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Snohomish: A Community That's Old and Growing |
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Written On: May/June 2005 |
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Written By: by Shawn Sullivan and Ron Dalby |
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When one thinks of where a globetrotting engineering consultant or an internationally known aviation services company decide to locate their headquarters, about the last place you’d consider would be Snohomish, Wash., a city of about 8,600 people.
"We just went for the quality of life," Frank Coleman Jr. said. Coleman is president and CEO of The Pinnacle Consulting Group. He and his staff of 13 serve clients all over the world, assisting in the location, construction and operation of warehouses and manufacturing plants.
Quality of life was also a major factor when Robert Klem relocated Soundair Aviation Services from Woodinville to Snohomish two years ago. "We wanted to find a place to call home," Klem said of his new facility. His employees have found a home is well. Soundair has virtually zero turnovers, and the only job openings come when somebody retires or the company expands.
While touring Soundair’s component repair facility, a glance in the aircraft coffee maker repair room gives you an idea of the ever-increasing volume of work available. "Aircraft coffee makers fail all the time," explained Greg Harwood, vice president of the Soundair Repair Group, LLC, "because flight attendants and passengers touch them." Scores of broken coffee makers fill shelves from floor to ceiling on the wall behind him as he says this.
Between the coffee makers and the aircraft window repair section, it seems that Soundair has all the work it can handle. Moreover, as one of the company’s managers pointed out when they were planning the move to Snohomish, with FedEx and UPS they could run this business from anywhere.
Snohomish Mayor Liz Loomis echoes Coleman and Klem when she says, "We want to make this an attractive place to live, work and play."
As mayor, Loomis qualifies as the city’s biggest booster. Supposedly it’s a part-time job, but don’t tell Loomis because she doesn’t stop working. "I like public service," Loomis said, "and I like getting things done." According to Loomis, all too often great plans from the past were made but never implemented. With Loomis in the mayor’s chair, that no longer seems to be a problem.
Besides the growing business and industry, Snohomish is widely recognized as the antique capital of Washington. "In a 10-block radius, 450 antique dealers display their wares in seven malls and 13 specialty shops," said Snohomish Chamber of Commerce President Brad Jorgensen.
With so many shops, "You have to create your own niche in the market," Jorgensen said. Antique dealers specialize in everything from antique furniture to classic cars.
John and Donna Hager own and operate Collector’s Choice, a restaurant and lounge in the heart of the antique district. "My wife started this as a hobby," John said, "and it got out of hand."
At the time Donna opened the then soup-and-sandwich shop, John was a principal in a local school district. Two years later, he left the school district to work at the restaurant with his wife.
John thinks the challenge facing Snohomish is, "How to put good paying jobs in this community and still keep the quality of life." Collector’s Choice employs 35 people.
Antiques and a nice place for lunch are only part of the downtown story. During the spring and early fall, streets are filled with a mix of antique shoppers and fishing enthusiasts. The Snohomish River is one of the best fishing holes in Washington with two major salmon runs every year. Fishers from around the state crowd the banks of the river while their families picnic in the grass nearby.
The lure of the salmon runs even carries over to local businesses. At Soundair during salmon season, employees have the option of coming to work early and then taking extra-long lunch hours to go fishing. Klem recounts the story of one excited employee who had never before caught a fish waltzing into the boss’s office to show off his first-ever salmon, still fresh enough to be dripping blood all over the carpet.
While the river provides some of the best fishing in the state, the lakes surrounding Snohomish are also worthwhile. Lake Stevens, Flowing Lake and Lake Rosiger allow a variety of water sports throughout the summer months, and the county stocks Panther and Blackman lakes—no motors allowed—with rainbow trout.
Several parks, bicycle and walking trails, and playgrounds situated all over town provide a wide variety of outdoor activities for all lifestyles. The Centennial Trail is a six-foot-wide bicycle path that doubles as a conservation corridor. The trail uses an old rail bed from a rail line that served Snohomish more than a century ago. Hundreds of bicyclists, hikers and skaters enjoy the tranquility of the eight-mile path almost every day.
“The city put together more than 91 acres of parks and two miles of paved trails for the enjoyment of our residents and visitors,” Snohomish City Manager Larry Bauman said. "Snohomish has always had a sense of community, but we are now trying to create a sense of place."
In order to create this sense of place, city government and the chamber of commerce are working together to improve the south side of downtown. "We are currently limited to a day-trip town, but we are trying to help it grow beyond that," Bauman said. The city is considering the redevelopment of an area adjacent to the banks of the Snohomish River to to encourage overnight stays.
Snohomish also invites economic development by reimbursing portions of the impact fees based on revenue. "Refunding impact fees is something that other cities in Washington just do not do," said Bauman. This program enticed several businesses to relocate to Snohomish over the years, and there’s now a waiting list of businesses wishing to relocate to Snohomish.
Connecting the downtown area with the river is another important economic development project. "We are trying to make a connection between Snohomish and the city of Everett," Bauman said. Expect riverboat tours from Everett to begin in September 2006. The tours will include two hours in Snohomish for lunch.
A partial list of recently completed and ongoing projects demonstrates just how much is going on in Snohomish these days. Public money built a new library, a mix of public and private funds is building a new visitors center, a new youth center has opened, and a new senior center is on the way.
Put all this together with the increasing number of businesses moving to town and perhaps Pinnacle Consulting’s Coleman says it best, "Our clients really enjoy coming out here."
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