Volume 31 • Issue 09 • September 2006

Back to content page


Charter business launches
Trading high tech for the high seas was easy for Hamilton Hayes, owner of the new Valhalla Marine Adventures based in Fairhaven. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in geophysics, Hayes worked for major corporations all over the United States, including Poloroid, GTE, Computer Associates and Sylvania. He changed jobs and locations once he discovered the Pacific Northwest.
“This has got to be the prettiest place on Earth,” Hayes said. “I knew immediately I wanted to do something on the water.”
A long-time boater, Hayes offers charter tours to the San Juan Islands on his two boats. The 30-foot, high-speed Wahoo can swiftly transport six people to the islands for catered day outings. His 32-foot sailboat, “S/V Piquero,” holds six people for a more leisurely on the water experience. Sunset, full- or half-day and hourly charters are available. Hayes is a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain. Hayes said he hopes to offer corporate team-building trips to the islands for small groups, along with his regular charters.

Hampton Inn & Suites hotel opens in Burlington
Dacodo, LCC opened its new 102-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel located on South Burlington Boulevard in Burlington.
The new hotel is owned by Dan R. Mitzel and Patricia R. Burkland, Colonel F. Betz and Christie M. Betz, and Donald G. DeBode and Patricia J. DeBode.
The new Hampton Inn & Suites is expected to bring approximately $50,000 of additional annual tax revenue to Skagit County, and at the same time provide more than 40 new career opportunities for Skagit County residents.
The new hotel will provide amenities including the “on the house hot breakfast” served daily, complimentary high-speed Internet access, free local telephone calls, an indoor swimming pool, fitness center, business center and meeting rooms. All of the guest rooms feature an in-room coffee maker, iron and ironing board, mini-refrigerator and microwave oven. The new hotel also offers an on-site convenience “Suite” shop and guest laundry facility.
Hampton Inn & Suites is part of the Hilton Hotels Corporation.

Williams-Coluccio opens new practice
Dr. Jayna M. Williams-Coluccio opens Advanced Audiology, LLC on North State Street in Bellingham on Sept. 7.
Williams-Coluccio provides comprehensive hearing evaluations, treatment and care for all populations of the hearing impaired. She has more than 10 years experience dispensing hearing aids in the Pacific Northwest, and she recently worked with a hearing aid manufacturer on the East Coast.
She is a graduate of Western Washington University, Portland State University and Arizona School of Health Sciences where she received her doctor of audiology degree in 2004.
She is hearing impaired and a successful user of hearing aids, and she is the mother of a daughter with hearing loss.
Williams-Coluccio is sponsoring a consumer educational seminar at the Chrysalis Inn and Spa on Sept. 14.

Lynden store offersall-natural yarn
Farmhouse Fibers, providing supplies and all-natural yarn for fiber artists, opened July 24 on Front Street in Lynden.
Owners Sheril and Rob Richards said they want to serve fiber artists of all kinds – including knitters, spinners, crocheters and felters – as well as people seeking organic, earth-friendly products.
Farmhouse Fibers also offers all-natural lavender products, including lotions, candles, soaps and sachets. The store has a room for people who would like to knit or enjoy a cup of tea.
The Richards raise Shetland sheep, angora goats and angora rabbits for fiber on their hobby farm several miles east of Everson.

Pre-school opens in Bellingham
Salmonberry Montessori School held a grand opening celebration Aug. 5. The school, located near Cornwall Park, is owned and operated by certified Montessori teacher Alexandra Sands.
Sands is a Bellingham native who previously taught at the Montessori School of Casper in Casper, Wyo., and received her primary teaching diploma from the Association Montessori Internationale.
The classroom environment at the pre-school is non-competitive and attends to the child’s social, emotional, physical and intellectual development.
Salmonberry accepts students 2-1/2 to 5 years old.

Cordata storage facility to sell units
Rolf Haugen, who owns a storage business in Lynden, submitted plans to the city of Bellingham to build Cordata Business Park and Storage on Cordata Parkway near Madrona Medical Group.
The $5 million facility will have 55 units available, totaling 50,000 square feet of space. Construction began in August.
All three buildings will be wired for phone and cable. The units will be sold, not rented. Buyers can use them for commercial or residential storage, or as a place to operate a business.
“We’ve been working on a project like this for years before we found the right location and opportunity,” Haugen said.
In recent years he said he’s noticed a trend of people setting up businesses in storage units, from Internet start-ups to electricians and plumbers. He said great businesses have gotten their start at this level.
“With these units, we’re just trying to make it as convenient as possible to run a business by providing whatever services we can,” Haugen said.

Skagit Valley Gardens opens retail facility
Skagit Valley Gardens in Mount Vernon held a grand opening of its new retail facility on June 22. The Gardens marked the event with live music, door prizes, appetizers, beverages and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Skagit farm radio station available for freeway drivers
InFARMation 1630 AM, is now a reality thanks to the efforts of several community partners and an appropriation from the Washington State Legislature sponsored by Senator Mary Margaret Haugen. Leading the project is Peggy Flynn, Leadership Skagit team member and Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland board member.
Local farm-related broadcasts will be updated frequently by Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, the operators of the station. A low wattage transmitter for this traveler’s information radio station in now in place at the Smith and Morrison Farm located south of Mount Vernon in Skagit Valley along Interstate 5. Programming is under way and highway signs directing travelers to the call numbers will soon be in place along I-5.

Barkley Company breaks ground on mixed-use building
Barkley Company broke ground on its first mixed-use condominium building during the week of Aug. 14.
The Drake, a 36-unit condominium building, is being built near the corner of Barkley Boulevard and Newmarket Street in Barkley Village in Bellingham, and will be completed in mid-2007.
Designed by award-winning architects, the Drake adheres to a Barkley commitment to timeless architecture and quality materials while presenting a modern aesthetic. The building will feature studio, one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus-den residences, secured residential parking, and approximately 6,000 square feet of retail/office space on the ground floor.
The Drake is the first of many residential buildings that will further define the Barkley area – a neighborhood already recognized as a premier business and retail destination.


Back to content page