WENATCHEE, Wash.—The Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is pleased to announce that Kirk Duncan is available to work with small business owners in Douglas and Chelan counties who want to start, grow or buy/sell a business. Duncan, who was a successful small business owner for more than 20 years, joins Ron Nielsen, the Washington…
WASHOUGAL, Wash. – Family-owned Green Flush Restrooms builds flush restrooms in efficient, environmentally sound, accessible modules. Over 10 years, father and son Ken and Kyle Earlywine likewise have fashioned the components of good business practice into a company that continued to provide work for its three employees and associated supplier businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic…
RICHLAND, Wash.–Joselyne Hernandez and her father, Jorge Hernandez, started The Black Woodpecker construction company in 2018, a goal Jorge had been working toward for nearly a decade. In the late 1990s and 2000s, Jorge had been a foreman at one of the biggest construction companies in Arizona, but when the recession hit he was out…
ELLENSBURG, Wash.—Wheel Line Cider, an Ellensburg-based cidery, has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Seattle District Rural Small Business of the Year. The public got its first taste of Wheel Line Cider at the Windfall Ciderfest in Ellensburg in 2018, but owner Susie Jensen has been planting rootstock, tending her expanding orchard on…
Grandview—David Ruelas was working in agricultural fields near his home in Sunnyside, following in the footsteps of his parents and older brother, when a door opened and he became an apprentice to a diesel mechanic in Yakima. Within a year, at age 21, he was a lead mechanic at the shop. The 45-minute drive along…
OLYMPIA, Wash.—PCI Pest Control in Olympia has been named the 2020 U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Seattle District Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year. Owner Matthew Purcell Sr. started the business in 2007 after retiring from the military, where he spent 20 years in the Active Guard Reserve Program supporting National Guard units in Alaska,…
SPOKANE, Wash. – Family-owned Washington Equipment Manufacturing Company has grown steadily since its founding by John and Karma Rouse in 1989. Son Juston joined at age 20 in 2004, followed by his wife Lisa in 2016. WEMCO built a new facility eight years ago, averaged 84 employees throughout 2021, and, with recent hires, now employs…
RENTON, Wash.—The irony is not lost on Gordon Alvord or his business partner Bradley Donaldson. They lost their jobs as pilots because of the recession but ended up founding a flight school that is thriving today. “People told us, ‘You guys are either insane or geniuses,’” Alvord said. “Who starts a flight school in a…
PULLMAN, Wash.—When Adam Jones, founder and president of Pullman Marketing, enrolled in a Be the Entrepreneur Boot Camp course in 2017 hosted by the Palouse Knowledge Corridor, he was working 12 hours a day as a sole proprietor and had about six clients, nearly all of whom were from outside the state of Washington. Today…
PORT ANGELES, Wash.—Customers who show up at A Better Pawn Shop looking to buy a power tool or an electric guitar might just be looking for a good deal, but those who show up with a power tool, flat screen TV or heirloom watch in hand are often desperate for quick cash and a fair…
AENEAS VALLEY, Wash.— The Aeneas Valley Country Store near milepost 11 is the only business along a remote 18-mile country road just south of the Canadian border that connects Highway 20 to the north and Highway 21 to the south. “We want to make that 18 miles feel like one block,” said Doug Isler, who…
MOUNT VERNON, Wash.—For a dozen years, chocolatier Karen Neugebauerhas been perfecting her craft while running her own small business, Forte Chocolates. “Chocolate doesn’t back down,” she said from her production kitchen on Riverside Drive in Mount Vernon. That means chocolate is a fantastic medium for a self-described “control freak” who loves both science and art.…
The Washington Small Business Development Center network, hosted by Washington State University, is an accredited member of America’s SBDC. Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, institutions of higher education, economic development organizations and other public and private funding partners. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the SBA.
Washington SBDC services are extended to the public on a non-discriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals. Email or phone the Washington SBDC.
Because we are federally funded, we cannot provide services for enterprises selling federally illegal products such as marijuana.
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