Wireless. Permit No.: BLD2015-00036. 3/6/15.Demolition permits750 Lakeway Drive, $75,000 for interior demolition and limited site work for future tenant improvement.2/23/15/to 2/27/15Issued permits3100 Woburn St., $18,000 for tenant improvement: minor interior improvements. Remove existing signage, create alcove for new bank vaults. Contractor: Pearson Construction Corp. Permit No.: BLD2015-00060. 2/24/15.210 E Chestnut St., $100,000 for tenant improvement: New Kombucha Brewery and cafe and alterations to alley door: Kombucha Town. Permit No.: BLD2014-00586. 2/24/15.104 E Maple St., $30,000 for commercial: new steel siding on the west, south and east alley side of building. Contractor: Alvord & Richardson Construction Co. Permit No.: BLD2015-00070.Pending applications1015 Girard St., $13,000 for commercial: repair foundation and replace rotten floor system with slab on grade. Permit No.: BLD2015-00071. 2/23/15.1103 Railroad Ave A101, $50,000 for new concrete slab foundation and manufactured walk-in cooler. Permit No.: BLD2015-00035. 2/23/15.1404 N Garden St., $100,000 for tenant improvement: remodel portion of 1st floor of existing single family residence into chiropractic office, remaining 1st floor & entire second floor to be remodeled and remain residence: includes new sidewalk. Permit No.: BLD2015-00039. 2/24/15.468 W Horton Road, $789,830 for commercial: 8,920-square-foot addition to existing building: Flax 4 Life. Permit No.: BLD2015-00027. 2/24/15.HH Western Washington University, $1,127,541 for educational: renocation and modification of existing rooms and systems to create a digital video production studio and related rooms. Permit No.: BLD2015-00003. 2/24/15.PH Western Washington University, $202,234 for

educational: renovation and modification of existing rooms and systems to provide a new classroom. Permit No.: BLD2015-00002. 2/24/15.224 36th St., $85,000 for tenant improvementL interior remodel for dental office: Gentle Dental. Permit No.: BLD2014-00541. 2/24/15.1 Bellis Fair Parkway 512, $15,000 for tenant improvement: interior remodel for new tenant. Permit No.: BLD2015-00074. 2/25/14.1905 N State St., $46,000 for commercial: storage rack installation: NAPA auto parts. Permit No.: BLD2015-00073. 2/25/15.203 E Laurel St., $3,900,000 for new 60-unit multifamily building above parking garage. Contractor: Dawson Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2014-000546. 2/26/15.Demolition permitsNone reported with a calculated value of $10,000 or more.2/16/15 to 2/20/15Permits issuedPA Western Washington University, $80,806 for commercial: minor addition expanding generator room. Contractor: Quantum Construction Inc. Permit No.: BLD2015-00028. 2/17/15.714 Alabama St., $250,000 for commercial: new 100-foot telecommunications tower and 35-foot by 35-foot fenced compound to contain equipment. Contractor: Presco Telecommunications Inc. Permit No.: BLD2015-00015. 2/17/15.151 E McLeod Road, $44,8000 for commercial: SPA replacement. Contractor: Pyramid Pools. Permit No.: BLD2015-00040. 2/19/15.4602-4619 Tremont Ave., $881,337 for new 5-unit townhouse building. Contractor: Greenbriar Construction Corp. Permit No.: BLD2013-00408. 2/20/15.4614-4620 Tremont Ave., $705,621 for new 4-unit townhouse building. Contractor: Greenbriar Construction Corp. Permit No.: BLD2013-00407.3137-3139 Chandler Parkway, $801,842 for new duplex with attached garage (deferred system development charges). Contractor: D&L Construction. Permit No.: CMB2914-00259.2/17/15.Pending applications1235 W Bakerview Road, $40,000 for tenant improvement: interior remodel of existing ice cream store to create sub shop: Port of Subs. Permit No.: BLD2015-00061. 2/17/15.3100 Woburn St., $18,000 for tenant improvement: minor interior improvements, remove existing signage, create alcove for new bank vaults. Permit No.: BLD2015-00060. 2/17/15.1115 E Sunset Drive 100, $20,000 for commercial repair: reconstruct front entry posts and beams damaged by rot also replace exterior stucco. Permit No.: BLD2015-00059. 2/17/15.1 Bellis Fair Parkway 338, $138,925 for commercial: install new storefront and entry vestibule. Permit No.: BLD2015-00055. 2/17/15.4277 Meridian St., 104, $150,000 for tenant improvement: minor demolition, new partitions, interior finishes, plumbing and mechanical: America’s Best Contact & Eye. Permit No.: BLD2014-00585. 2/17/15.635 Telegraph Road, $20,000 for new stormwater detention vault to serve 635 and 655 Telegraph Rd. Contractor: Palakika2 LLC, Permit No.: BLD2015-00062. 2/18/15.655 Telegraph Road, $488,599 for new six-unit multifamily building. Permit No.: BLD2014-00568. 2/18/15.3500 Meridian St., $30,000 for commercial: awning addition off the rear of building and replacement of front entry doors. Permit No.: BLD2015-00063.

2/18/15.635 Telegraph Road, $177,118 for new single three-story unit multifamily building. Permit No.: BLD2015-00065. 2/19/15.2901 Squalicum Parkway CN, $85,000 for tenant improvement: renovation of X-ray suite 3 on the first floor. Permit No.: BLD2015-00067. 2/20/15.1701 Gladstone St., $95,000 for minor renovations to existing R1 residence and parking lot improvements. Permit No.: BLD2015-00069. 2/20/15.1041 24th St., $8,042,534 for new two-story replacement of elementary school on existing site: Happy Valley Elementary. Permit No.: BLD2015-00066. 2/20/15.Demolition permitsNone reported with a calculated value of $10,000 or more.2/9/15 to 2/13/15Issued permits402 Boulevard 303, $31,8000 for multifamily: interior remodel, moving non-structure walls, new cabinets and new plumbing fixtures. Contractor: Landmark Interprises Inc. Permit No.: BLD2015-00048. 2/10/15.2207 Valencia St., No calculated value given for installing PV solar system on existing roof. Contractor: Western Solar. Permit No.: BLD2015-00031. 2/10/15.1514 12th St. B101, $97,000 for tenant improvement: New office area in existing unfinished crawl space. Contractor: Pearson Construction Corp. Permit No.: BLD2015-00021. 2/12/15.Pending applications3105 Old Fairhaven Parkway, $450,000 for commercial: new 6,000-square-foot shell building. Permit No.: BLD2014-00589. 2/9/15.4564 Meridian St., $563.807 for commercial: New 8,208 building for marijuana production and processing. Permit No.: BLD2015-00049. 2/11/15.1700 Carolina St., $451,543 for new commercial storage facility. Permit No.: BLD2013-00393. 2/13/15.Demolition permitsNo permits with a value of more than $10,000 were issued for this date range.

LIQUOR LICENSESRecords include license activity in Whatcom County. They are obtained from the Washington State Liquor Control Board, online at www.liq.wa.gov.New license applicationsMi Rancho Meat Market, Luis Eduarda Casillas-Garcia and Nora Casillas-Garcia applied for a new license to sell beer and wine in a grocery store at 3092 Northwest Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225. License No.: 361046. 3/25/15.Ginger Boat, Gingerboat1 Corporation; Seung Lee applied for a new license to serve beer and wine in a restaurant at 240 36th St., Bellingham, WA 98225. License No.: 085772. 3/23/15.Magdalena’s, Gregory Thiesen and Magdalena Thiesen applied for an addition/change of class/in lieu to an existing license to be a direct shipment receiver (in Washington only) of beer and wine and to serve beer and wine in a restaurant at 1200 10th St. Suite 103, Bellingham, WA 98225. License No.: 402048. 3/12/15.V’s Barbershop, Jel Ventures LLC, applied for an assumption to a snack bar license (new business name: Mojo Enterprise) at 414 W. Bakerview Road Suite 107, Bellingham, WA 98226. License No.: 405470. 3/2/15.Lakeway Inn, Providence Hospitality Partners LLC; David Storm and Lois Smith-Storm, applied for a new license to sell spirits, beer and wine at 714 Lakeway Drive Suite B, Bellingham, WA 98229. License No.: 419177. 3/2/15.

Perfectly Paired, Matt and Robin Enterprises LLC; Matthew and Robin Hungerford, applied for a change of location (from 1200 Old Fairhaven Parkway #101, Bellingham, WA 98225 to 1143 11th St., Bellingham, WA 98225) to an existing license to operate as a direct shipment receiver and serve beer/wine in a restaurant and off-premises. License No.: 402048. 2/25/15.Recently approved licensesMagdalena’s at 1200 10th St. Suite 103, Bellingham, WA 98225, received approval on an addition/change of class/in lieu to an existing license to be a direct shipment receiver (in Washington only) of beer and wine and to serve beer and wine. License No.: 406262. 3/24/15.Dancing Gypsies, at 794 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98225, received approval on a new application to operate as a marijuana retailer. License No.: 413529. 3/17/15.Fine Detail Greenway, at 3863 Hannegan Road Suite 106, Bellingham, WA 98226, received approval on added fees to operate as a tier 2 marijuana producer. License No.: 412400. 3/12/15.Whatcom County Cannabis Gardens, at 5373 Guide Meridian Suite D-11, Bellingham, WA 98226, received approval on added fees to operate as a tier 2 marijuana producer. License No.: 412567. 3/5/15.Perfectly Paired, at 1143 11th St., Bellingham, WA 98225, received approval on a change of location to a license to receive direct shipments. License No.: 088473. 3/3/15.Trail Blazin Productions, 2005 Division St., Bellingham, WA 98226, received approval on an addition to a license to operate a tier 2 marijuana production facility. License No.: 412082. 2/19/15.Discontinued licenses250 Flora, at 250 Flora St., Bellingham, WA 98225, had a license to serve beer and wine in a restaurant discontinued. License No.: 405020. 3/19/15.Bearded Bro’s Best, at 470 W 2nd St. Suite 104, Sumas, WA 98295, had a marijuana processor license discontinue. License No.: 417585. 3/17/15.Bearded Bro’s Buds, at 7955 Chisholm Trails Suite A, Maple Falls, WA 98266, had a tier 1 marijuana producer license discontinue. License No.: 412284. 3/17/15.Billy McHale’s Restaurant, at 4301 Guide Meridian, Bellingham, WA 98226, had a license to serve spirits, beer and wine discontinue. License No.:076920. 3/6/15.

FEDERAL TAX LIENSTax liens of $5,000 or more issued by the Internal Revenue Service. Listings include taxpayer name(s), lien amount, document number and filing date. Records are obtained locally from the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office.David G Halliday, $16,837.06, 2150202241, 2/23/15.Niels Petersen, $35,386.00, 2150300137, 3/2/15.Pioneer Woodworking, $12,760.85, 2150300142, 3/2/15.Downtown Bobs LLC, $22,611.12, 2150301476, 3/16/15.Peter F & Pamela A Wasley, $9,659.95, 2150301477, 3/16/15.Danny Bos, $11,778.40, 2150301478, 3/16/15.

RELEASE OF FEDERAL TAX LIENSLyle D & Carol Y Benson, $7,366.79, 2150201838, 2/17/15.Cathy Kinneberg, $175,957.82, 2150201839, 2/17/15.Tim & Leity Rush, $6,945.57, 2150201840, 2/17/15.Reflections Day Spa, $16,762.82, 2150201841,

2/17/15.Michael L & Susan Wootan, $41,820.63, 2150202242, 2/23/15.Shawn Atwood, $16,203.02, 2150202243, 2/23/15.Jake A Ackerson, $112,788.11, 2150202244, 2/23/15.Donald P Hagin, $178,712.88, 2150300139, 3/2/15.Chuckanut Builders LLC, $6,623.70, 2150300141, 3/2/15.Chad A Camping, $85,0009.56, 2150300797, 3/9/15.Reference Media Inc., $12,954.56, 2150301479, 3/16/15.

STATE TAX JUDGMENTSTax judgments of $5,000 or more issued by Washington state government agencies and filed locally in Whatcom County Superior Court. Listings include taxpayer name(s), judgment amount, the state agency filing the judgment, originating case number and filing date. Judgments can later be lifted or paid; listings are only current as of their filing dates. Records are obtained from the Whatcom County Superior Court Clerk’s Office.HSK Construction Co., $6,490.71, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00511-8, 3/20/15.Better Off Road Inc., $10,897.54, Revenue, 15-2-00512-6, 3/20/15.Northern Cross Collective Gardens, $243,594.72, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00467-7, 3/16/15.Green Frog Cafe LLC, $8,135.03, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00470-7, 3/17/15.Babes Place Inc., $12,670.88, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00473-1, 3/17/15.Minergy Inc., $17,231.23, Labor & Industries, 15-2-00435-9, 3/10/15.Claassen Enterprizes LLC DBA Book Fare Cafe, $9,259.53, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00440-5, 3/10/15.Bode Farms, $11,030.76, Labor & Industries, 15-2-00446-4, 3/11/15.NW Choice Construction Inc., $5,707.15, Employment Security Dept., 15-2-00375-1, 3/2/15.Key Manufacturing, $5,071.29, Employment Security Department, 15-2-00374-3, 3/2/15.Weston Roofing LLC, $100,499.34, Labor & Industries, 15-2-00385-9, 3/3/15.NW Choice Construction Inc, $5,747.15, Employment Security Dept., 15-2-00383-2, 3/3/15.Subway #50438, $5,820.27, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00360-3, 2/25/15.Roto Rooter Plumbing Service, $6,454.51, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00364-6, 2/26/15.Maintenance Professionals, $6,404.59, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00365-4, 2/26/15.Sustainable Living Farm & Garden LLC, $9,177.69, Dept. of Revenue, 15-2-00366-2, 2/26/15.Daljit Nagra, $5,812.54, Labor & Industries, 15-2-00316-6, 2/24/15.

BUSINESS BANKRUPTCIESWhatcom County business bankruptcies filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Washington.Chapter 7A Gift of Dance, estimated asset range: $0 to $50,000; liabilities: $100,001 to $500,000; case no.:15-11416-LAO. Date filed:3/10/15Chapter 11 and 13No chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcies were filed during this date range.

RECORDS, FROM 18


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Toolkit

The people in my fam-ily, myself and brothers and sisters, are basically working people. I don’t mean blue collar though that’s where my father came from, being an elec-trician for some 40 years. I mean working people; for the most part we work for other people. I am the exception in the fam-ily having had my own business for over 25 years mainly so I could do what I wanted to do.

The one thing we do have in common, my sib-lings and I, is that we are not goal-driven, save for having a good family life.

We’d like enough money to pay our bills but we don’t measure our life in a mate-rial way so being paid fairly is more important than being paid a lot. We’d like our work to be interesting and connected to some-thing larger than ourselves, but we don’t expect to be entertained. That’s not why we are there.

We also have a good work ethic, we arrive on time, and we do good above average work because we have integrity about what we produce. We will-ingly stay late, we’ll help our co-workers—some-times even without being asked. We like to see other people succeed and don’t look upon their success with any unusual amount of envy. We are happy for them.

We want to be treated with respect, we’d like to know about things going on in the company that might effect us, we’d like to be asked our opinion on some things—not every-thing but some. We’d like to feel respected and we want to be told the truth. Don’t lie to us; we’ll make you pay for that.

Given all this I’d say we are like most people who work for someone else, and most people do. Most people do good work, or at least they have the capabil-ity to do good work. They have no grandiose ambition save for being able to pay their bills and they do not measure their lives in mate-rial terms. Most people do show up on time and everyday, and they’ll will-ingly stay late as long as it doesn’t become an expecta-tion.

All this being said, worker engagement—the measure of the degree to which workers are giving it everything they’ve got—just slugs along at embar-rassingly low levels and has done so for the duration of time it has been measured.

Unfortunately you don’t have to look very hard for the culprit when seeking the source of worker’s low engagement: thoughtless

management behavior!So as I said, I come from

a family of workers. One brother is a nurse, the other a shipping agent. One sister a banking administrator/sometimes manager and another sister works in corporate credit. Every one of them has a kit bag full of stories about managers doing stupid, thoughtless things that left them feel-ing unappreciated, disre-spected, lied to or taken for granted.

Here’s a question for you: How many bad management experiences does it take to squash an employee’s spirit? You don’t know do you? Well, then answer me this: How many did it take to squash your spirit? This one you can answer and you can tell me the date, time and name of the person involved and it probably doesn’t take you 30 seconds to do it. Now, even more importantly, have you gotten over it without lasting effects on your attitude towards

employment or your employer?

Last week I was in Mich-igan having dinner with my sister who is involved in corporate credit. Just after we arrived at our table she began, “Well I had my annual review last week.”

I could tell by her tone that she was disappointed. The year before she had told me her manager wrote “Rockstar” in the margin of her review then proceeded to give her an overall “Meets expectations” on the review saying that she was not allowed to give anyone a higher overall rating.

So I asked, “How were you rated this year?” My sister replied, “Oh this year she wrote down Superstar and said she just didn’t know what she’d do with-out me.” So I asked, “And overall?” With a roll of her eyes she responded, “Meets expectations.”

I’d like to think that I don’t have to say a lot more here. The point is pretty obvious and yet,

if confronted that man-ager would have what they considered a defensible stance on the action taken, despite the fact they if the very same thing hap-pened to them they would be squashed. My sister is not squashed; she’s pissed, feels disrespected, lied to and generally fed up. She’s

looking for another job. Big surprise!

Engagement Killers: They come in all shapes and sizes

Mike Cook lives in Anacortes. His columns appear on BBJToday.com every other Tuesday. He publishes a semi-weekly blog at www.heartofengagement.com and also facilitates a monthly business book reading group at Village Books.Mike

Cook

On Managers & Employees

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Familiar face returns to WWU’s Small Business Development CenterSBDC’s interim director talks changes to Bellingham’s business outlook since 2009

C.J. Seitz, interim director of Western Washington University’s Small Business Development Center, is a familiar face to many local businesses. Seitz worked as a business advisor at the center from 2005 until 2009. Since then, she has worked in administration in the private sector and served as a regional director of the state’s Employment Security Department.

She returned to the Small Business Development Center(SBDC) in February to continue her love of advising business own-ers. She shared her thoughts on how local business has changed since she left the center in 2009.

BBJ: What’s different about small busi-ness in Bellingham now compared to 2009?

It’s such an exciting time because busi-ness owners and entrepreneurs are gaining confidence in the economy again. At the SBDC, we’re seeing an uptick in hiring with our clients, an uptick in startup activ-ity in Bellingham, and startup loans are becoming easier to get again. Crowd fund-ing as an access to capital is increasing.

The biggest change for me is how the economic development community has come together with an energy that wasn’t

as prevalent in 2009, and I’m very excited about that. The team is well coordinated and communicating well together and it’s just so much fun to get to be a part of that.

BBJ: Who is included in the eco-nomic development community?

There’s a myriad of different agencies that come around the table for economic development partnership, so I would hate to leave anyone out. Some agencies in the community are our funders—the Port of Bellingham, the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County—and then there are our partners like the chambers of commerce around Whatcom County, Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism, Technology Alliance Group for Northwest Washington, Sustainable Connections, Downtown Bell-ingham Partnership and NW Innovation Resource Center.

BBJ: Are there any challenges that weren’t present in 2009?

Things are mostly good compared to the last several years. We’re having people still trying to understand the effects of health-care reform on their business. People are hiring who have never hired before and so they’re coming here to get coaching on how to be successful with that.

Due to the work we did during the recession to assist companies in weathering the economy, there might be a perception that we’re here for struggling businesses, but that’s not all we do. Part of what we do is help businesses manage growth success-fully because it’s such a critical time. I wish more businesses knew that we could do that with them.

BBJ: Are there any trends that you think will affect business in Bellingham in the next few years?

One fun thing is breweries. We’re actual-ly doing a little bit of research on that right now internally. We’re comparing Belling-ham to other cities and looking at market saturation. We’re interested in that because there is a lot of curiosity and a lot of pre-venture activity around breweries.

BBJ: Do you think businesses know about the Small Business Development Center?

While plenty of businesses do (there are nearly 500 businesses that we work with annually), we often hear that they wish that they had heard of us earlier.

With the wide variety of services we offer—from loan packaging to technology assessments and international trade—and the resources we’re connected to on a state level, we can help businesses connect to larger resources and opportunities.

CJ Seitz, new interim director of Western Washington University’s Small Businss Development Center, was a business advi-sor at the center from 2005 to 2009. OLIVER LAZENBY PHOTO | THE BBJ

“We’re seeing an uptick in hiring with our clients, an uptick in startup activity in Bellingham, and startup loans are becoming easier to get again. “

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT


Q&A

nicotine. “It’s so hard to compare because it

depends on who you are,” Davis said. “Some people spend more on ecigs than they ever did on cigarettes because for some people it turns into a hobby and you want all the newest gear.”

Mount Baker Vapor’s owners are already looking into moving the business, Davis said.

“We’ve had a backup plan since last year,” Davis said. “I think most businesses in the state of Washington have a backup plan.”

The tax rate in the proposed legislation already changed from 95 percent to 60 per-cent, and it could could change further.

“We’re obviously open to that discus-sion,” McGill said. “I hate to put anyone out of business; that’s not our goal here. We’re at a stage in the legislative process where we’re sitting around and hammering it out.”

What would be an appropriate tax? Davis and Sullivan half-jokingly said Mount Baker Vapor’s products should get a subsidy for helping people quit smoking.

The little guyMount Baker Vapor is the biggest local

e-cigarette company, but Whatcom County is home to a handful of smaller vape shops.

Austin Masters, a 23-year-old recent Western Washington University graduate,

opened Master of Vapours at 206 W. Mag-nolia St. in downtown Bellingham in June 2014. The shop carries similar products to Mount Baker Vapor’s retail store — liquid nicotine and personal vaporizers ranging from cheap starter kits to $300 collectible devices.

Like most vape shops, he doesn’t sell dis-posable e-cigarettes, or “cigalikes,” which are mostly made by big tobacco corpora-tions and are sold at gas stations, Wal-Marts, Targets and other chain stores.

Masters is worried about two parts of the proposed legislation, the excise tax and a measure that would prohibit some flavors.

Masters’ customers tell him if vaping products double in price, they’ll go back to smoking cigarettes or buying nicotine liquid on the black market, he said. Some of his customers are already experimenting with making their own nicotine liquid, he said.

After learning that the proposed tax changed from 95 percent to 60 percent, Masters said it wouldn’t be enough to keep him in business.

“The effect is the same,” he said. “That is still by far beyond what would keep us open.”

VAPOR, FROM 12

Oliver Lazenby, associate editor of The Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext. 5052, or [email protected].

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