Brim Tractor Celebrates 40th Anniversary
Brim Tractor Co., one of the largest New Holland tractor dealers in North America, is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Bill and Margaret Brim founded Brim Tractor in Lynden in 1967. Their son Dan and his wife, Teresa, purchased the company in 1997. Since 2000, Brim Tractor has added branches in Mount Vernon, Everett, North Bend, Sumner, Chehalis and Salem, Ore.
Brim Tractor features New Holland tractors of all sizes, ranging from compact tractors preferred for residential acreages to large tractors needed by full-time farms. The company ranks fifth in total New Holland tractor sales among the more than 1,200 New Holland dealerships in North America. Brim Tractor also offers tractor attachments, such as loaders, forks and blades, as well as turf-care equipment for municipalities and golf courses.

Sweet Repeats expands, adds photo studio
Sisters Amy Loy and Angela Apple have transformed their love for children and fashion into a successful business. So successful, in fact, that they recently relocated their Mount Vernon-based consignment store to a larger building in Pacific Plaza.
“The extra space is going to allow us to carry much more merchandise,” Loy said. “Now we can carry things like toddler beds, and we can carry more of each item like cribs, strollers and basinets. Instead of just one of everything, we can carry a much bigger selection.”
In the past, the sisters were forced to turn certain items away when they didn’t have the room to carry it.
“We’ve recently expanded to add my photography studio,” Apple said. “I’ve been taking photos for years and I’m excited to be able to offer an affordable option for our consigners and customers.”
Since the store opened in November 2005, they’ve noticed a great increase in new customers each month, Loy said.
Sweet Repeats carry clothing in sizes newborn to size 10 and maternity clothes as well. Shoppers will find other items like toys, books, videos and other baby gear, as well as larger items like cribs and strollers.

Birch Bay’s Sea Links Golf reopens
The newly renovated Sea Links Golf Course in Birch Bay reopened June 30 with nine new greens, new bunkers and a pair of new par-4 holes.
The course closed in August 2004 due to financial difficulties. It was purchased in August 2006 by Homestead Northwest, owner of Homestead Farms Golf Resort in Lynden.
“We look forward to bringing the same high quality, friendly customer service and overall experience to Birch Bay,” said Chris Jorgensen, the head golf professional at Sea Links.
Previously a par-3 executive course, Sea Links now has seven par-3 holes and two par-4 holes after being redesigned by Mick O’Bryan and Bill Chrysler, the general manager of Homestead Northwest. The nine-hole course length now is 1,501 yards from the blue tees and 1,329 yards from the white tees.

Nooksack River Casino renovates VIP Lounge
Nooksack River Casino recently announced that it has renovated its VIP Lounge/High Limit Room and the nonsmoking area. The new VIP Lounge is located in the expansion area. The VIP Lounge includes 25 slot machines and private dining area. The new nonsmoking area has been renovated to offer an exclusive gaming area that includes 23 slot machines.
Nooksack River Casino is located 15 minutes east of Bellingham on the Mount Baker Highway and features 580 slot machines, 13 table games, a poker room, keno, three restaurants, an espresso bar, a gas station and convenience store.

Printwise Inc. expands
Since acquiring Printwise in January 2006, owner Bob Singer has watched the business transform and grow.
Located in Mount Vernon, Printwise has offered traditional printing services since 1988. With nearly 30 years of experience in the printing and fine paper industries, Singer has made changes over the last year that he believes will have a lasting, positive impact on customers and the communities.
Establishing an environmentally friendly footprint and enhancing capabilities with state-of-the-art technologies have been at the forefront. In December he installed a four-color direct imaging offset printing press. This press receives files digitally and images right inside the machine. There is no film and no chemistry needed to process plates. It also utilizes a waterless ink system, producing extremely high quality color. With this technology hazardous by-products are kept out of the waste stream.
Printwise has also installed two new color digital printing systems and a high-speed black digital production printer.

WWU introduces new video production program
Western Washington University recently announced that it will have a new video production certificate program, to be taught by a collaboration of industry professionals beginning this fall. The program will prepare students to create their own video projects and develop marketable skills.
Students will acquire artistic and technical abilities, while learning the fundamental skills of digital video for either fiction or non-fiction productions. Classes will focus on single-camera video production in field and studio environments, using a range of digital video cameras, microphones, studio and location lighting principles and non-linear editing software.

WCC graduates first nursing class
Whatcom Community College graduated its inaugural class of nursing program students in June. Thirty nursing students started the program in fall 2005 and all 30 graduated from the program. The program received preliminary approval from the Nursing Commission in 2005 to admit students into the program.

Haskell recognized for construction, safety excellence
Haskell Corporation was recently awarded top honors for safety and construction excellence at the Associated General Contractor’s Build Washington Awards at the Seattle Museum of Flight. The award recognizes Haskell for its commitment to jobsite safety.
Haskell also received a second award for construction excellence for its recent work on the BP Cherry Point Refinery. The job’s goal was to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by constructing a new process unit within the existing sulfur plant while the refinery continued to operate. Computer modeling was used to rig more than 50 tons of equipment to places where only feet and sometimes inches were to spare.

Keller Williams takes Ski to Sea honors
Keller Williams Western Realty won three first-place prizes for its parade float at the Ski to Sea Grand Parade in May. The float, titled “Salute to the Fifties,” featured team leader Jeff Brew in a Superman costume and children dressed as members of the Mickey Mouse Club. The float won the Whatcom County Executive Award, the Commercial Sweepstakes Award and the Grand Sweepstakes Award.

Fairhaven business helps African women
Members of the Fairhaven-based Sound Essence Project (SEP) recently returned from an eight-day trip to Africa that provided $50 loans to the women of Burundi, a small, densely populated country in Central Africa.
SEP founder and President Susan Bradbury traveled with Bellingham residents Kirsti James and Carolyn Mathews throughout Burundi to provide the loans to 100 women there. Bradbury said the majority of the women had been affected by the 1993 Burundian genocide – a massacre of ethnic Tutsis and Hutus that was just as devastating as the similar Rwandan genocide.
The loans will help the women, who live on approximately $2 per day, begin their own business ventures selling small amounts of sugar, cooking oil, charcoal and soapmaking supplies or other commodities that are in high demand. The women will pay back the loans at rate of 50 cents a week over a period of 18 months, Bradbury said.

Tree Island achieves safety milestone
Tree Island Fastener division recently celebrated a safety milestone of four years without a loss-time incident, the division’s best record in its 12-year history.
“We have an incredible environment where employees look out for each other’s safety,” said Steve Thiele, plant manager for the past four years. The company has reduced L&I incidents by 50 percent and has its sights on a setting records in all of its operating divisions in 2008.
Tree Island Fastener manufactures collated plastic strip and wire coil nails used in pneumatic guns for the construction industry.

Skagit Transit introduces new bus model
Skagit Transit recently implemented a new bus model for its Everett Express and Bellingham Connector services. The new model is 40 feet long and six inches wider than Skagit Transit’s other buses. It features an interior designed for long-distance travel, with high-back seats and overhead storage units.
The new bus started operating in late May, and four additional new buses began operating mid-July.
Skagit Transit’s Everett Express route serves an average of 600 riders every week in its daily commute from Skagit to Snohomish County. The Bellingham Connector route runs between Mount Vernon and Bellingham, with eight roundtrips each weekday and four roundtrips on Saturdays.

Photo-ops society changes name
SPIE, an international photo-optics society, has retired its “doing business as” title as the International Society for Optical Engineering. It will be known simply as SPIE. The society changed its name to better represent its growing community of scientists, researchers and engineers in industry, academia and government.
With more than 188,000 active constituents representing 138 different countries, SPIE offers a medium for information exchange between technical disciplines, continuing education, publishing opportunities, patent precedent, and career and professional growth.
Founded in 1955, SPIE organizes approximately 26 annual conferences and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. It also publishes six scholarly journals and a variety of print media publications.

Technology group hosts summer fest
The Technology Alliance Group will hold its third summer fest Aug. 9 to celebrate the progress and impacts of technology companies throughout the region. Industry executives and supporters of Washington’s technology industry will be in attendance in the beautiful setting of the Squalicum Boathouse.
The event will feature food from Fools Onion Catering and wines from Chuckanut Ridge. Members of the Walrus will entertain with music, including classic rock songs by the Beatles, Queen, the Eagles and others.
The event costs $15, and all net proceeds will go to the TAG Scholarship Fund, which sponsors students attending local colleges.

Photojournalists speak at Visual Journalism Conference
Award-winning photojournalists Chip Somodevilla of Getty Images and Elaine Thompson of the Associated Press presented at the second-annual Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference last month.
Somodevilla, based in Washington, D.C., won the “Political Photo of the Year” in the White House News Photographers Association’s “The Eyes of History 2007” competition. Thompson, based in Seattle, has covered the Olympics, World Series, multiple Super Bowls and many other major national and international news events.
Western Washington University’s journalism department sponsored the event.

Whatcom Symphony Orchestra to hold auditions
Open auditions for positions in the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra will be held Aug. 27 and 28. There are openings for strings and substitutes in all other sections.

Nordic Tugs offers new warranty
Nordic Tugs now offers the most comprehensive hull warranty in the industry. The new Gold Standard warranty offers one-year stem-to-stern coverage and warrants the hull for 10 years against both structural failure and osmotic blistering. The warranty covers 2008 models delivered after July 1.
Nordic Tugs previously offered a one-year stem-to-stern, five-year blister and 10-year structural hull warranty. The new warranty remains transferable to subsequent owners.

Chef service gives ‘vacations from the kitchens’
A Culinary Escape, a customized in-home personal chef service, has recently started offering busy Bellingham residents and food lovers a “vacation from their kitchens.” Owned and operated by chef Lawrence Mason, A Culinary Escape offers a wide variety of customized meals, ranging from local seafood dishes to international dishes.
Chef Mason meets with each client to assess his or her dietary needs and food preferences. Then he works with each client to prepare a customized menu and select a cooking date.
“We shop for all of the food and prepare the meals in the client’s home on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis,” Mason said. “Then we package the meals for storage in the refrigerator or freezer, clean everything up, and leave nothing behind but tantalizing aromas and scrumptious food.”

Bellingham outdoor magazine expands to Seattle
Beginning with the summer issue, Adventures NW, the quarterly outdoor recreation, sports and lifestyle magazine published in Bellingham, is now available to Seattle-area readers exclusively at the REI flagship store in Seattle.
Seattle is the newest city added to Adventures NW’s circulation area. Currently it is distributed throughout Whatcom, Skagit, Island and San Juan counties, where more than 300 locations offer the magazine for free pick up. The magazine can also be found at locations in Leavenworth and Winthrop, as well as at a number of regional events each quarter.
The magazine is independently published by Bellingham resident and outdoor enthusiast Paul Haskins.

Port of Bellingham wins national boating award
The Port of Bellingham received a national boating award from the Boat Owners Association of the United States for its efforts to turn Bellingham’s industrial waterfront into a boater-friendly downtown.
The award, named the Recreational Boating Access Award, recognized the port, the city, the Waterfront Advisory Group and other partners for accommodating local boating needs while preserving the city’s working waterfront.
The port will be converting Georgia-Pacific’s industrial wastewater treatment lagoon into a new marina that will include nearly a mile of new public trails and innovative, salmon-friendly features such as a fish passageway.
The port is also planning to put in visitor boating docks to help boaters better connect with downtown and the redevelopment area. In addition to increasing boating opportunities, these projects will create new jobs and will assist marine-related businesses in Whatcom County.
The award was presented at the Working Waterways and Waterfronts – National Symposium on Water Access in Norfolk, Va. The Port of Bellingham was one of seven recipients of this award.

Chamber of Commerce to travel to China
The Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce and Industry will make its third trip to China this October. The tour includes visits to Chinese cities such as Beijing, Su Zhou, Hang Zhou and Shanghai. The trip will cost members $1,499 ($1,599 for nonmembers), and will provide round-trip airfare, hotel accommodation, daily meals, English-speaking tour guides, tour buses and much more.

Nordic Tugs signs with European dealer
Nordic Tugs has taken a key step in its bid to enter the European market by signing its first dealer, who will do business as Nordic Tugs UK Ltd., with offices located in Southampton and Falmouth, United Kingdom. The company will be the distributor for Western Europe.
“We chose Nordic Tugs UK Ltd. because we felt they represented the best balance of enthusiasm and professional demeanor and had a prime location at the Hamble Point Marina in Southampton,” said Jim Cress, president of Nordic Tugs.
Cress said that the UK was the most natural place to enter the European market, due largely to the lack of language barriers and because the southern coast of England, the northern coast of France and the Channel Islands were ideal cruising grounds for Nordic Tugs.
Nordic Tugs UK Ltd. is slated to take delivery of Nordic Tugs’ first European Union-certified boat, a Nordic Tug 37, in early September 2007.

Sullivan Plumbing upgrades equipment
Sullivan Plumbing Inc. has recently added new inspection equipment to its fleet of service and repair plumbing vehicles.
The micro-see snake has a tiny camera head only three-fourths of an inch wide. The small size allows for video inspection inside walls, down small drain lines and even inside toilets. The camera head also features a hook and magnet, which allows for the retrieval of valuable jewelry stuck in pipes. As the company stated in a press release: “There’s nothing more exciting than watching the inside of your sewer line via your laptop.”

Blaine magazine gains national recognition
The Northwest Horse Source, a Blaine-based magazine, recently won two awards at the “Excellence in Equine Publishing” awards, an event conducted by American Horse Publications (AHP) in Albuquerque, N.M. Competing against magazines from across the country, Northwest Horse Source won the award in the “general excellence, state or regional publication.”
Northwest Horse Source writer Nicole Lanphear, a journalism major at WWU, won AHP’s 2007 Student Award. Lanphear also took third place for her article, “One Hoofbeat at a Time,” which was about the therapeutic benefits of riding horse for people with a variety of disabilities.
Publisher Karen Pickering started Northwest Horse Source as a newsletter in 1995. It has since grown and currently has a distribution of 22,500 magazines in 11 states as well as British Columbia, Canada. To accommodate for the growth, Pickering recently moved the magazine from a 400-square-foot office to one twice that size.

Learned Commercial opens new real estate office
Clay Learned, owner of Learned Commercial Inc., has opened a new commercial real estate office for his Burlington-based company. Learned has been involved in commercial real estate for 18 years and has extensive education in matters of lease law and investment real estate. He is also an associate member of the American Bar Association.

Whatcom County Housing Market Stabilizes
A stable housing market has developed in Whatcom County during the first half of this year, according to a real estate report released in July.
The total number of residential units sold in the county during the first six months declined 5.4 percent to 1,307 in comparison to a year ago, according to Lylene Johnson of The Muljat Group South office in Fairhaven. Both the median price ($293,694) and average price ($345,429) of sales in the county showed modest increases of 4.9 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.
“These numbers can be deceiving because the average home in Whatcom County hasn’t increased in price over the past year,” Johnson said. “It’s simply that more expensive homes are selling and that raises both the average and median prices.”
Bellingham is the only area in the county that has had more residential sales – 610, up 4.3 percent – in this year’s first half compared to 2006. Ferndale and Lynden are close to last year’s pace – down only 1.7 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively – but sales were off 13 percent in Sudden Valley and 19.8 percent in Birch Bay/Blaine.
The average time it takes to sell a house in the county now is more than three months – 99 days, up from 70 days in the first half of 2006. However, Johnson said there are two sides to that statistic.
“Price is the key to a sale, with 26 percent of all home sales in the county occurring within 30 days of the listing date and at 98.6 percent of the list price,” Johnson said. “On the other hand, 31.5 percent of housing sales took over 120 days and they sell at just 95.3 percent of the list price, not including any price reductions implemented since the house went on the market.
“The basics always stay the same: People want the best value for their money,” Johnson said. “When they recognize that value, houses can sell very quickly.”

Aluminum Chambered creates jobs for Whatcom County
Aluminum Chambered Boats (ACB) has signed a letter of intent with Jansen Inc. to have a new manufacturing facility built in Ferndale. Jansen Inc. will provide ACB with a turn-key, 190,000-square-foot manufacturing facility plus a separate 10,000 square foot general office building on the I-5 Industrial Center property in Ferndale.
The new facility will allow ACB to increase its annual production capacity to 400 boats to meet ACB’s growing amount of commercial, government and recreational contracts. ACB estimates the future growth will bring an additional 290 jobs into Whatcom County.
“ACB anticipates taking residency of the new facility within 12 months of signing the final contracts with Jansen Inc.,” said ACB President Tim Metz.
As part of its expansion plans, ACB is in the process of setting up a new lease for an additional 12,000 square feet in Fairhaven from the Port of Bellingham. With the additional space, ACB will occupy about 72,000 square feet at the Port’s Fairhaven Marine Industrial Park.

State Attorney General McKenna helps local businesses fight fraud
The Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry will welcome Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna to Bellingham this August. He will be speaking about identity theft as part of his 16-city tour to raise awareness on the topic. A luncheon will kick off an entire day of activities about ID theft. The luncheon will take place at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club August 15 at 11:45 a.m. The price for the luncheon is $25 for Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber members or $30 for nonmembers.
McKenna will host a free public forum the same evening from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Bellingham Technical College, Building G, Room A/B.

Skagit Publishing introduces GoSkagit.Com
Skagit Valley Publishing has launched a new Web site, goskagit.com, with content from the Skagit Valley Herald and each of their four weekly newspapers: The Argus, The Courier-Times, The Anacortes American and Fidalgo This Week.