A Penny for Your Thoughts: The City’s $10 Million Question (and a 0.1% Answer) August 28, 2025 The City of Bellingham has recently floated the idea of a new sales tax — specifically, a 0.1% increase. Yes, that’s one-tenth of one percent. On paper, that means if you buy a $10 sandwich, you’d pay an [...]
Cross-Border Update: “Thank a Canuck for Spending a Buck”… and Don’t Cheese Them Off July 2025 Many of you will recognize the phrase above — a favorite of the always-memorable Mike Kent, a beloved member of our business community. He’d say it on his KGMI radio show, at events, and pretty much anywhere he could. [...]
Does your Business have an Accident Prevention Program? Are you aware that Washington State requires every employer to create a written Accident Prevention Program (APP)? From small businesses, to logging or firefighters, having a safety program is a must! Fortunately, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has a ton of [...]
Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce Relaunches Comprehensive Community Events Calendar The Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce has announced the relaunch of WhatCALENDAR.com, a newly refreshed community events calendar that is intended to be a go-to resource for all events happening in Whatcom County. This free platform allows residents, visitors, event planners, businesses, [...]
Action Alert: Initiatives on the ballot this fall On the ballot for City of Bellingham voters this fall are four initiatives that could greatly impact our business community. Generally, the initiatives cover landlord/tenant law, policing technology, labor unions and worker pay. The Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has voted to officially oppose [...]
You only have one chance to make a good ... community Growing up in Louisiana, my dad had a couple go-to #dadjokes that he would unleash with unbridled abandon. One of them — and one of my favorites — showcases the sense of place of Southwest Louisiana: Q: “What is the loneliest river in Louisiana?” [...]
Five ways you can leverage your chamber membership Business leaders like to have reasons for doing things. Whatever we do, we like to base it on value: What value will I bring to this effort, and what will I get out of it? Being a member of a chamber of commerce is no different. Whether [...]
A business case for investment in child care June 16, 2021 I was invited recently to be a panelist for a talk put on by the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County as part of the group’s Coffee Chat program. This particular dialogue was on child care — and, more specifically, on how access to child care [...]
2021 Economic Forecast & Profile In March 2021 as part of our annual Chamber Speaker Series sponsored by Puget Sound Energy, we hosted the WWU Center for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) to provide our 2021 Annual Economic Forecast. Dr Hart Hodges and James McCafferty spend 75 minutes with us discussing the nuances and data [...]
Best Practices for Open Houses, Showings & In-Person Interactions During the Coronavirus By Andi Dyer, Andi Dyer Real Estate CORONAVIRUS & REAL ESTATE As the news and impact of COVID-19 continues to evolve, many Buyers and Sellers are wondering what to do as they still need to move and buy a home or sell a [...]
Adding Content to your blog for better SEO Results By: FizzPOP Media Adding valuable content to your business’s website will bring you better SEO results. Providing your customers value-added content, you can optimize your site and help improve search results and your ranking. Get Found Locally According to a Google study, nearly 20 percent of mobile [...]
Word of Mouth: Defining your difference By: FizzPOP Media Word of mouth may be the most important sales tool you’re not taking advantage of. Word-of-mouth marketing uses talk triggers to gets your customers talking to each other and spreading the news about your brand. What are Talk Triggers? Talk triggers can be anything that differentiates [...]
The Value of Engaging Customers with Automated AI Technology By FizzPOP Media The backbone of most successful businesses—regardless of size or industry—is achieving a high level of customer satisfaction. In today’s technologically advanced marketplace, that means interacting quickly and efficiently with customers to answer their questions and solve their problems via the communication channels they [...]
Optimize your online strategy for a better ROI By FizzPOP Media Social media. It’s where the virtual world is happening, live and personal – every hour of every day of the year. People are online not simply to let the world know what they are doing and thinking but to find out what others are [...]
Zero-click searches are on the rise and have been for some time, recently clocking in at over 50% of searches on Google. So this is it; the end of search, again. We watch in despair as the holy grail, the click-through, the consumption of content, recedes further from our grasp. Or do we? Read this insightful [...]
Maximize your Tradeshow ROI with a great strategy by FizzPOP Media Trade shows are not just about networking and seeing what swag other exhibitors are giving away. When done correctly, tradeshow appearances are part of a deliberate, comprehensive B2B or B2C strategy designed to attract potential customers and deliver more useful information to prospects. When [...]
Bellingham Digital Marketing Agency Releases First eBook Agency aims to make digital marketing accessible Intellitonic, a growing digital marketing agency located north of Seattle, released its first full-length eBook, “Digital Marketing Essentials.” The 22-page guide aims to teach basic theory and best practices for search engine optimization (SEO), link-building, pay per click advertising, blogging, social [...]
Established in 2016, AbiliTrek works to improve accessibility so people can trek without boundaries. Their team has experience in the following areas: website and mobile applications accessibility, physical onsite accessibility, secret shopper campaigns, inclusive marketing consulting, speaking and training workshops. AbiliTrek welcomes the opportunity to assist any businesses in becoming more accessible. SERVICES: IT Accessibility: [...]
Local IT company looks beyond the Cloud to Energize their Future The tech industry is a clean running industry, right? You might be surprised. The IT industry is considered a highly desirable attraction for local economies because they don’t process or produce a product that negatively impacts the environment. However, with the technology boom [...]
Turn Your Lukewarm Audience Into New Clients With Facebook Retargeting by Gary Pickering, ClickMonster When marketing your products or services, having a great website isn't always enough. People visit your site and see what you're offering, but unless they've shown up already intending to buy it's quite likely they'll leave your site without taking the [...]
