Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 3, March 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Seattle Sun Business Briefs

Goodwill coming to Ballard

Seattle Goodwill will open a thrift store in Ballard in April at the site of the former Doc Freeman's marine supplies store at 6400 8th Ave. NW. Beth Miller of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce reported in an e-mail sent to chamber members that the new store will feature a 15,000-square-foot sales floor and an attended donation center where donated goods may be dropped off. "They are very excited to have Ballard be their second Seattle location," Miller wrote of Goodwill, whose flagship store is located is located at Rainier Avenue S. and South Dearborn. "Goodwill is a great non-profit that helps provide adult education and job-training programs and will be a great new neighbor."

Safeco CEO to give talk

Mike McGavick, Chairman and CEO of Safeco Corp., the insurance giant whose headquarters is located in the University District, will speak at the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County's annual fundraising breakfast on Tuesday, April 13. McGavick, who grew up in North Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood, was a member of the Wallingford Boys & Girls Club as a youth. He attended Interlake Elementary (now the Wallingford Center), Hamilton Middle School and Seattle Prep before going on to graduate from the University of Washington. McGavick took over as CEO of Safeco in January and is credited with leading a financial turnaround of the formerly struggling company. He plans to talk about his views on the state's business climate, the insurance industry, and the importance of the Boys & Girls Club in the community.

For more information about the event, including cost, call Jamie Flaxman, executive director of the Wallingford Boys & Girls Club, at 547-7261 or e-mail her at jflaxman@positiveplace.org.

U Chamber elects new officers

The Greater University Chamber of Commerce held its 89th annual banquet at the University Towers Hotel on Jan. 20. The event featured a presentation of this year's chamber award winners (see related article elsewhere in this issue) and the introduction of this year's officers: president Theresa Doherty (assistant vice president for regional affairs at the University of Washington); president-elect Caroline Colon (of GoTech); vice president Kian Pornour (of The Wooly Mammoth/5 Doors Up); secretary/treasurer Louise Little (of University Book Store); and immediate past-president Shannon Moore-Gray (of Wells Fargo Bank).

The event's keynote speaker was noted Rick Steves, television host and author of "Europe through the Back Door," who spoke about how he became an expert on travel and how, in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, "it's more important than ever that we travel" in order for Americans to gain a better understanding of the rest of the world. "We learn to celebrate the differences when we travel," he said.

Steves also addressed concerns regarding the dangers of traveling abroad by pointing out that millions of Americans traveled to Europe last year and "none were hurt by terrorism." By contrast, "Last year, 8,000 innocent Americans were killed by handguns in the U.S."

Greenwood Chamber elects new president

Chuck Tompkins of Edward Jones Investments on Phinney Ridge has been elected this year's president of the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce. The other 2004 officers for the chamber are vice president Stacey Romberg of Stacey L. Romberg Attorney at Law; secretary Patty-Cole Ulrichs of Toastmasters International; treasurer Gary Teachout of Gary's Games & Hobbies; and immediate past-president Jeanne Barwick of Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe.