City Council - Community and Economic Development Committee
City Council - Community and Economic Development Committee
Mon, June 1, 2026
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Meeting summaryAI-generated
City Council – Community and Economic Development Committee — June 1, 2026
This was a working session of the Community and Economic Development Committee, chaired by Councilmember Jace Cotton and joined by Councilmembers Hollie Huthman and Skip Williams, with additional questions from full-council members Lisa Anderson and Hannah Stone. No binding votes were taken; both items were informational presentations followed by discussion.
Regional Economic Partnership & WWU Small Business Development Center — Annual Update
Port of Bellingham Economic Development Update
Tyler Schroeder, the Port's Economic Development Director, presented 2025 highlights and an update on the forthcoming 2027–2031 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS).
On business expansion, Schroeder highlighted Pure Blue Tech, a clean-tech company that grew from 10,000 to nearly 50,000 square feet by relocating to the former Silfab building on the Bellingham waterfront through a three-way agreement among the company, the building's owner, and the Port. The company is expected to grow from roughly 10 employees to 50–60.
On agriculture, the Port is partnering with local agricultural interests to develop the Whatcom Food and Farm Station at the former Boxberry Farm on Northwest Drive — described as a first-of-its-kind agricultural research facility focused on innovation and sustainability.
On industrial land, Schroeder referenced the Port's industrial land study from last year, noting it confirmed what many suspected: industrial land along freight corridors is in short supply across Bellingham and Whatcom County. He noted the county is considering new language in its comprehensive plan to address this, and that areas like Hannegan/Baker View north of Iron Gate in Bellingham and Grandview in Ferndale were identified as potential sites.
On workforce development, the Port hosted its second annual Blue Tech by the Bay event, bringing approximately 120 high school students together with 15 maritime businesses and representatives from Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College, and Western Washington University to expose students to maritime career pathways.
The CEDS process has generated 617 survey responses over 60 days and nearly 100 one-on-one interviews, including outreach to Lummi Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe leadership. The dominant themes heard: infrastructure needs (roads, sewer, water, and sector-specific), affordability (housing, childcare, healthcare, overhead), labor shortages, market uncertainty, and regulatory complexity — one interviewee described permitting as "death by a thousand cuts." The draft CEDS vision statement is: *"We commit to work together to create a welcoming, innovative economy with opportunities for everyone."* Five draft goals are infrastructure, business vitality, workforce, affordability, and resiliency. The final strategy, with specific measurable action items and named leads, is expected by end of 2026 and will go to the County Council for formal approval.
WWU Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Update
CJ Sykes, Executive Director of the WWU SBDC, presented the organization's 2025 outcomes. Key figures: 533 entrepreneurs received one-on-one confidential counseling; 29 new businesses launched; clients increased sales by nearly $20 million; and over a five-year period, the SBDC worked with 1,800 unique clients, supported 125 business starts, helped create nearly 1,000 jobs, and facilitated over $50 million in capital investment. The SBDC estimates that for every local dollar invested, $17 returns in capital investment.
Sykes emphasized buy-sell transitions (over 20% of 2025 work, totaling 456 hours) as a growing area, noting many generational business transfers are occurring. The SBDC also took lead on business recovery coordination after both the 2021 and 2025 floods, with their flood recovery webpage drawing over 2,000 unique visits since December 2025.
New initiatives include a microloan program with First Fed and the Whatcom Community Foundation (loans of $2,500–$50,000 for non-traditionally bankable clients), and Sykes recently became certified in equity crowdfunding as a tool to activate local capital. She also described a forthcoming inclusive economic summit being developed with the Whatcom Community Foundation CEO — envisioned as a regional or national model with Whatcom County as the "incubator" test case, targeting 2027.
Committee Discussion
Councilmember Huthman called the SBDC one of the city's most important but least visible forms of small business support, particularly praising the diversity of entrepreneurs served and the new microloan program.
Councilmember Cotton asked about the city's in-progress home occupations code update and what role it could play in business incubation. Sykes said she'd reviewed academic research on the topic and was optimistic, noting that clearer rules could bring informal home-based businesses "out into the light" — and that wrap-around services would be key to making compliance feel welcoming rather than threatening.
Councilmember Williams asked about progress on the industrial land study's findings. Schroeder confirmed the study documented a shortage of industrial land along freight corridors, emphasized that "industrial" includes small advanced manufacturing spaces (not just heavy industry), and said the county is expected to act on related comp plan language imminently.
Councilmember Anderson asked what the biggest barriers are for business expansion or startups. Sykes and SBDC advisor Eric Grimstead cited tight margins, rising input costs, access to capital, and the need to pivot — using breweries as an example of an industry that must adapt to changing consumer behavior. Schroeder added that city and county policies should be actively "welcoming" to businesses, not just neutral. Anderson also raised the idea of a purchasing co-op to help small restaurants absorb costs from policy changes like the Styrofoam ban; Sykes said the SBDC could help explore that.
Downtown Occupancy Trends and Strategies to Address Vacancies — Work Session
City staff Tara Sendel (Community and Economic Development Manager) and Darby Galligan (Planning and Community Development) presented an update on the downtown vacancy project, which originated from the Downtown Forward initiative.
The findings: The study covered 61 blocks, approximately 204 acres and 2 million square feet of ground-floor space in the downtown area (for scale: the ground floor alone is nearly three times the size of Bellis Fair mall). The overall vacancy rate is approximately 10%, but in the pedestrian-oriented core — the area most people think of as "downtown" — vacancies are 14.6%. Staff stated clearly that 14.6% is unacceptable and the goal is to get below 10%.
Staff organized vacancies into three categories: market-ready spaces that should be fillable given their size and location; large-footprint spaces requiring subdivision or creative reuse; and stalled assets — long-vacant properties with complex ownership situations.
Discussion highlights:
Councilmember Huthman focused on stalled assets and asked what tools exist when the city cannot compel action. Staff acknowledged these are the hardest cases and noted that each stalled property has a unique backstory. Tools discussed included window wraps to improve curb appeal, public-private partnerships, and ongoing advocacy at the state level for a vacancy tax (not currently allowed under state law). Staff also described a potential local vacancy registry — tracking who owns vacant storefronts and potentially tying registration to requirements like activating windows or contributing to street-level vibrancy. Galligan noted the challenge is weighing administrative burden against impact.
Councilmember Cotton asked what barriers prevent businesses from moving into storefront spaces and whether additional tools exist. Staff cited two new initiatives: a pre-inspection program allowing potential tenants to walk through a space with the building official and fire marshal before committing, and exploration of a business advocate position (potentially shared-cost with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, modeled partly on a similar role in Everett). The position would do matchmaking between spaces and businesses, assist with permitting navigation, and connect businesses to financing resources. Staff noted this is targeted for 2027 and funding is not yet secured.
Councilmember Anderson asked whether historic preservation grants could help resource-constrained building owners invest in renovation. Staff confirmed the city maintains extensive historic building inventories and highlighted the historic tax credit program as one of the strongest existing tools — it allows qualified improvement costs to be deducted from tax liability over time. Staff cited the Prospect Theater as a recent example. Anderson encouraged more proactive outreach to connect owners with these resources.
Council President Stone asked how proactively the city can initiate contact with owners of stalled assets rather than waiting for them to come forward. Staff said stalled assets each require tailored strategies and that sometimes the city is not the best messenger — partners may be better positioned to reach certain owners. Staff recommended prioritizing effort on market-ready and large-footprint spaces where motivated owners exist, while pursuing stalled assets case by case.
Huthman flagged interest in continuing a future full-council conversation specifically about the vacancy registry — assessing whether "the juice is worth the squeeze" in terms of administration versus benefit.
Key Takeaways
SBDC delivers strong local ROI: For every local dollar invested in the WWU SBDC, $17 returns in capital investment; the program assisted 533 entrepreneurs in 2025 and helped increase client sales by nearly $20 million. New microloan and crowdfunding tools are expanding access to capital for non-bankable entrepreneurs.
Downtown vacancy in the pedestrian core is too high: At 14.6% in the core area, staff acknowledged the rate is unacceptable. The city's implementation strategy targets a drop below 10%, with focus on market-ready spaces first, large-footprint spaces second, and complex stalled assets as longer-term challenges.
A business advocate position is being explored for 2027: A revived and expanded version of a previous retail advocate role — potentially shared between the city and Downtown Bellingham Partnership — could provide on-the-ground matchmaking and navigation support for businesses entering downtown.
Industrial land is in short supply countywide: The Port's industrial land study confirmed a shortage along freight corridors; county comp plan language to address this is under active consideration, and the findings are feeding into both city and county planning processes.
The new 5-year CEDS is in development: The Port-led Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (2027–2031), informed by 617 community survey responses and nearly 100 interviews, is coalescing around five goals: infrastructure, business vitality, workforce, affordability, and resiliency — with measurable action items expected by end of 2026.
AI-generated summary from voice-to-text transcript. Not the official record. Verify important details with the source documents linked above.
What happened at this meeting
A work session on downtown occupancy trends and strategies to address vacancies
# Downtown Occupancy Work Session Summary
During a work session on downtown vacancy strategies, staff presented findings from a downtown occupancy study showing a 10% overall vacancy rate but a concerning 14.6% rate in the pedestrian-oriented core area, with a goal to reduce it below 10%. Darby Galligan from Planning and Community Development outlined a three-tiered strategy addressing market-ready spaces, large footprint spaces with motivated owners, and stalled assets, while proposing measures including a state-level vacancy tax, local tax registry, prioritized permitting, and a business advocate position to be funded through Downtown Bellingham Partnership (targeted for 2027). Councilmember Huffman raised concerns about stalled assets and limited city control over owner decisions, while CJ Sykes from the SBDC and Councilmember Anderson identified earthquake retrofitting, capital for tenant improvements, and owner resources as key barriers; staff responded that they offer window wraps for aesthetics, historic tax credit promotion, and assistance connecting owners to preservation grants. Rather than relying on direct city outreach to property owners, the discussion emphasized creating a welcoming business climate and facilitating matchmaking through community partners like CBEC and the Port, recognizing that sometimes the best solution is enabling sales to new, motivated owners.
During a work session on downtown vacancy strategies, staff presented findings from a downtown occupancy study showing a 10% overall vacancy rate but a concerning 14.6% rate in the pedestrian-oriented core area, with a goal to reduce it below 10%. Darby Galligan from Planning and Community Development outlined a three-tiered strategy addressing market-ready spaces, large footprint spaces with motivated owners, and stalled assets, while proposing measures including a state-level vacancy tax, local tax registry, prioritized permitting, and a business advocate position to be funded through Downtown Bellingham Partnership (targeted for 2027). Councilmember Huffman raised concerns about stalled assets and limited city control over owner decisions, while CJ Sykes from the SBDC and Councilmember Anderson identified earthquake retrofitting, capital for tenant improvements, and owner resources as key barriers; staff responded that they offer window wraps for aesthetics, historic tax credit promotion, and assistance connecting owners to preservation grants. Rather than relying on direct city outreach to property owners, the discussion emphasized creating a welcoming business climate and facilitating matchmaking through community partners like CBEC and the Port, recognizing that sometimes the best solution is enabling sales to new, motivated owners.
A presentation by the Port of Bellingham's Regional Economic Partnership and Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center
# Summary: Port of Bellingham Regional Economic Partnership Presentation
Tyler Schroeder, director of economic development at the Port of Bellingham, presented the Port's 2027-2031 comprehensive economic development strategy alongside CJ Sites from Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center. The presentation identified key regional challenges—including infrastructure gaps, high vacancy rates, affordability concerns, labor shortages, and regulatory barriers—and outlined a draft vision to "create a welcoming, innovative economy with opportunities for everyone" with four main goals: infrastructure, business vitality, workforce efforts, and resiliency. Schroeder highlighted successful expansion work with Pure Blue Tech, a clean tech company that relocated to the waterfront and grew from 10 to 50-60 employees, while Sites emphasized the SBDC's impact, noting that 29 entrepreneurs launched businesses in 2025 and assisted businesses increased sales by nearly $20 million. The Port's industrial land study identified limited industrial lands along freight corridors but recommended development areas like Hannegan Baker View and Grandview, while acknowledging broader challenges such as high minimum wages, expensive inputs, and industry-specific disruptions that will require convening stakeholders to develop targeted solutions.
Tyler Schroeder, director of economic development at the Port of Bellingham, presented the Port's 2027-2031 comprehensive economic development strategy alongside CJ Sites from Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center. The presentation identified key regional challenges—including infrastructure gaps, high vacancy rates, affordability concerns, labor shortages, and regulatory barriers—and outlined a draft vision to "create a welcoming, innovative economy with opportunities for everyone" with four main goals: infrastructure, business vitality, workforce efforts, and resiliency. Schroeder highlighted successful expansion work with Pure Blue Tech, a clean tech company that relocated to the waterfront and grew from 10 to 50-60 employees, while Sites emphasized the SBDC's impact, noting that 29 entrepreneurs launched businesses in 2025 and assisted businesses increased sales by nearly $20 million. The Port's industrial land study identified limited industrial lands along freight corridors but recommended development areas like Hannegan Baker View and Grandview, while acknowledging broader challenges such as high minimum wages, expensive inputs, and industry-specific disruptions that will require convening stakeholders to develop targeted solutions.
Agenda items (2)
Procedural (2)
24912ProceduralA work session on downtown occupancy trends and strategies to address vacancies
City leaders will discuss the current state of occupied versus vacant storefronts and buildings downtown, and explore potential solutions to fill empty spaces and revitalize the downtown area.
What happened
# Downtown Occupancy Work Session SummaryDuring a work session on downtown vacancy strategies, staff presented findings from a downtown occupancy study showing a 10% overall vacancy rate but a concerning 14.6% rate in the pedestrian-oriented core area, with a goal to reduce it below 10%. Darby Galligan from Planning and Community Development outlined a three-tiered strategy addressing market-ready spaces, large footprint spaces with motivated owners, and stalled assets, while proposing measures including a state-level vacancy tax, local tax registry, prioritized permitting, and a business advocate position to be funded through Downtown Bellingham Partnership (targeted for 2027). Councilmember Huffman raised concerns about stalled assets and limited city control over owner decisions, while CJ Sykes from the SBDC and Councilmember Anderson identified earthquake retrofitting, capital for tenant improvements, and owner resources as key barriers; staff responded that they offer window wraps for aesthetics, historic tax credit promotion, and assistance connecting owners to preservation grants. Rather than relying on direct city outreach to property owners, the discussion emphasized creating a welcoming business climate and facilitating matchmaking through community partners like CBEC and the Port, recognizing that sometimes the best solution is enabling sales to new, motivated owners.
24953ProceduralA presentation by the Port of Bellingham's Regional Economic Partnership and Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center
The Port of Bellingham and Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center will present information about regional economic partnerships to help support local business growth and development.
What happened
# Summary: Port of Bellingham Regional Economic Partnership PresentationTyler Schroeder, director of economic development at the Port of Bellingham, presented the Port's 2027-2031 comprehensive economic development strategy alongside CJ Sites from Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center. The presentation identified key regional challenges—including infrastructure gaps, high vacancy rates, affordability concerns, labor shortages, and regulatory barriers—and outlined a draft vision to "create a welcoming, innovative economy with opportunities for everyone" with four main goals: infrastructure, business vitality, workforce efforts, and resiliency. Schroeder highlighted successful expansion work with Pure Blue Tech, a clean tech company that relocated to the waterfront and grew from 10 to 50-60 employees, while Sites emphasized the SBDC's impact, noting that 29 entrepreneurs launched businesses in 2025 and assisted businesses increased sales by nearly $20 million. The Port's industrial land study identified limited industrial lands along freight corridors but recommended development areas like Hannegan Baker View and Grandview, while acknowledging broader challenges such as high minimum wages, expensive inputs, and industry-specific disruptions that will require convening stakeholders to develop targeted solutions.
Verbatim transcript available
275 transcript segments indexed
City of Bellingham Community and Economic Development Committee minutes June 1, 2026, 2:00 PM Chair: Jace Cotton Phone: 360-778-8200 Members: Hollie Huthman, Edwin H. "Skip" Williams Email: ccmail@cob.org Web: cob.org/council City Council committee meetings Standing committee members receive reports and information, ask questions, and vote on a recommended action for consideration by the full Council at the regular meeting.
Good afternoon, and welcome back. The next committee before us this afternoon is community and economic development. That committee is chaired by Councilmember Cotton, so I'll turn it over to him at this time.
>> Good afternoon. Um, I'm joined on this committee by Councilmembers Huffman and Williams. Uh, we have two agenda items before us today. The first is a presentation by the Port of Bellingham's Regional Economic Partnership and two-for-one Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center.
There is no public comment period during committee sessions. Call to order and roll call Council President Stone called the meeting to order at 2 p.m. Present: Committee Chair Jace Cotton, At-Large Committee Member Hollie Huthman, Second Ward Committee Member Edwin H.
"Skip" Williams, Fourth Ward Community and Economic Development 24953 1. A presentation by the Port of Bellingham's Regional Economic Partnership and Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center Summary: Tara Sundin, Community and Economic Development Manager, Tyler Schroeder, Director of Economic Development at the Port of Bellingham, and CJ Seitz, Executive Director, Western Washington University (WWU) Small Business Development Center, presented an update on economic development efforts in Whatcom County.
Um, as background, through the Regional Economic Partnership interlocal agreement with the Port and Whatcom County, the city has supported a collaborative commitment um, to fund the Port of Bellingham's and uh, Western Washington University's Small Business Development Center um, economic development programs.
Um, agency staff is providing an overview of their agency's 2025 accomplishments. Uh, we're joined by CJ Sites, um, executive director of the W- WUSBDC, as well as Tyler Schroeder, uh, the director of economic development at the Port.
The Port, County, and City, collaboratively fund economic development through the Regional Economic Partnership Interlocal Agreement. Council Members discussed the presentation and asked questions. 24912 2.
A work session on downtown occupancy trends and strategies to address vacancies Summary: Tara Sundin, Community and Economic Development Manager, and Darby Galligan, Senior Planner, returned to Council to discuss downtown occupancy trends after their Page 1 of 2 April 27, 2026 presentation.
But first, I'll recognize uh, Tara Sendel, uh, the city's community and economic development manager. >> Good afternoon. Since you did such a fabulous job on full-blown um, introduction, including our guests, I was going to turn it over to Tyler.
Thanks. >> Good afternoon, Council. Uh, Mayor, thanks for having me today. Uh, Tyler Schroeder, economic development director for the Port of Bellingham. Uh, excited to kind of give a background and information on the 2027 through 2031 um, comprehensive economic development strategy.
And I've also integrated in just a 2026 annual update. So, we're going to do just a couple of highlights um, from this last year, and then dive in a little bit on a high-level discussion on the on the um, on the SEDS work that we're doing.
I did not have a link in the packet, but um, the presentation has been sent to you all as well, cuz there's some questions at the end that I'd like to just recognize that's in there and then get some input maybe outside of this presentation if if council members have the chance, but again the Port of Bellingham's economic development team, myself as the director, John Michener and Corey Olsen as project managers, and then Dr.
Jennifer Novack as a consultant that works on the CEDs work and is integral to that work and and the interviews and and the work that's going on associated with that. So just giving that trifunder update, still recognizing the historical name of trifunders over the years because of the important relationship between the city of Bellingham, Port of Bellingham, Whatcom County, and give the update on on the division work.
And as many council members know and and the city is integral in this conversation through the comprehensive economic development strategy update. We've had one from 2022 through 2026. We are doing a lot of work this year and we all know how important economic development strategies are as as the moment and we want to have a coordinated effort moving forward.
So just a few highlights, I'm going to focus on three sections of our economic development strategies, one on base economy. Really kind of looking at ways the Port of Bellingham and our partners to build upon and strengthen our economic base.
I'm going to focus on an example on infrastructure. Really developing and enhancing those critical infrastructure and promote economic development and resiliency. >> [snorts] >> And then some discussion on workforce and the and the coordination that my team does with with workforce educational attainment opportunities in different programs that are here.
So focusing a little bit on business expansion work. So we along with many others works on business retention, expansion, and recruitment. Expansion is the most important name of the game in economic development.
Job growth is somewhere between 85% of jobs come from existing businesses. In 2025, the ports team assisted the Port of Bellingham's real estate team working with Pure Blue Tech, which is a really neat cutting-edge clean tech company that was located in unincorporated Whatcom County, actually.
Kind of recruited to town and reached out to the ports economic development team five, six, seven years ago and found a location just north of the airport, south of the city of Ferndale. They've been seeing so much expansion that they came to the ports economic development team looking for additional square footage.
They were in a 10,000 square foot facility and they needed assistance finding close to 50,000 square feet. In those conversations, we actually were able to work with the owner of the old Silfab building down on the waterfront.
And the Port of Bellingham's real estate team, we did kind of a three-way agreement in which allows for the port to help facilitate Pure Blue Tech moving down into that facility. And also identifies a way where the port may be able to acquire that property within a certain time frame, become landlord, get it back to the ports assets.
But most importantly, be able to help kind of grow Pure Blue Tech from currently 10 employees to within 50 to 60 as it moves forward. You'll see they're still moving into the facility, but they have a lot of growth as it moves forward.
So just a really good example of kind of a story and visual on business expansion and the work that we do associated with that. Next, kind of looking at the next base economy and thinking about agriculture.
Agriculture is such a strong economic sector here in Whatcom County and there's a lot of discussion about how to provide infrastructure around these different sectors and over many years the port and the the economic development team has been working on Whatcom Food and Farm Station acquiring the old Boxberry Farm on Northwest Drive.
We also partnered with a number of agricultural interests in Whatcom County that have become the nonprofit Whatcom Food Farm Station. And working towards kind of a first of its kind agricultural research facility and really focused on innovation, sustainability, and the future of local farming.
When you think about this also just recognize that agricultural production in Whatcom County utilizes a number of the cold storage food processing facilities in the city of Bellingham and likely exports their their products through Bellingham Cold Storage and lineage there at the waterfront.
So just trying to make that connection between the infrastructure that these different sectors need and the the connection that the city plays and the tenants and businesses within the city of Bellingham play to strengthen our our vast types of economic sectors here in Whatcom County.
Third just the goal of infrastructure itself that the city council and and city administration and planning are aware of the industrial land study that the Port of Bellingham did had the opportunity to come give a presentation to council probably last fall I would say and and really kind of identifying countywide assessment on the land supply and the demand and and understanding the constraints a little bit more.
That work's been kind of integrated into the discussions that the city's been having on the comp plan um, uh, discussions that the county council has been having on the comp plan. Uh, I'm happy to acknowledge that the the planning staff at the county are are really identifying some, uh, specific language in chapter 7 of the county's comp plan.
Unfortunately, they're not done with their comp plan process, but that gives us an opportunity to add some additional language to strengthen kind of the next steps of the industrial land study, and um, we'll really be able to provide some background and input, uh, and I'm sure we'll continue to work with Chris Chris Bihi and planning staff and Antara as it as it relates to that conversation here in the in the city of Bellingham.
Um, the the workforce development, there's a big component of economic development. It's not just incentives for businesses, right? It's the the work that the SBDC does and all of our agencies do associated with making it welcoming and an opportunity where businesses have what they need to grow.
A big component of that is workforce development, so. Um, the Port of Bellingham's been really partnering with other agencies in regards to, uh, economic development or in regards to workforce development.
We hosted our second annual Blue Tech by the Bay, a really a partnership event with, um, Career Connect Northwest, uh, Northwest uh, Educational Service District. It's a five county district that works with high school students and high schools about, um, integrating some direct pipeline workforce, um, associated with their work at the high schools.
Uh, so we had about 120, um, high school students this year, uh, down just a little bit from 140 the year before, uh, partnering with 15 different businesses, Northline Seafood, All American Marine, uh, maritime businesses, and then giving, um, resource fairs to, uh, Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom, um Community College, uh Western Washington University, just to be able to get a hands-on event so that kids can understand what maritime is and and how they can uh go down into that path if they're interested in doing it.
This is a a great example of the work kind of growing the blue economy and and establishing workforce pipelines. Uh the other part on workforce development is just strengthening partnerships. Uh the ports team has um been working uh on with just recently was at the Forging Maritime Capacity uh looking at welding opportunities.
Uh welding is kind of the heart of uh construction and maritime and agriculture, actually. Uh so it's a a skill that as you grow and and learn, uh you can go across different types of sectors and and be able to recognize that.
And uh the Center of Excellence in Marine Manufacturing and Technology uh was uh hosting a large group of workforce uh development people within within the region. Uh Ron from All American Marine actually presented there as well.
Uh and it was also kind of in in partnership with Northwest Education and For- and Workforce Coalition. Uh so we will continue to work with our partners. We don't um specifically provide like workforce efforts.
Uh we try to help make connections as as our economic development team uh hosts that fair, but really kind of show what everybody else's work is associated with it. So then we'll um go quickly into the uh SEDS update.
So um just to start uh there has been a large community engagement effort. Um 617 responses. Uh we came close to the Bellingham Plans community engagement work, but didn't quite um meet that, but I think 617 over a 60 day is really quite good.
Uh we've worked specifically with the cities and and the county on jurisdictional and sector SWOTS, so really understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats uh from an economic standpoint.
Uh have 75 interviews to date. A couple of city council members were able to participate, so thank you for that. Um and um close to 45 uh private sector interviews. Uh so with the team walkum, we have uh 94 in total, so up to 100 1-hour interviews from across the different range of of input.
I've also been get able to get input from team walkum. Uh the Nooksack Indian tribal leadership, we're having conversations with uh the Lummi and Nooksack tribal business and entrepreneurs. Both Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Indian tribe um accomplished their own SEDs, but it was very important for us to also integrate their perspectives and ideas into the countywide um SEDs.
And we've been able to accomplish that for the first year, so that's great. Uh and we will kind of continue with that community engagement uh through June. Uh so through the next month or so. As we are doing those um those interviews, we're really kind of hearing trends overall.
And uh what have we heard? We've heard infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. Uh and a number of different infrastructures. So uh roads and and sewer and and water as as cities provide, but also uh um industry or sector specific infrastructure.
So back to the agricultural construct or agriculture production, they will have a certain uh ability to move those products. And in that agriculture, it'd be called storage or food processing. And that's kind of a industry specific infrastructure that we need to think and and focus on.
Uh but, you know, as we are expanding like the Pure Blue Tech um example and the infrastructure study that we've also accomplished, it's clear that we have um vacancy rates that are too low also in commercial.
And I know this city's been doing some work on the downtown vacancy rates. Uh we uh which are which are high and we're going to try to figure out ways and efforts to be able to um provide um the the the welcoming uh scenario and the opportunities to move um people into the downtown.
At the same time, we need to accomplish kind of a a vacancy conversation and infrastructure needed uh for manufacturing >> for advanced manufacturing opportunities. >> Uh affordability is also a trend we've been hearing.
Really, you know, the cost of living, uh rising uh costs in all areas, especially housing, health care, overhead costs, uh child care costs that are associated with it. Uh the labor shortage is is ongoing.
That's where the work on workforce continues to be need to be done. Uh market hesitancies are high, uncertainties continue to be high. I think we all feel that. Business owners feel that as well. Uh and then, you know, the ongoing conversation of of just the regulatory environment is is extremely challenging.
Uh one indicated as a death by thousand cuts. Um you all know, or at least I have some background in that planning sector, and I understand how complicated it really is. Uh from a city and county standpoint to the the businesses that are that are going through that regulation.
So, we just have to keep our eye on the ball, uh keep focusing on how to be a welcoming through those permit processes, as as knowledgeable as planning staff is, try to get opportunities for business owners to be the same.
Uh and we have some thoughts about that. And we want to try to integrate some of the the path forward into the sets. So, maybe on an annual basis, we can look back and think to ourselves, how has the county done on on permitting efficiencies, or how has the city done on X Y and Z?
Uh so, we want to be an opportunity for that for that conversation if if so interested. Um the emerging priorities uh really kind of taking that input, rising it up, we want to focus on infrastructure uh from a SEDs standpoint, we want to focus on affordability, and we want to focus on accessibility.
Not just ADA accessibility, but accessibility kind of more broad term. Back to the permitting discussions and the and the definitions of how how are people aware of that regulation so that they become more accessible and knowledgeable to get through that process.
Or how can people be able to utilize the things and the tools that the SBDC provide or the port provides or the city staff provides and that becomes more accessible through that whole process and where it goes.
Uh just a a draft vision and and we really are looking as for the draft vision, we commit to work together to create a welcoming, innovative economy with opportunities for everyone. There's uh really kind of trying to be more action-orientated, trying to um recognize a desired future state, uh and reflects all the inputs that we have gotten.
We're still working on the vision, so if you have um input on the vision, I'd I'd be open to to hearing that input and where it goes. Uh we have kind of really had conversations with the Whatcom County Business and Commerce Committee, the Team Whatcom, the SEDs review committee, which is about 26 different individuals um throughout.
Uh and in that vision becomes a continued goals of one being infrastructure, two being vitality, business vitality. So, this is where business recruitment or expansion and and retention uh some work that the city would be doing through the planning department and other work to help um kind of prioritize investments in businesses and entrepreneurs.
Uh The workforce efforts that I talked about earlier, we are recognizing the affordability that's associated with business growth and and the and the employees that are there and then goal on resiliency.
The resiliency is kind of that larger conversation with recognizing the floods over the years, but also kind of how do we become more of a resilient community as it moves forward. So, the work that we're doing now and the work that I probably won't get to today, but it's in the presentation is kind of the sub goals and then action items associated with each one of these goals.
As we are doing that, we're really kind of identifying specific action items that are specific, measurable, you know, ones that we can attain, ones that we can report on. So, then on an annual basis, we would report back within that 5-year time frame working with the SED Review Committee and then really identifying a lead for each one of those actions so that we can report back, you know, what has the Port of Bellingham's Economic Development Team done?
How has this city's permit and planning group done? What work has SBDC done through the business work that they do from technical assistance? Understand the outcomes and metrics associated with it and then have some specific timelines associated with that.
So, that's where we're moving forward now. We have the goals and this and the sub goals and now we're really identifying the action items and we're hopeful to have that work done by the end of this year.
And we'll be coming reporting back to the City Council hopefully. We'll have to go to the County Council for approval. These comprehensive economic development strategies are approved by the County Council.
And then that will become a road map of all of the great economic development work and tough economic development work especially in this climate and and some of the situations that we arise uh for for the next 5 years.
>> Uh at the end of the presentation are some uh sub goals of that work. And again, I I I'm sent that by email to county or city council, excuse me, uh this morning. And so, um don't hesitate to I sent it to the general council email.
Um so, don't hesitate to take a look at it and and and read through the sub goals that are in each one. And then uh reach out to me uh if you have any questions or or Dr. Jennifer Novack or to city staff to be able to get some input associated with that.
Thank you. >> So, we'll go ahead and move to the uh CJ's presentation and then open it up for questions. >> I don't know where it went. Was it PowerPoint? >> Good afternoon, CJ Sice, Western Washington University Small Business Development Center.
So, I know that, sorry, we're operating in a really challenging and dynamic environment. And my commitment to you today is to leave this conversation with a vision of hope. I wanted to start by talking about some of the projects that I'm currently working on.
I'm working with um A1 Design Build. They're a um worker owned cooperative construction company. They are working on building a fabrication facility to fabricate straw structural inflated panels. Well, they'll be sourcing materials locally and creating local jobs and um increasing the supply chains.
So, where we come in is that we I am working on the pro formas, the projections, and working on a capital stack with them. I'm also working with a a woman who owns a professional business services firm and she's grown this firm she's added lots of jobs and now she wants to work on her business not in her business.
So we're working on tools to make that happen and our current project is working with her her P&L to to make it less of a tax document and make it a managerial tool. So I'm working with her CPA firm to rework some of her charts of account accounts.
Our story and our work is the success of this community full of inspiring entrepreneurs and we define entrepreneurs as not just the people that are starting businesses but small everybody who's in a small business owning and managing that cuz they are innovators.
They're they're the ones who know what they they see the gaps. They see the opportunities and whether this is in a new product line or or how they solve an old problem in a new way. So just under half of the businesses that we work with are what we call pre-venture so they might be ideating still and then early startups for us we define that by a year or less.
We help people that are considering starting a business refine their idea and also help them avoid investing time and effort in a business that wouldn't be successful. Now that's not something that we have a metric for right but it's something that we think is really great helping people make decisions through data and maybe they decide not to do something.
In 2025 we assisted 29 entrepreneurs launch new businesses. The top two industries were professional and scientific and health care. >> [snorts] >> So over half of our clients have been in business for over a year.
About half of the clients we serve each year are legacy relationships. Our assistance changes over time as their needs change. Right now businesses are facing an increasingly tight margins and so we're helping those clients build resilience.
We're helping them pivot. Um we did the same thing through COVID. So we were So many businesses had to learn how to adapt to a whole new business and operating environment, and that really gives us hope.
You know, that that we can adapt, we can change. Um and also the businesses the we don't traditionally measure how much we help businesses increase sales, but we help our businesses increase sales by nearly 20 million last year, which also helps with the tax base.
And then I'm not going to go in We usually talk about lots of stories, and I'm not going to go into all the stories cuz we have You have in front of you our annual report, and we go into depth about these businesses, and they're I encourage you to take some time to look at it, read through it.
There's some great stories. One of them is Green Mountain Physical Therapy, which Eric Grim said helped them a lot, and it's it's a great story. Our client portfolio includes a wide range of businesses, demographics, and needs across a representative cross-section of our small business community.
Many of our clients we see they have more opportunity in entrepreneurship than they would in the labor market. And our research tells us that having diverse entrepreneurs broadens our talent pool. It fosters disruptive innovation and expands consumer reach.
Communities that avoid over-reliance on a few large industries help create community resilience. We talked a lot We've talked to this group a bit about retaining local businesses as we want to keep and retain and grow our local strong businesses is the best bang for our buck.
And and we so buy-sell is something we continue to build on. Over 20% of the work that we did last year was buy-sell. We do We work on either side of the transactions. And so we spent 456 hours doing that last year.
This This is a story in in the annual report about the loss company. This is a company that Sherry Damon helped do a transfer. Um we're also seeing a lot of generational business transfers. So, a lot of people retiring and then their children are buying those businesses.
Additionally, we helped the Washington Center for employee ownership. It's It's located here in Bellingham and we do technical assistance for them behind the scenes. These are the traditional measures that we report to the federal government, which is through you know through the Small Business Administration.
Keep in mind all of the impacts that we report have to be signed off by the business owner to say that we we substantially helped them meet these goals. So, in 2025, we assisted 533 entrepreneurs. And these are people we sat down with one-on-one and provided business confidential business counseling to.
This doesn't include group training. This doesn't include other almost 200 other people that called us and said ask questions like, "Hey, can you tell me a good attorney?" Or "Hey, do you need a business license in the city of Bellingham?" And our staff [snorts] are trained that you know we can provide those.
And I also was really curious cuz we see clients year over year. So, we have these deep relationships. I was like, "Well, let's take a five-year look. And what does that look like in five years?" So, it was over 1,800 unique people that we worked with, 125 business starts, um nearly 1,000 jobs created, and over 50 million in that capital investment.
So, that's not new capital that's coming into our community, either equity, loans, owner investment. So, why invest in the SBDC? I know budgets are tight and we're all competing for dollars. It's a hard one.
Um we know that that clients that come to the SBDC and start a business with us have a higher survival rate than than Washington on average new business starts. For every local dollar that's invested in our program, we're returning that in over $17 in that way of that just that capital investment.
And then there's the compound impact. The I'm being told this 1,400 number of jobs reported probably severely underreported and we're working on updating that number. So we support these jobs, we support a tax base, but we also support people, right?
We know that businesses that are managed well, that's better for families, it's better for retention, and it's just better for overall community resilience. So this is your SBDC certified business advisor team.
So all these people have advanced business education. They're all certified with the state of Washington to provide this assistance. They've all owned or managed their own small businesses. >> [snorts] >> So this team of experts, we live and we work in this community and we deeply care about this community.
Collectively, we have over 100 years living working here, having relationships. And we're in this unique position. Not only are we working with stakeholders, you know, across the ecosystem to make things happen, but we're also working in industry and we're and we're and we're learning.
So this team, they [snorts] spoke to 533 businesses last year. And we sit down quarterly and we try to identify, like, hey, are there any through themes in this industry? Are there any regulations that you're are tripping people up?
Or what are you seeing? Or hey, are you seeing opportunities? Cuz we're trained to think like entrepreneurs, too, right? So we're like, hey, you What do what do you what do you see in there? We also learn from our clients.
You know, we learn cuz they're our clients are deeply embedded, they're industry experts. So I might learn something about um what's coming down from L&I about electricians through a solar company that I work with.
And then I share that. Cuz we're not all you always share that or like and how people are tackling that innovatively in the community. So what So we sit down quarterly, We try to find these um intel that we might have.
And it's important to us to feed that intelligence back into the system because we all are stronger together. And we do that. It takes an enormous amount of time. But we do this through this quarterly report that's hopefully sent to all of you, but you should have it in front of you.
There's a lot of data in here, but I wanted to make sure to address that we have some highlights and updates. That's an important section. But for leaders, I think the most important um section is the small trends and What is it?
Small business trends and observations page. And this is really we like this is the word on the street. This is what we're hearing. This is what we're seeing. Um And so and people do call us. I had three phone calls last week from legislators or other business owners are saying, "Hey, I read about that.
Tell me more." So, our core work is in the middle of this of this circle, this individual business advising. This is what we're contracted to do. This one-on-one. This is what we talk about all the time.
But individual advising does not happen in a vacuum. We do a lot behind the scenes to build and improve and support and connect business ecosystem in ways that are not visible and that couldn't really happen without us.
And And that supports not just the businesses but beyond and beyond with our clients. >> [snorts] >> So, this might look this might look like an identifying resources. It might look like people calling us and say, "Hey, can you review our grant and look at the financial language?" Or "Hey, will you write a letter of support for this grant?" It might look like "Hey, you know, you have trust in this community and I don't really know those people very well.
Do you mind extending and sponsoring me with some of those folks and introducing it?" So, we have entree into into a trusted community that we do leverage as best as we can. So, we are uh networked and we're working on a collaboration first strategy.
So, I wanted to give you an example of how this works for us. This is this one, it happens all the time. So, Dr. Liliana Deck, who's with us here today, is working with the Whatcom Conservation District on helping, um, bring resources to first generation farmers.
So, that we're we're coming in with that technical assistance. They both leverage their trust in communities that are aren't coming to us, right? And they And so, they've met these communities that are um Liliana's providing technical assistance on being capital ready.
She's helping get resources, um, that were available from, um, the flood. The resources of people that have never gotten these resources before. And then, they identified some USDA grants that they were they qualified for.
So, they helped write these USDA grants. They got the USDA grants, great. But, these grants, as you all probably know as painful as I do, are federal cost reimbursable grants. You have to do the work, and apply for the money, and then wait for the federal government to pay you.
So, this isn't super zippy. >> [snorts] >> So, a lot of our clients can't even access these grants cuz they don't have the cash flow. They don't have the cash flow to support to support the grants. And so, because I sit on the Impact Investing Committee for the Whatcom Community Foundation, and I know that we give cash flow grants, bridge money, to nonprofits who are in this situation, I said, "Knock, knock, knock, would you consider doing that for private businesses?
Could you bridge loan?" And [snorts] yes, they did. And we're working on those right now. So, that's helping bring more money into our community. Our goal is to maximize resources with strong relationships.
That makes us all more efficient and more effective. So, some of the system work that we work on beyond this individualized, um, counseling, um, I'm just no surprise to anybody that, uh, credit has really hard the last few years.
It's gotten harder and harder. If you're a startup, if you haven't banked before, or if something went, you know, went wrong, it's I'm not saying it's impossible, but it is hard to to get funding. So, we started this microloan program with First Fed and with the Whatcom Community Foundation, and these grant not a grant, sorry, loans are available between $2,500 and $50,000, and these are for people that are not traditionally bankable.
And um we're just getting through our pilots and be able to talk more about it. And there's a lot more information in that annual report. Um I just got certified in crowdfunding. And so, we all know about crowdfunding like Kickstarter or, you know, rewards or pre-sales, and that's great.
That is crowdfunding. But crowdfunding is also equity raises. It's also debt. It's It's harv- In the greater sense of it, it's harvesting capital that is in our communities. It's harvesting capital that is here that we want to activate and move.
The people that are frequenting these businesses, that love these business, like, "Hey, invest here. Let's start moving that capital." And so, our vision with this is that, and we know from research, that the more that we can activate our local capital here and activate investment, we're going to start attracting more and more outside investment.
Building resiliency, of course, we talked about retention a lot, and we work on resiliency all the time. You know, if it's not like working on a variety of customers or products or or working on cybersecurity or how you use AI.
How insurance, I'm doing a lot of that work right now. But we also do it on the community-wide basis. So, we But both the '21 and the '25 floods, we took lead on that with the business recovery task force, and we also are the official communication hub.
So, as a system, we all decided like, "Hey, let's let's make this as easy as we can on our entrepreneurs that were affected by this disaster. So, there's a one-stop shop through us. And so, um it's Ash Ryder who who works who heads that up and with our admin team going through resources, helping explain those resources, communicating that to the system.
Our flood recovery page saw over 2,000 unique visits since December 11. And this is my last slide. I want to really talk about harnessing local potential. So, our entrepreneurial energy drives our local economy.
It is our culture. And these aren't just these good-sounding words. Our entrepreneur makes our entrepreneurs make our community distinct from others. And it make they make us truly resistant to the challenges that are coming.
I've mentioned that we've been working with in partnership with philanthropy, with investors, with workforce, and with education leadership behind the scenes. And we're interested in how do we make this more efficient?
How do we bring in more investors to collaborate? How can we formalize and build these systems that will live beyond these relationships that we all these really strong relationships we have behind the scenes?
You know, my personal vision when I look at what's going on in Whatcom County and I look at the energy that's available and the programming and the investment, I see no reason why we can't be known regionally, if not nationally, as a place to go, as a place to be.
If you want to innovate, if you want to be around other entrepreneurs, if you want to wrap around support systems, Bellingham, check them out. They're doing some cool stuff. So, to that end, I've been working with Mo Ingram She's the CEO and president of the Whatcom Community Foundation.
And um she's working in We're working in partnership. It's definitely her brainchild and her lead. She's awesome. And and I'm sure there's going to be a lot hopefully a lot more conversations and people involved, but she's working on an inclusive um economic summit.
So, the goal's to build on values and aspirations and assets of our local economy. To bring together thought leaders near and far to share ideas and strategies and tools that can create a more local create more local opportunities for a broader swath of people.
And the coolest part is that we want to use Whatcom County Bellingham as the incubator as the test case and bring these thought leaders and say, "Hey, let's actually work on a problem. Let's work on or work on an opportunity, I should say.
Let's work here and develop some ideas." I'm super excited about it and we're looking for 27. So, this is my um, call to action for you for you all. So, we need the brightest and best minds to collaborate during these challenging times to harness all of our opportunities and I just welcome you if you have any ideas or thoughts to to reach out and give us a call um, and work towards this better future.
So, thank you for supporting the SBDC and thank you for supporting our entrepreneurs. With that, I'll see if you have any questions for Tyler or me. >> Well, thank you to both our presenters. I'll first turn to committee.
This is item is just for information and discussion, so questions or comments? Uh, Council member Haffner. >> Thank you for the presentation, both presentations in one. Um, I you know, the question that I hear a lot I I guess is, you know, what does the city of Bellingham do to support small businesses?
And I think um, this is one of the more important but less visible ways that I think the city supports small businesses in our community. Um, you know, a lot of the the works that's happening is just one-on-one confidential work and um, it's not flashy, but it keeps it it keeps businesses open um, and it makes employers better employers.
It, um, you know, it helps people with a great idea, but not the entire skill set that you need to keep a business running. Um, you know, land that great idea and and benefit a community. So, um, I just thank you for the work that you do.
Thank all of you for sticking around, many of you, for so long with this organization and and impacting our community. Um, I think one of the slides that really struck me was the diversity of of entrepreneurs, of the individuals that start businesses in Bellingham and have businesses in Bellingham, and, um, just how that impacts the diversity of our community as a whole.
Um, makes us stronger, makes us, um, more resilient, makes us more interesting, a better place to live. Uh, so, that's, um, that's a really fun slide to show. Um, and really excited about that men- micro-lending program.
I think that that, again, is one way of problem-solving to, um, help those people that have a fantastic idea, um, but might might not have the means to, um, to bring it to life. That our community can help them do that.
So, thank you for that work. >> Thank you. All right, I'll take a stab at a question. Um, one of the things the city is working on, this is probably mostly for SBDC, uh, is updating our home occupations chapter.
Um, and I'm curious what, I'm sure you've been looped into that, but what role you see, um, that uh, opportunity playing in uh, business uh, incubation today, and any uh, guiding advice or perspective that you can provide us?
>> Yeah, so your, um, I I think I believe their planners have reached out to to me, and we have had some initial conversations. I actually looked at some academic research just being nerdy and um, I'm excited about it.
I I I see the potential. I you know, I wonder how many people are sort of doing the work already behind the scenes and so the part that excites me is like you come out of the come out into the light. Let's celebrate and and do this work together.
I think that also just getting the cottage food I don't know how I think it's cottage food permits. They've if we are talking about that more and then and I looked for some best practices around around it as I'm sure your staff there's two really bright fun women that called me and I'm sorry I can't remember their names.
But that and they're looking at this stuff too, but just some more wrap-around services and just being more visible with that and helping them, you know, understand the benefits and and not be afraid of compliance.
So I think with wrap-around services you might have a you might have a lot of success there. >> Thank you for that perspective and Councilmember Williams. >> Yeah, this is more of a question for Tyler.
I believe it was you last year gave us a presentation on the development of industrial lands and so forth and the amount of industrial property we would need countywide to kind of build the industrial economy.
How what is the uh studies telling you as as we go down that path? >> Are you making progress? >> Yeah, thanks for the question Councilmember. Yeah, yeah, the Port of Bellingham did do the industrial land study uh last year and the idea was really to help inform uh the cities and the and the county's comprehensive plan.
You know, I I would say that um the report was issued a little later to really um add uh uh enough value where it could be integrated into the comprehensive plan. >> Mhm. >> Uh but I I do believe it has um recognized that the industrial lands and when I say industrial lands, I I I it's not just heavy impact industrial.
>> Right. >> Right. It's it's advanced manufacturing. It's those innovators that are in somebody's, you know, the the the the garage space of 5,000 to 10,000 with an office that will soon become a 50,000 sq ft facility.
>> Right. >> Uh it's not always the heavy impact industrial. So, I just wanted to recognize that, but it it does it did clearly indicate that um the industrial lands along freight corridors uh is is limited in our community in in Bellingham and and throughout Whatcom County.
And it gave some recommendations uh on uh certain uh vacancy rates and and square footages as well as uh types of properties uh being acreage or how big a property should be for uh a a a 30,000 sq ft industrial facility.
And uh like I indicated earlier in the presentation and I and I know um Bellingham's planning staff have thought a lot about the question and how it relates specifically to Bellingham's land use, but they're way more educated on that than I am.
Uh but I I do know that the county council is anticipating to do more or considering uh probably tomorrow actually some language in their comp plan to take the next steps on that comp on the on the industrial land study.
And what that would look like is is look at freight ri- ri- routes uh within uh the city of Bellingham or or the city of Ferndale and how that connects to areas where there's uh industrial zoned lands that aren't impacted by other development regulations, that you could actually accomplish some larger scale industrial development.
Um, from uh, Bellingham standpoint, I would think like maybe uh, the Hannegan Baker View area, uh, north of uh, the Iron Gate location. Uh, there is a uh, a business park that's behind Yamamoto's that's is actually a a good example of what that could look like to give the vacancies in the land available.
Uh, you know, for Ferndale, there's other examples like up in Grandview. And so the the the idea of that study was to kind of call to question the availability, provide some data that what we all anticipated was that there there isn't enough land available.
Uh, and then to work with the cities and the county to think about the planning effort that goes along along with it, as well as with Whatcom Council of Governments on the freight and transportation network.
>> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> All right, we'll move to full council. Uh, Councilmember Anderson. >> Thank you. Um, thank you for the presentation to to both of you and your teams. Um, just kind of wondering on like a councilmatic level, um, both of your areas are similar but different, larger industrial, um, helping startups.
Um, what do you see um, in talking to clients or potential clients, um, what do you see as being some of their biggest roadblocks, whether it's um, like workforce housing, um, right-size industrial or transportation versus funding and perhaps trained workforce, but I'm just kind of wondering like for the next few years, like as we eye things to try to help increase and diversify our employment sector, um, what do you see in talking with with clients as some of the biggest barriers facing either expansion or startup of businesses.
>> Go for it. >> Looking I'm I'm looking at my crew here as to jump in. Um I mean a lot of it a lot of what I you know we're going to say is the broader economy, right? So the inputs are harder, you know, that everything's more expensive, the labor's more expensive.
We are one of the higher minimum wage states. Having said that, the businesses like I'm thinking of like business there's businesses downtown that are in those sectors that are absolutely killing it. And if so we want people to come work with us.
If you don't know your numbers, you can't drive anywhere, right? If you if you don't have a solid foundation, you're not going to make it up in volume. So I'll I'll say that for one, it's the economic conditions are challenging.
And when and so when I do talk about that, I just I also want to remember that that there is we have been disruption there's opportunity and it's there's exciting parts of it and sometimes it's painful and really great stuff happens outside of it.
Like we are we our consumer behavior has changed since COVID, you know? And so I I like remote working, you know, there's a lot of things that are different. So I want to say that there's some hope in there and and I guess to encourage people to be able to pivot and be creative and not hold on to what is super tightly.
And then when I think about you know, what is our responsibility in in what's business's own responsibility, you know, I think creating the forum to convene and have conversations is our responsibility.
But business these these people are so smart. They're the experts in what they do, you know? So we need to harvest from them ideas too. I we need to talk and to them and get ideas from them. And and then help them work with those ideas.
So I would say that to start and I'd also I'd I'm thinking about other sectors and I'm really we have so much health care that's not peace health on on that we work with. And look at those nods. >> [gasps] >> Of course, I don't work with I I I don't work with them with these businesses but these brilliant brilliant talented people do but I'm hearing from them too the reimbursement rates are super hard.
And so these are bigger system issues, right? So, if you have insurance and Medicaid not reimbursing well, you know, what are the levers that you can pull? Do you have a good medical coder? You know, what are the you know, so I'm thinking industry to industry.
I Do you have anything else? Smart people that are smarter than me? Here they come. >> [laughter] >> This is Eric Grimstead. >> Well, so for years one of the industries that we often reference was the brewery industry and as you can imagine with a lot of macro changes in that um world.
A lot of people are drinking less, which is probably a good thing unless you're a brewer. Um but we would see business plans come into us and say, "Well, Bellingham kind of looks like Bend, Oregon. Bend, Oregon has 17 breweries.
So, surely we can support 17 breweries, can't we?" And nerds like us would go, "Well, it kind of depends on how we start looking at the overall population." But as CJ referenced, COVID taught us what you need to do to pivot when you're presented with a change in the rules or a change in the landscape.
So, our brewers and cideries and I'm sure anybody else that's primarily selling alcoholic beverages have to start thinking about non-alcoholic options. Diversifying. Changing their customer base. Trying to get the people that frequent them back in more often.
So, those are a few things that we try and encourage our clients to think about to address the tough economic conditions. To answer your question specifically, I think capital is the biggest challenge for most folks.
So, if they can't get bankable, which is something that we help a lot of our entrepreneurs get to that point to get to a yes, even if they can't get to a yes at a bank, figure out the other pathways pathways to the financial funding that you need so that you can be successful.
>> That's great. That's great. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> I I I would just add like as as the city council moves forward and and thinks about policies, um how can your policies be welcoming to businesses?
Okay, how can they be um accomplished in a way where a business owner is excited about the services that the the city of Bellingham provides and the opportunities that are associated with it. I just saw this thing that it recognizes like economic development isn't just about incentives.
It's about providing a welcoming arena for businesses to grow. And there are a number of ways that now that I've I've I've spent in this term a little bit, ways that the city or the county can provide a welcoming opportunity for business growth for entrepreneurs.
Uh so, just keep that in the back of your head as you're looking at some of the policies and and I could go through a number of different examples, but that's not probably today today. Uh but I I think if we can become a more welcoming uh uh community uh as it relates to those entrepreneurs that CJ are working with or as it relates to some of the larger employers uh that are looking to invest back into our community or to grow, uh there'd be the investment that we would need to grow our job base and the capital opportunities that some of our other businesses struggle.
>> I can't I can't say. I um I I don't I'm not the only one who sees construction companies, but I had it up because I was in construction for a while. And I had somebody say to me, "I got a permit in record speed from the city of Bellingham." And so there so they were super excited about that.
That's just one person, but I don't know if you've been working on that or not, but he was really excited. >> And we've been I you know, through this SEIS process we've been getting good input on some of the work the city of Bellingham's accomplishing.
From the availability of data or metrics that's online or or some of the other work that I'm sure the planning department's been accomplishing. So just keep that work up and make sure to focus it on it.
And and I know that it's important to the mayor and and the administration and and the city council. >> And now when you're doing that work, I would encourage you to put it out there and tell your story.
There's so many cool things happening. >> Councilor Anderson, on this note, um we have till 3:05, but I'd be okay going a little later. I don't I'm looking to staff and >> Also have one other >> one other as and there's a a immediate one, too.
Okay, so we'll we'll try and keep this one or two more questions. Okay, Councilor Anderson. >> It's okay, I could pass. I was just going to Well, okay, I'm halfway there. Um one of the policies, an example, and I I didn't know how to go further with assistance was when we did the Styrofoam ban.
And so talking with a few restaurants and owners that I knew, um we talked about how great it would be to have a co-op in order to buy the consumables at a lower price because each small restaurant, their price was higher, but if they could buy in mass, it could lower it, make it more affordable.
But the people that I talked to, nobody had the warehousing or ability, nor the time and staff in order to try to create a co-op co-op situation, but I I think of other legislative things that can impact the cost of things as we go through and make changes, but something like that is that something that you folks would be equipped to try to help facilitate?
Like how would a group of people be able to address that and create a co-op co-op situation? And I think of our um our medical marijuana um areas, growers, people that I've spoken to who might be able to expand, but then where can they expand has been an issue.
Um and then bringing products out, you know, being able to have um they Anyway, there's areas in our community that could grow, but some of the areas that um are a problem is location, location. And then also um not enough money for a co-op to be existing as a business, because then the resale then brings the price up, but then if there was ability, it could bring the price down.
So, never could quite cover that hurdle in my position and never quite knew where to refer people for assistance. >> You can definitely refer people our way. I I'm here I was hearing a lot of like potential solutions in what you're we were talking about as a purchasing co-op, I think.
And those exist like um there's outdoor retailers for instance that are part of purchasing co-ops in town. They don't warehouse, but they got they're getting together with a ton of other other retail folks that are small I'm sorry, outdoor retail folks that are smaller and they um are working in these purchasing co-ops.
Um and I'm going to see if anyone knows but I think there's a couple there's a few ways to solve that problem and I would it would be interested in having those conversations. >> I did refer them to you, but I'm not sure I didn't follow up if they actually pursued it.
This would have been 4 years ago. >> Oh. Um, I don't know. Maybe refer again. We love that Well, that's it would It's a great idea. You know, when there's big change like that to to figure out how to come together and then and you know, buy in bulk.
Certainly, um, I forget the largest the largest person that does a food the food restaurant supply. Um, I mean, I would start negotiating right there. >> [snorts] >> Well, thank you so much to both our presenters.
I will certainly invite you to to stick around for an extra agenda item if you're interested, but no worries if you got to go. Um, this next item is a work session on downtown occupancy trends and strategies to address vacancies.
As a reminder, as a part of the downtown Ford initiative, the city initiated, um, a project to better understand and address commercial vacancies. Um, and this is a carryover from a previous, um, committee meeting.
Um, I'll first recognize Tara Sandine for, um, introductory comments. >> Yes, just a few comments. Darby's going to throw up one slide. We have the slide deck in case you want to refer to it. Um, as a reminder, this project came out of the downtown Ford initiative.
It was to really get a better handle on what the actual vacancy rates were. There was a lot of talk about it, but we didn't really have a handle on what was really happening. Um, it encompassed, uh, 61 blocks, um, within our Main Street boundary.
It's a very large, um, downtown. Um, approximately 204 acres and 2 million square feet of ground floor space. Um, the mall itself is 750,000 square feet. So, just the ground floor, um, is nearly three times what what Bellis Fair is.
So, it's a very large, um, area, especially for a city that has a hundred and hundred thousand residents. Um, what we found was that our overall vacancy rate was around 10%. That's for that entire area.
But, when we looked a little when we zeroed in on that pedestrian, um, oriented area, or we're calling it a pedestrian core where people really think of downtown center, um, we did see that vacancies were higher at 14.6% and that is a figure that is not acceptable to us.
Um, so, we definitely our goal is to see that figure drop to under 10%. Not going to go I'm not repeating our presentation last time, but we talked about all the various reasons for this, right? There's different sizes, um, as you heard in the earlier presentations, the dynamics, there's shift shifts in, um, consumer behaviors, there's shifts in how much space people actually need.
So, lots of reasons for those vacancies. And, um, one other thing I wanted to point out is that there are a lot of actions the city undertakes to bring more people to downtown, to get more people to live downtown, to get more people to build housing downtown, so people can live downtown, so they can shop downtown.
There's lots of of things we do to, um, drive more tourists downtown. We invest, um, considerably in the arts, um, downtown. We also, uh, invest considerably in the perception, so cleaning and public safety and all that.
There's lots of things that we're doing that you don't see in this implementation plan. So, since our presentation, it's like, well, what about and what about? And, yes, we do a lot that's outside of this implementation strategy.
We just tried to really focus in on the actual vacancies and things that the city of Bellingham can do to address this issue and there's there and what we learned is we need to keep doing what we are doing.
We have every incentive that we possibly can that the state has allowed us to undertake. It's here. It's It's in downtown, but we noticed that we could do realize we can do more. And so that's what that implementation strategy is about.
And Derby, unless you have any other, we just want to now open it up for your your discussion. >> Thank you. Okay, I think we might have a lot of comments. So maybe we can have a target of at least wrapping up by 3:20.
If that sounds good, keep that in your mind. Um but Councilmember Huffman, take us away. >> Thank you. Um Trying to decide where to start here. Um I think the stalled asset category is particular particularly interesting to me and that is a seems like a particularly difficult challenge.
We can't decide who owns a building or not and we can't necessarily tell a building owner what to do with their building. Can you talk about some of the problem-solving um that is within our control for those stalled assets.
So, you know, spaces that have been vacant for a very long period of time. >> It's It's interesting that you picked probably the most challenging of the three for us to focus on. We put we put just about everything that we possibly could for each category.
There are some unique challenges to the individuals that own some of those sites. But in some cases like there's some property on Prospect that's for sale right now. So anything that we can do to help with like we we installed some window wraps that are going around or on that property to make it look better, make it look more attractive.
We don't get to decide what somebody says they think the building's worth. And so that that's an issue, but I expect now that the property is on the market that reality will come. We've gone as far as actually putting public private partnerships together to tackle some of these vacancies.
That's certainly something that that we could um pull on that thread in the future when we have more more resources available. Yeah, go ahead Darby. We're going to kind of tag team cuz we'll think of different things.
>> Hi, Darby Galligan planning community development. There's a couple other strategies that we have identified that are you know, we all try to balance the carrots and sticks, right? And I think last time the mayor mentioned one effort that is not permitted right now, but the vacancy tax strategy where there's a little bit more of a um a lever to get some of those stalled assets to maybe get raised up on the priority level level.
Um So continuing advocacy around that at the state. And then there's another strategy around a a tax or registry which would be more of a local effort. I think some of some of that involves weighing um the amount of administration with the benefit.
But, we've been doing some research and exploration around tying that registry to action. So, at the very least having um a lever that you have to register and if you're not activating the windows or the spaces or doing things to contribute to the environment that there could be a link there.
Um so, those are two two other examples that are on the list for further um investigation and discussion. >> I'll take a stab and then Rector Huffman. Um maybe this is a question for SPDC, but maybe for you guys, too.
What uh from a business owner's perspective, like what are the biggest barriers to like expanding to a storefront space and are there any policy mechanisms to help with any of those like you know, uh costs around um renovation or like I yeah, is there more that we could do to make the initial transition into a storefront space?
I know we don't want to like get people into a space that they can't afford, but you know, I'm I'm wondering if there are other tools. >> A couple of action items for us um is we'll be looking at prioritized permitting in the core area to expedite permitting and that's assuming somebody has put together the capital to do the tenant improvements.
Another um task for us is to work with We talked a bit about those larger footprint um spaces like the former greenhouse space is to put together a team and an internal team that would include our building official and our fire marshal um to kind of strategize with their architects, to figure out how to take that space down.
It's it's complicated with the we need to make sure that those spaces are safe for people entering and exiting, but that can pose some challenges. I would expect what we've heard is some of sometimes the spaces require and the SBDC might may have some specific specific examples of this.
Um, considerable amount of money needed in order to get those spaces up to a place where they need to be in order to have them be in a condition that customers want to come in. And that there are not always the landlords willing to invest in some of those spaces.
So, that's a a challenging dynamic. Um, and I don't know, CJ, do you want to speak to capital for TIs? You're welcome to you since you're sitting sitting here. Okay. You have to either come to Mike or I can >> [snorts] >> CJ Sykes again of the SBDC.
Um, I don't feel like I have a a ton to say about but it would be really interesting to research a little bit best practices what have happened at other places. I do I do know that many of our clients have some barriers and I want to say a lot of it's about earthquake retrofitting, is that right?
And um, and so that I mean I think there's things that who knows what we don't know, right? So, I would look at best practices and see what others have have done in that area. I mean any capital has to pencil out and some ideas off the top of my head would be to maybe you know, work on some pro formas of you know, using benchmark data so to like what could be possible here?
Like what you know, what kind of what kind of revenue is needed and what kind of industries can can um, um bring that in, but I think I think there's ways that we can, you know, bring our technical nerd assistance to assist, but in terms of like get getting capital, um you know, it's all just Can you Can you handle the debt service?
You know, you know, is this Is this a good project? Do you have um you know, the collateral to support that project? And you know, this is not everybody in our community. So, you know, the things I I think of is, you know, what we've done before, which I think is successful, is bringing other you know, second locations, because if they've proven that before, you know, banks are investing in people, you know, and so you those people if they if you're if you can prove you have a strong track record, it's going to help.
Um I'd love to put some time and energy into um thinking about it. I But I feel um undereducated to give too much of an answer. >> Okay. Thanks. Um if I could add Oh, okay. If I could um just add two more initiatives that involve the service side of things, um one tool that we offered to help interested businesses kind of get the lay of the land is a pre-inspect pre-inspection program to invite the building services division and the fire department to come into the space ahead of time so that they could know what they're getting into before they get too deep into that process.
And then another position um we're re-reframing it a little bit as a business advocate and having discussions with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership around re-establishing a position and what would that look like to have somebody who's there on the ground doing matchmaking with the spaces, but also assisting with resources both with financing and with permitting and approval processes to do um a little bit of guidance when when that's helpful and needed.
>> Uh we'll go to Councillor Anderson and then to Daphne. >> Thank you. Um It's all It's all about resources and staff time and energy and our our partners, but um thinking of an example, I'm on a nonprofit board and nonprofits don't have a lot of money, but they owned a building and the building needed quite a bit of renovation um just because it's an old historic building and they qualified for a federal grant and received a sizable amount of money so that they can be doing upgrades over the next year or two.
Um some of our uh private owned buildings, they are not the nonprofits, so they're not going to qualify for some that federal money, but some of the buildings may um qualify for being historic and then if our numbers are still staying where they are and it's I don't know if we'd ever hit the mark of being a depressed downtown, but um is anyone kind of looking with the lens of um identifying which buildings may qualify as being considered historic for preservation and there's grants and stuff out there and then trying to make that connection for people who might be resource constrained to be able to go in and do the upgrades needed not only to preserve the building, but also to perhaps in the future be able to renovate it to do clients.
I'm just thinking if I was an owner of the building and didn't have the wherewithal or even necessarily a desire, it's kind of a carrot and a stick approach of like here you go, but doing some of that initial um investigation of what's available and helping try to make those connections, not necessarily writing the grants for them cuz they should bear some of that cost, but just kind of pushing them in the right direction towards those resources that might be available.
>> Uh one of the best tools we have is the um historic tax credit program. That's one of our existing incentives that we recognize we need to do a better job of promoting. That is one of our action items is is to promote those programs.
Those that like Daylight Properties is very familiar with that program. But it in in essence um let's say [clears throat] you need to put a million dollars into your building. Um if it's qualified improvements, then you would take that off of your taxes due or your tax bill over a number of years.
Um that's how we um we provided technical assistance for example to the Prospect Theater, the person that owns that building and allowed her to um really put more money into that building to make it work.
So we do need to do a a bit better job. I'll have to explore whether or not there's grants for the private sector. I'm not familiar with them. Um we >> Low low-income loans too might be available. >> then of course the city um we have invested numerous times in some of the buildings downtown like the um Mount Baker Apartments, like the old Oakland Block in um Old Town, the La Bay um hotel.
Um so when when we have a historic building that has housing in it, we help make those investments. So that is um another strategy we could explore. For a while we and that's why the Housing Authority did invest in the Oakland Block and La Bay um is cuz we were we were really pushing our dollars to downtown.
So that's that's something that we could look to again. >> Councilman Councilmember Hamman, go Go Sorry, Debbie, did you want to >> Um I just wanted to address the second part of your question is that we do have extensive inventories of historic um buildings and what's eligible and what might not be eligible.
So, if people have questions about that, um we have some of it on our webpage, but also can offer assistance if they want to know whether they would be able to access those resources. >> One other um aspect of this plan that I'm particularly interested in, and I think it'd be a fabulous idea, is the business advocate position.
Um I remember the retail advocate um with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership. Um somebody very excited about helping businesses in the past. Um and I'm assuming that with this title, it's expanding the scope of that work potentially more than just retail specific.
Um and I'm assuming it looks like also again with through the Downtown Bellingham Partnership potentially. Um can you talk a little bit more about that? And how we're potentially expected to be funding that um and um if how quickly it could come online.
Um I would see this person as being part of In our last presentation, we heard that um a lot of this problem-solving is collaborative. So, being connected with the Small Business Development Center and the Port and um with, you know, the the Chamber and um being a go-between to be able to share information um can sometimes being successful in businesses just having access to information.
So, I could I could see this being extremely helpful. >> So, we'll probably take team this answer as well. Um previously, we split the cost. The Downtown Bellingham Partnership and the City of Bellingham split the cost of this position.
It is in the um action plan or in the implementation plan. We're looking at it for 2027 and it's just to explore whether or not we can um come up with the resources necessary um to pay for the FTE. Um we are expanding it to be beyond retail because as as you can see, we have more square footage downtown than retail could ever ever fill up.
Um and we want them that that person to be looking, you know, at the ground floor but in in all aspects of downtown. And there are some good news elements to what we learned, too, which is that offices are really filled up downtown.
So, that's like [clears throat] a really a higher demand right now is those small offices. So, any matchmaking a person could do on that front would be helpful as well. And then Darby has a better sense of kind of the the job itself.
>> Yeah, all I'd add to that is I I think there were some good lessons learned when the position was originally established. It was focused primarily on implementing the retail strategy. During COVID, the need for additional assistance and support became evident.
And then the Downtown Bellingham Partnership has also done a great job establishing sort of a sister city relationship with the city of Everett. And they have a business advocate position and they have visited us.
Um we have visited them or they have visited them to learn a little bit more about what's working well with that and kind of a little bit broader lens um beyond just out there advocating and helping with expansion, but also other general business support.
Not to overlap with over other resources that we already have in the community, but to help make those connections like you were talking about. >> Council President Stone. >> Yeah, there are so many things to talk about in this um particular topic area, but I guess building on what other council members have addressed and especially with the stalled assets in that position you're talking about with the prior presentation and thinking about the port and maybe, you know, the Teleshore in particular and the focus on economic development.
Um, something I'm wondering how much are we right, we put certain strategies in place, but it's still sort of dependent upon those owners coming forward and engaging and I understand it's very staff intensive, but how much if at all are we able to be initiating, right, that conversation or those contacts to really find out what is going on with this particular property and that ownership.
I know sometimes there are very unique um issues at play that are maybe far beyond our control, um but I was just thinking about with you know, like Wacom even and when we think about property acquisitions and it's like, oh, well, we're dependent upon properties being for sale before we can engage.
And so the city then taking that initiative to send out letters, right, to property owners to say, "Hey, if you're interested in selling, please reach out." I'm just wondering what, you know, degree I understand it would be very staff intensive, are we able to initiate, right, those contacts?
>> So, we have the three categories and Holly called upon the hardest >> Yes. >> hardest one. But the first one is market ready. So, we should be doing everything that we can to make those the easiest things to fill up because but based on their size and location, we think that they should be able to fill up.
So, and there are still things that we should be doing there. Second category is those large footprint spaces. Let's make sure that there's some very um motivated property owners um, that have those large footprint spaces.
Um, and let's do what we can to help them because they are ready to put their money into those buildings. They want to make them work. They want to find tenants. So, those would be my the way I'd look at it.
And then, although we have put a lot of time into stalled assets, every single one of those stalled assets has a special story behind it. And I think it is a special strategy for each one of those. A couple of them, I think, are easier than others, but um, it's sort of a rule.
And then, you even if you put it all, you know, you potentially millions of dollars, like two we had um, and it still doesn't pan out. It tells you that there's not too much I mean, in one case, like um, not not as much.
So, I think I actually think focus on market ready and large footprint. And if we tackle that, we get into a really healthy realm. Meanwhile, yes, I do think that we could try some of those those stalled assets, but they're just a little more challenging.
Certainly. And with those market ready, I mean, I'm hoping that we have that broader network of, right, supported by the CBEC and the port and others to try and, right, do that matchmaking and and try and fill those spaces.
But, recognizing that it is a a lot. But, I think there's motivation and support from the council as well. If there are policy, right, matters that could help be a you know, a lever that we can pull on or to help develop further incentives.
But, as you mentioned, we've sort of maximized what's available to us at the state level to take advantage of um, it's a >> And also, um, Tyler touched on this, but being, you know, welcoming to business.
I mean, one of our our core roles at the city and economic development is a positive business climate. We have over 300 buildings in downtown Bellingham. That's a lot of different owners. You know, we we look to Daylight as like they own most of downtown.
Well, they own 20-something of those lots of buildings. Um important, very important stakeholder, [clears throat] but there's lots of them. So, as they come up for sale, we really need downtown to be an attractive place for other people to to to buy, right?
Some of I think the solution for some of these stalled assets is sale. >> [laughter] >> Um so, we want downtown to be a really attractive place for people to spend their money and sink their money into these buildings.
Um so, that that could go a long ways as well. >> I'll chime in again, um that another um approach with the outreach component. I think that is important, and we've had some good conversations about certain situations that maybe the city not being the one to reach out.
It It's not always the best strategy, but how can partners um also make those connections to share how important the space is for the community or for the mission cuz it's possible that it's fallen off the radar of the owner or the family or what whatever it is.
So, how can we work together to make sure that it's again kind of elevated on the radar, and and the importance is shared, um depending on on the situation, who it might be. Might be a little bit different different cases.
>> Well, over time, um I'll just maybe flag as we continue to lobby for state efforts, I'm really interested in talking more about the uh registry and what the benefits of that could be and if the juice is worth the squeeze.
Um and so um anyway, uh would love to pick up that discussion as a full council at some point. Um but thank you so much to our guests and um to uh our uh amazing staff working on this. Um with that, I'll turn it back to Council President Stone.
Um thank you. >> Thank you very much. Thank you for the presentations and thank you for um yes, the guest presenters and for staying late for an additional item. We appreciate your time and and partnership here locally.