Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics (CBE) has opened the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in downtown Bellingham, as a service for local businesses in conjunction with the CBE’s existing Center for Economic Vitality (CEV).

Jennifer Shelton has been hired as the director of the new SBDC. She comes to Bellingham from the Edmonds Community College SBDC, and has worked in the field of business development and research for 17 years, including a stint at the CEV. The SBDC is part of a national network that is partially funded regionally by Washington State University and the U.S. Small Business Administration as well as WWU.

Shelton's goal is to provide much needed business-advising services – the vast majority of which are at no cost to the client ­– to local entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their businesses, increase profitability, and create jobs. Besides her experience as a certified business adviser for a number of SBDCs, Shelton has worked at companies such as Microsoft and Starbucks as well as running her own small business. "Every SBDC advisor has to have experience in owning or managing a small business; it allows us to have encountered so many of the same issues that many of the businesses owners I have as clients have faced,” she said. "We’ve walked in their shoes, and we know how to help.”

Washington Banking Company (Nasdaq:WBCO) announced Tuesday that it elected Robert T. Severns to serve on its board of directors. Severns was also elected to serve on the board of Whidbey Island Bank, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary.

Severns, a resident of Oak Harbor, is the president of Chicago Title Insurance Company/Island Division, Oak Harbor, a position he has held since 1999. He served on the Island Title Company Board of Directors for 15 years and is currently Chairman of the Board for Land Title of Kitsap and Mason counties. He holds a bachelor’s degree in administrative management from Central Washington University, and has varied experience in board and committee memberships at local and state levels. Severns also serves as an Oak Harbor City Council member.

Auto repair shop Bellingham Automotive is opening a second location, Burlington Automotive, in Burlington, Wash. Similar to their current location in Bellingham, Burlington Automotive will provide maintenance and repair services to personal vehicles as well as commercial fleets. In addition, it will also be equipped with a quick lube oil change service. Burlington Automotive is scheduled to open sometime this spring.

Bellingham Automotive is also extending it hours, and will be open Saturdays starting Feb. 13. John Beebe owns the shops and has been doing business in Bellingham for 19 years.

State of Washington Department of Health officials approved a Certificate of Need for a new critical access hospital on San Juan Island. The new facility will be owned and operated by PeaceHealth, a regional health system that serves communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth and the San Juan County Public Hospital District #1 (Hospital District) in March 2009 approved a long-term agreement to significantly expand on-island healthcare services for Hospital District residents and Island visitors.

The 50-year contract calls for PeaceHealth to build a new, fully integrated medical center located in Friday Harbor, including a new, expanded primary care and specialty clinic, expanded diagnostic services center, a 24-hour emergency room, and a 10-bed critical access hospital.

The Certificate of Need approval allows PeaceHealth and the San Juan Island community to now begin the design planning for the new facility. PeaceHealth signed a purchase and sale agreement for a 22-acre parcel of land for the hospital in July 2009. Under the terms of the approved contract signed in March, local philanthropy will contribute $10 million toward capital costs for the new medical center and hospital.

PeaceHealth will fund the remaining $20 million, own the property and new facility, and will have full responsibility for the delivery of ongoing patient care, staffing and operations when it opens in the year 2012. The Hospital District will not be providing any capital to build the new facility. As a result, no additional Hospital District tax levies will be required to fund the capital costs of the project.     

William Ayer, chairman and chief executive officer of Alaska Airlines and the Alaska Air Group, will be the keynote speaker at the ninth annual Western Washington University Bellingham Business Forum on Thursday, March 18, at the Hotel Bellwether ballroom in Bellingham.

Ayer is a member of the board of directors of the Seattle branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Puget Sound Energy, the Museum of Flight and Angel Flight West. He also serves on the advisory board for the University of Washington Business School.

A graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Ayer earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington. He holds commercial and flight instructor pilot certificates with instrument and multi-engine ratings. All proceeds from the event support student scholarships.