Kathy Cross
Co-owner,
Laserpoint Awards & Promotionals
Kathy Cross has laser-like focus. Whether she’s running a successful engraving and promotional business or working overtime as president of the board of directors for Blue Skies for Children, a local non-profit organization that assists homeless, foster, and low income children in their education by providing clothing, school supplies, and enrichment programs.
Bringing one of the first laser engravers to the area, She and her husband, Randy, started Laserpoint Awards in1997, and changed the name to Laserpoint Awards and Promotionals in 2002 to better reflect the business. With large local and national accounts, Laserpoint provides a variety of corporate gifts and promotional items from plaques to t-shirts. Cross regularly sits down with clients and helps custom design their orders.
With Blue Skies for Children, Cross has served as a board member since 2001 and board president since 2003. As if she doesn’t have enough on her plate, Cross is also spearheading a local initiative effort to implement Washington state’s version of “Jessica’s Law,” which would place tougher penalties and restrictions on sex offenders.
Audrey Borders
President,
Borders & Son Quality Roofing Inc.
Audrey Borders has made a career out of ‘firsts.’ In 1999, Borders became the first woman ever to receive the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County’s “Builder of the Year” award. In 2004, she became the first woman president of the BIAWC, and saw the group break the 400-member mark for the first time ever.
With Borders more than halfway through her second term in office, the BIAWC has grown in strength as a social and political anchor for the area’s building community.
She is also working on the Whatcom Community College professional technical advisory committee to help re-integrate construction-related education back into local schools.
“It’s been a passion of mine for about three years to get this up and running,” said Borders. She also sits on various other community and civic boards.
As a cancer survivor and former nurse while raising three children on her own, Borders has come a long way. Her roofing company, which she shared with her late husband, is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Borders said she doesn’t think too often about her role as a pioneer of women working in non-traditional roles.
“It was just something I had to do, so I did it,” she said.
Marsha Lockhart
Broker and team leader,
Keller Williams Realty of Bellingham
As the team leader of one of the largest real estate offices in the region, it’s no secret why Marsha Lockhart was nominated for “Businesswoman of the Year” by the Whatcom Women in Business. And, if it’s a secret how Keller Williams Realty of Bellingham has grown to 148 employees since its opening five years ago, it’s a secret that Lockhart is happy to share.
“Keller Williams does things very differently – It’s not the agent versus the broker like most companies,” said Lockhart. “We work together as a team, it’s not the dog-eat-dog thing that happens in the commission sales industry.”
Besides the myriad of duties that come with managing 148 agents, Lockhart has found the time in the last few years to help found the Bellingham Railway Museum, of which she currently sits on the board of directors. She is also an alternative board member of the Lake Samish Association, a member of St. James Presbyterian Church, and has supported several non-profit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. She and her husband Bruce have four children, the oldest of which was recently dispatched to Jackson, Miss. to assist FEMA with disaster relief.
Nancy J. Bitting
CEO,
PeaceHealth Whatcom Region
Nancy J. Bitting takes health seriously – not just her health, but also the health of an entire region.
As the regional CEO and Board Chair for the second-largest employer in Whatcom County, her considerable administrative duties include overseeing St. Joseph Hospital and medical group. Bitting also serves as PeaceHealth’s senior vice president for the Whatcom region, and has reporting responsibilities for the southeast Alaska region and Ketchikan General Hospital.
Before coming to Bellingham, Bitting was president and CEO of Riverside Community Hospital in California, and has held administrative positions at other Southern California hospitals. A registered nurse, Bitting holds a bachelor’s degree in health services from Chapman University and a master’s degree in health care management from California State University, Los Angeles.
Bitting is a member of the Birchwood Presbyterian Church Health Committee and sits on several local boards including the United Way, the Bellingham/Whatcom Economic Development Council, and the Hospice Foundation. She and her husband George have two grown sons and two grandchildren.
Ramona Abbott
Consultant, Essentially Professional
and Mortgage Loan Consultant,
Century Mortgage Group, L.L.C.
It’s hard to categorize Ramona Abbott. As owner and manager for both Essentially Professional, a business consulting firm and Essentially Whimsical beaded artwork, Abbott has no problem moving between the business and art communities. Abbott is also an educator, teaching management and supervision skills at Bellingham Technical College. Rounding out her waking hours, she also works as a mortgage loan consultant for Century Mortgage Group and writes a column for the Northwest Business Monthly magazine as “The Management Maven.”
As a consultant, she’s worked with the City of Bellingham, the Port of Bellingham, Western Washington University’s Small Business Development Center, Nature’s Path, the Society of Human Resource Professionals, and other local businesses.
As an artist, she creates intricately beaded mirrors and bracelets, which in addition to selling, she donates to various charities and non-profit organizations.
Abbott also donates her time to a variety causes, having recently been named Big Sister of the Year for Washington State, King and Pierce counties. She’s been with her “Little Sister,” Ming of Seattle, for eight years. Abbott is a member of Sustainable Connections, City Club and Business Network Alliance, the Whatcom Artist Studio Tour, and Allied Arts.
She lives with her husband Ken Kutner and her four cats.
Sue Cole
Public affairs director,
Brown & Cole Stores
Sue Cole doesn’t consider herself an “outfront, public person.” But when the media comes knocking on Brown & Cole’s door, or any of the past companies she’s represented, Cole doesn’t shy away from the front lines.
She sees honesty as the best policy in public relations.
When an unlicensed nurse was caught holding flu shot clinics this year at Lynden and Blaine Cost Cutters, Sue Cole led a company response that garnered praise in local editorial pages.
“When something like that happens it’s a hurricane of media interest, but you have to be honest and not try to shade it,” she said. “It’s a case of us getting to the bottom of the issue as quick as we could.” When a question arose over the administered vaccine, Cole quickly contacted local law enforcement and health officials. As the nurse’s false credentials surfaced, Brown & Cole reimbursed a portion of the medical costs for people who received the shot, which was actually verified as genuine flu vaccine.
Cole also spearheads positive campaigns such as coordinating American Cancer Society Relay for Life efforts and launching the store’s snack program, which provides eight weeks of snacks to about 230 youth soccer teams throughout Whatcom County. She also handles internal communication duties between the company’s 29 stores and Bellingham headquarters.
Growing up in Ohio, Cole came to Bellingham for college and earned a journalism and political science degree from Western Washington University. She’s worked in public relations for Puget Power, St. Luke’s Hospital, Intalco, and a variety of freelance contracts. She transitioned to Brown & Cole after her husband, Craig Cole – who currently heads the third generation company – began the chain’s rapid expansion. Cole said they’re currently restructuring the company to make it more customer focused as their competition shifts from traditional grocery stores to Wal-Mart supercenters.
Cole also sits on the board of the Whatcom Community Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps coordinate local capital giving. She and her husband Craig have three daughters.
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