PORT TOWNSEND — Skookum Jump Rope Co. will cease to exist at year’s end, but other employment options for Jefferson County’s developmentally disabled will be provided, along with an up-to-date approach, the Skookum parent company’s chief executive officer said.

Bremerton-based Skookum Inc. has decided to close the jump rope company, which sprang from humble beginnings in 1988 to give disabled workers jobs making colorful jump ropes that were sold in the wholesale and retail markets and used by schoolchildren around the U.S.

“It has been the heart and soul of our company,” said Jeff Dolven, Skookum CEO and president since late last year and with the company for five years.

“This is not something we are taking lightly.”

The company will continue to produce ropes until the end of the year, employing up to 15 in its Port Townsend Boat Haven factory at the Carl Nomura Building on Benedict Street.

Other positions not affected

The decision will not affect janitorial and other positions that Skookum provides in Jefferson County, Dolven said, including some 25 other jobs at Naval Magazine Indian Island, the cemetery at Fort Worden State Park and the Jefferson County Recycling Center.

New Skookum work contracts are expected to be created at the future Northwest Maritime Center and Jefferson Healthcare hospital clinics.

“Our dedicated staff will begin working with each jump rope employee to create a ‘person-centered plan,’ which we will match each individual’s interests, passions and abilities with vocational opportunities in our town,” Dolven wrote in a recent letter to Skookum parents and caregivers.

“Our goal is to find the right employment or volunteer match for each individual. We have a team of job developers working with both local government and local businesses to find or create suitable employment options.”

A ‘transition’

Dolven said the end of Skookum Jump Rope Co. was more of a “transition” than a closure.

“We plan to stay completely engaged in providing developmentally disabled people jobs,” Dolven said from his Bremerton office, which oversees about 800 Skookum employees throughout the Northwest.

Mark Johnson, rope company manager, acknowledged Monday that he would no longer work at Skookum at year’s end but declined to comment further.

Dolven said Skookum needed “to get out of the paradigm where we are separating people,” which is how he saw the jump rope company.

The idea is to try to get away from the “sheltered workshop” situation and integrate the developmentally disabled into the community through a job coach.

The rope company generated about $150,000 in annual revenues by selling jump ropes and message buttons but is today a small part of Skookum, which has spun off in a big way.

Skookum Inc. is a $35 million corporation, serving Fort Lewis Army and Navy bases, employing more than 300, most of whom are disabled either physically or mentally.

The larger end of the company provides vehicle fleet management, hospital housekeeping, warehousing, janitorial service, facilities maintenance, grounds maintenance, food service, recycling service and employment support.

Skookum Jump Rope Co. was founded by Jim Westall, a special-education teacher at Port Townsend High School who was frustrated by the fact that the disabled students he taught were graduating without jobs.

He started the factory to provide those jobs.

Under the guidance of retired Honeywell executive Carl Nomura, Skookum in 1993 expanded into Port Townsend Baking Co., Jefferson County Recycling and Bay Shore Enterprises.

In 1994, Skookum signed a contract with Naval Magazine Indian Island to provide more jobs for the disabled. In 1996, the company landed a contract with Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, giving 180 disabled people jobs overnight.

In 2001, the company won another contract, this time with the Army at Fort Lewis Center Issue Facility. Another contract with Fort Lewis’ Army Ground Vehicle Maintenance division meant even more jobs for Skookum workers.

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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.