Small business Briefly

Mar. 30—Anacortes chamber names new director

The Anacortes Chamber of Commerce has named Jesica Stickles as its new president/CEO pursuing a nationwide look for.

Stickles has been president/CEO of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce for the previous six decades. She is also an Arlington City Council member and is ending her second four-yr expression.

Stickles is set to get started at the Anacortes chamber on April 12. In a chamber news release, Stickles claimed some of her ambitions are to master about Skagit County’s maritime market and fulfill with as quite a few small business leaders as possible.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jesica to the chamber crew,” Gina Walsh, chair of the Anacortes chamber board reported in a news release. “Her energetic management fashion and strengths in legislation will be great property to the firm.

EDASC acknowledged by point out affiliation

The Economic Improvement Alliance of Skagit County (EDASC) recently gained a pair of awards from the Washington Economic Growth Association.

EDASC earned best honors for Variety, Equity & Inclusion, and Emerging Expert.

EDASC Economic Progress Supervisor Tamsin Bell gained the Emerging Qualified Award for her perform running 10 CARES Act grant programs that awarded $2 million to 260 small business enterprise in Skagit County, in accordance to an EDASC information launch.

EDASC also gained an award for Diversity, Fairness & Inclusion, a new class in 2021. EDASC has spoken out from injustices perpetrated on individuals and communities of coloration, and included fairness into its mission statement.

EDASC has also introduced an Equity and Training Committee that is sponsoring a learning series on equity troubles. EDASC CEO John Sternlicht has conducted an workshop titled Unconscious Bias for the Washington Economic Improvement Association, the International Financial Development Council, the Port of Skagit and other businesses.

A digital awards ceremony took location March 16.

Skagit Women in Small business hosts scavenger hunt

Story carries on

Skagit Women in Small business will maintain the Excellent Skagit Scavenger Hunt from Friday, April 16, to Sunday, April 18, to raise resources for scholarships.

Men and women and teams of up to six men and women can take part in extra than 100 COVID-19-harmless pursuits, which includes mailing a postcard to a household selection in an additional state purchasing a gift card from a area company a hula-hooping contest picking up trash at a community park.

Teams should doc their activities with shots to make points. Top rated stage-getters get prizes.

Charges are $30 for grownups, $15 for youth 5-18, and free of charge for kids beneath 5.

Entry fees advantage the Skagit Gals in Business Scholarship Fund, which allows Skagit County girls return to faculty to complete their training.

For far more details and to acquire tickets, skagitwomeninbusiness.com.

State reopens little small business grant application

The state Office of Commerce opened purposes for the fourth spherical of Functioning Washington grants, which deliver relief for organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grants are for compact for-earnings organizations, in distinct those that were demanded to near owing to community overall health and security steps.

Priorities for funding involve enterprises that ended up expected to shut corporations that dropped earnings as a end result of closure companies with added bills to manage risk-free functions and equitable distribution to firms owned and operated by historically disadvantaged people.

The deadline to utilize is 5 p.m. April 9. For more information and the software, check out commercegrants.com.

County’s unemployment was 7.7% in February

Skagit County’s unemployment rate was 7.7% in February, marginally up from 7.4% in January, in accordance to county unemployment figures introduced Tuesday by the condition Economic Stability Office.

The unemployment charge in February 2020 was 5.7%.

The state’s economic climate extra 24,500 positions in February, even though it had 213,800 fewer work than in February 2020, the ESD documented.