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2 | www.BusinessExaminer.com | March 17, 2014
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TableofContents
05
03 | Builders report permitting progress in
Olympia, though woes persist
04 | Don’t call it ‘Tacoma Goodwill’ anymore
04 | Georgia company purchases Simpson
Tacoma Kraft mill
04 | MultiCare Consulting Services acquired
in management buyout
04 | More layoffs at closing Kent plastics plant
05 | Baby boomers creating booming industry
06 | Can ‘Brew Crew’ pave way to
Tacoma district’s future?
07 | Shut out on whole, APP moves
on sum of Pettit’s parts
09 | Aerospace brings big business to Auburn
10 | New business partnership,
expanded plan for Embellish
11 | Q&A with Mauricio Aspee,
Cherie Wallace-Christian
14 | Men still outnumber women in
South Sound kitchens
15 | Women stifling their own growth?
16 | Playing your best hand: Female
entrepreneur realizes potential by
understanding where her strengths lie
18 | Around the Sound
19 | Assisted Living & Retirement Facilities list
20 | For the Record
21 | Scene & Heard
22 | People on the Move
23 | Business to Business by Calvin Goings
23 | South Sound Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer
09
11
06 07
14

March 17, 2014 | www.BusinessExaminer.com | 3
Buildersreportpermittingprogress,thoughwoespersist
Streamlined process means faster permits, but costs, regulations remain prohibitive
By Arnie Aurellano
The City of Olympia, as a municipal
body, hasn’t always had the most accom-
modating reputation when it comes to
working with builders and contractors over
the years.
“I’ve been here a little over seven years
now,” said executive officer Laura Worf
of Olympia Master Builders, “and we’ve
certainly had good working relationships
with officials in the building and planning
departments of the City of Olympia. But
having said that, there have been challeng-
es with maybe a culture in the city toward
people building, particularly housing. The
City, of course, has spent a lot of time over
the years and given a lot of thought to what
they can do to have housing downtown,
but that’s continued to elude them. I think
that’s maybe a good example of the culture,
where there’s some well intention, but it
doesn’t translate to the environment that
encourages builders.”
OMB, which counts contractors in Thur-
ston, Mason, Lewis, Grays Harbor and
Pacific counties among its ranks, chiefly
caters to builders in the residential sector.
Mainstays in commercial building and ten-
ant improvements, though, have echoed
OMB’s observations.
“It’s always been tough,” said Stuart
Drebick of Adroit Contractors, which deals
mainly in T.I. work in the medical, office,
retail and government markets. “Olympia,
historically, has just always been a tough
market for building and development. It’s
a difficult regulatory climate here.”
There may be, though, a ray of sunshine
poking through the bureaucratic clouds
hanging over the state’s capital city.
“Some of the contractors that we’ve
talked to have said that it’s a good time to
be building in Olympia right now,” said
Jon M. Jones, president of Washington
Business Bank, last month while his com-
pany was seeking a builder for its upcom-
ing move downtown. The bank, Jones said,
was assured by some contractors that con-
version of the 9,000-square-foot former
First Citizens Bank site — which will in-
clude interior work and the installation of
an elevator — could be completed by June.
“People are walking into the City and
getting their permits approved same day,”
Jones said.
“I’m getting over-the-counter permits
now for small T.I.’s that I would have never
thought about five years ago,” confirmed
Greg Bailey, principal at Olympia-based
Bailey General Contractors. “We would
expect, you know, probably three to four
weeks back then.”
“We’ve reached the point where (on) a
reasonable tenant improvement type per-
mit, I have my performance target goal at
15 days,” said Tom Hill, permit and inspec-
tions manager for the City of Olympia. “We
met it all entirely last year. We met our 15-
day goal for all tenant improvements.”
Compare that number to 2006, when
88 percent of the T.I. permits fell under
that same standard, according to a spread-
sheet provided by Hill.
Bailey said that he first noticed a posi-
tive change in permitting times about two
years ago, and has seen it incrementally
progress since.
“They’ve done a real good job of try-
ing to get their permits turned around for
some of the smaller stuff now,” he said. “In
general, for pretty straightforward retail
T.I., those are getting through pretty darn
quick. I’m just really happy with working
down there.”
Looking at the projects on BGC’s slate,
you can tell. Bailey’s portfolio within the
Olympia city limits includes the transfor-
mation of the former Department of Per-
sonnel/Sears Building at 600 Franklin into
a new Thurston First Bank Building; that
structure will also be home to 19 loft apart-
ments and a microbrewery. Another of
BGC’s projects involves the installation of a
second floor inside the existing structure of
the old Harmony Market on Thurston Av-
enue, as well as the recently started rebuild
of the iconic Oyster House downtown, dec-
imated by fire last July. That work, Bailey
said, is slated to be completed before Lake-
fair in July.
BGC also recently finished work on the
new Fourth on Fifth sandwich shop loca-
tion on 5th Avenue, and last fall, his com-
pany completed remodeling the old Olym-
pic Outfitters building on 4th Avenue into
The Pet Works, a pet food and supply store.
“We’re starting to see some normalcy
coming back,” said Bailey. “We’re at the
new normal and hopefully working our
way up. We’ve remodeled several buildings
in downtown Olympia over the last year or
so and have several going right now. People
are starting to put money into some proj-
ects down there, which is a good sign.
“That’s why it’s good to see the City
working well with us on these building
projects,” Bailey added. “I think they’ve re-
ally had this philosophy of ‘Let’s get these
permits in and out and people working.’”
Woesstillpersist
That’s not to say, however, that the
headaches are all but gone for builders in
the Olympia market.
For one, while the permitting process
may be streamlined, the costs of that pro-
cess remain — in the words of one builder
who wished to remain anonymous — “ab-
solutely ridiculous.”
“The cost of just getting started in Olym-
pia is just way greater than in surrounding
jurisdictions,” said Adam Frank, govern-
ment affairs director at Olympia Master
Builders. “I was comparing the permitting
fees for an average single family home for
jurisdictions in the county, and in Olympia,
for example, the permitting fees are about
$10,000 more than Lacey.”
“And that’s $22,000 compared to
$32,000,” chimed Worf. “That’s a third of
the cost.”
That cost, according to Frank and Worf,
continues to contradict the City of Olym-
pia’s stated goals. For example, Word said,
the City remains very vocal about its desire
for more infill development — the use of
vacant or under-used parcels within al-
ready developed areas.
“And yet, as Adam was looking at the
fees that they charge, you actually pay
$4,000 more per home if you want to build
it in an infill lot than if you want to build it
in a subdivision,” Worf said.
“That’s an average,” Frank clarified,
“but it’s generally more expensive to build
in an infill lot, just from a permitting fees
and government fees standpoint. That’s
just another ongoing example of how the
regulations are counter to what the City
seems to be trying to accomplish.”
New regulations haven’t helped.
“Olympia is the only jurisdiction in the
county that now has mandated fire sprin-
klers in all new construction,” explained
Worf. “That right there is not only several
thousand dollars in additional cost, but
you’ve also got the additional requirements
and red tape and all of that to go through
and make that happen.”
“Initially,” Drebick explained, “they had
passed it two or three years ago for any
new subdivision, and their reasoning was
that due to their old ordinances and nar-
row streets, the fire department claimed
that they couldn’t go fast enough down the
street. Now, they’ve expanded it to all in-
fill lots. Well, that absolutely shoots them-
selves in the foot to do what they want to do
… It (the addition of sprinklers) adds any-
where from $1,500 to $5,000 to a house.”
And other standards on the pipeline ap-
pear to add more complications.
“There’s a new Comprehensive (Plan)
Update in process, and there’s nothing in
that that makes it easier to develop,” said
Drebick. “Zero. Number one biggest thing
in it that will affect development in down-
town Olympia will be building heights.
They have created 21 view corridors or vis-
tas — you have to be able to see from wher-
ever this location is to this other location.
OLYMPIA BUILDING
See BUILDING, page 12
“Olympia,historically,
hasjustalwaysbeena
toughmarketforbuilding
anddevelopment.It’sa
difficultregulatory
climatehere.
Stuart Drebick
Adroit Contractors
”
PHOTO BY ARNIE AURELLANO
Brian Smith of Bailey General Contractors works on rebuilding a ceiling at Olympia’s Oyster House.
BGC, helmed by Dan Bailey, has seen much of its work in the city expedited by a streamlined permit-
ting process.

SouthSoundTimeLine
Don’t call it‘Tacoma
Goodwill’anymore
By Arnie Aurellano
Because its geographic reach ex-
tends far beyond Tacoma — the non-
profit serves a 15-county area including
Pierce County — the agency formerly
known as Tacoma Goodwill has adopt-
ed a new name: Goodwill of the Olym-
pics and Rainier Region.
It’s the first big name change for the
agency in 92 years, but one that better
reflects its footprint from South King
County to Longview, west to Longview,
Aberdeen and Port Angeles, and east of
the mountains to Ellensburg and Ya-
kima.
The name change doesn’t take away
from Goodwill’s focus; the group still
expects to place 2,700 people into jobs
this year, as well as offering training
and educational services to 9,000 indi-
viduals.
It will remain headquartered in Ta-
coma, according to vendor information
released by recently added CFO Jef
Veilleux.
march3
Georgia company
purchases Simpson
Tacoma Kraft mill
Business Examiner
Simpson Lumber Company LLC has
sold the Simpson Tacoma Kraft Paper
Mill to RockTenn, headquartered in
Norcross, Ga., for approximately $343
million.
The new owner has committed to in-
vest $60 million in the mill during the
next three years, and has also entered
into a 7-year wood chip supply contract
with Simpson Lumber Company.
“The Tacoma Kraft Mill is a great
strategic fit for RockTenn,” said Steve
Voorhees, the firm’s chief executive of-
ficer. “Adding a West Coast mill will im-
prove our ability to satisfy West Coast
customers and generate significant op-
erating efficiencies across our system.”
The transaction was met with praise
from Pierce County Executive Pat Mc-
Carthy, who lauded both the role that
Simpson Tacoma Kraft has played in the
local community and the new owners of
the mill.
“Simpson Tacoma Kraft has earned
march3
march4
march11
MultiCare Consulting
Services acquired in
management buyout
By Arnie Aurellano
MultiCare Consulting Services,
LLC, formerly a component of Tacoma-
based MultiCare Health System, has
been acquired by a new Chicago firm
helmed by its former managers.
MCS, founded in 2009, provides
a revenue cycle consulting and strat-
egy services for health care providers.
Through a management buyout ar-
rangement involving former managing
directors James McHugh, Tim Kinney
and Jake Morris, the assets of MCS
have been taken over by a newly formed
independent consulting business.
The new company, dubbed McKin-
nis Consulting Services, is also owned
by McHugh, Kinney and Morris (hence
the “McKinnis” name). The financial
terms of the agreement have not been
disclosed.
More layoffs at closing
Kent plastics plant
Business Examiner
A notice filed with the Washington
Department of Employment Security
indicates that layoffs have begun at the
Berry Plastics plant in Kent.
That facility is one of five around
the country set for closure after the
Evansville-Ind.-based packaging firm
announced a “cost reduction plan” last
November.
The Kent plant, which manufactures
flexible packaging, is set to shutter its
doors in May. Factories in Houston and
Allsip, Ill., are also set to close; the oth-
ers marked for closure have yet to be an-
nounced.
The ESD notice indicates 118 work-
ers at the Kent plant will receive layoffs.
Previously, another 48 workers had al-
ready received their release.
In November, Berry Plastics had ini-
tially announced that about 200 jobs
would be trimmed by the restructuring
process. Shuttering the five plants, per
253.404.0891 | 1.800.540.8322
www.BusinessExaminer.com
SOUTH SOUND
BUSINESS
We’ve Got You Covered.
SOCIAL MEDIA
EVENTS &
NETWORKING
BUSINESS
NEWS
DAILY
BIZ BRIEFS
RESOURCE
GUIDES
See BERRY, page 8
See MILL, page 8

Baby boomers creating booming industry
Aging population ups demand for elder care occupations
By Katie Scaff
As the baby boomer population gets
older, the demand for care workers and
facilities is only going to increase.
Health care support occupations, in
particular, will reap the benefits of this
strain. This group of occupations is pro-
jected to be the fastest growing from 2010
to 2020, growing by 34.5 percent and
creating 1.4 million new jobs across the
country, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. About half, just over 700,000,
of these jobs will be home health aides, ex-
pected to grow by 69.4 percent.
“It’s definitely going to transform and
impact society on all levels the next couple
of decades,” explained Michelle Graham,
who started Graham & Graham LLC, El-
dercare Consultants in 2010 with her
husband Jerry Graham. “We’re going to
need more people who provide care, more
people who are specialists in the area of
geriatrics. We’re going to need more care
options and facilities than we have now.”
Graham and her husband also thought
the industry needed someone to help guide
the elderly and their families through the
decision-making process, which is the
idea behind their company.
Michelle Graham, once an administra-
tor and a regional marketing director for
assisted living, as well as a health care re-
cruiter and staff retention consultant for
17 nursing homes in Washington and Or-
egon, has been in the industry for a num-
ber of years. So has her husband, who has
been a national recruiting manager for a
company selling long-term care insurance
and has recruited physical and occupa-
tional speech therapists for skilled nurs-
ing facilities.
“The need that I saw was what I call,
‘the deer in the headlights look,’ of the
families that I met with when I worked
with facilities,” Michelle Graham said.
“It’s like a foreign world, the lingo in the
long-term care industry, the health care
lingo, the cost. It’s all so confusing and
most of the time people wait until they’re
in the middle of a crisis. And, so, mom has
had a stroke and she’s in the hospital and
they’re getting ready to discharge her, and
they say she needs to go to a skilled nurs-
ing facility for rehab. And, then, what’s
going to happen if she’s not able to come
back home? It’s not a streamlined deci-
sion process. It’s very confusing. And
then, how’s it going to impact financially?”
Most of her clients want to remain in
their homes, but that’s often the most
costly option, she said.
“If you need four hours (of care) a day,
that may cost you $3,000 a month at $25
an hour. I’ve had clients that have been
paying as much as $12,000,” Graham said.
Both home health aides and personal
health aides can work in a patient’s home,
but they can also be employed larger care
communities. Home health aides work
with the disabled, chronically ill or cog-
nitively impaired, while personal health
aides work with individuals who need help
with self-care and everyday tasks.
While the number of home health aides
is expected to grow by almost 70 percent,
the number of personal care aides, part of
the personal care and service occupation
group, the second fastest growing from
2010 to 2020, is anticipated to grow by
70.5 percent, making it the fast growing
occupation overall.
“It’s quite an opportunity to get into
the field of long-term care. If you’re mo-
tivated and you’re good at it, you are al-
most always guaranteed to be able to find
a job,” Graham said, noting South Sound
is no exception to this vast growth. “With
the boomers aging, the question is, is
there going to be enough of those provid-
ing the hands-on care for the care that’s
needed? In nursing, it will be interesting
to see. More and more, what we’re see-
ing is that LPN nursing doesn’t require
as much training as an RN. That position
used to be really widely used and we’re al-
most seeing that go away in a lot of envi-
ronments, where really you need to be a
registered nurse.”
Registered nurses far outnumber nurs-
ing assistants and orderlies in the U.S., ac-
cording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
with 2.7 million registered nurses and 1.5
million nursing assistants and orderlies
employed in 2012.
From 2012 to 2022, however, the num-
ber of nursing assistants and orderlies is
expected to increase slightly faster, by 21
percent, compared to 19 percent for regis-
tered nurses.
This growth is also aligned with the
trend line for aging baby boomers.
The number of elderly will nearly
triple by 2040, which is how far out the
State DSHS is tracking the impact of baby
boomers.
“As we talk about that client demo-
graphic coming, particularly as you think
BY THE
NUMBERS
Some of the fastest growing jobs in
the next decade will be in the elder
care industry, with personal and
home health aides expected to be the
fast growing occupations between
2010 and 2020. A significant factor
in this growth is the aging baby
boomer population.
75 hours of training
long-term care workers
must take within 120 days
of hire due to I-1163
69.4% anticipated
growth in home health aide
occupation from 2010 to
2020
70.5% anticipated
growth in personal care
aide occupation from 2010
to 2020
21% anticipated
growth in nursing assistant
and orderly occupation
from 2012 to 2022
19% anticipated
growth in registered nurse
occupation from 2012 to
2022
285% growth of
population ages 75 and up
from 2010 to 2040
$20,820 median
annual wage in U.S. for
home health aides in May
2012
$19,910 median
annual wage in U.S. for
personal health aides in
May 2012
SOUTH SOUND HEALTHCARE
PHOTOS BY KATIE SCAFF
ABOVE: Employees like Jenny Tran and Tyree Escobar at Narrows Glen Vintage Senior Living are
in high demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts home and personal care aids will be the
fastest growing jobs between 2010 and 2020, followed by other occupations who work with the
elderly. BELOW: Maggie Conley helps a resident at Narrows GlenVintage Senior Living, where she
is a caregiver on a staff of almost 140.
See CARE, page 12
“It’sdefinitelygoingto
transformandimpactso-
cietyonalllevelsthenext
coupleofdecades.We’re
goingtoneedmorepeople
whoprovidecare,more
peoplewhoarespecialists
intheareaofgeriatrics.
We’regoingtoneedmore
careoptionsandfacilities
thanwehavenow.
Michelle Graham
Co-Founder
Graham & Graham LLC,
Eldercare Consultants
”

Can‘Brew Crew’pave way toTacoma district’s future?
Investor group hopes to create vibrant arts and small business hub near downtown
By Arnie Aurellano
Can three local investors rejuvenate
Tacoma’s Brewery District? The Brew
Crew sure hopes so.
“The Brew Crew,” in case you haven’t
heard, is the catchy, though admittedly
self-imposed, moniker for the trio of PJ
Hummel, principal of event planning firm
PJ Hummel and Company; Denny Ander-
son of Real Estate Investment Services;
and John Lewis of real estate develop-
ment company AmmGen.
Together, the group has just announced
an ambitious plan: the purchase of three
surplus properties — all nestled adjacent
to each other in the downtown district
and currently owned by the City — to cre-
ate a vibrant centralized hub for Tacoma,
complete with a craft microbrewery and
distillery, a market with fresh produce
and seafood, and a multifamily housing
complex. Their vision also involves an
emphasis on the arts, including the incu-
bation of area entrepreneurs and artisans
so the district can become a focal point
where local wares and businesses can be
showcased.
It’s a grand design for three spaces
currently earmarked for much more
mundane use. Currently, the proper-
ties — 2308 Holgate St., 2335 Jefferson
Ave., and 2304 C St. — are being used to
store supplies and trucks for the City of
Tacoma Public Works Department. The
Brew Crew, though, sees so much more,
and they’re enamored with the potential,
inspired by neighborhoods like Seattle’s
Pike Place and Portland’s Pearl District.
“We are planning to turn this area into
a catalyst for hundreds of jobs with events,
shops, living spaces, offices and more,”
Hummel said. “Think about it. We’re en-
visioning young people, foot traffic, lo-
cal companies, creative energy flowing.
Wouldn’t it be great to see the Brewery
District so alive?”
The Brew Crew, one should note, is as-
sembled more as a tightly-knit confedera-
tion of interested properties rather than a
legally united ownership group. Each of
the three has an eye on a separate prop-
erty, and each has an independent plan for
the space.
Hummel, for example, is seeking to
purchase the maintenance building on
Holgate Avenue to repurpose as a head-
quarters for her business. With its mul-
tiple street level loading bays, Hummel
said, the building would be a perfect place
to store her large inventory of props and
décor, currently housed in an F Street
warehouse in the Tideflats. And with the
site a stone’s throw from the heart of Ta-
coma, Hummel added that the building
would give her company a home base for
events.
“We (PJ Hummel and Co.) have been
here in the Tideflats for the last 12 years,
and I have always wanted to own my own
building,” she said. “More specifically,
a building that could have a venue in it
where special events can happen. This
place here in the Tideflats isn’t zoned for
events.”
Anderson’s target is the building on C
Street, a former pony barn for the horses
that pulled the fire trucks at the turn of the
century. His plan is to recruit restaurants,
bars or microbreweries to move into the
historic building. Between the Holgate and
C Street buildings, Hummel said the group
wants to launch a 24-hour indoor/outdoor
market where local farmers, food makers
and other entrepreneurs can lease space.
That leaves the lot at 2335 Jefferson:
“the yard,” a vacant lot where the City
currently parks its dump trucks. Lewis
wants to buy the property to turn it into
the aforementioned multifamily complex,
a living space with appeal to students at
nearby University of Washington Tacoma.
Anderson and Hummel both have bank
approval of funds for their prospective
purchases, Lewis said, with his own piece
of the puzzle coming through EB-5 pro-
gram capital — immigrant investor financ-
ing. Hummel’s current budget, she said,
stands at $1 million, including purchase
(the building is for sale for $765,000)
and initial renovation of 2308 Holgate.
Anderson’s offering some $600,000 for
the pony barn — a property Lewis said
was appraised for $550,000. And Lewis
is offering $810,000 for the vacant lot,
with designs on a $38 million construc-
tion project to make the housing complex
a reality.
And while the three envision stand-
alone projects, they have come to under-
stand the symbiotic nature of the facilities
they wish to build. Partnering, said Hum-
mel, seemed a natural choice.
“The three of us got together and real-
ized that if we all three developed these
properties at the same time, we could cre-
ate synergy,” Hummel said. “For example,
John’s investors aren’t going to be able to
put in apartments if there’s nothing for
the kids to do.”
Originally, Lewis had actually attempt-
ed to develop apartments close to the
UWT campus in 2009, before the market
fully tanked. Restaurant chains, he said,
were interested in coming in; he cites the
previous owners of The Ram Restaurant
and Brewery as former partners in the en-
deavor.
“We’ve still got the emails back and
forth,” he laughed.
TACOMA DEVELOPMENT
See BREW CREW, page 8
ABOVE: “Brew Crew” members John Lewis and PJ Hummel go over the group’s proposal for their targeted properties, to be sent to City of Tacoma
for Review. BELOW: This map shows the location of the three properties — 2308 Holgate, 2335 Jefferson and 2304 C — the Brew Crew wishes to
purchase.

Shutoutonwhole,APPmovesonsumofPettit’sparts
Tacoma petroleum marketer moves fast to pick up separate pieces after purchase nixed
By Arnie Aurellano
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try
again.
That’s been the mantra at Tacoma-
based Associated Petroleum Products,
at least in relation to its attempts to take
over former regional competitor Pettit
Oil.
Pettit, which was formerly based in
Lakewood, entered Chapter 11 bankrupt-
cy on Nov. 25 of last year, setting off an
attempt by APP to purchase substantial-
ly all of the defunct company’s assets in
January.
It would have been a major acquisition
for APP, given Pettit’s 2012 sales of $319
million and its reach in Washington’s
coastal communities.
Unfortunately for APP, however, that
initial sale was blocked.
While the offer was supported by Pet-
tit itself and its largest secured creditor,
a second creditor balked at the deal; the
bankruptcy court, unable to approve the
transaction, instead converted Pettit’s
Chapter 11 bankruptcy into a Chapter 7,
ordering the immediate shutdown of Pet-
tit’s operations.
On Jan. 16, Pettit abruptly shuttered
business, leaving a recorded message on
its corporate phone
line informing cus-
tomers of its closure.
“Overnight, thou-
sands of customers
had no access to fuel,
lubricants, and heat-
ing oil and a lot of
employees lost their
jobs,” said Frank
Pupo Jr., executive
vice president and
COO at APP. “It would have been better
for the community, the customers and
APP if APP had been allowed to purchase
Pettit’s assets, which would have made for
a seamless transition.”
Rebuffed in one avenue, however, APP
set about the acquisition on a different
track.
The company has spent much of the
last month and a half securing piecemeal
many of the assets that would have been
covered by the January purchase, assets
that served as collateral for Pettit’s largest
secured creditor.
Those assets included Pettit’s fleet of
trucks, fuel and lubricant storage and
dispensing equipment, customer list and
records, phone numbers and website do-
main, as well as the Pettit Oil name for
marketing purposes.
APP also went about hiring former
Pettit Oil employees across the board:
salespeople, drivers and administrators,
including former Pettit Oil lubricant busi-
ness manager Vince McBroom.
It’s important to note not all of Pettit’s
assets were acquired by APP. Aberdeen-
based Masco Petroleum, for example,
bought 10 former Pettit cardlock stations
and two bulk fuel transfer stations last
month. Other cardlock locations formerly
operated by Pettit have been the subject of
a bid process administered by the bygone
oil company’s bankruptcy trustee; sev-
eral petroleum marketers, including APP,
have been active in participating.
Still, Pupo said that the acquisitions
APP has been able to make have laid a
strong foundation for the firm to take over
Pettit’s existing — and wide — customer
base.
“I strongly believe that APP has the
upper hand over our competition by fo-
cusing on securing these needed assets,”
Pupo Jr. said. “All petroleum market-
ers need the trucks and the personnel to
handle this influx of business. This is not a
normal acquisition; this is an opportunity
we need to be on top of with smart pur-
chases and smart decisions.”
The moves have allowed the compa-
ny to extend its reach toward the Pacific
Ocean with growth opportunities in Clal-
lam, Jefferson, and Grays Harbor coun-
ties, beyond its primary marketing area
along the I-5 corridor from Washington
to Oregon.
With Pettit moving Chevron oil to the
coastal counties, for example, APP part-
nered with the international oil giant in
reaching out to former Pettit clients.
APP was also tapped by Phillips 66 to
market its 76, Conoco and Kendall brands
— all formerly carried by Pettit Oil — with
a new distributor contact.
“Even though our core lubricant busi-
ness has been Chevron for decades, we
believe APP has the marketing strength to
carry the two largest lubricant brands on
the West Coast,” said Pupo Jr.
Theproductlineandgeographicexpan-
sions are positives, to
be sure, but the ac-
quisition triggers a
new set of challenges
for APP; for one, ab-
sorbing Pettit’s foot-
print presents a need
to add personnel in a
landscape faced with
a commercial driver
shortage.
Luke Xitco, APP’s
president and CEO, however, appears
confident that need will be addressed.
“Our financial strength has allowed us
to have the equipment in place,” he said.
“We just need to continue to hire more
and more drivers to keep up with de-
mand.”
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TACOMA OIL
“Overnight,thousandsofcustomershadnoaccesstofuel,lubricants,
andheatingoilandalotofemployeeslosttheirjobs.Itwouldhave
beenbetterforthecommunity,thecustomersandAPPifAPPhad
beenallowedtopurchasePettit’sassets,whichwouldhavemade
foraseamlesstransition.
Frank Pupo Jr.
Executive Vice President & COO
Associated Petroleum Products
”
Pupo Jr.
Xitco

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DumpsterNP_11_5x7.indd 1 5/6/11 2:30 PM
Of course, though, the Recession
reared its ugly head, and that was that.
Lewis and his group had met with the
school back then, but that was years and
two chancellors ago. Still, Lewis remains
confident that the multifamily concept
is suited to the area and its proximity
to campus, not to mention the hand-in-
hand growth the Brew Crew vision is
forecasting.
“There’s so much potential if it all
comes together,” Lewis said. “All the UW
has to do is want to be in this neighbor-
hood, and we’ll make this work. The kids
can just walk down C Street (to get to
campus), and everything is groovy.”
If successful, Lewis said, the culmina-
tion of the vision, currently projected as
a 10-year plan, could inject $100 million
into the Brewery District.
“The property value (of the three
buildings) at 80 percent occupied is $86
million,” Lewis said.
The three have been working toward
their goal — the Brew crusade, if you
will — for a number of months now. For
one, before the group can get to work, the
Brew Crew has to appeal to the City to
sell the properties.
“We went to the City Council and the
City and said, ‘Hey, are you going to put
this (property) up for sale?’” said Hum-
mel. “They said yes, but we don’t know
when. We sort of politicked and asked if
they could put them up for sale sooner
rather than later.”
That, Hummel said, was last spring.
The City originally sent out requests for
proposals on the properties last fall, with
the process being extended three times.
The last extension brought the deadline
to March 11, with time inevitably re-
served afterward for committee meetings
and public forums.
The hang-up on the City side?
For one thing, according to Ricardo
Noguera, director of Tacoma’s Commu-
nity and Economic Development Depart-
ment, there’s a displacement issue.
“The problem for the City is, how do
we find a new home for (the) Building
and Grounds (Department) that fills their
needs and fits their long term plans?” he
said.
Lewis said the City has indicated an
interest in leasing back the property to
house Building and Grounds if it ulti-
mately sells to the Brew Crew, a conces-
sion the group is willing to temporarily
grant.
“We said we’d be OK with that,” Lew-
is said, “but we can only go 18 months.
When you’re building multifamily, it’s
like growing a crop. You don’t bring in
the crop in the wrong time of year, and so
I can’t wait beyond that time. We’d rath-
er start the project right away, but we’re
willing to do that (lease back), too.”
And Hummel points out that the Brew
Crew’s goal align with the City’s recently
completed South Downtown Subarea
Plan, which calls for just this brand of
mixed-use, small business-centered de-
velopment in the Brewery District.
Whatever the case, there has already
been some hubbub generated by the
Brew Crew’s ambitions. Hummel said
that she has already been contacted by
other potential stakeholders excited for
the district’s future.
“We’ve had phone calls,” Hummel
said. “There was a building owner down
in that area that called and said, ‘I saw
that (the news) and I want to talk to you,
because I think I can add on.’ Then I got
a phone call from somebody who said he
was interested in buying another build-
ing in the area. He just wanted my opin-
ion of, ‘If I buy this building, do you re-
ally think something can happen down
there?’”
She only hopes, she added, that the
City catches the buzz.
“We’re hoping that the City really sees
what we’re offering,” Hummel said. “We
have big plans.”
“It’s the last key neighborhood in
downtown Tacoma,” Lewis said. “Most
people would’ve walked away by now, but
we want to make this happen.”
a long-standing reputation as a high-wage
employer and corporate leader,” said Mc-
Carthy, “and I’m glad that Simpson Lum-
ber Company will continue to be a part of
the community.
“RockTenn Co.’s commitment to invest
$60 million in the Tideflats paper mill is
a sign that Simpson has found the right
buyer.”
The purchase price reflects an EBITDA
multiple of less than six times, based on
the mill’s financial results for 2013 and the
expected operating efficiencies, primarily
due to the location of the mill on the West
Coast. The transaction is structured as an
asset purchase.
BREW CREW
continued from page 6
“We’reenvisioningyoung
people,foottraffic,local
companies,creativeenergy
flowing.Wouldn’titbe
greattoseetheBrewery
Districtsoalive?
PJ Hummel
President
PJ Hummel & Company
”
MILL
the same announcement, would save
the company about $27 million in an-
nual operating costs.
However, the company also an-
nounced the investment of some $100
million to reopen a plant in Madison-
ville, Ky., for the fabrication of the
company’s new line of polypropylene
beverage cups. That plant, according
to trade publication Plastics News, is
already in operation.
BERRY

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INDEX
By Holly Smith Peterson and Heather Perry
hpeterson@BusinessExaminer.com
hperry@BusinessExaminer.com
Usually it’s brick-and-mortar businesses that
switch to solely online operations, in order to
save monthly lease costs and overhead.
For the successful, Washington-based online
business Wine Rack Store.com and its sister re-
tail site of Kitson Boards in Olympia, though, it’s
time to go retail.
“With the addition of Kitson Boards mixed
with our already busy Wine Rack Store season,
we just didn’t realize how needed a larger pro-
duction space would be needed this soon.” said
Michael Kitson.
It’s a homegrown success story for Kitson
and his wife Denise. The couple operates Amaz-
ing Universe, the parent company of the pair of
ventures that, admittedly, sells wildly different
merchandise.
When the two started selling custom wine
racks in 1995, paddle boards weren’t even on
their radar. But Wine Rack Store, which has
expanded to selling wine cellars, provided the
capital for the Kitsons to open Kitson Boards
Wine racks, watersports drive sister companies
Denise Kitson, who co-founded Kitson Boards with
husband Michael, and Brandon Bernard coat a paddle-
board with carbon fiber.
See Kitson, Page 14
DECISIONSTREET
By Holly Smith Peterson
hpeterson@BusinessExaminer.com
A tidal wave of baby boomer
retirements is looming above the
slowly rippling economy, and it’s a
force that is poised to make a big
impact on many small South Sound
businesses.
“I always ask business owners
on the verge of retiring what they
will do,” explained Kala Dralle,
program development specialist
for the City of Tacoma. “What’s
their plan? But nobody ever knows.
Maybe just one person I talk to in
a year does. It’s unusual for an in-
dependent retail location to have a
strong exit strategy.”
Indeed, the options are limited
for small business owners look-
ing to retire: Transition to a family
member, sell, or close shop.
Recent local examples of the for-
mer include Tacoma’s Chalet Bowl,
which opened in 1941 and is now
the oldest operating bowling alley
in Washington state. Owner Reggie
Frederick has been thinking about
passing the business on to his son
and daughter-in-law, who are busi-
ness partners. So far, though, he’s
planning to keep running the bowl-
ing operations, an associate said,
and if he ever were to retire he
would likely maintain a close re-
lationship with operations at least
through management transition.
And in Puyallup, where Wat-
son’s Greenhouse owner Dan Wat-
son started his business in 1974
with U-pick vegetable gardens plus
See Decision, Page 8
As aging executives in the South Sound retire,
what’s happening to their small businesses?
Olympia’s Kitsons expand ventures into new waterfront space
2 0 1 4
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sectors.
FINANCIAL
EXECUTIVES
OF THE YEAR
Aerospace brings big business to Auburn
Worker-training firm Orion expanding by leaps and bounds, moves to new space
Contributing Writer
Aerospace has long been one of the Pa-
cific Northwest’s top industries, so much so
that South Sound-based Orion Industries
has carved out a niche training new work-
ers.
The non-profit company specializes in
schooling those who ordinarily might have
trouble finding jobs in such complex and
high-paying work as airline parts manufac-
turing and assembly due to physical, men-
tal, or background limitations. That corner
of the market has boosted 57-year-old Ori-
on into a 265-employee regional aerospace
leader, recently named the 2013 “Boeing
Supplier of the Year” award-winner among
52 countries and 17,000 suppliers.
Now, to go with the accolades, the com-
pany has opened its sparkling new building
in Auburn, an 86,000-square-foot structure
that more than doubles the company’s for-
mer 35,000-square-foot Federal Way site.
“We’ve definitely been growing by leaps
and bounds,” said CEO John Theisen, “so
we’re really happy to finally be in the new
space.”
In fact, over the last decade, Orion has
achieved an average of 20 percent annual
growth. Annually, the company trains more
than 350 regional residents for aerospace
jobs, and places an average of more than
100 around the South Sound.
That the Auburn site offers so much
more space, on a 6.5-acre parcel just west
of Auburn Municipal Airport, isn’t just
an opportunity to expand manufacturing
space but also to enhance skills for added
numbers of workers. In addition to parts
training, Orion in recent years has added
customer service, clerical and hospital-
ity programs. Roughly 60 percent of Orion
trainees find permanent employment in the
field, and 85 percent will still be in those
jobs after one year.
Theisen said Auburn’s location was a key
deciding factor for the new plant due to its
proximity to Boeing Auburn, Orion’s larg-
est liaison in aerospace manufacturing. The
city is also at the center of other regional
industries core to the company’s customer
base, including the marine, medical and au-
tomotive sectors.
Former Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis said
the city is proud Orion chose to expand
there.
“It’s one of the top workforce develop-
ment companies in the region, putting hun-
dreds of people to work in the community,”
he said.
Acquisition of the land was originally a
partnering between Orion, City of Auburn
and King County. The finished building is a
one-stop shop that houses everything from
corporate offices and the training facility to
parts manufacturing and the call center, an
improvement over the three-building Fed-
eral Way site according to vice president
and general manager Tom Broshaws.
At the city’s Chamber of Commerce,
COO Nancy Wyatt said Orion’s presence
there is just one of many good things hap-
pening in business there.
“It says that this is the place to be, that
this is the economic development that
needs to happen, and this is just the start,”
she said.
PHOTO BY HOLLY SMITH PETERSON
Orion Industries has moved to a new facility in Auburn, one that more than effectively doubled the
company’s space from 86,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet..
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Newbusinesspartnership,expandedplanforEmbellish
Trifecta of owners creating strategy to be tops in the South Sound
ContributingWriter
Freshening clients’ looks has long been
the core business of Embellish Multispace
Salon in downtown Tacoma. And now,
owner Patricia Lecy-Davis has taken on the
opportunity to put some new polish on her
business as well.
That included not just a recent remodel
of the 1,600-square-foot space, but also an
expansion into a full range of cosmetics
and other services, as well as a venture into
events. Not to mention a partnership with
two of her specialists, to create a new trifecta
force for the women-
owned business scene
in Pierce County.
“I had been run-
ning Embellish by
myself for the past 10
years, and anybody
who has been in busi-
ness will understand
that you can’t do ev-
erything yourself,”
Lecy-Davis said. “I
started thinking that this was an opportu-
nity to not only share some leadership, but
also to get back to our brand and our craft,
and making those stand out.”
Partnering with Lecy-Davis now are El-
eanor Carpenter, a hair and style specialist
who’s been with Embellish for six years, and
Athena Hitson, a makeup and events spe-
cialist who has her own line of cosmetics.
Carpenter said she seized the opportunity
for partnership because it’s the next natural
phase in a career that she loves.
“I felt like I had hit my ‘10,000-hour
mark,’ and I was ready for the next step,”
she explained. “This is a great business, and
I realized that I would rather stay here and
partner together than start my own salon.
It’s given a whole new life to what I was do-
ing.”
Hitson, who is also partnered with the
investment group behind the renovation of
Tacoma’s historic old downtown post office,
brings the event side to Embellish. The ball-
room-like space inside the 1909 building,
with its original marble and polished wood-
work, is already being booked for weddings,
she said. Embellish will also build a team to
provide full hair and makeup services on-
site for events, filling a service niche that’s
currently lacking in the city. Eventually the
plans for the building will include a restau-
rant, an art space, and other uses to attract
the surrounding community.
Bringing cosmetic services to Embellish,
most widely known as a hair salon, will also
broaden the company’s image, the partners
said. It was a main draw for Hitson, who
brought her line to other cosmetics retailers
over the past decade, and did so well she’s
flown solo since she joined Embellish in
2010.
“Trish could see it as part of the culture,
and I was looking for a brick-and-mortar
base for business, so it was a great match,”
she said.
For Lecy-Davis, it’s also the chance to
step back and focus on why she started her
business: Serving her clientele by making
their day. In other words, by making them
feel beautiful from the moment they walk in
the door.
“It will let me concentrate just on my cli-
ents when I’m behind the chair and not wor-
ry about things like the cash register tape,”
she said. “Making our clients feel special has
always been part of our culture. And it’s a
key factor in how we survived the recession.”
Up next, the team’s goal is to streamline
business procedures while building on the
new services. Long-term vision? To be the
top salon south of Seattle.
“We want to elevate our position in the
industry and, beyond that, keep showing
our clients that they’re the reason we’re
here,” Hitson said.
Carpenter added the timing of the part-
nership segues smoothly with both the cur-
tailing of the recession and the rise of Ta-
coma.
“Someone is going to be the premier sa-
lon in downtown, and we want to take that
role,” she said. “And we’d like it to be leader-
ship as a team, and a business, for style in
general.”
TACOMA RETAIL
Lecy-Davis
“Itwillletmeconcentrate
justonmyclientswhenI’m
behindthechairandnot
worryaboutthingslikethe
cashregistertape.Making
ourclientsfeelspecialhas
alwaysbeenpartofour
culture.
Patricia Lecy-Davis
Owner
Embellish Multispace Salon
”

QAand
with Mauricio Aspee,
Cherie Wallace-Christian
New owners of Cafe Divino in Old Town, Tacoma
When Tacoma’s Cafe Dvino went up for
sale, Mauricio Aspee and Cherie Wallace-
Christian jumped at the opportunity to
purchase the wine bar and eatery. They
shared their vision for the Cafe’s future
(spoiler alert: they’re keeping the cook),
and talked a little about being first time
owners.
Whatwasyourinterestinthis
businessinparticular?
We were looking at options and this one
really stood out. It met the criteria that we
were looking for. Location, a lot of loyal fol-
lowers. Hopefully, we can fit the shoes of the
previous owner.
WhyisCafeDivinoupforsaleinthe
firstplace?
The owner is looking for something new.
She’s moving to California to get into the
wine business there, in the sunshine.
Doyouhaveanytypeofbusiness
orrestaurantindustrybackground
thatwillhelpyourunthecafe?
Maurice: I have management and sales
experience, and Cherie has years of working
in restaurants.
Cherie: Although I have never owned
one! But I do have lots of background there.
And I love to eat and cook!
Whattypesofchangeswillyour
customerssee,ifany?
We’re just going to keep things the way
that they are for right now, just to familiar-
ize ourselves with our clientele and to find
out what they like and what they want to see.
Perhaps a lunch menu in the future (cur-
rently the cafe opens at 2 p.m.), with home-
made fare like soups. But as far as anything
else, like hours and days that we’re open or
the menu, for the time being they’ll stay the
same.
Willyourcook,NickRall,stayon
withthechangeofownership?
No, he’s definitely planning to stay, and
we love that. He’s been here 11 years, and
he’s a keeper. The community loves him.
Asfordowntheroad,whatcan
customersexpecttosee?
We’d like to stage some private events,
small events. We can only hold 25 to 30, so
maybe on Sundays, as that’s the only day
we’re closed. We’re thinking baby show-
ers, bridal showers, that kind of thing. In
the warm months, we’ll have tables on the
outside. And we’d like to add wine tasting.
The previous owner was very successful with
that.
Tellmeabouttheartonthewalls.
Isthatlocal?Andisitforsale?
Yes, and if artists want to bring their
works in to sell it here, we’re happy to take
a look at it. (Cherie: I’d like to hang some of
my kids’ art here as well.)
Youalsosellretailwines.Sharea
littlebitaboutthatpartofyour
business.
We have many sources, so we can bring
in numerous and different labels. We’ll
also have wines to pair with a new seasonal
menu.
Whatshouldpeopleknowabout
yourtakingoverthisbusiness?
We’re reassuring them that we’re keeping
it basically the same. We definitely want to
keep the quaint wine bar feel. But while our
customers want new energy, and they want
some new food, they also want the basic
things to stay the same. We’re hearing some
outcries on some things that they don’t want
us to change, some items on the menu, for
example. But they’re also welcoming new
things.
Whatweresomeofadvantagesof
takingoverasmallbusinesslike
this,asopposedtostartingyour
own.
We liked the business model. It was suc-
cessful. Its our plan to duplicate that.

There’s all these invisible lines that go over
the top of Olympia that, to be able to build a
building, there’s no way of knowing (if you
comply with those vistas) unless somebody
pays a lot of money to do a big computer
model that says, ‘OK, here’s all these lines
of sight. Does this parcel get in the way?’
It’s absolutely going to screw things up.”
That new Comprehensive Plan will
come up for public debate later this spring.
“When you get to the actual building de-
partment side, it functions well,” Drebick
said. “It’s the rules that get to them that are
getting manipulated more and more that
are making it more restrictive for building
in downtown Olympia.”
Housingmarketrebounding
On the single family housing side, at
least one contractor is seeing a rebound in
the market, and he’s reaping big dividends.
“We are buried,” said Scott Bergford of
Scott Homes, also based in Olympia. “They
(inquiries) are probably at four times the
normal rate. I am overwhelmed. I can’t re-
turn everybody’s phone calls and emails at
a rapid rate.
“We’re getting three to nine hundred
hits a week now (on our website),” he
continued. “People are wanting to sign up
at a much faster rate than normal. I have
enough signed contracts that I don’t have
to commit to building another house this
year if I didn’t want to.”
Bergford, who has been building for
three decades with a specialty in energy
efficient, green housing, said that the “ex-
treme green” movement has fueled his
bounceback.
“I think staying that course has helped,
because now, that’s what people want,” he
said. “In 2011, I must have had 200 people
come through my office, but nobody signed
a contract. A lot of my homeowners are
second and third homes — they’re not first
time home buyers. I think, back then, peo-
ple were worried about their jobs. People
were worried about the loss of their invest-
ments because of the market and every-
thing else. People were just really reluctant.
“I think what’s happening now is that
people are just used to it. ‘My house is
worth less. My portfolio is worth less, but
that’s just the way it is. Let’s go for it. I want
to build my dream house, and I’m tired of
waiting.’”
The one caveat? Like others, Bergford
doesn’t have a lot going on within Olympia
itself.
Bergford’s projects are peppered around
the South Sound, with houses in Thurston,
Mason, Lewis and Grays Harbor counties
and extending north into Gig Harbor and
Port Orchard.
His work in Olympia? He can count the
sites without lifting a finger.
“I don’t have any in the city,” he said.
“It’s just too expensive. The permitting,
the fire sprinklers — it just costs too much.
When people come to me in the city, I tell
them right up front, ‘It’s going to cost you
about $100,000 extra before you even get
to the house.’ For sales tax, engineering
fees, permit fees, fire sprinklers — all these
requirements.”
Like other contractors, Bergford said he
harbors no ill will toward building in Olym-
pia; rather, he said, he’d love to build there
if he could. But the cost is just too prohibi-
tive.
“There’s just nothing really going on
in Olympia,” Frank said. “It’s just way
too expensive … To build in Olympia a
1,500-square-foot house on an infill lot, to
say that you have to spend $100,000 be-
fore you get going, it’s just impractical. It
doesn’t pencil out.”
BUILDING
about the older old, 85-plus, that popula-
tion is really going to explode after 2022.
We are actually looking out to 2040 when
we think about the age wave,” said Bea
Rector, director of home and community
services division of the Department of So-
cial and Health Services.
The segment of the population ages
85 and up will increase from an estimat-
ed 12,000 in 2010 to 34,000 in 2040, at
which point baby boomers will be between
76 to 94 years old. Over that same period,
those 80 to 84 will increase from about
7,000 to almost 20,000, while those 75 to
79 will increase from 6,000 to 17,000.
State better braced for impact
Graham, a baby boomer herself, said
Washington is somewhat ahead in prepar-
ing for growth in the elder care industry.
In 2011, the public voted Initiative 1163
into law, requiring background checks as
well as training and certification for long-
term care workers. The State Department
of Health now certifies long-term care
workers as home care aides and regulates
the profession.
Where Washington — and the rest of
the country — lags behind, however, is
funding.
“My opinion, and one of the things I’ve
been sharing with lawmakers in Olympia,
is that we’re way behind the 8-ball. We
have a focus on education and transpor-
tation, which is always huge in the politi-
cal arena, but we are actually cutting pro-
grams that serve seniors. For instance, the
senior centers in Tacoma-area have actu-
ally cut services,” Graham said.
She’s also seeing it directly in her work.
Graham and her staff help Medicaid pa-
tients pro-bono, but the facilities they
serve are losing money.
“Medicaid is so underfunded. There
haven’t been in any increases in rates to
assisted living, for instance, since 2005, so
what’s happening is care providers can’t
afford to provide the care. They’re losing
money when there’s Medicaid involved,”
she explained. “Over 50 percent of our
skilled nursing facilities and assisted liv-
ing lost money last year.”
As a result, Graham said, she’s see-
ing facilities limit or put restrictions on
Medicaid patients. Some have opted to
not take Medicaid patients and others are
requiring them to have two or three years
of private funding before they can be con-
verted to Medicaid.
“We’re just getting bombarded with
people with Medicaid that can’t find a care
option. It’s almost overwhelming, and
especially if you need a secured memory
care community, because that care is so
costly,” Graham said. “In five surround-
ing counties, there’s only one option that
always takes Medicaid coming in and
they’re always full if you need secured
memory care.”
No facilities have closed, but Graham
said it’s something she’s been watching
closely.
“The writing is on the wall. They can’t
keep losing money and stay in business,
right?” she said. “What we’re seeing is a
lack of access to care that we haven’t seen
before.”
That’s where she said her company
comes in.
“We’re kind of like a realtor. We serve
families for free. We’re contracted with lit-
erally thousands of different types of care
providers. If we narrow down their search
and they actually choose one we refer them
to, then we get paid a referral fee, kind of
like a realtor gets paid a finder’s fee,” she
said. “I really believe, and I’m hearing this
from others in the industry, that we’re go-
ing to end up in a shortage of care options.
We already are in a shortage of care op-
tions for those that need memory care and
are on Medicaid.”
CARE
“Thewritingisonthewall.
Theycan’tkeeplosing
moneyandstayinbusi-
ness,right?Whatwe’re
seeingisalackofaccessto
carethatwehaven’tseen
before.
Michelle Graham
Co-Founder
Graham & Graham LLC,
Eldercare Consultants
”
Butch Livengood of Bailey General Contractors works on the Oyster House in Olympia. The company currently has five projects within the Olympia city
limits.
PHOTO BY KATIE SCAFF
Susie Harrison, med tech at Narrows Glen Vin-
tage Senior Living in Tacoma, works with resi-
dents in the facility’s assisted living wing, where
they’re provided services ranging from medica-
tion management to housekeeping and personal
care.

WOMEN
Gretchen Adams realizes
potential by understanding
where her strengths lie. 16
Female Entrepreneur
Men still outnumber women in South Sound kitchens
By Katie Scaff
“The boys’ club.” A “locker room.” A “pi-
rate ship.”
There are many nicknames for restau-
rant kitchens in the South Sound, but they
all have something in common. The moni-
kers all seem to imply that commercial
kitchens are still very much a male-domi-
nated workplace.
“It’s a rough-and-tumble environment.
Definitely in the heat of things, we are all
kind of at each other’s throats and yelling.
And at the end of the day, we can sit down
and have a beer and talk,” explained Jessica
Armstrong Sewell, executive chef at Pacific
Grill in Tacoma. “It’s just those heat of the
moment issues. That’s not how we all are,
but it’s definitely a rough environment back
in the kitchen.”
Armstrong Sewell has been the head chef
at the fine dining restaurant downtown for
about three years. She has worked her way
up in the kitchen since she was hired after
graduating from The Art Institute of Seattle
in 2008.
Though she’s reached the top, she’s still
just one of three women in a kitchen of 15.
“The old days of culinary is that it was
the boys’ club,” she said. “One thing that
worked for me and another girl I used to
work with is, you hold your own and you
don’t even really think of it as gender lines
anymore. We’re this really tight knit family,
but, because there are so many boys to the
ratio of girls, it does, a lot of the time, feel
like a sports locker room or the football field
or something like that.”
Kristen Lyon, sous chef at Smoke + Ce-
dar, came up with the pirate ship analogy.
“We know where we’re going, but we
might scream and curse along the way,” she
joked. “The back of the house is stressful, so
there are always jokes. There are always the
servers versus the cooks dynamics. It can
get a little raunchy.”
Smoke + Cedar, the latest venture of Pa-
cific Grill owner Gordon Naccarato, opened
March 1 in the new Elks Lodge at Allenmore
Golf Course in Tacoma. Lyon joined the
staff about a month earlier.
The gender discrepancy is more appar-
ent at Smoke + Cedar, where Lyon is the
only woman in a kitchen of 15, but she hopes
that will change as the restaurant fills out.
“It definitely takes a special kind of fe-
male to handle a bunch of boys in a stressful
situation,” she said. “You’ve got to be able
to be playful. You have to be a little tough,
for sure.”
There’s a clear difference between being
in the restaurant and being in the kitchen,
but, even considering the restaurant as a
whole, women are by far outnumbered.
A first of its kind study of restaurants
in the 33 largest metropolitan areas of the
country, including the Seattle-Tacoma-
Bellevue market, published earlier this
year, found only 30.5 percent of the staff
at fine upscale dining establishments were
women. The statistics are slightly better in
casual fine dining, where women comprise
37.9 percent of the staff, and in moderately
priced dining, with 47.6 percent female.
Granted, as Jennifer Johnson, opera-
tions manager at Dirty Oscar’s Annex on
Sixth Ave. in Tacoma, points out, men and
women tend to hold different roles in the
food service industry.
“There are definitely a lot of female serv-
ers, a lot of female bartenders. I see a lot of
female house managers,” she said.
But there aren’t many in the kitchen, so
its makeup is much more skewed than these
statistics show.
Johnson, who oversees 20 men, tried
her hand in kitchen once upon a time. As
the assistant manager at John’s Breakfast,
Burgers and Pies in Gig Harbor, she filled in
when someone would call in or when busi-
ness was slow.
“I’ve worked in the front of the house and
the back of the house. I have to say, I defi-
See KITCHEN, page 17
PHOTO BY HEATHER PERRY
Kristen Lyon is one of few women working in South Sound kitchens. She was one of four women in a kitchen of 16 at Hotel Murano. Now, at Smoke + Cedar, she’s the only women on a team of 15.
B R E A K I N G
I N T O
T H E
B O Y S
C L U B
‘

Women stifling their own growth?
More women starting businesses, yet not expanding
By Katie Scaff
More and more women are creating
their own growth opportunities by starting
their own businesses, both nationally and
locally, but, for too many, that’s also when
their development ends.
Women-owned firms represented about
30 percent of privately held companies in
the U.S. in 2013, according to the National
Association of Women Business Owners,
but their employment and revenues lagged
far behind, at 14 and 11 percent, respec-
tively.
When Julie Tap-
pero, president of
West Sound Work-
force, Inc. started her
staffing business in
Gig Harbor in 1998,
there weren’t many
other female business
owners around. And,
when she went to
tell her now-former
employer that she was leaving to start her
own company, she was hardly wished best
of luck. Rather, she was met with the same
doubt and skepticism that caused her to re-
sign in the first place.
Tappero had been with the company for
a number of years, quickly working her way
up from an administrative assistant to di-
rector of operations — little did she know,
that was when she hit the glass ceiling.
“When the president got ready to retire,
I was ready for that next position, and they
didn’t think I could do it,” Tappero said.
“I felt like I was kind of tainted with this,
‘Well, you were the administrative assis-
tant,’ and I felt like that background was
always in their head and kind of held me
back.”
Tappero took that defeat and went on
to prove her former bosses wrong, how-
ever. The company she started with just a
salesperson and part-time bookkeeper has
grown to 10 employees, including Tappero.
“I think it’s getting better. When I first
started my business, I’d have people that
when they’d place a job order, they’d say,
‘Well, you know, I don’t want a woman,
now. Don’t send me a woman, send me a
man.’ Or, some of the things they’d ask for
for a female position would be kind of like
you can’t say that, that’s discrimination,”
Tappero recalled. “I don’t think we run into
that nearly as much now as women kind of
moved throughout the workplace. It’s not
as unusual to see a woman welder, or a
woman in construction. You see that much
more often now. I think it’s getting better,
but we still have a ways to go.”
There are a number of reasons women
start their own business, from creating
growth opportunities, to finding freedom
and flexibility, to having control over a
product or service.
“Once you own it, you can take it wher-
ever you want,” she said. “You can go big.
You can stay small. You can stay local. You
can go national. There are all these deci-
sions you can make about where you want
to go with your career.”
For Tappero, though, many women are
missing the next logical step: growing their
business. Only 4.2 percent of all women-
owned firms have revenues of $1 million or
more, according to the National Associa-
tion of Women Business Owners.
“One of the things that has struck me,
is that women, they’re more likely to have
their businesses be small. I was surprised
when I first saw the statistic about how
many women-owned businesses have rev-
enue over a million dollars,” she said. “I
don’t think that’s a really huge revenue.”
Although this percentage is up, from 3
percent, it’s not where it could, or perhaps
should, be. Tappero said she’s seen many
women start their own businesses as a way
to create a job for themselves.
“They’re satisfied with that,” she said.
“I don’t think we’re as likely to have big
growth ideas for our businesses, that we’re
just often more content to have our own
income and have our own job and not re-
ally focused on job creation and revenue
creation.”
Tappero, along with a handful of other
South Sound female business owners,
started the Alliance of Women Owned
Businesses in 2010, in part, as a way to
change that.
“When I first started my business, I
didn’t know a lot of women business own-
ers,” Tappero said. “But, when we started
the Alliance of Women Owned Business-
es, that was one of the reasons I wanted
to start it. Because, I thought, we need to
mentor and help each other.”
The nonprofit, designed to empower
women to achieve higher levels of business
success, offers them year-round program-
ming and education, in addition to net-
working opportunities.
Womenmakestridesinrecession
Helping businesswomen, and –men,
was the reason Lisa Markman, one of the
co-founders of the alliance and president
in 2012 and 2013, started Jigsaw Solutions
Coaching and Consulting in 1996.
Markman has held a few jobs during her
career, but, for the most part, she has been
an entrepreneur, starting her first business
at age 19. She operates the consulting busi-
ness on her own, but brings on associates
when needed.
“It just allowed me more freedom and
opportunity to name my own price, to be
my own boss, to chart my own path, to do
the work I wanted to do in quality, that was
a big thing. And, that’s what I hear from
other women,” she said. “There are a num-
ber of women in the Alliance of Women
Owned Businesses that have made that
same comment, that they went to work for
somebody else and they saw that the ser-
vices being delivered weren’t of the quality
and consistency that they could deliver, so
they went out and did it on their own.”
When Markman started her company,
most of her clients were men. Now, howev-
er, nearly 75 percent are women, reflective
of the trend seen across the country.
Beyond large, publicly traded corpo-
rations, privately held majority women-
owned firms were the only businesses to
provide a net increase in employment from
2007 to 2013, according to the National As-
sociation of Women Business Owners. Em-
ployment in all other privately held firms,
meanwhile, declined over that period.
“It seemed like, with the decline of the
economy, a lot of people tapped out,” said
Brett Marlo DeSantis, owner of Brett Mar-
lo Designs and Brett Marlo Design Build.
“The people who were willing to go out dur-
ing the downtime and build their business
— that’s what I did — those are the people
that are really going to excel and have a
great platform.”
Marlo DeSantis, a designer and general
contractor, started Brett Marlo Design in
’06 and Brett Marlo Design Build in ’11.
Like Markman, she said she’s only known
being an entrepreneur.
“I don’t think I ever thought about
working for someone. The thought never
entered my mind,” Marlo DeSantis. “I’m
sort of a self-starter. I like seeing the whole
process of everything and I like it to be very
fluid.”
She started her first business at 23, at
which point she looked to women she ad-
mired for mentorship. Now, she’s involved
in the Alliance of Women Owned Busi-
nesses.
“It’s an excellent opportunity. I believe
that although there are many groups, this
happens to be a place that I’ve found really
deep relationships can happen,” Marlo De-
Santis said. “Even though everyone thinks
times have changed and everyone is equal,
I don’t think that’s true.”
PHOTOS BY KATIE SCAFF
ABOVE: Abigail Lovell, owner of Abigail’s Concierge, started her business in 2012, when the only way to move up at her job was to relocate. Now, she says,
her salary isn’t capped and she expects to triple her salary in three years. BELOW: Abigail’s Concierge, which operates out of a small shop in Gig Harbor,
has become a catch-all for residents who need anything from home watching services and repairs to event planning and vacation rentals.
Tappero

Playing your best hand
Female entrepreneur realizes potential by understanding where her strengths lie
By Katie Scaff
For Gretchen Adams, finding success in
a male-dominated field was never impos-
sible.
It’s always been about understanding
her strengths, and weaknesses, and know-
ing when to use them or shore them up.
Like many women, Adams hit the glass
ceiling working in the corporate world. She
was bringing her company millions of dol-
lars in revenue, but
there was no reward:
no raise, no promo-
tion.
But, rather than
fighting it within the
confines of that com-
pany, Adams decided
to take matters into
her own hands.
In 1996, she met
her now-husband Everette Adams, and in
1999, they launched Systems Consulting,
LLC, with Gretchen Adams as the presi-
dent and majority owner.
The pair started the firm in their home
with just $1,000 in hand. Today they sup-
port multiple high profile capital projects
and have 10 full-time employees.
So how did the woman who couldn’t
surpass the glass ceiling take her own com-
pany to unexpected heights?
It’s rather simple.
It’s “recognizing what your strengths
are and what you’re bringing to the table,
and never doubting that, regardless of
what external things are being thrown at
you. Knowing who you are as a person,
not as a woman, but as a person,” Adams
explained. “A lot of times, we find our-
selves being passive aggressive and I think
there’s room and time for being one or the
other, not both. It’s like when someone
says, ‘choose your battles.’ Also, ‘play your
strongest hand.’ Knowing and being able
to differentiate when to be passive, I think,
sometimes gets in the way of people being
successful, because they want to be aggres-
sive all the time. They want to get in there,
because they just know, they can do it.”
Adams said there’s nothing wrong with
being aggressive, but it’s more important
to know who has the stronger hand.
“Knowing when to lead and when to fol-
low, and, in the same turn, knowing when
to be aggressive and not just lie down. To
stand up and speak your voice, it’s impera-
tive, especially for women, because for too
long we’ve let other people determine what
the outcomes have been,” she said.
In the Adams’ partnership, the division
is along their areas of expertise, but it also
fits within social norms. Gretchen takes
the lead in marketing, while Everette does
sales.
“I’m passionate about civic and com-
munity participation, whether Rotary, in-
dustry boards and committees, whereas
he’s more in the grind with guys, because a
lot of times, they want to see him, not me.
And appropriately so, when it’s a matter of
developing relationships with peers. There
are still places that he can go that I can’t. I
can go places he can’t,” she said. “Howev-
er, gender-based promotion and tracking
structures don’t escape me.”
Like any arrangement, however, there
are exceptions.
Recently, they had the chance to take
their company national by participating on
a multi-billion dollar rail project.
They made the trip to interview with the
prime contractor. But, after 40 minutes of
feverishly covering their work history, she
felt, from observing her client’s body lan-
guage, that they had not yet sealed the deal.
“He said, ‘I’m really glad you came by.
It was nice to meet you.’ You know, he’s
trying to close on us,” Adams recalled. “So,
I’m seeing my partner shutting down, too,
but I’m not convinced we’ve made a strong
close. But I have to diplomatically and
strategically think about how am I going to
interject my idea without stepping on the
story, while still engaging the customer un-
til the sale is a sure thing.”
In his closing remarks, the man inter-
viewing them asks, “Why are you guys re-
ally here?,” which Adams used to pivot the
conversation from the original strategy to
a new one.
“I said, ‘the reason that we’re here is be-
cause our clients have told us that we need
to take our quality assurance story on the
road. Because that is our story, quality as-
surance,” Adams said. “He leaned back in
his chair and he says, ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought
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See ADAMS, page 17
Adams

nitely enjoyed cooking on the line least of
all of it. It’s really physically hard,” she said.
“Not to say a woman couldn’t do that, but
I couldn’t. I love to cook. That’s not some-
thing I wanted to pursue because of that
aspect.”
That was about 20 years ago, though, and
a lot has changed, particularly in the last 10
years, said Lyon and Armstrong Sewell.
“It used to be, a long, long time ago, that
women weren’t allowed in professional
kitchens, and I think that stereotype just
kind of stuck for so long. And now, it’s just
such a more broad industry,” Armstrong
Sewell said. “Culinary schools aren’t just in
New York, and not just in the big cities ... It’s
a more accessible industry and it’s a boom-
ing industry.”
Lyon, who graduated from Le Cordon
Bleu in Tukwila four years ago, said she’s
seeing more qualified female applicants in
the South Sound. Both Lyon and Armstrong
Sewell credit cooking shows, in part, to the
rise of interest in the field.
But, one thing these shows aren’t doing,
is giving an accurate portrayal of the work.
And, this may be why the balance between
men and women in the kitchen has been
slow to even out.
“People come from all walks of life into
this, but people think they want to cook and
they get in the kitchen, even after culinary
school, and they realize it’s a monster,” Lyon
said. “It’s long hours on your feet. You know,
it’s not the Cooking Channel. It’s not, ‘OK,
let’s play with this recipe.’ It’s, ‘The tickets
are flying.’ Hopefully no one is yelling, but
it does happen. It’s controlled chaos. So
it takes a certain kind of person to remain
calm in that situation.”
Lyon is proof that both genders can find
success in the kitchen, though. For her, it’s
been all about hard work and developing her
expertise.
“It’s all about competency level and the
opportunities that come before you,” Lyon
said. “I personally loved opening Marrow,
because it was a new gastro-pub. They were
doing really interesting food, and when the
opportunity came to go to the Ritz-Carlton
outside the country, I mean, when you do
something like that, when you go to France
or Spain, or anywhere outside, it shows your
dedication and it’s going to stand out on a re-
sume ... If I got out of school and went to the
Murano and stayed there for eight years, and
then walked out, it would be like, ‘What did
you learn after the second year?’ Not much.”
Armstrong Sewell, however, has risen by
staying in one place, and her acknowledge-
ments are similar to Lyon’s.
“Really, it’s the same thing for a woman
or a man, it’s hard work and dedication and
willing basically to just work long hours,”
Armstrong Sewell said. “I’ve never looked
at it as, I’m a woman, and so I have to work
harder. Even though we have a boy-dom-
inated kitchen, I just came in and worked
my hardest from day one and I think that’s
why I got hired on from my internship, and
why I’ve been successful. I know the kitchen
takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedica-
tion and that’s how I’ve always looked at it.”
about subcontracting that to a small busi-
ness.’ He says, ‘quality assurance, talk to
me, what is the story?’ So, I told him about
our history. How we cut our teeth at Sound
Transit, as an independent quality auditor
for five years. How we’ve progressed with
them and came back later on to do an as-
sessment, and, then, of course, I brought
Everette into the story for the details, for
the close.”
They walked out the door with the con-
tract within reach.
“At the end, the now-client says ‘I’ll tell
you what, I like you guys. I like you guys a
lot. I think you’ve got a lot of chutzpa. If you
can beat anyone on this organization chart,
you got the job,” she said.
Nine months later, they were awarded
the contract.
Looking back, Adams largely credits her
transportation expert who had more than
30 years of experience in the industry, but
she also admits that she played a role in
making the deal happen.
“The idea that women can’t be in
charge, I think, has been proven over and
over again not to be true. I don’t think that
women that are in charge are really focused
on being out front. I think they’re focused
on keeping their head down and getting
the work done and getting results, realizing
results, and I think that the body of work
at the end really speaks for itself in what
they’ve accomplished,” Adams said.
In a lot of ways, that shows how age-old
stereotypes are still very much alive, but
that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, she said.
“The challenges are that some of the
same stereotypes still exist and some of the
advantages are that some of the same ste-
reotypes still exist,” Adams said, noting it’s
all about knowing how to work with those
stereotypes. “Women are known as nurtur-
ers, a skill that is required to build relation-
ships and networks. Also, being the boss or
leader does not means that you have to be
out front. I don’t have to be out front. I can
be in the back and still develop the relation-
ships and the network.”
When it comes to negotiating for a
multi-million dollar deal, Adams said she
knows from studying body language when
the men in the room are more interested
in what her husband has to say than what
she has to say. Like any partnership, they
collaborate to determine the best approach
before they ever walk into a boardroom.
Adams said she also knows she can use
her soft skills to their advantage, to help
move negotiations along.
“I can still bring product to market,
create and execute diverse strategies and
manage operations. However, the most
important skill is to provide good customer
service,” Adams said. “I know I can host.
I can also make small talk. I remember
things, the details. The kid’s name. The
dog’s name. How’s Kathy? Those types of
personable, relationship building type of
skills. It’s not just all business, and those
type of soft skills are important, because
people do business with people they feel
comfortable with and know, and (who)
they trust and that are loyal to them, and,
most importantly, that are paying attention
to who they are as a person. I think women
do that exceptionally well.”
Men have those skills, too, she said. But,
the key, no matter who you are, is knowing
when and where to use them.
Being a good listener, responsive, col-
laborative and flexible are all the types of
personable, relationship building skills
that can be the differentiator, she said.
“Even though we have progressed in
so many ways as humans, and men and
women, there are still things or values that
are embedded in us at a very early age,”
she said. “I think those messages still in-
form us, whether they’re out front or sub-
liminal. Sometimes, even though you hear
those messages, you see something else
that needs to happen, based on what’s in
front of you, and that’s what you have to
respond to at this moment. That’s the only
way you’re going to help make change, I
think. Whether that is diversifying product
or service, learning something new or tak-
ing a different approach.
ADAMS
KITCHEN
PHOTO BY HEATHER PERRY
Lyon joined Smoke + Cedar, which opened on March 1 in the new Elks Lodge space on the Allenmore
Golf Course, earlier this year. For her, working her way up in the kitchen has been all about hard work.
Hard work a
key ingredient
Kristen Lyon, sous chef at Smoke +
Cedar, is a typical aspiring head chef in
many ways. She holds a degree from
culinary school, has gotten her hands
dirty in a number of different kitchens
and has a no-nonsense attitude when
it comes to getting down to work. But
Lyon’s resume is unique, in that much
of it was written while she was a man.
The San Antonio, Texas-native
moved to Washington while she was
working in the tattoo industry, an ex-
perience that’s proven to be quite simi-
lar to working in a kitchen. Like tattoo
shows, cooking shows have misrepre-
sented what it’s like to work in a pro-
fessional kitchen, Lyon said.
“People see the tattoo shows and
they go, ‘Oh, they’re going to tell my
story.’ And, it’s like, that’s not how tat-
too shops work,” she said.
Lyon graduated from Le Cordon
Bleu in Tukwila and went on to help
launch Marrow Bar and Grill in Taco-
ma, where she was a cook. After that,
she spent six months at the Ritz-Carl-
ton Hotel in St. Thomas in the Virgin
Islands, before coming to Hotel Mu-
rano, where she worked for two years,
most recently as second sous chef and
kitchen supervisor.
Lyon made the transition from
Chris to Kristen while working at Ta-
coma’s Hotel Murano, but her strat-
egy to get to the top has remained the
same. For her, it’s always been about
hard work, regardless of gender.
“It’s a hard job and people are striv-
ing very hard to get to the top, so you
have to work twice as hard as them and
you have to work twice as hard as your
boss to make sure you standout,” she
said. “I try to stay two steps ahead of
my chef at all times. Every step in the
process of becoming head chef is about
learning from your employees on how
you can do it better or faster or cheaper
and still produce great products.”

AroundtheSound
TUESDAY, MARCH 18
Tacoma Business Connections
Tacoma Business Connections,
noon-1 p.m., Elmer’s Restaurant, 7427
South Hosmer St., Tacoma. A profes-
sional networking group in Tacoma
that strives to help members grow their
businesses through quality business
referrals. Build strong relationships
with a dynamic and resourceful group
of business professionals who are posi-
tive, supportive, and ready to help each
other succeed.
SBA Loan Seminar
Thurston County Chamber of Com-
merce Small Business Association Loan
Seminar, noon-1 p.m., Thurston Coun-
ty Chamber of Commerce, 809 Legion
Way SE, Olympia. Learn more about the
SBA loan guarantee program, financing
alternatives, and what lenders are look-
ing for at this lunchtime workshop.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19
Executives Association
Tacoma Executives Association,
11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m., 3017 Ruston
Way, Tacoma. Founded in 1917, the
Tacoma Executives Association is com-
posed of leading non-competing busi-
nesses in the Tacoma-Pierce County
area, each represented by a key execu-
tive. The sole function is to increase the
sale of goods and services of its mem-
bers through the exchange of business
information or leads.
Federal Way
Business After Hours
Federal Way Chamber of Commerce
Business After Hours, 5-7 p.m., Mill
Ridge Village Retirement Community,
607 28th Ave., Milton. Join the Cham-
ber for a Business After Hours. This is
an opportunity to meet and build great
relationships with other businesspeople
and forward thinkers in the communi-
ty. There will be a lively crowd, drinks,
food and door prizes.
YPN Wednesdays
Young Professionals Network
Wednesdays, 5:30-7 p.m., Cork! A Wine
Bar, 606 N. State St., Tacoma. An in-
formal gathering where members can
get to know each other and relax in the
middle of the week. New faces are al-
ways welcomed and encouraged. Happy
hour prices for those attending!
THURSDAY, MARCH 20
Kent B&O Tax Training
Workshop
City of Kent Business and Occupa-
tion Tax Training Workshop, 10 a.m.-
noon, City Council Chambers, Kent City
Hall, 220 Fourth Ave. S., Kent. A free
training workshop on the city’s Busi-
ness and Occupation Tax. According
to city auditor Robert Goehring, CFE,
CPA, the workshop is designed to help
businesses understand the city’s B&O
tax reporting responsibilities.
Participants will learn about B&O tax
reporting classifications, exemptions,
deductions, gross receipts and square
footage tax and how to file online. At-
tendees will also have the opportunity
to ask questions about taxes that apply
to specific businesses.
Small Business Advisory
Meeting with Adam Smith
Greater Federal Way Chamber of
Commerce Small Business Advisory
Meeting with Adam Smith, 11:45 a.m.-
1 p.m., Federal Way. Chamber of Com-
merce Conference Room, 31919 1st Ave.
S., Suite 202, Federal Way Congress-
man. Adam Smith (D, 9th District) is at
the center of several strategic national
and international issues — and his lead-
ership to support small businesses is
still a priority. The Chamber welcomes
Smith to meet with local constituents.
Brown Bag Lunch.
Tacoma Rotary 8
Rotary of Tacoma #8, Noon - 1:30
p.m., Landmark Temple Theatre, 47 St.
Helens Avenue, Tacoma. Speaker will
Neel Parikh, executive director of the
Pierce County Library System.
Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber
After Hours
Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of
Commerce After Hours, featuring “A
Happy Hour” Business Expo, 4-7 p.m.,
Historic 1625, 1625 S. Tacoma Way,
Tacoma. A monthly networking event
where businesspeople will have the
opportunity to meet and mingle with
small, medium, and large Chamber
member businesses.
This is your chance to promote your
business, meet possible clients and
interact with new businesses. This
month’s Chamber After-Hours will
feature a Happy Hour Business Expo,
where the Chamber will celebrate the
members that joined during the last
membership event, as well as the volun-
teers that successfully recruited those
members to join by hosting them as ex-
hibitors.
Thurston County
Business After Hours
Thurston County Chamber of Com-
merce Business After Hours, 5:30-7:30
p.m., DescoAV, 2306 Harrison Ave,
NW, Olympia. Thurston County Cham-
ber of Commerce Business After Hours
events are networking opportunities
hosted by Chamber members at their
locations. They are a chance to bring
customers, past, present and potential
into your business and showcase your
wares. Attendees should bring lots of
business cards to network and enjoy
the relaxing atmosphere. The event av-
erages 100 attendees.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26
SCORE Business Mentoring
Business Mentoring with SCORE, 9
a.m.-4 p.m., Bates Technical College,
1101 S. Yakima Ave Rm M-123, Taco-
ma. The South Sound/Tacoma SCORE
Chapter provides free, confidential, in
person, business counseling for small
business owners and aspiring entre-
preneurs. SCORE is a non-profit as-
sociation, dedicated to helping existing
and new small businesses get off the
ground, grow, and achieve their goals
through education and mentorship.
OMB 2014 Housing Summit
Olympia Master Builders 2014 Hous-
ing Summit, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Indian
Summer Golf & Country Club, 5900
Troon Ln. SE, Olympia. The housing
summit brings together industry lead-
ers and experts to present the state of
the current local and regional housing
industry. Featured speaker will be Todd
Myers, environmental director of the
Washington Policy Center.
Fife Business Network
Fife Business Network, 11:30 a.m.-
12:30 p.m., Poodle Dog Restaurant,
1422 54th Ave. E., Fife. The group’s goal
is to put the Fife business community
on the Pierce and King County map.
Attend if you are a business in Fife or
would like to do business in Fife. The
network is looking to generate quality
referrals and relationships with other
business owners in Fife, Milton, Edge-
wood, Puyallup, Sumner, Federal Way,
Auburn, Tacoma and others.
Network of Tacoma
Network of Tacoma, 11:30 a.m.-
1:00 p.m., C.I. Shenanigans, 3017 Rus-
ton Way, Tacoma. An organization
dedicated to helping members build
their businesses through referrals and
friendships. This is an exclusive cat-
egory network group. Visit www.net-
workoftacoma.com for more informa-
tion, or email info@networkoftacoma.
com.
YPN Wednesdays
Young Professionals Network
Wednesdays, 5:30-7 p.m., Cork! A Wine
Bar, 606 N. State St., Tacoma. An in-
formal gathering where members can
get to know each other and relax in the
middle of the week. New faces are al-
ways welcomed and encouraged. Happy
hour prices for those attending!
THURSDAY, MARCH 27
SCORE Business Mentoring
Business Mentoring with SCORE, 9
a.m.-4 p.m., Bates Technical College,
1101 S. Yakima Ave Rm M-123, Taco-
ma. The South Sound/Tacoma SCORE
Chapter provides free, confidential, in
person, business counseling for small
business owners and aspiring entre-
preneurs. SCORE is a non-profit as-
sociation, dedicated to helping existing
and new small businesses get off the
ground, grow, and achieve their goals
through education and mentorship.
1.800.540.8322
mail@BusinessExaminer.com
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