Volume 31 • Issue 10 • October 2006
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Women leave lasting legacy
This year’s WWiB and SWAN award winners will join exclusive list

by Kate Nichols

Two successful businesswomen will be recognized as the “best of all of us,” by Whatcom Women in Business (WWiB) and Skagit Women Alliance and Network (SWAN) at award banquets this month.
Debra Lancaster, president of SWAN and former award recipeint, says, “it’s not about winning, but about giving recognition and honoring the women.”
This is WWiB 25th annual Whatcom County Professional Woman of the Year Award Banquet celebrating the accomplishments of women. WWiB is comprised of business owners and managers whose mission is to be good role models within the association and the community-at-large. They strive to exemplify and promote community involvement, mentorship and business acumen through teaching, learning leadership and peer support. The group meets twice a month for lunch.
“Business doesn’t fall all over you like a can of paint,” says Becky Raney president of WWiB. She said the organization started in 1975 to help women in business help each other “ride the waves” of business, and problem-solve the day-to-day running of a business. She believes that it takes a community to support and raise a business.
SWAN’s Banquet to honor the 2006 Business and Professional Woman of the Year is part of the National Businesswomen’s Week during the third week in October. This is the 22nd award dinner. SWAN is a 15- member board that plans the award dinner at monthly meetings. The board is representative of existing community groups, particularly the Soroptimist Clubs; it is not a group with a general membership.
Both groups generate publicity requesting nominations for the award and the public nominates businesswomen. Then their respective boards select five finalists and a panel of five judges from the community chose the woman who receives the award. At both events scholarships will be presented to women to further education. At WWiB giving scholarships creates a full circle for women by allowing someone who has benefited from the support other women, to help raise money through the silent auction to pass on that support.
Laura Cailloux was the recipient of the SWAN award last year. She said the recognition from the award gave her more visibility and requests for speaking engagements. Cailloux feels fortunate because she is already involved in economic development as a component of her job as director of the Business Resource Center at Skagit Valley College. She continues to be actively involved in her community; this year focusing on poverty. The homeless are not visible in Skagit Valley, Cailloux explained because many are “couch surfers.” She is presently working to create an awareness of poverty and to help change its culture, especially for people who are part of the cycle of generational poverty. She initiated Leadership Skagit and this year their focus is on poverty and who gets the resources.
Lisa Janicki, the 2004 SWAN award winner, was invited to speak at the Governor’s Council Conference to talk about economic growth in the area. It was a tribute to her; she was one of only three people in industry invited to speak. Since receiving the award in 2004, Janicki has become the public spokesperson for Janicki Industries. She is the chief financial officer for both Janicki Industries and Janicki Logging and Construction. As the aerospace business has expanded, it has provided opportunities for her company, as well as people in the area. Janicki Industries will be hiring an additional 100 people in the next 18 months. The company has a good record for its fair hiring; 24% of employees are women and 38% are Hispanic. Janicki will carry forward the tradition of the awards dinner as the SWAN president next year.
Jody Bergsma was the1982 recipient of the WWiB award. She is an example of the business acumen and creativity of the women chosen for the award. She has leaped from a teenager selling her watercolor paintings at local art shows to an international businesswoman creating fine art that is accessible to everyone. She believes in embracing change and closed her gallery to sell through the internet. Bergsma designs everything from fairies for ceramic cups and figurines, to Italian puzzles and journal covers. She is flying to China to find a manufacturer to make plush animals inspired by her coloring books drawings. Wal-Mart buys her designs for fleece squares, Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida, commissioned two logos and Bullseye Tattoos buys drawings from her. After 45 years she still loves what got her into business – painting watercolors. As a bonus, Bergsma is recognizing the hard work of her employees by taking them to a retreat in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Since receiving her award in 1995 WWiB, Anna Williams went from Chief Financial Officer of Hawley’s, Inc. to reaching into her Memphis background to open Anna’s Kaddyshack restaurant. She sold the restaurant, but stayed on as administrative assistant to the new owner. Anna looks at her life as a full glass. The WWiB award was validating and made her “made her feel good about herself.” She even ran for city council, and although she lost, she found it a wonderful experience because of the opportunity for public debate. Williams loves living in Bellingham because it is a place where she believes everyone is involved in the community. She continues the spirit of WWiB by mentoring women in whatever way she can.
The award dinners celebrate all businesswomen. This year’s finalist are all worthy of the recognition that community members have bestowed on them by nominating them for their outstanding work in their communities.
SWAN will hold its annual banquet on Thursday, Oct. 19 at McIntyre Hall on the campus of Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon. At the banquet SWAN will announce the winner of the 2006 Professional and Business Woman of the Year. The SWAN board selected five finalist who are strong in three major criteria:
1. Demonstrating excellence in their chosen profession.
2. Promoting professionalism among women in business
3. Contributing to the community service in Skagit County.
Tickets to the banquet at McIntyre Hall or by calling 416.7727.

The Whatcom Women in Business will present its Professional Woman of the Year award on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Best Western Lakeway Inn. Tickets are $45 if purchased by Oct. 18 ($50 if purchased later) and can be obtained online at www.wwib.org



Whatcom Women in Business Finalists
Lila deWeber

Success for Lila deWeber as Elite Executive Senior Sales Director, Mary Kay Cosmetics, required persistence, relationship skills and community involvement. She learned to work hard and wanted to help others. She has a passion for building women’s self esteem and in addition to her work for Mary Kay, she offers Self-Esteem workshops for women “so they may be stronger women, better mothers and have the ability to pass it on. “
While living in Spokane and waiting for the birth of her third child she ran a successful day care center, but she wanted more, so she began her Mary Kay business in 1975. During the past 31 years she has impacted over 8000 women within Mary Kay. The deWeber unit has produced over $300,000 in retail sales for 18 years. She has helped mentor 62 directors and two national directors. She prides herself on never giving up on her dreams or the dreams of other women.
DeWeber is actively involved in the community, she helps at the high school by doing practice job interviews with students to prepare them for employment. She teaches Married Couples Workshops with her husband, John.
She wants to feel that she made the world a better place.
She feels that working at home for Mary Kay provided her children with the opportunity to learn business skills – phone skills, how to behave professionally – to help them become successful adults. In addition to three adult children she and her husband enjoy their seven grandchildren.

Karen Ekdahl

With the leadership of Karen Ekdahl, Executive Director, the Bellingham Childcare & Learning Center achieved accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which is the most recognized licensing agency. The center provides excellent care for children, birth through five years. It is a non-profit agency, which charges families on a sliding fee based on income.
The staff cares for the whole family to help keep children on track. They connect parents with resources including parent education classes and they hold parent meetings.
Because Ekdahl cannot offer as much financial compensation to her staff as they deserve, she encourages a caring environment. She allows flexible work schedules and offers ongoing training.
The center receives funding from United Way and the City of Bellingham, but there is no guaranteed income for the center to help low income families. Ekdahl raises funds to cover those and other expenses for the school. She stays connected to the community. Eagle Scouts put up a fence around the play area, a student painted a mural, churches take up special collections and the center has Make a Difference Day projects.
Ekdahl advocates for some of the larger issues around childcare. She testified in Olympia for quality childcare and funding for Early Childhood Education Career and Wage Ladder pilot project. Her present goal, with the help of other childcare administrators, is to work through all the books of new rules to maintain accreditation next year.

Maureen Enegren

“I see the need in our community and I am proud to make a difference in the lives of the people we help that have nowhere else to turn,” says Maureen Enegren, director of the Mt. Baker Chapter of the American Red Cross. She started with the organization in 1985 as finance director, but has been the executive director for the past 10 years.
Since Enegren has been the director of the chapter, the service delivery and the operating budget have quadrupled, including assuming responsibility for Skagit Valley. “The largest difference I see for a CEO of a for-profit organization and a non-profit is that in addition to the strategic and day-to-day management of the entity, a non-profit CEO also has to raise its budget.” She is responsible for 11 paid staff, over 450 volunteers and for raising $850,000 a year.
She carries a pager with her 24/7 so she can respond to disasters. At those times she can work 14-18 hour days. When she asks herself why she is working so hard she goes to the disaster site to look into the faces of the people she serves.
Her major goals for the local chapter are a capital campaign for a new building and creating an endowment fund. She also mentors other women Red Cross directors across the U.S.
Enegren also belongs to the Rotary Club, is a key supporter of the United Way campaign raising money for the community safety net and she volunteers with Excellence NW. She enjoys travel, gardening, boating and spending time with her husband Ben, their three daughters and friends.

Elizabeth Grant

Elizabeth Grant learned the basics of business in her father’s store. She observed him working with customers, ordering supplies, taking inventory and figuring costs. When she went to Louisiana State University, Grant learned “book knowledge” from business management courses. But she learned to take a practical look at a situation by observing her father.
Grant started in the title industry in 1984 working in oil and gas in Louisiana. When she moved to Bellingham in 1992 she worked for Charter Title. Then Stewart Title acquired it and she was asked to take over the Port Townsend office, which was losing money. She streamlined, upgraded equipment, and made the facility more inviting by redecorating it. Most importantly she went out into the community and asked for their business. Her strategy worked and the office became profitable.
She met her husband in Bellingham and when they got married she requested a transfer back to Bellingham after two years in Port Townsend. When she returned, she was asked to replace the retiring manager. As president of Stewart Title Company she is proud of the steady growth of her company. Since she has been president, the company’s share of the market has grown from 12% to 20%.
Grant won the Business Pulse award in 2002. She won the national Magnificent Manager award from Stewart Title in 2006 and received the award in Costa Rica.
She is also on the Board of Governors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Whatcom County. She loves to paint and one of her abstracts hangs in the office.

Lurline Hammer

It’s hard to pin down a job title for Lurline Hammer because she wears so many hats in her work. The closest she comes to a title is property management and administrative assistant, especially to the company manager of A.L.R.T. Corporation. Hammer explains that ALRT stands for A Logging, Road Building and Trucking Corporation.
Hammer came to Bellingham from Federal Way to obtain an education degree at Western Washington University. After graduation she worked in community banking at Mt. Baker Mutual Savings Bank as a loan officer. She also worked in finance and real estate. In 1990, Hammer became a co-owner of the new company.
One of her most recent projects was assisting in getting the Sipher Rock Quarry into the comprehensive plan as a mineral resource. She was also part of a family effort to develop the Irongate area. She points out that with 70 employees and the businesses that support their company, like the small truckers and suppliers, the company contributes a great deal to the local economy.
She belongs to Washington Women in Timber; whose main event is organizing the timber educational tour about the logging industry as part of the Deming Logging Show. She feels that it is important to discuss the changes in the industry. She also is active in the company sponsorships, especially of the employees’ childrens athletic teams.
Hammer is looking forward to retiring with her husband so she can slow down to enjoy her 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Janet Lightner

Janet Lightner believes that she was “basically put on this planet to cook for people.” She started her career as a cook when she was 12 years old on her grandparents’ wheat ranch. She believes that some of her best training came from learning where food comes from and by combining foods that she grew herself.
After cooking at Boundary Bay Brewery (BBB) since 1997, she is now general manager. She cooked at many of the finest restaurants in Bellingham including, il Fiasco, Cliff House and Cobblestone where she worked with chef Peter Cady. But after 30 years of cooking large quantities, taking over BBB as general manager suited her. But she likes the camaraderie of the kitchen so she still helps out occasionally.
Microbreweries are about 10% of the beer market. Boundary Bay is the second largest BrewPub in the U.S. and Lightner is one of the few women in the business. The market is geared 90-95% to men. She would like to see more marketing toward women with lighter beers, for example. She wants women to understand that business decisions are being made in the pubs without them and she wants to create a safe environment for them to join men at the tables.
After Amnesty International of Bellingham approached her in 1999 for BBB’s first fundraiser she found a way to give back to the community that excited her. She wants BBB to be a community place and tries to accommodate community functions and fundraisers. Lightner is accomplishing her goal of building a brewery that she can leave as a legacy to Bellingham one cause at a time.

Skagit Women’s Alliance and Network Finalists
Maile Acoba

Maile Acoba is the director of the Skagit County Human Services Department, where she is responsible for the oversight and implementation of local substance abuse treatment/prevention, developmental disabilities day programming, and mental health collaboration and special projects.
A native of Hawaii with a Masters degree in Public Administration, she has earned a reputation as an innovative program developer in Skagit County. She and her staff have been successful in leveraging new funds and working with consumers/advocates, service providers, law enforcement and the criminal justice systems to create services to more effectively meet the needs of the Skagit County community. Some of these programs include an integrated behavioral crisis triage center for mental health crisis and detoxification services under one roof, a mental health court pilot project addressing treatment needs for mentally ill individuals involved with the criminal justice system and crisis intervention team training for local law enforcement officers to obtain strategies and skills in dealing with individuals with mental illnesses, substance abuse issues and developmental disabilities.
Prior to her position with the county, Acoba was the Community Services Director at Skagit County Community Action Agency, where she oversaw and developed a number of programs to help low-income families and individuals with food, shelter, clothing and legal assistance.

Laurel Browning

Laurel Browning has dedicated her professional career to education. She is the assistant superintendent in the Burlington-Edison School District, the first woman to hold the position. In 2003, Browning was the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Director and prior to that she served as the K-8 principal at Lucille Umbarger School. As assistant superintendent she is charged with ensuring that the system provides each student every opportunity for a quality education.
She has been an advocate of education partnerships that have involved the University of Washington, Skagit College, Western Washington University, Gates Foundation, Skagit Valley Herald and Museum of Northwest Art.
Browning served as the president of the Washington Association of School Administrators for regional counties in 2005. She has been an active member of Washington Association for Supervision and Curriculum, Washington Educational Research Association and American Association of University Women.
Browning earned her superintendent’s credentials in 2006, Master’s of Education in administration in 1993 and a Bachelor’s of Arts in education in 1986 from Western Washington University.
Browning is a member and past president of the Jean Thompson Hospital Guild that is associated with Children’s Hospital of Seattle. Browning was a charter member and co-chair of curriculum for Leadership Skagit. She also is a founding board member of the Skagit River Poetry Festival.

Maureen Harlan

A genuine “Valley Girl,” Maureen Harlan was brought to her first home on the shores of the Swinomish Channel in La Conner at nine days old. A graduate of La Conner High School and a lifelong resident of Skagit County, Harlan spent ten years after high school away from the valley – attending college, marrying, and having her two children.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English education with a minor in Speech/Drama and a Master’s of education in School Counseling – all earned at Western Washington University. In the early 1990’s, Harlan received her Principal’s credential from Gonzaga University. She retired briefly from the LaConner School District in 2002 after working as a teacher, counselor and principal for 27 years. After only one year away, she returned and is now working fulltime as a prevention, intervention and safety specialist for the district at the high school. She also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Skagit County, directs the LaConner Schools-Community Theater productions, supports and is an active member of the Museum of NW Art (MoNA) and its education programs; and volunteers with Leadership Skagit.
Maureen is married to Harold “Mit” Harlan and has two children – Sara and Michael – and two grandchildren. An avowed bibliophile, Harlan always enjoys a good reading recommendation, conversation and the company of family and friends!

Kathy Larson

Kathy Larson is a 37-year career employee of Puget Sound Energy/Puget Power. She has enjoyed many professional and leadership opportunities throughout the company’s service area during her employment.
Larson and her children moved to Skagit County in 1997 after accepting the position of Community Relations Manager for Skagit and Whatcom Counties. Currently she is Key Accounts Manager for commercial and industrial customers.
Larson has served on a number of Skagit County boards and other organizations during her residency in Skagit County. Currently she is the immediate past president of the Tulip Festival Board and will co-chair the effort of bringing the World Tulip Summit to Skagit County in the year 2010, is an executive committee member and secretary on the Skagit Valley College Board of Governors and co-chair of the winter fund raiser—Asian Infusion, and is a member of Soroptimists of Fidalgo Island, a woman’s organization that focuses on issues affecting women.She just returned from a trip to Australia on behalf of the Tulip Festival.
Larson loves the outdoors and is an avid snow skier and boating enthusiast. She also enjoys landscaping and garden design at her home in Anacortes.

Karen Parnell

Karen Parnell moved to Anacortes from Fort Worth, Texas with her family in 1983. Born and reared in Hawaii, she attended college on the mainland, graduating from Texas Tech University with a degree in home economics.
Following graduation, Parnell was employed with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, working with 4-H and adult and programming. She has held positions with a home health firm, and in hospital nutrition care. She also worked alongside her husband, Gary, managing a Baptist camp in Hawaii, where she coordinated food services.
Joining Skagit County Community Action Agency as WIC Coordinator, Parnell has played a significant leadership role in the agency’s growth during her 23-plus years employment, seeing it expand from three programs to more than 25 major programs with a budget of $4.25 million, operating in multiple locations. She serves as SCCAA’s Deputy Director, having been appointed to this position in 1991.
A 2005 graduate of Leadership Skagit, Karen also serves on boards for the Skagit Symphony and Skagit Community Foundation.
Karen and her husband, Gary, are the parents of three adult children - a daughter attends Western Washington University, and two sons live in the Seattle area.

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Anna Williams, the 1995 WWiB Professional Woman of the Year, opened her own restaurant, Anna’s Kaddyshack.




Former WWiB award winner Jody Bergsma turned her passion for art into a successful career.