The Chamber challenges you!

As part of Mayor Linville’s “Energy Year” the Bellingham/Whatcom

Chamber of Commerce & Industry is teaming up with Puget Sound

Energy in the 2016 Green Power Challenge.

We are taking it up a notch and setting an internal goal for our members.

We’d like to see 5% of our Chamber member businesses adopt clean

power through PSE’s Green Power Program.

When you do you’ll get special recognition at Chamber events

and in our publications throughout the year.

Eight Chamber member businesses are already participating in the

program. Please add your name to the list and be counted.

Once the City of Bellingham meets the overarching goal of 400 homes

and businesses they will earn a $40,000 grant to install a solar array in the

city. Do you accept the challenge?

Call 425.398.6059, email tyler.ofarrell@pse.com com or visit pse.com/

gpchallenge to enroll today.

Cross Border Committee update

Take the Green Power Challenge!

By Guy Occhiogrosso, President/CEO, Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry

The Canadian dollar, eh? We all know the loonie has an impact on our local economy, but what may surprise some

is the extent of that impact. Recently in our Chamber world and greater community, this cross border discussion

has been heating up. Just recently Bellis Fair Mall created a new "at par" discount sale program, which was a huge

success. Also in May, Laurie Trautman of the WWU Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) presented recent

findings to our Leadership Whatcom class. Those of you who have been around a few years will recall the

Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber's success of getting the Enhanced Driver License implementation in our community.

What some of you may not know about is our Chamber’s Cross Border Committee. This committee meets

quarterly and is made up of local leaders throughout various industries impacted by the proximity of our

international border or the Canadian dollar. Every few months we spend about 90 minutes discussing the issues of

most importance, including a round robin update of everyone in attendance.

The most recent committee meeting included discussions on the Canadian dollar and its impact to our economy

(both the good and bad), E-1 Visas, Retail At Par days (led by Bellis Fair), NEXUS and torder traffic, corporate pre-

purchase ticket options for possible airlines, NAFTA, border accessibility, lumber issues, and pre-clearance on

Amtrak.

If you are interested in attending this committee or other committees of the Chamber (which is another great way

to network with other leaders), please contact Guy at the Chamber.

JUNE/JULY 2016 BELLINGHAM/WHATCOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER CHAIRMANS CLUB MEMBERS

Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber

119 N. Commercial, #110

Bellingham, WA 98225

BWCCI

Board of Directors

Troy Wills, First Federal

Glen Groenig, The UPS Store

Rene Morris, Bellis Fair Mall

Julian Greening, Wilson Motors

Anne Rasmussen, PeaceHealth

Cale Luna, Advanced Solutions Tech

Don Kurtis, Cascade Radio Group

Lesa Boxx, Country Financial

Seth Woolson, Chmelik, Sitkin Davis

Jeff Callender, Phillips 66

Lynn Murphy, Puget Sound Energy

Lori Reece, RE/MAX

Keith Coleman, SpringHill Suites

Kathy Herndon, VSH CPAs

Anne Bowen, WCC Foundation

Michael Lilliquist, City of Bellingham

Rud Browne, Whatcom County

Loni Rahm, Bellingham Tourism

Rob Fix, Port of Bellingham

Bob Wilson, Whatcom COG

Cassie Robles, BIAWC

June 10

Networking Breakfast

Sponsored by: Haggen

Where: Northwood Hall

3240 Northwood Ave., Bellingham

When: 7:15—9 a.m.

Cost: $14 with RSVP / $18 without RSVP

RSVP at bellingham.com

June 16 Business After Business

Sponsored by: Faithlife

Where: 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham

When: 5:30—7:30 p.m.

No RSVP needed

July 8

Networking Breakfast

Sponsored by: Four Points by Sheraton

Where: Northwood Hall

3240 Northwood Ave., Bellingham

When: 7:15—9 a.m.

Cost: $14 with RSVP / $18 without RSVP

RSVP at bellingham.com

July 21 Business After Business

Sponsored by: Peoples Bank

Where: 1333 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham

When: 5:30—7:30 p.m.

No RSVP needed

State of the State Legislative Update

Featuring all six state legislators from

the 40th and 42nd Districts including:

40th District:

Jeff Morris (D) Mount Vernon

Kristine Lytton (D) Anacortes

Kevin Ranker (D) Orcas Island

42nd District:

Vincent Buys (R) Lynden

Doug Erickson (R) Bellingham

Luanne Van Werven (R) Lynden

WEDNESDAY

AUGUST 31 12-2:00 p.m.

Four Points by Sheraton

714 Lakeway Dr., Bellingham

$25 Members / $35 Non-members

RSVP at bellingham.com

Sponsored by:

Upcoming Chamber events

FRIDAY

AUGUST 26

1:00 p.m. shotgun start

Shuksan golf club

Early Bird Special

$400 Foursome

$120 individual

Register @ Bellingham.com

Join these Chamber Members who

are already taking the Green Power

Challenge!

Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro

City of Bellingham

Color Chiropractic

Kulshan Cycles

Recycling & Disposal Services

Sanitary Services Company

Whatcom Educational Credit Union

Whatcom Transportation Authority

The Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of

Commerce & Industry is proud to be

partnering with Puget Sound Energy on

the Green Power Challenge. Join us and

the City of Bellingham in our efforts to

enroll 400 new businesses and homes in

the program by Oct. 31.

AT BELLINGHAM.COM

The Center for Economic and

Business Research at Western

Wash i n g ton Un i v e r s i t y a sk s

businesses for permanent full-time

employees based in Whatcom County

each year – the following table is for

employment counts as of 12/31/15 for

those businesses with more than 200

employees. Getting this information is

harder than you might think due to

differences in how companies define

full-time, how to count people who

work in different locations during the

year, etc. Numbers in the table should

be used for discussion purposes and

reference, with an understanding of

the uncertainty surrounding the

numbers.

Not all companies contacted agree to

have their employment numbers

published. If and omission is believed

to have occurred, please contact the

Center for Economic and Business

Research at Western Washington

University by phone at 360 -650-3909

or by e-mail at cebr@wwu.edu.

A1 Septic Solution LLC

Carolina Street Self Storage

Celtic Cleaner

Darigold

Eric Battles - Sterling Real Estate Group

FizzPOP Media

Integrity Orthotics

Medical Home Team

Murphy Business

Northwest Propane LLC

Port of Subs

Rairdon's of Bellingham

Rocket Foods LLC

Simalex Manufacturing

The Celtic Cleaner

The Dance Studio

The Lairmont Manor

Washington Federal

Gary Bird, GMB Entertainment

The Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce is

pleased to introduce an exciting new member discount

program through a partnership with Office Depot/

OfficeMax. Companies currently accessing this col-

laborative national program have experienced an aver-

age savings of 20-30% over their prior office product

costs. In addition to office supplies, you’ll also receive

discounts on office furniture, print/copy services, cus-

tom business forms, stationery supplies, promotional

products, lunchroom provisions, and janitorial supplies.

For more information, go to:

www.bellinghamwhatcomchamber.officedepot.help.

Member News & Events

Bellingham KIDS Traverse -

June 26th, 2016

Get Hooked on the Bellingham KIDS

Traverse, a fun relay race that cele-

brates the journey of wild salmon.

6 - 12 year olds form solo, tandem and

relay teams to run, bike and compete

on an obstacle course.

New This Year

The event has moved to Squalicum

Creek Park! The course offers a 1

mileRun winding through the park; the

1.5 mi Bike course is a mix of grass,

dirt and compact gravel with some

elevation gain; a .5 mi Obstacle Course

is set-up on the field and offers a vari-

ety of challenges; the final leg is the .25

mi Team TREK to the Finish Line.

Boundary Bay Brewery is joining in on

the fun partnering with Mallard Ice

WWU CEBR releases list of Whatcom County top employers

Bellingham Alive Wins

National Award

On May 6, 2016

Western Pub-

lishing Associa-

tion announced

the winners of

the 2016 65th

annual Maggie

Awards. These

awards span the

24 Western

States and recognizes excellence

among publishing and media profession-

als.

Bellingham Alive WON Best Editorial

Layout for its Sea to Storefront article

which ran in the June|July 2015 issue.

Along with the prestigious win they

were also one of six finalists for Best

City & Metropolitan Consumer Publica-

tion and Best Visitor’s Guide for its

newest luxury publication North Sound

Life GuestBook.

Cream to offer Root Beer Floats at the

finish line.

Come cheer on the kids (or better

yet, sign-up and join the FUN!)

http://BellinghamKIDSTraverse.com

Job Opening

AmericiCorps Youth

Conflict Resolution

Education Specialist

WhatcomDRC.org

for more details & to apply Natalie Ransom, Pozie by Natalie

May MVP

BELLINGHAM/WHATCOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER bellingham.com BELLINGHAM/WHATCOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER bellingham.com

Welcome New Members! Member of the Week

Apply now to attend

WCC’s free GenCyber

Camps

Applications are now being accepted

for Whatcom Community College’s

GenCyber camps. The free, six-

session camps are for high school and

middle school students who want to

explore cybersecurity, a rapidly grow-

ing field in the U.S. and worldwide.

Students will learn through hands-on

computer activities how cybersecurity

professionals help protect information

and information systems from unau-

thorized access, misuse and destruc-

tion.

Two camps for high school students

will be held July 25-30 and Aug. 1-6. The camp for middle school student

will be July 25-30.

For more information, contact cyber-

camp@whatcom.ctc.edu.

April 2016

Banner Bank

Limitless Law

Gateway Centre Executive Suites

Pizza Hut

April MVP

By Shelli Jones, Marketing Coordinator, Bellingham/

Whatcom Chamber of Commerce

The Whatcom Young Professionals, otherwise

known as WYPs, is a program of the Bellingham/

Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry where

younger members of the business community net-

work in a less formal environment and hold educa-

tional speeches and training that are of interest to

their members.

Ten years ago, the group formed in order to better

serve young business professionals that were new to

business or wanted less formal networking opportu-

nities with people their own age.

Like the chamber of commerce, it is a membership-

based organization charging members an annual fee

of $50.

Their first networking social was held at the Lakeway

Inn and Conference Center, now the Four Points by

Sheraton. So it only made sense to hold their tenth

anniversary celebration in the location where it all

started.

The anniversary party will be held on Thursday, June

23rd from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and the Four Points by

Sheraton, 714 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham.

Anyone interested in attending the celebration or

joining WYPs can find more information on their

website at bellinghamwyps.com.

WYPS Celebrates Tenth Anniversary