INTERNATIONAL GROUP BUYS STERLING LIFE
The Munich Re Group paid $352 million to acquire a 100 percent stake in Bellingham-based Sterling Life Insurance Company.
In 2007, Sterling had a total premium income of $798 million and 176,000 clients. The company is one of the leading providers of health insurance benefits for the 50 and older age brackets.
Munich Re operates worldwide, turning risk into value.
“The acquisition of Sterling was a key step for us in implementing our International Health strategy,” said Wolfgang Strassl, Munich Re board member responsible for healthcare. “Sterling strengthens our competence as a global provider of integrated solutions in healthcare management.”

SKAGIT STATE BANCORP BUYS SHARES FROM FRONTIER
Skagit State Bancorp Inc., headquartered in Burlington and the parent company of Skagit State Bank, has purchased 85,022 shares of its common stock held by Frontier Financial Corp. of Everett at $180 per share in a private transaction. Frontier Financial Corp. acquired its shares in 2004 from private shareholders.
“We are pleased that our strong capital position allowed us this opportunity to purchase the largest outstanding block of our stock,” said Cheryl R. Bishop, president and CEO of Skagit State Bankcorp Inc. “It is exciting that this event occurs as we are poised to celebrate our 50th year in the banking business.”
Following the purchase, Skagit State Bancorp’s Tier 1 capital level will still be a strong 10 percent, which far exceeds Federal-banking requirements to be considered “well-capitalized.” Bancorp’s risk-based capital ratio will exceed 14 percent, also well above the “well-capitalized” threshold.

LA CONNER DESTINATION MAP AVAILABLE
La Conner-based Starr Map Company has released its Premiere Edition La Connor Destination Map, which captures the essence of the historic waterfront town.
There are 50,000 Destination Maps available for free to visitors and residents at area hotels, beds and breakfasts, restaurants, shops, stores and the La Conner Chamber of Commerce. An interactive, online version offers time-conscious visitors updated tourist information and hot links.
“The Destination Map helps visitors learn more about the unique shops and galleries that La Conner has to offer,” said Cheryl Beckman, manager of Earthenworks Gallery. “Because this is a unique, quality map, visitors will take them home and want to come back to La Conner again and again!”
Area businesses hope the map will capture a greater share of the Canadian tourists’ spending as they spend more time and money in the Northwest because of the favorable currency-exchange rate.
The Destination Map also publishes in Bellingham and is scheduled to publish new maps this year in Anacortes and the San Juan Islands and includes a directory of businesses and services.

NAVY RECRUITING STATION-OAK HARBOR OPENS AT NEW LOCATION
Residents from Whidbey Island to the San Juan Islands now have easier access to career information about the U.S. Navy via the relocation of Navy Recruiting Station-Oak Harbor (Navy Recruiting District Seattle) to a new office space in the 32600 block of State Route 20.
Rear Admiral Robin Braun, deputy commander of Navy Recruiting Command, cut the ribbon during the official opening of the station on Feb. 28.

EXCELLENCE NORTHWEST IN NEW DIGS
Excellence Northwest celebrated its move to new offices in the Ohio Street Workstudios, located in the 100 block of Ohio Street, with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 1.
The event was attended by staff, founders, directors, volunteers and representatives from the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

PRO MARKETING WORKS EXPANDS HOLLY STREET LOCATION
Pro Marketing Works has added more than 700 square feet to their offices and photo studio in the 300 block of East Holly Street.
The additional space is tailored to meet the needs for a growing Web site design department, expansion of the photography studio and to provide for greater graphic design production.
“This expansion gives us an even greater ability to help local businesses prepare for the growth in Whatcom County,” said Peter James, owner and creative director.

PAK MAIL EARNS DUAL AWARDS
Pak Mail, the packaging and shipping center in Barkley Village, was recognized with two awards at the company’s annual convention.
The locally owned and operated company received the President’s Award from Pak Mail Centers of America for “outstanding achievement and growth” in its operations for 2007. The second award was in recognition of Pak Mail’s outstanding support of and service to other Pak Mail stores and the Pak Mail system in 2007.
“We’re very pleased to receive this recognition,” said Anne-Marie Nelson, co-owner of Pak Mail. “I attribute our fantastic growth to two things – great employees and wonderful customers. Since we opened two years ago, we’ve really gotten a very positive response from businesses and residents not only in the Barkley neighborhood and throughout Bellingham but even as far away as Camano Island.”
Anne-Marie and Steve Nelson opened Pak Mail in March 2006.

BRIM TRACTOR OPENS EIGHTH STORE
Brim Tractor Company, a Lynden-based provider of agricultural, construction and landscaping equipment, opened its eighth store March 11 in Sequim.
Brim Tractor, which also has stores in Lynden, Everett and Mount Vernon, 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 also offers Woods Equipment products, such as loaders and blades, plus turf-care equipment for municipalities and golf courses.

BUSINESS BANK REVAMPS WEBSITE
Business Bank has completely rebuilt its Web site, www.BusinessBankWA.com, to include press releases, a photo gallery, product information, customer testimonials and much more.
“We are excited about the new Web site and are tremendously pleased with Steam Interactive for their hard work and creativity,” said Jeremy McCullough, assistant vice president/business development officer. “The Web site is efficient, clean and one of a kind, drawing many similarities with our bank.”
Business Bank is a community-owned bank with branches in Whatcom and Skagit counties.

LIGHT-BASED, AESTHETIC SKIN TREATMENT AVAILABLE IN BELLINGHAM
Dr. Rob Landerholm now offers advanced laser and pulsed-light treatments out of his Puget Sound Cosmetic Laser office at the Birchwood Medical Center in Bellingham.
The treatment is used to eliminate unwanted facial or body hair, sun spots, age spots, facial veins, leg veins or acne.
Dr. Landerholm will be working with Nancy Repanich, RN, BSN.

XanGo Bellingham event well attended
Local resident Velma Henken, a leader in network marketing with XanGo, based in Lehi, Utah, recently hosted Sherman Unkefer, the top money earner in the network marketing firm. With 125 invited guests at the Bellingham Airport Hampton Inn’s Fox Hall on Feb. 26, attendees were given the rare opportunity to have this network marketing giant share his knowledge of this fast-growing industry.
Unkefer travels worldwide sharing the message of dietary supplement XanGo, which in its first five years grew faster than Microsoft, Dell and Yahoo in their beginning years.
Unkefer hopes to return to Bellingham in September.

NORTHWEST HOT SPRINGS Moves WHATCOM COUNTY SHOWROOM TO FERNDALE
For nearly 25 years, Northwest Hot Springs has given customers a chance to dream while exploring their showrooms in Burlington and Bellingham for state-of-the-art technologies to turn drab backyards into weeknight refuges.
Now, they are celebrating their big move from Bellingham to their new Ferndale location in 5000 block of Pacific Highway. The showroom has been meticulously built to showcase their entire lineup of the World’s #1 Brand of Spas - Hot Spring Spas, swimming pools, swimspas, infra-red saunas, tanning systems and more.
The grand opening celebration runs through May.

NEW LAW PROHIBITS MALICIOUS SPYING ON CONSUMERS
A new law sponsored by state Rep. Jeff Morris, D - Mount Vernon, and signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire will provide consumers better protection from “spy technologies” used to collect personal information from consumers without their consent.
The technology is called radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips. The technology can be used to track who you are, where you go, what you buy, and what you do with it. The new law – the first of its kind in the U.S. – makes it a Class C felony to intentionally scan another person’s identification using a remote device without his or her knowledge and consent, for the purpose of fraud, identity theft or some other illegal purpose.
The new law goes into effect in July.

WHATCOM HOUSING PRICES DIP
The sale prices of Whatcom County homes declined slightly in this year’s first quarter for the first time in recent years, but local real-estate expert Lylene Johnson of They Muljat Group South office in Fairhaven says this market still is faring much better than most areas of the country.
Housing sales in Lynden and Ferndale were about the same as last year but sales in Birch Bay/Blaine and Sudden Valley dropped by more than 30 percent in comparison to 2007, according Johnson, who analyzed data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service to calculate comprehensive statistics for local communities.
“The low and high ends of the market – below $300,000 and above $750,000 – are quite strong,” Johnson said. “It is that middle section from $300,000 to $750,000 that has slowed down, creating an excellent opportunity for buyers.”
The county’s median price – the figure where half the sales were above and half were below – in this year’s first quarter was $280,000 – 3.4 percent lower than a year ago. The average price of all housing sales in the county was $321,166 – down 2.4 percent from the first quarter of 2006. The number of county housing sales dropped 14.1 percent to 457 this year.

WWU UNVEILS NEW MASTER’S PROGRAM IN ACCOUNTING
Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics and Department of Accounting unveiled the university’s new Master of Professional Accounting (MPAcc) program in April.
The MPAcc program, which begins this fall, was developed with the following goals in mind: to provide opportunities for students to improve their expertise in a field that is rapidly becoming more complex, to provide students with an opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills required in Washington for professional licensing as CPAs in an effective manner and to help meet the demand in Washington for well-trained professional accountants.
Applications have already been accepted for fall quarter.

CHIROPRACTIC SPORTS PRACTICE MOVES
Chiropractor Bob Curtis celebrated the move of his Advanced Sports Chiropractic office to the 2100 block of Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham with an open house in April.
“Whatcom County is home to a large community of sports enthusiasts who enjoy everything from skiing to biking to soccer,” Curtis said. “This move will allow Advanced Sports Chiropractic to serve that community even more comprehensively.”
Curtis also has added a licensed massage therapist to provide relaxation, deep tissue and Swedish massage.

AIRPORTER SHUTTLE/BELLAIR CHARTERS EXPANDS FLEET
Airporter Shuttle/Bellair Charters of Ferndale has expanded its vehicle fleet with the addition of five newer MCI motorcoaches, bringing the fleet to more than 40 vehicles.
The recent purchases include three MCI-F models, which accommodate 36 passengers, and two MCI-J models, which can carry 56 passengers.
“These are all high-end, ultra-comfortable models,” said Larry Wickkiser, Charter Sales associate. “The F’s are a step up from our mini-buses and allow smaller groups to experience the comfort and “ride ability” of a motorcoach. And the J’s are high-end, luxury models, with the European look, that are quickly becoming customer favorites.”

WLBA PRESENTS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
The Washington Latino Business Association (WBLA), in collaboration with the local business community, will present a Leadership conference on May 22 at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal.
Workshops targeting either business owners or those who aspire to start a new business will be presented by SCORE, local business leaders, Washington state agencies that directly impact statewide businesses and the Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
Rodolfo Arevalo, president of Eastern Washington University, will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon at noon in the dome area of the Cruise Terminal.
Single tickets for the lunch and workshops are $40 and are available at Jalapenos Restaurant and Gateway Center, 2nd floor. For reservations, call 360.685.4292.
The WLBA is a nonprofit organization that supports, nurtures and educates Latino-owned businesses.

CARPENTER CREEK WINES CONTINUE TO WIN AWARDS
Carpenter Creek Winery and winemaker/owner Jeff Hammer returned from the 19th annual Capital Food and Wine Festival with three more awards to add to the winery’s extensive trophy case.
The 2006 Signature Series Riesling and 2006 Semillon Ice wine garnered Silver Medals, while the 2004 Syrah came away with a Bronze Medal.
The independent, blind judging was conducted by Andy Purdue, editor of Wine Press Northwest Magazine.

COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS MOVES TO SUNNLYAND SQUARE
The Bellingham office of Countrywide Home Loans moved April 4 from the Barkley District’s Arch Talbot Building to a larger and more-visible space at Sunnyland Square.
The larger office in the 800 block of Alabama Street will enable Countrywide’s office to increase from 13 to 19 employees to meet rising demand entering its fourth year in Bellingham, according to Josh Zandstra, assistant vice president and Bellingham home loan manager.
“We’ve already seen a flurry of refinance activity this year, and Whatcom County’s real-estate market will bounce back soon,” Zandstra said. “We also expect to be busier because many more people will see us from Alabama Street or when they shop at Trader Joe’s in Sunnyland Square.”

COPY SOURCE GAINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Bellingham’s Copy Source was honored during a special awards ceremony at DiversityBusiness.com’s 8th annual Multicultural Business Conference in April in Orlando, Fla.
In recognition of the economic power of multicultural businesses, DiversityBusiness.com, the nations’ leading multicultural Internet site, named Copy Source as one of the “Top Diversity Owned Businesses in Washington.”
The Div100 is the 8th annual listing of the Washington’s top 100 diversity-owned businesses, which ranks Copy Source as 24th in the state as a top multicultural earners. Copy Source co-owner Nadeem Israr grew up in Pakistan.

DOR ROLLS OUT STREAMLINED SALES TAX TOOLS, SETS WORKSHOPS
The Washington State Department of Revenue introduced a variety of tools to help retailers change the way they will determine either local sales taxes on shipped or delivered goods beginning July 1.
A series of workshops around the state began April 16 to help businesses make the switch necessary to encourage out-of-state sellers to begin collecting sales tax on sales to Washington customers.
Currently, businesses collect local sales tax based on either the rate in the city or unincorporated county from where a product is shipped. Beginning July 1, they must collect sales tax based on the rate where the goods are received. This change to “destination-based” sales tax only affects shipments from one local jurisdiction to another within Washington state. It does not affect shipments to out-of-state customers or purchases when customers take possession at the selling location.
Agency Director Cindi Holmstrom said the DOR has been working with businesses since last fall to identify and develop various systems for easily determining the right tax rate to apply on shipped goods. She said the department also has been working with the Association of Washington Business, Washington Retail Association, Association of Washington Cities and Washington State Association of Counties, all of whom support the effort.
For more information on the tools and to register for one of the workshops, which will continue through June, visit the Web at http://destinationtax.dor.wa.gov.

EXPRESS PERSONNEL SERVICES CHANGES NAME
Express Personnel Services in Bellingham and Mount Vernon has changed its name to Express Employment Professionals to refocus its branding efforts in order to better reflect its service lines and direction for the future.
The new name allows all Express staffing services, along with its human resources and payroll services, to fit under the Express Employment Professionals umbrella. This eliminates the need for additional service line names and logos.
Along with the name change, Express also has a new logo and Web address at www.expresspros.com.

GONE DIVING SURFACES FOR THIRD ANNIVERSARY
Gone Diving owner Charlynn Sutton has certified close to 300 divers since opening three years ago, and she celebrated with an anniversary sale in April.
The list of clientele is consistently growing into a large community of active local divers. Increasing the inventory stock and making improvements to the facility to cater to the needs and wants of customers has helped Gone Diving excel in Whatcom County, Sutton said.

BANK OF THE PACIFIC EXPANDS IN BELLINGHAM
The Bank of the Pacific has opened a new branch in the 4100 block of Hannegan Road in Bellingham to expand the services provided from the former Barkley location.
The facility has 8,700 square feet of new professional office space, and improvements include a two-lane drive through, safe deposit boxes and expanded parking. The office employs five in retail banking services and provides space for a commercial lending team and a home loan representative.
The Bellingham/Whatcom County Chamber of Commerce & Industry hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the branch in April. Opening festivities also included a live broadcasts by KGMI personality Mike Kent and KAFE Radio and a Real Estate Day by the bank.

PEDIATRIC PRACTICE PLANS BLAINE CLINIC
Kowals Pediatrics of Bellingham plans to open a second clinic in Blaine.
Dr. Daniel Kowals launched his practice last year and will open his second clinic late this year at a currently undisclosed location.
“As consolidation has contributed to the shrinking number of pediatric practices in Whatcom County, we’re striving to make preventive and same-day care more accessible for local families,” Dr. Kowals said.
The clinic also has reached agreements with most major health insurance companies.
Dr. Kowals, a board-certified pediatrician who speaks English and Spanish, and has practiced medicine for four years, including one year for a large pediatric group in Whatcom County.

ACTIVE ADULT COMMUNITY BEGINS CONSTRUCTION
Potential homebuyers will have a new selection to choose from in the Montreaux Active Adult Community off Waugh Road in Mount Vernon.
Landed Gentry Homes and Communities has purchased the plat developed by Chaffey Homes and have designed the community for those age 55 and older. The community will mainly consist of single-level homes ranging in size from 1,300 to 2,700 square feet, and yard maintenance will be taken care of by the homeowner’s association.
Construction on the model home began in April. A grand opening is planned for July.

WHATCOM COURTHOUSE ACHIEVES LEED CERTIFICATION
The Whatcom County Courthouse in Bellingham has been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification, an award for high-performance, green operational strategies administered by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Whatcom County Courthouse is only the third one in the nation to be certified through LEED in the Existing Buildings category, and only the sixth existing building of any kind to be certified in Washington state.
Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen decided to pursue certification in late 2006.
“One major highlight of the project is the energy efficiency of the Courthouse,” Kremen said. “According to measurements through Energy Star, the building is more energy-efficient than 86 percent of comparable buildings in the United States. The reduction in energy consumption and conservation measures has resulted in a savings of more than $160,000 annually in the courthouse alone.”
Another highlight is the County’s purchase of 100 percent green power for all buildings, in addition to the achievement of a 55 percent recycling rate at the courthouse. The building’s proximity to bus access plus its bicycle storage and showers for commuting employees helped to meet the strict criteria for certification. Additionally, the county’s purchase of “green” cleaning supplies and low-toxicity paints and sealants also were contributing factors.
Kremen attributed the success of certification for Whatcom County largely to Whatcom County Conservation Resource Analyst Christina Reeves, who compiled most of the data for the LEED requirements. As part of the documentation, Reeves passed the test to become a LEED Accredited Professional.