Ownership of the Office Center is changing hands.

Roy and Anne Clauson of San Juan Island are embarking on a new endeavor with the purchase of the Office Center and its Friday Harbor location from company founder and long-time owner Jeff Van Dyke.

The sale closed Jan. 17.

Roy Clauson, a former IBM executive, said islanders can expect that the business, its operations and the line of merchandise it offers will remain much the same as the company changes hands.

He said the couple have a new idea or two that they would like to incorporate into the business, such as computer services and a line of party supplies, sometime in the future.

In the meantime, Clauson said the immediate task is to understand the business and the expectations of its clientele.

“We’re excited about running the business,” Clauson said. “I was looking for a new occupation and we really wanted to stay on the island.

Van Dyke, who founded the business in 1994, will remain at the Office Center for a month or so to help guide the Clausons as take over the reins.

Van Dyke, who’s wife, Marcia, lives and works in Oak Harbor, where the couple also have a home, said the thought of spending less time commuting makes letting go of the business a bit easier.

“In fact, it gets easier all the time,” he said.

Formerly of Redmond, Wash., the Clausons moved to San Juan Island in 2002.

Anne Clauson, according to husband Roy, is the brains behind the retail end of the business.

Her resume in retail includes owning and operating a pair of convenience store-gas stations in Richmond, British Columbia, a suburb of the city of Vancouver, and creating a company that specialized in making wetsuits.

The Office Center, located at 747 Spring Street, is among numerous business situated near the east end of Friday Harbor airport that lease land from the Port of Friday Harbor to house their operations.