Here’s a list of companies that have registered to do business in Bellingham Jan. 18-20. Most are new companies entering the market, but some are ones already here changing their address/ownership:

Unknown Board Shop, Jason W Turner, 105 Grand Ave., Bellingham

Tradewinds Capital Management, 12 Bellwether Way #201, Bellingham

Tower Electric, David M Vargas, 2212 Vining St., Bellingham

Brett Murphy Coats Knapp McCandlis & Brown, 1301 10th St #104, Bellingham

SeaBreeze Coffee House, 21 Bellwether Way #101, Bellingham

teagan & bailey, Amy M Berreth, 4017 Silver Beach Ave., Bellingham

Sound Vocational Services Inc., 1313 E Maple St., Bellingham

Menchie’s Lakeway Center, Penneycandy Inc., 1070 Lakeweay Drive, Bellingham

other bird, Lauren E Williams, 2633 Halverstick Rd #1, Lynden

Been a busy day working on a variety of things, but did have a few biz items to pass along…

– Torrid, a women’s clothing store that features products in a variety of sizes, announced it is coming to Bellis Fair mall, occupying a spot in the Macy’s wing. The company has several stores in Washington, including at the Northgate Mall in Seattle. I’ll try to track down an opening date. (tip of the hat to a twitter follower who alerted me to this).

– Urchins, a Bellingham children’s clothing store, has closed its Cornwall Avenue location. Owner Kathleen Emmerson said on her website (urchinsboutique.com) that she is still selling products online and is looking for a new spot to reopen her store.

– Battery City has closed its Bellingham store, which was at 1031 N. State St.

Work has begun on another office building at the Port of Bellingham’s Bellwether on the Bay development.

The private developer, Bellwether Gate LLC, is constructing its third building. The two-story, 10,000-square-foot office building will be between Anthony’s at Squalicum Harbor restaurant and the largest Bellwether Gate Building, which is home to CH2M Hill’s local offices.

The anchor tenant for this new building will be Wells Fargo, according to a news release from the Port of Bellingham.

Bellingham Gate LLC was formed by David Ebenal in 2006. About 30 construction and trades workers would be employed on this project.

Bellwether Gate LLC has a long-term land lease with the Port of Bellingham for four building sites. The company is scheduled to begin construction on the fourth building, the final building site on the peninsula, next year.

Ebenal has contracted with a dozen local subcontractors from the immediate area to perform the majority of work of Bellwether Building C. He anticipates that the building will be complete by the end of May.

Here’s a (link) to an article by Bloomberg about several U.S. oil refiners preparing for a possible strike by the United Steelworkers union. The current contract is scheduled to expire at midnight, but negotiations are ongoing and could continue after the contract expires without a work stoppage.

Prior to the contract expiring, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Valero Energy Corp. received notices from USW of its intent to strike at refineries in Montana and Texas if a national labor contract expired without an agreement.

The contract covers 30,000 workers at 69 refineries. Companies are deciding whether to shut refineries or operate them with nonunion workers if the union should declare a general strike. During negotiations three years ago, both sides agreed to three, 24-hour rolling extensions of the contract before a deal was finally worked out.

One of the facilities involved in this is the ConocoPhillips Ferndale Refinery, which has about 400 full-time and contract employees. At this point it’s a wait-and-see situation while negotiations continue. I’ll try to update this evening if the situation changes.

UPDATE: Refiners and the union reached a tentative three-year agreement at around 5:30 p.m. local time. Details will be posted on the business section at TheBellinghamHerald.com

National economist Bill Conerly is the keynote speaker for the 2012 Economic Forecast.

The event, organized by the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry, will be held 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club. Conerly will talk about what to expect in 2012 both locally and nationally.

For more information and to make a reservation, visit bellingham.com.

Here’s a news release from U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, about the approval of disaster assistance for local farmers that had issues with last year’s cool spring/summer. U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray issued similar releases:

Farmers in Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, San Juan and Island counties are eligible to apply for federal disaster support, Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, announced today. The counties are included in a list of 15 in Washington designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as primary natural disaster areas due to agriculture losses caused by excessive rain, flooding, below normal temperatures, high winds, frosts and freezes in 2011.

(more…)

Bandito’s Burritos, a downtown Bellingham restaurant founded in1995, closed over the weekend.

Owner Kristi Christianson left a note on the front door saying the business had a tough year financially, and with the death last week of one of her employees, decided that now was the time. The business was at 120 W. Holly St., near the Cornwall Avenue intersection.

“Being a part of the downtown community has been such a wonderful part of my life. I will miss all of my regular customers and regret not being able to say goodbye to all of you,” Christianson wrote in the note.

Christianson started working at Bandito’s at age 19, then took over ownership of Bandito’s at age 27 in December 2009.

According to the note on the door, Christianson plans to continue selling her salsa. For details and updates, visit banditosburritos.com. Also, everything at the restaurant is currently for sale.

From the City of Bellingham, via Facebook:

Bay Street pay stations are scheduled to be activated on Monday, Jan. 30.

There will be three units: two on the Pickford side (of the street), one on The Woods Coffee side.

Here’s the latest companies to register to do business in Bellingham (Jan. 12-17). Most are new to this area, but some are changes in address/ownership:

Little One’s Beverage, Vesla A Kazimer, 4808 Mosquito Lake Road, Deming

NRC Environmental Services, 9520 10th Ave S #150, Seattle

Oshkosh Truck Corporation, 2307 Oregon St., Oshkosh, Wisc.

(more…)

So far today four banks were shut down by government regulators (Patriot Bank in Minnesota, BankEast in Tennessee, Tennessee Commerce Bank and First Guaranty Bank of Florida), making it seven so far in 2012. I’ll update with a new post if a West Coast bank gets shut down before I leave the office today.