The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce Downtown Forum is seeking participants for its Adopt a Tree Well program. As part of its beautification plan, the Downtown Forum initiated a program in 2008 where businesses, organizations or individuals could “adopt” the ground around the trees along the sidewalks in Friday Harbor by planting flowers and caring for them.
Farming in San Juan County is growing – and growing faster than national and state averages, according to a new report from the National Agricultural Statistics service. The number of farms, farmers, acres farmed, and revenue are all growing in San Juan County. The report, released last month, is a national census conducted every five years, and results from 2007 show 66 more farms (291 total) in the islands than in 2002, a 29 percent increase compared to 13 percent for Washington state and 4 percent nationally.
Westcott Bay Sea Farms will reopen for business in June, co-owner Craig Bleeker said. The sea farm, known worldwide for its lantern net-grown oysters and other shellfish, may also sell wholesale to restaurants before June. U-pick days will be scheduled as well.
Deborah Hopkins and Robin Jacobson of the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, as well as Carol and Bogdan Kulminski of the Blue Heron B&B on Orcas Island, represented the San Juan Islands during “Tourism Day” in Olympia.
Charlie and Lynn Meyer are selling Island Petroleum Service to Jim and Kate Schuman, effective April 1. Terms of the sale and purchase were not disclosed.
Volunteers are needed for the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center. Training is provided. Visit the Visitor Information Center or call Sandy Baird, 378-5240.
The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce is offering a paid after-school internship program to train students in customer service and general office procedures. Call Debbie Pigman or Sandy Baird, 378-5240.
Learn how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can help your business by participating in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s March Web chat.
Free one-on-one business counseling is available Monday, March 16 in Friday Harbor from a business adviser from the Economic Development Association of Skagit County, in partnership with the San Juan County EDC and Chamber of Commerce. Appointments may be made by calling (360) 336-6114.
An extension of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 was passed recently and direct distributions from an IRA can be made to certain charities without it counting as taxable income.
Hillside House Bed and Breakfast has earned a rating of four green eco-leafs by completing a 70-point eco-audit survey administered by
iStayGreen.org, the online social network of environmentally friendly
travel.
Steps Wine Bar and Cafe is moving from Friday Harbor Center to 123 West St., the new commercial-residential buildings built by Misty Todd on Front Street. Steps serves its last meal at Friday Harbor Center on Saturday and reopens at its new location May 13.
Eighteen individuals or couples faced property foreclosure in 2008, according to a review of Trustees Sale notices published in The Journal of the San Juan Islands and The Islands’ Sounder.
