By Susan Park

I started introducing Matt Lincecum to Northgate-area business owners and managers in June of this year. Matt was the City of Seattleıs Community organizer for Northeast Seattle. His mission?

To create a new Northgate Chamber of Commerce.

I use the word ³new² loosely since, according to Nanette Proctor of Donderoıs Northgate Florist, there has never been a Northgate Chamber of Commerce. And she should know. Her father started Donderoıs in 1960 making it one of the Northgate areaıs oldest existing businesses. While Northgate Mall has long had a Merchantsı Association, open only to businesses within the mall, to her knowledge, the Northgate are has never had a chamber of its own, open to non-mall merchants, too.

So why would the City of Seattle want to stick its nose in Northgate-area businessesı business? It all comes down to communication. Over the last two years or so during Northgate Mallıs Design Reviews, the City was regularly criticized for not doing a good job of contacting Northgate ³stakeholders,² meaning those with an interest in the Cityıs decisions on Northgate, such as local residents and businesses. Thanks to the passage of recent levies and the obtaining of other government funds, the City is planning to pour lots of money into the Northgate area for everything from a new library and community center to a p-patch, park, and light rail station. City Councilman Richard Conlin creatively describes them as ³City investments.² And now that the City plans a lot of ³investments² for Northgate, they want to get the word out to the businesses who will literally be their next-door neighbors.

While city officials can attend to community council meetings and talk until theyıre blue in the face, doing so only really reaches citizens who live in the Northgate area, not those who work or run businesses in the Northgate business district itself.

³Our job is to talk to folks, arrange meetings, and eventually pull out,² said Lincecum of the Cityıs involvement in forming a Northgate Chamber. True to his word, in early September, Lincecum quit his job with the City to attend the UW law school.

Taking his place in heading the Northgate Chamber is Linda Skurdal, current executive director of the Lake City Chamber and an old Northgater herself. For several years, she managed the (now-closed) Lamonts store at Northgate Mall. She also understands the needs of small business owners. Her husband, A.J. Skurdal, ran an investment firm for ten years.

Contrary to popular belief, Northgate is not a neighborhood. The business district is surrounded on all sides by five distinct communities, each of which arguably claims a piece of Northgate. Businesses north of Northgate Way, such as Barnabyıs, the new Target, Copper Sky Restaurant, and Display & Costume all lie in the very large and very old neighborhood of Haller Lake.

Licton Springs is the Northgate-area neighborhood that lies west of I-5 and encompasses North Seattle Community College and the North Precinct.

Just south and directly east of the mall itself is the Maple Leaf neighborhood, whose boundaries encompass the transit center as well as Silver Platters, Marie Callenderıs, and the infamous Northgate south parking lot over Thornton Creek.

East of Roosevelt Way NE is Victory Heights, a puzzle piece of a neighborhood that contains only one Northgate business: the gas station on the southeast corner of Roosevelt and Northgate Way.

Directly north of NE 115th and east of 15th NE is the Pinehurst neighborhood, a small area that contains businesses such as the Safeway and the Avid Angler.

Northgate Mall itself sits in a no-manıs land that doesnıt really belong to any of the aforementioned neighborhoods.

In July, Lincecum stepped up his efforts to contact the business owners. Sound Transit was considering an alternate route which would require demolishing Northgate Station, the shopping strip containing Marie Callenderıs and Silver Platters, just south of the mall. Lincecum successfully arranged an emergency meeting with representatives from Northgate Stationıs owner and tenants, along with the Cityıs new team within the Department of Neighborhoods, Station Area Planning, which is planning the actual transit center that Sound Transitıs Light Rail ³lands in.²

It wasnıt until the evening of Aug. 1 that an attempt at a real Northgate Chamber meeting was held at Marie Callenderıs. Sadly, the ratio of City employees to business owners was about one to one. There, shoved in the corner and surrounded by couples enjoying romantic dinners was our little group trying to talk across a large table over the sound of clanging dishes. It was there that we decided luncheon meetings made more sense, (no wonder other Chambers meet at noon!) and we all quickly rushed off for our own romantic dinners at home.

The next ³first official meeting² was held during lunch at North Seattle Community College. By this time, weıd managed to wrangle a few more people and the turnout was quite good. However, many had never been in a Chamber of Commerce and wasnıt sure what this would mean for them. While PIP Printing owner Lee Bays had been an active member and former board member of the University Chamber and Mildy Christianson of Diet Center had been active in a chamber in eastern Washington, most of the others had never even been to a chamber meeting.

³Think of it as a social club and support group for business owners,² I told them, stressing how being in a chamber expands your circle of influence when dealing with common problems such as vandalism and lack of good renters insurance. ³And you get to go to lunch together once a month, see all of your business friends who you never see otherwise and be entertained by an interesting speaker.²

Bays added, ³Youıd be amazed at the voice you have if you have a chamber. The City really listens to you.² Bays pointed out the influence the University Chamber had with deciding the location of the U-Districtıs Sound Transit station. ³Right now, there really isnıt an advocate for Northgate.²

Linda Skurdal noted the meager financial beginnings of the Lake City Chamber 58 years ago. ³A lot of that was out of somebodyıs trunk,² said Skurdal. The Lake City Chamber is now one of the most successful neighborhood chambers in Seattle. It has almost 200 members, employs a staff person, and operates a street-front office, all paid for by member dues and fund-raisers.

To assist with the difficult growth process, the Lake City Chamber will sponsor the Northgate Chamber by handling all business affairs until it gets on its toes ‹ a process that could take five years. Interested businesses can now buy joint memberships in both chambers that will extend through Dec. 31, 2001. For more information, contact Linda Skurdal at 363-3287.