The ferry comes in and there’s gridlock on Spring Street. There’s no place to park and bodies swarm the downtown area.

It’s nearing the end of the summer season—and although tourism is the backbone of the town’s economy, people seem to be at wits end with the influx of visitors. The branding initiative, when thought of in terms of attracting more tourists to the peak season, is a frightening thought—and a false one.

“Many parts of our infrastructure were pushed to its limits this summer,” said Town of Friday Harbor Administrator Duncan Wilson, who’s heading the branding plan. “We don’t need to put any more money into summer tourism–we’re full.”

Increasing tourism however, is not entirely untouched in the plan to brand Friday Harbor. An important factor in the strategy will be gaining a steady flow of visitors year round, to take pressure off businesses that have a few short months to make money for the entire year.

The fall event, ‘Savor the San Juans,’ and the Friday Harbor Film Festival in November, attract people to the island during the shoulder season, a time of year when the town ought not to be overrun by visitors, but not overlooked by them either, town officials say.

Perhaps most critically, the strategy is intended to attract new businesses and long-term residents.

“We still have empty storefronts,” Mayor Carrie Lacher said. “We want to bring back the middle class and make it healthy and sustainable.”

Both Wilson and Lacher noted dwindling class sizes and an all-time low kindergarten enrollment—which points to a hole in demographics, particularly 19-35 year olds, the age category most likely to start a family. By branding, the hope is that a professional community will develop, and living wages for young people can become a year-round reality.

According to Lacher, the town “branding” should really be called “community image building.”

The initiative has three main tactics—to come up with a vision statement, a tag-line, and a logo. Through the branding development committee, made up of town council members and business owners, and results from the ongoing branding survey, Friday Harbor’s core values will be assessed and implemented into a model.

Once in place, decisions made by the town officials would adhere to and be within the parameters of this “brand,” and marketing done by the visitors bureau will also follow in step with the brand’s principles.

“We don’t want to create a cutesy place or have a strict design code,” Wilson said. “We’re not Leavenworth.”

Leavenworth has a successful model, Wilson said, but it’s not what Friday Harbor needs or wants.

Both Wilson and Lacher want to see Friday Harbor reach beyond tourism as an economic platform by encouraging new industry. Added investment in technology, telecommunications, medical research, and agriculture industries would create year-round living-wage jobs, construction and real estate spikes, and ultimately rebuild the community for all ages.

Down the line, the town expects to identify a plan on how to reach out to appropriate businesses that are looking to find a new home, or invest in the state of Washington.

So fear not—does not mean more national campaigns to come and enjoy scenic, historic Friday Harbor (well, no more than there already are), and there certainly won’t be garbage cans lining the sidewalks with depictions of orca whales.

“The last thing I want is for us to become commercialized or Disney-fied,” Lacher said. “I live here, too.”