On the Brink

Sedro-Woolley Pushes Tourism as Part of Economic Development in the 21st Century

by Jack Hamilton

Picture this: A community gathers together for a Founder’s Day celebration near a clock tower in the town square. Historical murals on the old brick buildings of Main Street shine in the mellow golden glow of the evening sun. Tastefully buoyant bluegrass music is heard wafting on the late summer breeze, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once, as the city fathers prepare to speak from a beautifully crafted gondola.

All over the country, when civic leaders get together to talk about downtown revitalization and economic development, they tend to spin images of near-epic quaintness, picturesque to the point of being almost cloying. The idea, it seems, is to evoke a sense of a certain special time and place, like a Norman Rockwell painting, or maybe early 21st-century Sedro-Woolley.

Ken Cornett, executive director of the Sedro-Woolley Chamber of Commerce, has been studying downtown revitalization in places as far-flung as Olympia and Walla Walla. He has been soliciting advice on the subject because he believes, like many, that a vital, community-oriented downtown is one of the keys to economic development and the advice he has received has been music to his ears.

“What all the experts have been telling me is that we have most of the pieces in place; we just need to pull it together in our own way,” he states. Cornett is quick to enumerate Sedro-Woolley’s advantages, pointing out, “We already have the wide streets, the brick façades, the flowers, the murals and carvings, and now we are finally going to have the park.”

The park, as everyone calls it, is Hammer Heritage Square, currently under construction at the corner of Metcalf and Ferry streets, in the heart of downtown. The project has been in the works for several years and, when completed late this summer, will provide a focal point for most of Sedro-Woolley’s civic activities.

 

Welcome development

This is, of course, a welcome development for the downtown merchants. Glenn Allen, a jewelry store owner, believes the park “really adds to the city,” adding that “the biggest challenge in a small town is to get people to actually show up. This will help.”

The park project is seen by many as an important piece of the economic-development pie, for various (and sometimes conflicting) reasons. Those who feel that tourism is the future of Sedro-Woolley look forward to promoting the picture-perfect downtown, complete with clean public restrooms for the travelers’ comfort. Proponents of light-industrial development see a vibrant downtown as a tool for recruiting businesses to relocate, obviating the need to pander to the tourist trade. But as Mayor Sharon Dillon points out, the real beneficiaries will be “the citizens of Sedro-Woolley, the people who already live here.”

Of course, it takes more than just a nice park to revitalize a downtown area, just as it takes more than a nice downtown area to revitalize a community’s economy. Dillon advocates more upper-floor office activity, believing that “for a really vital downtown, you need people coming and going at all hours.”

The best way to achieve that vision, according to John Janicki of Janicki Machine Design, is to “use the downtown core for Internet-related small business.”

It seems that in Sedro-Woolley the question of how best to achieve economic development is on everyone’s mind these days. The timber industry that once fueled the town’s economy has been devastated over the last two decades; the town has struggled mightily to reach some sort of economic stability with its identity and values intact. The intensity of that struggle has stimulated a highly spirited community dialogue about the town’s economic future.

The natural beauty of eastern Skagit County, combined with the town’s position as “the Gateway to the North Cascades,” presents a good argument for tourism and, indeed, the community has had real success with promoting events like Loggerodeo regionally.

According to Connie Sizemore, of Sizemore Graphics, people around the state are becoming more familiar with Sedro-Woolley and the town’s events, and for good reason. “This town is just easy to promote,” she enthuses, pointing out that “it’s got charisma and spirit, it has so much to offer both the tourists and the residents!”

While many residents view tourism as a positive piece of the economic picture, there is still some debate as to how big that piece should be. Some fret about traffic and quality-of-life issues, others about the viability of a four-month work year. Still others wonder if energy spent on promoting tourism might be put to better uses.

Janicki, who is described by County Commissioner Ted Anderson as “Sedro-Woolley’s leading economic light,” is an outspoken pro-industry voice in this discussion. In his view, it’s imperative that Sedro-Woolley’s economic-development efforts “should be focused on light industry and manufacturing — we shouldn’t be thinking about tourism at all.”

 

‘Dirty, ugly and loud’

Of course, many citizens fear that industrial development could adversely affect the environment in this rural community. “There is a perception out there that light industry will automatically be dirty and ugly and loud,” intones Snelson Co. president John Norton. He advocates for “a cohesive strategy” for economic development that strikes “a healthy balance between industry, commerce and our community values.”

Most local government officials are very much in favor of securing more family-wage jobs for the town; indeed, the mayor has indicated that one priority is to “get the old Skagit Lumber mill site cleaned up and back on the market, so we can get some clean, light industry in there.” She is also studying ways to increase access to the old Skagit Steel Plant industrial park, now privately owned, to facilitate further development there.

Proponents of industrial development welcome government’s interest in this issue but see real limits to government’s positive impact.

John Swapp of JetPoint Technologies, an industrial-strength waterjet cutting service at Sunset Business Park west of downtown, points out, “Government can’t always help light industry, but it can always hurt it; the challenge is to regulate carefully.”

Commissioner Anderson questions whether the balance between impact fees and sales-tax revenue is right, suggesting, “We need to broaden the window of how we look at revenue, , , , We want to own the goose that lays the golden egg, not just the egg.”

One such goose was recently in danger of flying south. Cascades Job Corps, a U.S Department of Labor vocational training facility located at the old Northern State Hospital campus has had trouble negotiating a workable lease with the state.

Community liaison Brian Hurst doesn’t believe it will happen, however.

“We have a wonderful relationship with the business community, the residents and the elected officials here, and there are a number of options on the table for us,” he states.

Anderson points out that in the Job Corps, “you have 130 local jobs with a $4 million annual payroll, with $17 million in purchased goods and services, and what are they doing? They are painting the senior center, maintaining the information center, doing the civic improvements that we just can’t do.”

 

Dodging the bullet

Although there is cautious relief that a large caliber bullet has been dodged, the debate about managing economic development in a balanced and healthy way is becoming ever more urgent, as people in Sedro-Woolley realize that growth is happening whether they are ready or not.

Recent census data puts the town’s population at over 9,000 souls and there is new business development in virtually every direction. Janicki Logging and Construction plans a 10-acre retail development west of town on Highway 20, which will include a McDonald’s franchise and a major grocery store. Safeway has been studying the property. Another big development planned is a massive 800-home community at the Sauk Mt. golf course north of the city.

East of town, at the corner of Highways 20 and 9, the new U.S. Forest Service complex is nearing completion on one corner, while local developer John Ellis is putting up a seven-stall retail plaza across the way, featuring Subway and Papa Murphy’s franchises.

Dillon is working hard to keep all of this development in line with “the visual theme of downtown,” in an on-going effort to maintain this community’s strong sense of itself.

But of course the citizens of Sedro-Woolley have never been known for stinting on effort where their community is concerned and they are certainly up for the challenges that face them now. As Anderson notes, “there is a tremendous community spirit that really sets Sedro-Woolley apart, these people have had to overcome so much and they just get it done.”

Adds Connie Sizemore: “We can grow and diversify without losing our identity and we will. We will always be Sedro-Woolley.”