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Whatcom Pastries Owner: Jonalyn Geddes
Jonalyn Geddes started Whatcom Pastries in February for a very simple reason. “I couldn’t find another job!” Geddes exclaims. Geddes had been a baker at Northcoast Premium Breads Bakery & Café since earning a baking pastries and confections associate degree at Bellingham Technical College. When Jim and Gail Brennan, owners of Northcoast Premium Breads, decided they no longer wanted to be in the wholesale pastry and cafe business, Geddes was laid off. She looked for another job for two weeks, then the Brennans made her an offer she just couldn’t refuse. “They asked me if I wanted to rent the pastry baking facilities and take over their pastry accounts. It was an excellent business opportunity and I took it. Since then, I’ve also established my own accounts,” Geddes remarks. Jim Brennan explains that he and Gail are still very active baking and distributing their wholesale European-style breads to restaurants throughout the area, but decided they did not want to run the café or the pastry bakery any longer. “We made a business decision to close the café and the pastry bakery,” Brennan says. “We were essentially running two businesses, and it was too much. Customers had some very long faces when they found out! Jonalyn had been working for us and we made her an offer to lease the baking space and take over our accounts.” Since Geddes definitely had the background and skills, and now she had complete baking facilities, all she needed was a little seed money to buy ingredients and to get her car repaired to use for deliveries. Geddes did some research, looking specifically for grants awarded to women with small businesses. She found such grants were few and far between. Her mother, Mary Geddes, and her grandmother loaned her the start-up money. “I didn’t need much, just money for ingredients and licenses, and I had to fix my car for deliveries,” Geddes says. “My boyfriend, Jason Hudson, did the repairs; he’s very supportive.” Whatcom Pastries sells wholesale muffins, scones, biscotti and similar baked goods to espresso stands, coffee shops and restaurants throughout Whatcom County. Some of Geddes clients include Stuart’s Coffee House, Kissaten, the Chrysalis Inn & Spa, all in Bellingham, and Alfia’s Tea House in Mount Vernon. “I make fresh pastries daily from scratch with no preservatives. Delivery is free,” the owner states. Geddes says biscotti are her specialty. Some of the recipes come from Northcoast Premium Breads and some she has developed herself. Geddes attended Bellingham Technical College shortly after she graduated from high school because she was unsure of what direction to go from there. She did know, however, that she loved to bake. “I always loved to bake cookies,” she recalls. “I guess owning this business was in the cards.” — Patti Rathbun
Wild Blueberries Owners: Janet and Steve Ershig
“We wanted to create a magical place for kids. Our store is very hands-on with bright, natural light and low shelves. It’s very kid-friendly,” says Janet Ershig, co-owner of Wild Blueberries, a children’s book, toy and gift shop in Fairhaven. Ershig owns the shop with her husband, Steve Ershig. They are residents of Fairhaven with their two children, ages 9 and 4. The Ershigs wanted to open a shop they’d take their own children to. Besides being residents of the district, they liked the small community feel of the south side of Bellingham. “The community among the merchants here is lovely. We got welcome flowers from Rebecca’s Flowers and a delicious cookie from Café Cecile,” Janet exclaims. A new building was important to the Ershigs. Since many children have allergies, they wanted a clean and mold-free building with restrooms that are large and stroller-friendly. Wild Blueberries sells toys for children 10 years old and younger, but no electrical or battery-powered toys. Instead, the focus is on items that promote interaction with parents and a child’s imagination, such as a puppet theater, books, science kits, games and wooden toys. The Ershigs have stayed away from items that larger department and toy stores carry. “We have taken really deliberate steps to carry different items than the other toy stores in town. We wanted a unique niche,” Steve Ershig explains. Janet Ershig has dreamed of owning a store for children for several years. Her knowledge of children’s literature has grown along with her children. “My kids have heard many of the books we sell, so we know kids will like them. My kids are also our toy testers!” she says with a laugh. The items at Wild Blueberries are from trade shows all over the country. The Ershigs also sell handmade goods from cottage industries, according to Janet. Local merchandise includes children’s clothing made by Rebecca Miller of Lummi Island and dresses made by “Aunt Bun” from Seattle. “Aunt Bun makes us retro frocks — classic play dresses from the Dick and Jane era,” Janet Ershig remarks. Wild Blueberries is tentatively open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with extended hours in the summer. It will close one day a week when the Ershigs discover what the “slow day” is in Fairhaven. The Ershigs had personal funds to start Wild Blueberries and also obtained a loan through Whidbey Island Bank. Steve Ershig recently graduated with a master of business administration degree from Western Washington University. He found a course on small businesses to be extremely helpful. “We have also greatly benefited from the experience and support of friends and family. Janet’s mom was here for a month and was very helpful,” Steve Ershig says. Both owners will be working in the store, along with two part-time employees. — Patti Rathbun
Sofie’s Goldmine & Repair Owner: Sofie Hynes
At 8 years old, Swedish native Sofie Hynes knew she was a diamond in the rough. Six years later, she began carving her future in the jewelry business. Hynes, 38, opened Sofie’s Goldmine & Repair a little more than a month after closing her former business of eight years, the Jewelry Clinic, located in Bellis Fair mall. As the mother of two young girls, mall hours weren’t working well with family life for Hynes. She decided to relocate to be near downtown activities and gain more control over her work week. “This has been the easiest business to open,” Hynes says. “It doesn’t need to cost thousands of dollars to open up your own business; you just have to roll up your sleeves and do it,” referring to her family’s help in refurbishing the store’s interior. Hynes isn’t worried about losing customer traffic at her downtown location. “I have a good reputation from the mall and a lot of customers who followed me here,” she states. “I guarantee my work and I take pride in it.” She offers jewelry repair along with custom-designed pieces. “There’s something for every budget from $1.50 on up,” Hynes remarks. “I want it to be a place where everybody feels comfortable.” Her store has a goldmine theme with a unique interior that features original windows from Stephen King’s movie “Rose Red.” She serves beverages and cookies, does jewelry repairs while you wait and has created a play area for children. Hynes honed her skills through years of study and apprenticeships. “When I was young, I didn’t like to study,” she recalls. “A friend’s father had a jewelry shop and one day I went to it and knew it was what I wanted to do. It was just really exciting for me.” At age 14, Hynes went to a jewelery store in her hometown of Sodertalje and told them she wanted to learn the business. Impressed by her fortitude, the store owner offered Hynes a two-year apprenticeship. Hynes later attended a jewelry school for three years. She began another apprenticeship at a shop that designed pieces for the Swedish royal family, through which she earned her master’s degree. At age 23, Hynes came to the United States to be an au pair for a Bellevue family. Shortly after arriving in the country, Hynes met her future husband, Dixon. The two married and lived in Bellevue, where she eventually became the shop manager at Friedlanders Jewelers for three years. During that time, Hynes conducted off-site, one-day jewelry repair clinics. “That’s where I did my research for the Jewelry Clinic,” she says. Feeling it was time to do her own thing, Hynes began to apply for lease space at Seattle-area malls. “They all laughed at me. They thought it was the craziest idea.” The manager at Bellis Fair mall liked the Jewelry Clinic idea and quickly accepted her proposal. While opening the clinic, Hynes had great support from her husband’s family and a business partner, Rodney Smithson, who is not a part of the new store. Her father-in-law even hand-built the first kiosk for the Bellis Fair shop. — Christina Schmidt
Sound Horticulture Owner: Allison Kutz-Troutman
In a corner office at the Cascade Cuts organic wholesale nursery, a large blue and yellow parrot watches Allison Kutz-Troutman and her visitor. The parrot’s name is “Kali,” Kutz-Troutman says. “The destroyer,” she adds, laughing. Kali, of course, is best known as the Hindu goddess of destruction. Interestingly, though, the original Kali is a triple goddess, with two other important, if lesser-known, aspects: creation and preservation. Kutz-Troutman doesn’t mention this in the offhand introduction to her bird, but it’s a good bet she’s fully aware them. She likes subtle symbolism. The logo on the card for her new business, Sound Horticulture, Inc., is a woman with hair that trails into tendrils of leaves, and a globe of the Earth as the center of her eye — mother with the Earth in her eye. Mother Earth. And Kutz-Troutman is passionate about doing what she can to preserve, protect and heal the Earth and to make life healthier for all concerned in the process. Kutz-Troutman, who is also co-owner of Cascade Cuts with husband, Paul Troutman, began Sound Horticulture in October as an outgrowth of her work over the past 21 years with the nursery, which grows plants as organically as possible. Sound Horticulture is a multi-faceted business focusing on expanding the ability of farmers and gardeners to grow healthier, disease and mold-resistant plants using organic resources called “compost teas.” Compost teas are basically liquid fertilizers made from special compost which contains a complex array of microbes, including rare trace microbes, soil needs to produce high quality plants. The beneficial microbes revitalize “dead” soil by adding missing micronutrients been killed by pesticides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers and overuse. The result, says Kutz-Troutman, are plants which are darker, more richly-colored, hardier, mold-resistant and have fewer problem with sucking insects. Sound Horticulture sells compost tea-making machines and tea ingredients such as Living Soil “earthworm castings” from worms farmed near Ferndale. The high oxygen content compost the tanks produce are carefully created to be free from pathogens or dangerous organisms, while growing the beneficial microbes. As Sound Horticulture, Kutz-Troutman also consults and acts as project manager for growers who want to use organic tools in their farming. In this role, Kutz-Troutman visits fields, conducts soil tests, gathers information about the grower’s crops and disease issues, and advises them about the best organic tools to use. Other aspects of Sound Horticulture’s business include education, advocacy and — as Kutz-Troutman knows the importance of hard data — research. Interest in compost teas has been growing over the past few years. In October 2000, BioCycle Magazine reported that Snohomish County, the city of Seattle and the Port of Seattle were among governmental bodies that had purchased compost tea units. Kutz-Troutman was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal about her new venture. Sound Horticulture will have samples of compost tea available at the Cascade Cuts nursery’s annual Whatcom Hills Waldorf School fundraiser, May 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The fundraiser is the only day of the year that Cascade Cuts sells plants to the public. The nursery is at 632 Montgomery Road, Bellingham. Call 671-6310 for driving directions. — Heidi Henken |
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