Business looks up “out the road”
Fascinating people gravitate to Mt. Baker/Foothills

by Christopher Key

 

Carole MacDonald is like many of the business people at the far end of state Route 542. She wants enough traffic to keep her Inn at Mt. Baker full of guests, but not so much as to spoil the area. She is realistic enough to realize that growth is inevitable and optimistic enough to believe that it can be done correctly.

That’s why MacDonald has been instrumental in resurrecting the once moribund Mt. Baker/Foothills Chamber of Commerce. She wants to help unify all the diverse interests at work in the area, develop a list of priorities, and partner with county organizations to put “out the road” on the map.

“There are lots of people in Bellingham who have never been out this way,” MacDonald said. “We need to let them know that, yes, they can get gas, groceries and liquor out here. But we also have a world-class snowboard shop, a number of outstanding artists, and some excellent restaurants.”

The reconstituted chamber is partnering with the Nooksack Casino and the Bellingham/Whatcom County Convention and Visitors Bureau to spread the word.

“Most of our visitors come from within a 200 mile radius,” MacDonald said. “People are starting to come here rather than Mt. Rainier because our environment is more pristine. Hikers are beginning to discover the area and snowshoeing is really taking off.”

One of the measures of the change is the number of permanent residents at developments like Snow Creek, which used to be exclusively vacation homes. Another yardstick is the attention some of the area restaurants are getting in regional publications. MacDonald believes that the area just needs fiber optic/high speed Internet service to really fulfill its potential.

Anchoring the east end of the far-flung community is Mt. Baker Ski Area. The facility not only has an international reputation as one of the birthplaces of snowboarding, but has attracted the attention of the meteorological community, as well. A couple of winters back, Mt. Baker racked up the greatest snowfall ever recorded on the planet in one year. That’s not a bad way to get the attention of winter sports enthusiasts.

The ski area has indeed been breaking records for three consecutive seasons for number of season passes sold. Gwen Howat handles the marketing for the family-owned enterprise and believes another record season is on the way.

“After 9/11, people seem to be staying closer to home,” Howat said. “That may help us since we are more of a local attraction. People come to the mountains for solace in tough times and that will help us as well.”

Keeping close connections with the local community is high on the ski area’s list of priorities. They have made a point of featuring local artists, photographers, and musicians at White Salmon and Heather Meadows Lodges.

“We face some unique challenges being 60 miles away from the city,” said Howat. “We have to generate our own electricity and there is no phone service. Of course, that’s also part of our attraction.”

Mt. Baker has an unusual sense of what it is and what it is not.

“We’re going to remain true to what we are,” said Howat. “We’re located on the edge of a wilderness and want to be a retreat rather than a city in the mountains. There are no ads or promos here. People are relieved to find their cell phones don’t work. It’s a place to be with your family among some of the best scenery on earth. You can disconnect from the rat race and reconnect with nature here.”

Indeed, Mt. Baker may be one of the last places where you can access wilderness just an hour from the city.

A couple of relatively recent technical developments have helped define the ski area. The first, of course, was the development of the snowboard. Given the decline experienced by the ski industry in the 1980s, a very good argument can be made that snowboarding saved the day. Currently, about 70 percent of the season pass holders at Mt. Baker are snowboarders. Interestingly enough, skiers still constitute the majority of daily ticket purchasers.

The second development was shaped skis, which are more conducive to the type of snow and terrain offered at Mt. Baker. Most of the runs on the mountain are short, steep and technically challenging — perfect for boards and shaped skis.

“We’re investing heavily in infrastructure.” Howat said, “This is the second phase of a four year plan that will see all our double chairs upgraded to quads. We will adapt to survive, but we’re determined not to lose what made us successful in the first place. So there still won’t be any TVs in the bars or any snowboard parks.”

Those parks, Howat believes, foster a more passive interaction with the environment. Mt. Baker Ski Area wants to encourage people to use their creativity and imagination while recreating rather than having activities furnished by the ski area.

“Most people in Bellingham probably don’t realize what an international reputation we have,” Howat said. “We are regularly featured in outdoor and winter sports magazines.”

Howat sees the new influx of businesses along the Mt. Baker Highway as reflective of the mountain itself: the new and hip mixed in with the old and funky.

The ski area sponsored a film and art festival recently that celebrated the mountain and winter sports. Locals probably don’t need that to remind them that snow season is near. In fact, boarders and skiers are so antsy for the season to start that the ski area office has been inundated with 1,800 calls a day.

“It’s not just good business to support local artists and musicians,” Howat said. “It keeps us connected with our community and helps us share the mountain experience with everybody.”

Just down the hill in Glacier is a very successful manufacturing firm that very few people realize is there. It’s called Contemporary Design Company (CDC) and it manufactures and markets an exercise machine called The Shuttle. The brainchild of CDC owner Gary Graham, the machine has drawn rave reviews from the dozens of professional sports teams that use it.

Many therapeutic and rehabilitation facilities as well as the US Olympic Team also use The Shuttle. The machine employs elastic cords to create resistance to a horizontally mounted carriage. It provides a lower body workout similar to knee bends or squats, but with a much more controlled motion.

Graham grew up in Glacier. His grandparents owned the town’s grocery store and restaurant. He went to Bellingham High then on to the University of Washington to study mechanical engineering. During his 11 years at Boeing, he did preliminary design work for the lunar lander and rover. He also designed the exercise systems for the international space station, which would, in time, lead to his current career.

He came back to Glacier when his grandparents needed help with the restaurant and ended up running it until 1995. Graham’s restless intellect needed something more than running a restaurant and he eventually used the knowledge gained in designing for Boeing to create The Shuttle.

“One of the other things I studied while at Boeing,” Graham said, “was the potential of satellite communications. What would the world be like with such a system? How would it affect the way we work and communicate?”

Part of the answer is that it has allowed Graham to run his business from a town with a population of 53, many of whom work for him.

The Shuttle was designed to improve endurance, cardiovascular health, and back and joint function. It was first marketed to therapists and then caught on with sports medicine practitioners. When pro sports teams discovered that it helps develop the quick twitch muscles used in running and jumping, it was, so to speak, off to the races.

Olympic decathletes have trained on it as has a 14-year-old who set a world record in the 10km run. Even the military caught on and is now using it to train paratroops for landing without injury.

Graham still owns the family grocery and restaurant and leases them out. He believes the Mt. Baker/Foothills community is doing just fine.

“I’ve been a lot of places and there is nothing that can match Whatcom County,” said Graham. “We have everything here.”

Just south of the Mt. Baker Highway on state Route 9 lies the town of Van Zandt and one of the most unusual stores anywhere. Owner Jeff Margolis refers to it as an “inconvenience store.” Everybody’s Store will celebrate its 100th birthday next year. Jeff and his wife Amy have run it for more than thirty of those years.

“This store is unique in that it is a free-standing rural store,” Margolis said. “It’s tough bringing in customers.”

Margolis has done it by pioneering in organic, gourmet and specialty foods, all of which give outsiders a reason to come to Van Zandt. It’s like a general store without the hardware.

“We’ve not been recognized for it,” Margolis said, “but we make the best u-build sandwich anywhere.”

They are also making one of the most unusual cheeses in the world. Everybody’s Store has long been the source for Nokkelost, a cheese imported from Norway. When the Food and Drug Administration lowered the boom on milk containing nitrates, Norway quit exporting the tasty cheese. Margolis now partners with a Pleasant Valley Dairy to produce the cheese and is the sole distributor in this country.

Nokkelost is just one of the dozens of unusual items that draw people from all over the world. Rather then list them all, suffice it to say that Margolis buys from 519 different vendors. He can’t conceive of a better place to raise a family.

“It looked like heaven when we first came here,” Margolis said, “and it still does.”

The Margolis’ 1.5 acres includes the store, a picnic area, their home, an orchard and truck garden, which help supply the store. Jeff is a true believer in what he calls social capital, that which helps a community grow socially. He points to the Van Zandt community hall and the new Josh Vander Yacht Park just across the highway when asked for an example.

Seven or eight employees help Margolis run the store, most of whom have been with him for years. He looks for employees with a background in performance because he believes that entertaining the customer is vital to sales success.

Another form of social capital is Amy and Jeff’s involvement in the community. Amy plays violin in the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra while Jeff is on the board of the American Museum of Radio.

Mail order is a growing part of the business. Retail sales are up four percent from last year and wholesale is up 11 percent.

“We are Seattle’s most exclusive suburb,” Margolis said. “The foothills are becoming a favored escape for urbanites. We have to watch the way we develop so we maintain the bucolic ambiance that draws them here.”

One of the other things that draws urbanites to the area is the Nooksack River Casino. But why do gamblers continue to drive out the road when there are other casinos more conveniently located?

“Simple,” said general manager Kevin Hogan. “Our product is superior to that of the competition. We offer a fine seafood buffet, including abalone, which is better than the other casinos. There’s also our T-bone steak buffet. Our variety and mix of games is unmatched as is our customer service.”

All of that plus the casino’s pricing strategy is designed to drive customers to the Foothills corridor. New Canadian casinos just can’t compete with what Nooksack has to offer and travel cutbacks since 9/11 have kept northwesterners at home rather than going to Las Vegas.

“We’re not focused on short term profits,” Hogan said. “We want to do what is best in the long term for both the tribe and the corridor.”

So far, the Nooksack tribe has invested $20 million and has ambitious plans to invest more. Most recently, the tribe has put the finishing touches on a market center next to the casino. The center includes a Chevron gas station, convenience store, full service bakery, Port of Subs, tobacco and liquor stores.

The tribe’s master plan, however, is far larger in scope. It includes infrastructure improvements like turn lanes on the highway, better lighting, a parking garage and a waste treatment plant. The latter two would be located across the highway from the casino along with an RV park, hiking trails, and a natural resource center. Along the river back of the casino, the tribe wants to build softball and soccer fields.

Eventually, 90 acres will be included in the master plan, which has drawn support from the county council, Mt. Baker School District, Senators Murray and Cantwell, and Rep. Larsen.

Casino and tribal officials have been at the forefront of the revitalized Mt. Baker/Foothills Chamber of Commerce.

“Corridor business was stagnant until the chamber got going,” Hogan said. “No new businesses were moving into the area and the corridor was underutilized due to lack of infrastructure. It’s a complex marketing challenge and needs to be coordinated rather than left up to individual businesses. Mount Baker is a world renowned icon and we need to leverage that.”

Like other area business people, Hogan cited the lack of fiber optic lines, high speed internet and cellular phone service as stumbling blocks to development. There’s also a plethora of failing septic systems, wetlands that need protection, and the threat of flooding from the river.

The tribe employs 240 people at the casino, 170 in tribal government, 22 at the market center and 60 in construction. They also have an eye on the future. The tribe has partnered with Bellingham Technical College to offer the only accredited gaming education program in the northwest. Tribal daycare serves more than 100 children and is available to the whole community. The four person tribal police force works with the county sheriff’s department and the state patrol to improve safety along the corridor.

On the planning board is an 80-room hotel and day spa.

“Our customers come from an area ranging from Olympia to Kamloops (BC),” Hogan said. “Right now, we can only serve day trippers.”

Those day trippers apparently have entertainment dollars that aren’t affected by the shaky economy. The casino has an extensive marketing program to insure that those dollars keep coming. It includes extensive cable television advertising in both the US and Canada, a huge direct mail effort, and contracts with bus companies that bring in more than 1600 people per month.

“The tribe as a whole has to take responsibility for development along the corridor,” said tribal chair Art George. “After all, we live here. Much of the revenue from the casino goes into social services which extend far beyond the tribe.”

George helps keep the tribe involved in issues affecting the corridor by serving on the board of the Bellingham/Whatcom County Convention and Visitors Bureau and at Bellingham Technical College. The tribe was instrumental in funding the new chamber visitor center at Maple Falls.

“We are using the tribe’s political equity to benefit the whole corridor,” said George. “As a tribe, we are not locked into the county’s Growth Management Act. However, we want to work with the county on growth issues rather than just going off on our own.”

The Nooksack Business Corporation runs all the enterprises under charter from the tribe and is looking to expand its scope.

“We’re exploring a variety of opportunities,” George said, “not just in Whatcom County, but throughout the western US. We are looking for diversity by economic sector and geography.”

Geography had a lot to do with Sandy Savage fulfilling a 20-year dream to have his own brewery. His family had property along North Fork Road for years. Sandy and his wife Vicki were living in Sonoma County, California, when they took a vacation on the family land. They spotted an old building on the site and the rest is history.

The North Fork Brewery and Beer Shrine is the result of years of hard work and sheer determination. There are only three schools in the world that teach beer brewing and Sandy was the first home brewer ever admitted to one of them. Becoming a brewmeister was only the first step toward achieving his dream, however.

Choosing a location for the brewery was the easy part. Plowing through the process to get more than 100 permits needed for the business almost wrecked the dream. The Savages had to establish their own water system and address power and septic issues. Brewing waste has to be dealt with separately to the tune of several hundred dollars a month.

“Every time we thought we had enough money,” Vicki said, “something would blindside us. Many times we thought it might not happen. We basically became professional beggars.”

Sandy’s dream will celebrate its fifth year of operation in December and Vicki said they are just now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They credit their success in part to a stable crew of employees, all of whom live in the area. Chef Knut Christiansen has been on board since the beginning.

“There is such a sense of caring and support in this community,” Vicki said. “People helped us with our menu, donated artwork and babysat for the staff. We’d never have made it without them.”

That sense of community led them to keep the business open in the aftermath of last year’s terrorist attacks. It became a gathering spot where people could find support in dealing with the powerful emotions engendered by 9/11.

“We have an eclectic mix of customers,” Vicki said, “and they all seem to get along. We don’t have bar fights and that’s unusual. People feel safe and comfortable here.”

There has been a noticeable drop in out-of-state customers since 9/11 and the beginning of the summer was slow. By the end of summer, however, things were pretty much back to normal.

“This area has always had to deal with tough times,” Vicki said, “especially since the cutbacks in the logging industry. But we’re seeing an influx of new people now, many moving out here from Bellingham.”

She sees more services available to attract people and has noticed an increased number using the highway as an alternate route to Canada through Sumas. Now that the business has conquered most of the early hurdles, the Savages want to fine-tune their operation. They want to expand their beer selection and renovate the kitchen.

Most of all, they want to credit employees like head brewer Eric Jorgensen and veteran server Lisa Jayne for believing in Sandy’s dream and staying the course.

David Peterson, proprietor of Fuego 542 restaurant in Maple Falls brought most of his staff with him when he moved from Bellingham. He had been chef at Boundary Bay Brewery and kitchen manager at Casa Que Pasa where he developed a loyal cadre of employees.

Casa Que Pasa owned the Maple Falls property, but the new proprietors decided not to open a restaurant there. Peterson had always dreamed of operating a restaurant in an old home and jumped on the opportunity when the property became available.

Peterson explains that the name comes from the highway number and the Spanish word for fire. While there are indeed some fiery selections on the menu, the fire really refers to the passion for fine food.

Fuego 542 has been open for six months and apparently has been very well received.

“We’ve done lots of catering for locals and for film shoots on Mt. Baker,” Peterson said. “Plus we have received excellent writeups in a number of publications.”

He admits that his restaurant does not feature the usual Whatcom County fare. The menu changes frequently to reflect whatever fresh food is available and Peterson buys locally as much as possible.

“We haven’t done much marketing,” Peterson said. “We depend on word-of-mouth and good reviews.”

It seems to be working. Peterson notes that there are a lot of people in the area who live in the city but own second homes. Fuego 542 helps them satisfy their desires for city food, according to Peterson. It is also developing a reputation among locals as the place for a special night out. The restaurant has already seen a few proposals and birthday celebrations.

Part of the challenge of operating a business “out the road” is dealing with seasonal fluctuations in traffic.

“Between seasons can be slow,” said Peterson. “Right now the kids are back in school and ski season is a few weeks away. Some restaurants cut back or close for vacation this time of year. We’re extending our hours.”

Peterson is also changing his menu to reflect the changing seasons by adding more soups and other winter food.

“We make everything from scratch here,” Peterson said, “bread, sauces, soup, even the mayonnaise. If you stop here once, you’ll be back.”

That kind of confidence seems to be reflected among all the businesses in the Mt. Baker/Foothills corridor. They believe that they live in a unique environment and that their business depends on maintaining that rural ambiance. In addition to uniting behind the revitalized chamber, the businesses of Mt. Baker/Foothills are determined to provide their customers with experiences to remember.