EDC Jefferson County

By Katherine Baril

It’s really good to see folks around town with their continued big smile and optimism!!

Case Study:  A big success for Business class graduate of 2010- Mama’s Pickles They just completed USDA certification as a home based commercial kitchen! You can now buy their salsa, tamales, and beets at the Port Townsend Farmer’s Market. If you are interested in jams, jellies, baked goods and other low-risk food processing a new State regulation opens up home kitchens for production. Call Dr. Laura Lewis, TEAM JEFFERSON member, at WSU to get more information!

Case Study: Three of the six 2012 LOCAL FOOD HEROES named by Edible Seattle magazine were business class graduates! Congratulations to Finn River, Chimacum Corner Farmstand and Mt Townsend Creamery class of 2009. Also a fourth of the six (yes making it 2/3 of the total firms honored) was Nash Huber- who really sees the County line as just a unfortunate circumstance and sells a lot of product here in Jefferson County– try his local wheat that got a start right here in our wheat cooperative!! and is returning local grains to our diet with up to 12- and 16% protein, you can buy it at Pane D’amore!

Case Study: Salmon Celebration- Salmon de Mayo- shows creative ways to increase business visibility and build community. 

Biz class graduate of 2011, Larry Dennison of Dos Okies BBQ, wanted some increased sales- all the new fees, permits and health department regulations were hitting

his cash flow hard– he could advertise, he started a pre-payment plan of selling pre-paid credits to his best customers– but the most successful and fun was when he came together with other local businesses and tried a party!

Dos Okies, The Car Wash and the new Pourhouse Tavern on Washington Street came together around their business value of restoring local salmon– Larry working with local fisherman to serve only native salmon– Brent and Paul at the Car Wash made the extra investment and installed a car was system that recycles 90% of its water and filters 45 tons of copper, grease, and asbestos out of the storm-water and into tertiary filters. The Pourhouse are second generation Wild Olympic Salmon volunteers! Virginia and Ned were raised locally, watched their parents volunteer at Wild Olympic Salmon and tracked the salmon game and counted the reads, they went off to college and came back to start a business that engages all the friends in community.

Fast forward to May 5-6 Cinco de Salmon celebration in Port Townsend! Over 300 local residents came to a part of the two day event– eating local salmon, 20-somethings and 60-somethings coming together to play salmon trivia and were they competitive.  The Salmon de Mayo salmon celebration was coordinated by Americorps volunteers working at North Olympic Salmon and WSU, Wild Olympic Salmon and the REcyclery. . . all local social enterprises sharing a business value

Doing well by doing good!!! A great way to kick off the summer.

QMC has made the news again, this time in the Portland Business Journal.  Click here to read full feature article.

On April 17th at 1:14 p.m., Joanne Hafner entered the EDC Team Jefferson offices on Washington Street and asked if she could buy stock with a credit card. The answer was, unfortunately, no. She went to Kitsap Bank one hundred yards away and came back with $200 in cash. Joanne’s $200 put Quimper Mercantile exactly at the magic $425,000 number they needed to begin preparations to open the community’s newest joint venture; a community owned store offering everyday things at everyday prices.”That huge milestone has been reached,” said Quinn, “this store will open. We will spend the next several months in preparation, planning a late summer opening.”

“Every stock sale going forward will help us to expand inventory, add more services and hire more employees.” Quinn added. “This is a tremendously exciting adventure. The entire county can be proud to be part of this community supported effort to make our community self-sustaining and driven by our efforts, not relying upon outside initiative to create the kind of community we want.”  For more information about Quimper Mercantile, you can visit their website.

Extra Extra…read the latest news from Economic Development Council Team Jefferson.  Click newsletter to access the latest news and information in Jefferson County.

So what is Broadband? What opportunities does it offer for our community?  Ever wonder what happens when you go over your allotted megabyte amount on your cellular bill?  Read on…http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/technology/how-to-budget-megabytes-becomes-more-urgent-for-users.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120409

EDC Team Jefferson is full of great people with lots of expertise who want to help you and your business succeed. We thought it would be nice to get to know them a bit better. Here’s a little bit more about Director of Operations, Peter Quinn.

What is your role with Team Jefferson?

I’m currently acting as staff to the team providing administrative support, getting us organized and acting as the first point of contact for businesses seeking assistance. I’m in the office 3 days a week. My most significant efforts are broadband and serving with 4 other team jefferson members on Quimper Mercantile’s board of directors as we prepare for a stock offering and opening next year.

Have you ever been a business owner?

I’ve owned several businesses beginning with a painting and contract bidding company to earn my way through college. I helped start a winery in oregon, where we made the first hard cider in the country and first sparkling wine in oregon. I was a partner in a consulting company that provided market research and strategic planning services to several newspapers in washington and oregon. I’m a shareholder in winebid.com, an online wine auction company and on the board of advisors of Axon RF, a company that makes wireless switching systems for the maritime construction industry.

What do you consider your main area of expertise?

Start up and transition of companies either ownership or adapting to changing market conditions.

What should a business owner expect when they walk into the Team Jefferson offices?

First, confidentiality. All team jefferson members sign a confidentiality agreement stating they will not discuss business clients with anyone else outside of the team.

Second, a serious, honest effort to help businesses start, grow or sustain themselves.

Third, expectation. we are not there to substitute our hard work for the business owner’s. The owners themselves must be the drivers behind any actions or solutions or they will not maximize their success. We are there to help with decisions and identify resources that can make a difference.

What’s the good news for business in Jefferson County? Is there any?

This is a community that does what it needs to do. We are resilient. We are involved and we are amazingly gifted with individuals who have skills. It’s a community of doers. Good things happen when we do things and keep doing things until something works. Many of the retail vacancies have been filled in the last six months and the new stores are adding variety to the shopping options in our community. Things are getting better because people are being proactive and making good things happen.

The Economic Development Council of Jefferson County is open for business in their new location at 2410 Washington Street in Port Townsend and they are holding a party to celebrate. On Thursday, November 17 from 4pm to 7pm the public is invited to the ribbon cutting, enjoy local beverages and light snacks with the staff of Team Jefferson. The event is co-sponsored with the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.

For the past four years Team Jefferson was managed as a part of the WSU Extension office in Port Hadlock. Using a unique team approach to addressing economic development issues in the County, Team Jefferson grew to 17 individuals, all with particular skills and a shared enthusiasm for helping business thrive in Jefferson County. In the beginning of 2011 Team Jefferson recast itself, forming a 501 c6 non-profit and receiving the County’s designation as the Associate Development Organization for the Department of Commerce.

EDC Team Jefferson continues the effort to create sustainable growth in Jefferson County through proactive involvement in specific endeavors such as broadband and other additions to infrastructure, and working with individual businesses to start, grow, or survive. Regular office hours are between 10 am and 2pm weekdays, or by appointment. Businesses needing assistance can stop by and get expert advice and assistance.

“The difference between EDC Team Jefferson and a traditional Economic Development Council structure is the fact that we have 17 talented and committed individuals who are able to increase the reach and expertise of the group with a single phone call,” said Bill Wise, a co-founder and current Chair of EDC Team Jefferson. “We’re excited to be in our new space and invite everyone to our open house on November 17 from 4-7 pm.”

Broadband workshop with Angela Wu, State Broadband Policy Director: WSU Spruce Room- September 28th, 1PM-4PM

EDC/ Team Jefferson – Washington  Broadband Program of the Department of Information Services and state Department of Commerce, would like to invite you to a workshop on broadband issues and opportunities in our area. We have attached both an agenda and an invitation.Please RSVP to Alisha Reitan as indicated on the attached invitation. The goal of this community workshop is to give the State Coordinator  a sense of everyone’s broadband needs and priorities.  An important part of that dialogue are information-gathering sessions such as these which provide us with data that helps us incorporate your needs and concerns in a preliminary report on Washington’s existing broadband capabilities, future needs and current challenges. We anticipate releasing this report in late November as a tool for Washington’s broadband planning efforts.

Proposed Agenda:

Department of Information Services update on State broadband activities – 30 minutes

Q & A on presentation – 30 minutes

Break – 10 minutes

Interactive discussion of broadband needs for businesses and institutions in your community

Among the topics that the State office hopes to cover are:

• Broadband applications- What are  you are using today (i.e. online learning, remote patient monitoring, international online sales).
  • Broadband applications- What are  you are not using, but would like to, and what challenges or barriers prevent that use. What solutions would you offer?
  • Discussion about broadband applications that you are aware of with potential for your business or organization that are currently in use in another region.

Session wrap-up including next steps and how should we reach you with updates? – 10 minutes

Seating is limited; please RSVP to Alisha Reitan: by e-mail at Alisha.Reitan@dis.wa.gov or by
phone at 360-902-2981.

Congratulations Team Jefferson, Jefferson County Broadband Coalition, and community members!

We were recently awarded $3.6 million through American Recovery & Reinvestment Act Broadband Technology Opportunity Funds (BTOP) to bring mega-broadband to Jefferson County! The Jefferson County Broadband Coalition partnered with NoaNet, a non-profit internet provider in Washington State, to craft a winning grant proposal.