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Bellingham: Washington's City by the Bay |
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Written On: September/October 2004 |
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Written By: by Mike Hudson |
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The famous British seaman and explorer Captain George Vancouver recognized the area’s commercial potential when he sailed into the bay in 1792 and promptly named it “Bellingham” after his friend Sir William Bellingham. This was obviously the good captain’s way of saying, “This is a great place to do business” since Sir William was the Controller of the Storekeepers Accounts for the Royal Navy.
While first inhabitants of Washington’s northernmost corner — the Lummi and Nooksack Indians — utilized the forests and water resources to make their living, it didn’t take long for other entrepreneurs to flock to the area to make their living in the timber, mining and fishing industries. In the process, they established four major communities surrounding Bellingham Bay: Sehom, Whatcom, Fairhaven and Bellingham. In 1903, the four towns merged to create the City of Bellingham.
In the past 100 years, the population, city limits and the economy have all grown. Mining is extinct and the timber and fishing industries continue to feel the effects of dwindling resources and increasing regulation. However, industries including agriculture (dairy and farming), light manufacturing, education, retail and health care have all taken hold, giving Bellingham a very stable economic foundation.
“Our diverse economy has allowed us to weather the last few economic storms,” says Tom Dorr, director of the Small Business Development Center, College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University. “We fared better than most of the state during the last recession. Education, health care and government are now the three largest employers.”
Western Washington University Busting at Seams
Western Washington University, with an anticipated enrollment of approximately 13,000 this fall, is the third largest four-year university in the state. While students are drawn to the school for its quality of education, faculty members are drawn to the quality of life.
Perched high atop Sehom Hill, Western has a commanding view of Bellingham Harbor, the bay, Lummi, Orcas and several other islands in the San Juan chain to the west; and Mt. Baker and the Canadian Cascades to the northeast. It is easy to see why people would be attracted. The presence of Whatcom Community College, Bellingham Technical College, Northwest Indian College and the Bellingham School District with its three high schools, four middle schools and thirteen elementary schools makes education the largest industry in the city.
As Bellingham’s population has grown (now at just over 67,000) and gotten older, health care has emerged as a growth industry. St. Joseph Hospital is a 253-bed, two-campus medical center and Level II Trauma Center in Bellingham. It is Whatcom County's only hospital and provides a full range of inpatient and outpatient services.
The staff of the hospital consists of approximately 1,880 full- and part-time employees. In 2003, St. Joseph completed phase one of a facilities expansion project that nearly doubled its size and now houses the region’s most advanced heart care center.
While local government employment is about right for a community its size, and there are the usual numbers of federal and state security workers in this northwestern most outpost, Bellingham benefits from a larger- than-normal contingent of federal Homeland Security employees — Border Patrol, immigration and others.
Build It and They Will Come
Construction fueled Bellingham’s economy over the past two years. In 2003, the city issued 1,131 building permits with a total valuation of $218 million dollars. Forty-four percent of the permits were for commercial and industrial buildings. This year is shaping up to be another good one with nearly $103 million in permits issued through July. To facilitate construction, the city has just opened a one-stop permit center giving builders and contractors one convenient place to go in order to get their projects off the ground.
It’s not just that building is taking place, it is also what is being built and where. The commercial section of the downtown is being revitalized. For example, visitors driving into town were greeted by the old “Flame Tavern,” a broken-down, derelict building on one corner of Holly Street and Railroad Avenue. On another corner was “the pit,” a 25-foot hole created by a building fire.
“Not much of a first impression for people coming to town for the first time,” said Jeannette Brennan with the Bellingham/ Whatcom Chamber of Commerce. That section now is anchored by the City Station and Marketplace buildings with a restaurant, office and retail space on the ground floor and moderate-income or market-rate housing above.
Olympics an Economic Boon
The impact of Canadian commerce on Bellingham’s economy is directly related to the exchange rate. While it is mostly seen in the retail sector, there has been a lot of interest by Canadian businesses in establishing a presence in Whatcom County.
“Having an American-based subsidiary corporation allows for greater and easier access to the U.S. market,” said Mike Brennan, a Bellingham consultant who works with companies attempting to relocate. Canadian companies receive generous tax breaks from the Canadian Government if they have a U.S. subsidiary.
In September 2003, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to Vancouver, BC. “We immediately set the wheels in motion,” said Whatcom County Visitor and Convention Bureau Executive Director John Cooper.
“We formed a committee and went to Utah to get an idea of the impact the games will have on our community. Forty percent of the visitors to the Salt Lake City games drove there,” said Cooper. “If people are going to drive from anywhere in the western United States, chances are pretty good they will come through Bellingham.”
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
With an economy that seems to avoid the inevitable peaks and valleys, a well-trained workforce and a quality of life that local residents say is second to none, what could be wrong?
While Bellingham’s unemployment rate was somewhat lower than the rest of the state and nation in 2003, so was the average wage. Local business owners also feel the pinch of competition, burdensome regulation and a sense on the part of some that businesses should carry the load of public services.
For example, there is a controversial initiative on the local ballot in November calling for a one-tenth of one percent increase in the city’s sales tax. Proceeds will fund a much needed new jail.
One downtown business owner says, “I’m all in favor of a new jail, we’ve needed one for quite some time, but why fund it on the backs of business? We are already losing business to Skagit County where the sales tax is lower, so I would have no choice but to absorb the tax. And this is on top of the state initiative to raise the sales tax one percent — what if that passes?” She was referring to I-884 which increases the sales tax by a penny for additional education programs.
Like people in other parts of Washington, Bellingham employers are concerned about the state’s high business taxes. For example, the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy (WashACE), a partnership of the Association of Washington Business, Washington Research Council and the Washington Roundtable, found that 54 percent of the state and local taxes are paid by the private sector job providers in our state as compared to a national average of about 36 percent. In Oregon, businesses pay 27 percent.
Back to the Future
It appears that the future growth and prosperity of the city will be turning back to the bay. Since 2001, the Waterfront Future Project has focused on several key elements in the development of the 150-acre waterfront owned by Georgia-Pacific. If this group is successful, it is a sure bet that more people will be leaving their hearts in Washington’s city by the bay.
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