Friday Harbor Dentist Bo Turnage and staff nurse Amber Anderson have earned certification for the use and administration of both…
Need to get the word out about your business, but don’t have a big marketing budget? The San Juan County…
Williamson is the former director of banks for the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, which regulates all Washington State chartered banks, trust companies and business development companies.
The loans can offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by excessive rain, frosts, freezes, unseasonably cold weather and high winds since April 2010.
Independent and local bookstore customers in Friday Harbor no longer have to choose between reading digital and supporting their local bookstore – Griffin Bay Bookstore is now selling Google eBooks online at www.griffinbaybook.com.
Gigi Zakula has another hat to wear at Islanders Insurance. As of Jan. 1, Zakula has joined Kerwin and Margaret Johnson as co-owner of the Friday Harbor-based insurance company. Zakula, who first joined the company in 1991, has worked as an agent, underwriter and claims handler, and in 2007 took on the position as the agency’s manager.
Westcott Bay Cider has new partners — and big new plans. Suzy and Hawk Pingree are now partners with Richard Anderson at Westcott Bay Cider, near Roche Harbor on Anderson Lane. Westcott Bay Cider makes traditional hard cider from antique apples grown in Anderson’s orchard on Westcott Bay. Their prize-winning English-style cider is crisp, clean, refreshing and low in alcohol, and is available at all island grocery stores and in Seattle.
Richard Walker, editor of The Journal of the San Juan Islands since November 1999, has been named editor of the North Kitsap Herald, a sister newspaper headquartered in Poulsbo. His last day at The Journal is Jan. 11.
Tom Kirschner is the new executive director of the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce. He succeeds Vernadel Peterson, who resigned effective Oct. 15 to become promotions manager of the Lifeline program at Providence Centralia Hospital. Kirschner’s priorities: Support member businesses on the island and help them improve their bottom line.
Island Group Sotheby’s International Realty will move from the former San Juan Inn to another site in town in January. Windermere Real Estate may move to the Sotheby’s site from its offices on Spring and First streets. The Sotheby’s building, 50 Spring St., is one of the oldest buildings in Friday Harbor. It was built circa 1880 and operated as an inn until 2005, when it was purchased and restored by Friday Harbor Realty owners Greg and Natalie King. Friday Harbor Realty moved there after the restoration; RE/MAX bought Friday Harbor Realty in 2008 and became a Sotheby’s International Realty franchise. The Kings still own 50 Spring St.
The San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild has hired Adam Eltinge as construction manager for the Brickworks Project, 150 Nichols St., Friday Harbor. Eltinge and his wife, Deanna (Sundstrom), recently moved back to Friday Harbor to make their home and raise their two children. Eltinge has a degree in construction management and business from Washington State University, worked for a major commercial developer in the Seattle area, and most recently led the renovation of historic carriage houses in Portland.
The county jobless rate is 6 percent, 3 percent lower than the state’s jobless rate. Sales tax revenue in Friday Harbor is down but lodging tax revenues are up. And some new local businesses have emerged. Could the local economy be saying, “Damn the empty storefronts, full speed ahead?” Perhaps it’s too early to tell. But businesses are opening, expanding, moving to larger quarters. Here’s a few of the latest.
Thanksgiving may have brought an unseasonable amount of snow, but shoppers still came out for Black Friday. Several Friday Harbor businesses said sales on the day after Thanksgiving — the kickoff to the holiday shopping season — went as well if not better than last year. “It was really great,” said Laura Norris of Griffin Bay Book Store. Norris said she has read that the nation’s financial status is starting to improve, and took the good Friday turnout as a sign that “maybe things have plateaued … people want to get back to life.”
