Finalists Selected for Awards Banquet

Event at Resort Semiahmoo Celebrates Success in Business

Eleven finalists have been selected for three awards that will be presented March 14 during the Whatcom County Business Person and Small Business of the Year Awards Banquet.

Also, Don Haggen, co-chairman of Bellingham-based Haggen, Inc., will receive the Whatcom County Lifetime Business Achievement Award.

The annual event honoring local businesses and entrepreneurs again will be presented at Resort Semiahmoo in Blaine. A social hour will start at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

Graham Kerr, a nationally renowned food expert and inspirational speaker who lives in Skagit County, will be the featured speaker of the evening.

The finalists for Business Person of the Year are: Debbie Ahl, chief executive officer and president of Olympic Health Management Services and Olympic Health Management Systems; Ray Caldwell, co-owner of eight Little Caesars Pizza restaurants in northwest Washington; and Roger Jobs, owner of Roger Jobs Motors in Bellingham.

The Small Business of the Year finalists are Northwest Propane, Sonotech, T.D. Curran and True Log Homes.

The winner of Start-up Business of the Year will be chosen from the Chrysalis Inn & Spa at the Pier, Grandiflora and Tails-A-Wagging Doggie Day Care.

Profiles of each finalist are included in this magazine.

Tickets for the evening are available for $35 apiece or $280 for a table of eight. Ticket purchases are recommended well in advance of the event, which sold out last year with about 400 people in attendance.

For ticket purchases or information, contact Tracey McCormick at Business Pulse by phone, 671-3933, ext. 10; fax, 671-3934; or e-mail, tmccormick@businesspulse.com.

Haggen, who is receiving the Lifetime Business Achievement Award, joined his family’s supermarket business in 1957 as a grocery manager. He became the company’s general manager in 1962, president in 1973 and chairman and chief executive officer in 1989. Don and brother Rick Haggen were named co-chairmen in 1996.

With its January opening of a supermarket in Burlington, Haggen, Inc., now has 28 stores in Washington and Oregon under the names of Haggen Food & Pharmacy and TOP Food & Drug. Its stores serve an average of 370,000 customers each week and recorded sales of $665 million in 2000. The company is the sixth-large private corporation in the state, according to Washington CEO magazine.

The awards were started by Business Pulse in 1986 with the presentation of the Whatcom County Business Person of the Year Award to Don Haggen. The goal was to recognize local business professionals who contribute their time, money, energy and expertise to benefit job creation and economic stability, as well as enhance the civic health of our communities.

The process became formalized in 1989 with the help of local sponsors. An awards banquet, attended by more than 200 business leaders, was presented to honor the finalists. Banquets in recent years have drawn approximately 400 people.

An additional category, Small Business of the Year, was added in 1990 to recognize the accomplishments of companies in the county with 100 or fewer employees. Nominees are businesses that deserve recognition for outstanding accomplishments inside and outside their field and for enhancing the economic and civic climate in the county.

Also in 1990, David Morse of Morse Hardware became the first recipient of the Whatcom County Lifetime Business Achievement Award and had his name engraved on the perpetual trophy. Nominees for this award are judged on their history of business and civic accomplishments in the county.

The Start-up Business of the Year Award was added in 1994 to recognize the efforts of entrepreneurs who risk their time and capital for the benefit of the community. Nominees are judged on their accomplishments, their positive impact on the community and their future promise in terms of growth and job creation. To qualify for the 2001 award, companies must have been operating no earlier than Jan. 1, 2000.

Nominations for the awards are sought from business leaders, officials of business-related organizations and Business Pulse readers. After finalists are chosen by the magazine, a selection panel developed independent of the nominating process reviews the finalists to determine the winners.