The Bellingham Business Journal
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| The Bellingham Business Journal | |
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| Type | Monthly newspaper |
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| Owner | Sound Publishing |
| Publisher | Vanessa Blackburn |
| Editor | Vanessa Blackburn |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Language | English |
| Price | Free to Bellingham businesses USD $2.00 retail |
| Headquarters | 1321 King St. Suite 4 Bellingham, WA 98229 United States |
| Circulation | 4,000 monthly |
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| Website: www.thebellinghambusinessjournal.com | |
The Bellingham Business Journal is a monthly business newspaper published in Bellingham, Washington. Established in 1992, the newspaper has won several Society of Professional Journalists awards for reporting, editorial and design content. The paper is owned by Sound Publishing, based in Poulsbo, Washington, and was purchased from Marysville, Washington-based Sun News Inc. in August 2007. The newspaper has a circulation of 4,000 and is free to Bellingham businesses, with paid circulation to businesses outside of the area and to residences.
[edit] History
The Bellingham Business Journal was founded by Al Raines, owner of Raines Publishing, in November 1992. In the first issue, Raines states in his opening column that he started the paper because "local business professionals... need a publication that will keep them abreast of what's going on in the business environment around them." Raines continued to publish the newspaper every month until it was purchased Robin Yeager in early 1994. Yeager sold the paper nearly six months later to Wenatchee Business Journal owners Mike Cassidy and Jim Corcoran.
Cassidy and Corcoran owned the two business journals for the next seven years. The partners also started a new business journal in Everett, Washington. The partners sold the business to Sun News Inc. in 2001. The newspaper's current publisher is Vanessa Blackburn.
[edit] Business trends
Major stories covered by the BBJ in the 2000s include the redevelopment of the Bellingham Waterfront and the increase in the county's growth. The city's working waterfront is rapidly changing as the Georgia-Pacific pulp and tissue mills near the center of town have been in the process of shutting down since 2001. The final shut down of the tissue mill in December 2007 effectively ended Bellingham's waterfront industrial era. Pending a rezone from heavy industrial to mixed-use, the 137-acre site is slated to be redeveloped to include residential, retail, educational, institutional, marine and light-industrial use.
Growth has also become a major issue for Bellingham and Whatcom County. Situated between the two large metro areas of Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington, Bellingham (population estimated at 74,000) has been growing significantly in recent years. The housing market boomed along with the rest of the country in the early 2000s, only to slow in 2007. Vancouver's 2010 Olympics is also expected to have an effect on Bellingham's economy. Bellingham continues to appear on top 10 lists for best places to live, including Kiplinger's Personal Finance in 2005 and AARP Magazine in 2004.
