<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Snohomish County Business Journal Archives Four outstanding women business leaders talked about the county’s economic future, the year ahead and breaking through the glasss ceiling in the February 1999 edition.

ADVERTISEMENT

CONTACT SCBJ Kurt Batdorf, Editor kbatdorf@scbj.com

February 1999: “Aiming High” showcased leading women executives and their outlook for the future

Our cover story a decade ago in the Herald Business Journal, predecessor in name to today’s Snohomish County Business Journal, focused on four women executives who held leadership roles in Snohomish County. While I don’t know where Jenene Gibbs is today, I do know that the other three — Deborah Knutson, Jean Hales and Renee Radcliff — are still very much involved in top executive roles in our county.

A decade ago, Jenene Gibbs was president and CEO of the growing South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce. She came to that role in May 1998 after serving as director of community education at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, a position she filled after serving for five years as vice president of Skagit County’s Economic Development Association.

Deborah Knutson had come north from her post as a vice president of the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County in October 1998 to become president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County, a position she still ably fills today. Earlier in her career she was an Everett city planner, then served as a senior manager with the Washington State Department of Trade and Economic Development.

Jean Hales, then vice president of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, had served as interim president of the Everett chamber as well in 1998. Today she is in the top post at the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce, contributing her years of community service experience to the growth of the chamber and the south county business community.

Renee Radcliff, president of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce in 1999, was also a state legislator from Mukilteo, first elected in 1995. Before that she was editor of Business Profile, Business Monthly and Northwest Photo Network magazines and owner of The Radcliff Group, a media and public relations company. Later, she became an executive with the Northwest office of the American Electronics Association and in 2007 campaigned for a seat on the Snohomish County Council, losing to Mike Cooper.

In other news items in our February 1999 edition were these topics:



Retail trade increases

A report from the state Department of Revenue shows that Snohomish County had a 9.7 percent increase in retail trade during the second quarter of 1998 over the same time period of the previous year. Trade volume in the county amounted to $949,227 from April through June, compared to $865,215 in 1997.

Retail figures include taxable sales from autos, apparel, household furnishings, eating and drinking establishments and retail stores. The report attributed the jump in sales to a 3.1 percent increase in population.



Assisted living changes

The new Windsor Pointe assisted living center has nearly all of its apartments filled. The new facility is adjacent the Windsor Square retirement center in Marysville.

Providence Health System and Emeritus Assisted Living have announced that Arbor Place at Silver Lake will open sometime in the summer. The $7.2 million development will have 101 living units and is being built on property owned by Providence. The location is off Bothell-Everett Highway, opposite the newly-opened Fred Meyer shopping center.

Merrill Gardens at Mill Creek will be adding 50 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Merrill Gardens, headquartered in Seattle, also has a community in Stanwood and Monroe. A separate Alzheimer’s care center is being built near the Monroe facility.

Bethany of the Northwest will be moving from its facility on Broadwater to more modern facilities on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the Pacific Avenue campus of Providence/General Medical Center.

Chateau Pacific, a 143-unit assisted living and retirement facility, is being built at the intersection of Highway 99 and Mukilteo Speedway. Chateau Pacific offers sweeping views of the Cascades and will provide such amenities as a heated indoor pool, an exercise and massage room and an outside putting green.

Clare Bridge assisted living Alzheimer’s facility will be opening soon with 46 rooms. There will also be a library, a dining room and a kitchen where relatives can cook while visiting.



Marriott to open

A new Courtyard by Marriott hotel will open in May in Lynnwood. California owner Sunstone Hotel Investors broke ground for the 164-room hotel in July 1998. It will employ up to 50 full and part-time staff. Hotel amenities include an outdoor heated swimming pool, a hydrotherapy spa, a fitness center, three meeting rooms, a restaurant, a lounge and a fully-equipped business center.



Environmental product

goes global

A product from Everett-based Dennis Petroleum is gaining attention from around the world. PetroSorb, an absorbent foam that can soak up oil, is not only effective but also reusable, since it can be wrung out and reused up to 100 times. One 8- by 12-inch pad can absorb 32 times its weight in petroleum-based liquids while repelling water. The company also produces other oil-absorbing products.



Realtors online

Windermere Real Estate launched a Web site with an extensive collection of properties. The company will also unveil a new regionally-distributed magazine in March to further market Northwest homes.



Employee incentives

Hewlett-Packard Company in Lake Stevens was named Snohomish County’s Employer of the Year because of commuting and other incentives offered to its employees. Hewlett-Packard offers carpooling employees $25 monthly subsidies, guaranteed taxi rides home if they need to leave work unexpectedly and a tax-free, brownie-point system that translates into gift certificates at stores like Nordstrom. It also offers flexible work schedules, and also lockers and showers for employees who ride a bike to work.

Within the county, businesses that encouraged employees to use alternative transportation methods averaged about 900 fewer daily commute trips than in 1993.



Biker recognized

Gary Allen, a Kimberly-Clark Corp. employee, was named Commuter of the Year. Those voting on this and other awards were Snohomish County businesses and Community Transit. Allen has ridden his bike to work for 18 years, which translates to 1,300 miles annually or 23,400 miles up to January 1999.



New center opens

Micro Learning Centers of Seattle opened its first office in Snohomish County. The center, located in Mountlake Terrace, will be used to train corporate employees and individuals needing computer skills. The training courses are taught by certified Microsoft instructors who have real-world technical experience.



Everett Chevrolet expands

The car dealership has opened a used car center at 7428 Evergreen Way, opposite its existing dealership. The new facility has space for 80 vehicles, raising Everett Chevrolet’s inventory of new and used vehicles to more than 500.



New Technology Center

Final touches are being put on a $20 million expansion project at Everett Community College that includes a new Instructional Technology Center and additional campus parking. The new center will give a boost to the college’s efforts to provide modern high-technology facilities for its students. The 39,000-square-foot building includes computer labs and classrooms for biology, chemistry and engineering.



Library renovation

Edmonds Community College’s renovated library has benefited from a $2.1 million project that included upgraded science labs, technology for computer research, new study spaces, a classroom and networking computer stations.

The project was financed with $1 million contributed by individuals, corporations and foundations, plus $1.1 million from a Washington State Capital Improvement Grant.





Bigger monitors

According to Bill Su of Bix Computers in Edmonds, upgrading your monitor can be as important as upgrading your computer. He suggests replacing your 14-inch monitor with a newer monitor with a 17-inch screen. “Both business and home users are finding they’re easier on your eyes.”

Now, a decade later, it’s the 17-inch monitors that are the smaller, common ones and people are moving up to even bigger ones, or even double monitors side-by-side. Don’t forget, those 17-inch monitors being recommended in 1999 were still the “old” thick-screen monitors that were about 22-inches deep and took up your whole desk top. What a change today!