TEDx Bellingham organizer is turning a global event local | Q&A
Filed on 13. Jun, 2013 in Q&A
More than one billion people on the Web have watched a TED Talk, the popular offerings of the TED organization that invites speakers to its annual global conferences to share new ideas and perspectives melding technology, entertainment and design. Now, local marketing executive David Wiggs wants to take TED’s famous tagline—“ideas worth spreading”—and give it [...]
IT security vital in digital age, says computer systems educator | Q&A
Filed on 20. May, 2013 in Q&A
High-profile cyber attacks, including recent ones that have targeted Google, allegedly destroyed nuclear centrifuges in Iran and brought down the websites of major financial firms JP Morgan Chase and American Express, have led more people to realize what security experts have been saying for years: In the digital era, cyberspace is a battlefield. Attackers’ impact [...]
Commercial lender says businesses need to think over details | Q&A
Filed on 04. Apr, 2013 in Q&A
As a senior vice president and business team leader for Peoples Bank, Terry Daughters oversaw new local commercial lending last year that totaled more than $180 million. But for many small companies and startups, getting bank loans or opening new lines of credit can be daunting obstacles to getting the financing they need to be successful. [...]
Bellingham dentist using new treatment for headaches, facial pain | Q&A
Filed on 06. Mar, 2013 in Q&A
A dentist might not be the first person one calls when suffering from chronic headaches or migraines. But for patients of one Bellingham practitioner, that could change. Dr. Jeffrey Prager of Bellingham Smile Care and Sleep Center began offering a new treatment regimen last spring that targets imbalanced facial muscles, jaw bones and teeth, which recent research suggests [...]
Chair of Northwest Workforce Council upbeat on local hiring | Q&A
Filed on 18. Feb, 2013 in Q&A
In an age of economic uncertainty, it helps to be an optimist. For Terry Corrigan, chair of the board at the Northwest Workforce Council and vice president at Haskell Corp. in Bellingham, watching Whatcom County recover from a national financial crisis and recession has been a gradual process. But in his mind, there are plenty [...]
New Port executive director Rob Fix has full slate in 2013 | Q&A
Filed on 07. Jan, 2013 in Q&A
On a night in late October, the Port of Bellingham held a special public forum at the city’s cruise terminal in Fairhaven to introduce three finalists for the open executive director’s position. Seven months earlier, Charlie Sheldon, the agency’s former leader, left in a pall of controversy, tendering his resignation to the elected port commission [...]
Crowd funding floats Cirrus Cycles’ new product | Q&A
Filed on 08. Nov, 2012 in Q&A
To get a new product from conception to production, Paul Barkley and Charlie Heggem needed a kick. Barkley had just put finishing touches on his invention, the BodyFloat—a dual-spring bicycle seat post designed to deliver better comfort and performance for riders. The longtime cyclist came up with the idea while working with rural development organizations [...]
Attorney James R. Doran hashes out Bain v. MERS | Q&A
Filed on 06. Oct, 2012 in Q&A
In August, a Washington state high court ruled against the mortgage industry’s use of an electronic database to file foreclosures—a decision some legal analysts say is a turning point in the ongoing discord between lenders and homeowners. The database is called Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS. Lenders regularly use MERS to track loans, and [...]
Sustainable Connections’ policy manager sees new energy future | Q&A
Filed on 07. Sep, 2012 in Q&A
Few programs have been as successful reducing energy use and creating jobs as Bellingham’s Community Energy Challenge, wrote the authors of a recent report on U.S. cities leading a “new energy future.” The Community Energy Challenge, funded through government grants and coordinated by the nonprofit groups Sustainable Connections and Opportunity Council, combines several programs and [...]
Q&A | Chuck and Dee Robinson of Village Books
Filed on 08. Aug, 2012 in Q&A
“Chuck and Dee are doing what they want.” This matter-of-fact headline introduced a profile of Chuck and Dee Robinson, owners of Village Books in Fairhaven, on the front page of the Bellingham Business Journal’s first edition in November 1992. According to the Robinsons, who opened the bookstore more than three decades ago, the rubric still rings [...]
