THIS WEEK’S NORTH Olympic Peninsula business meetings (all are open to the public):
■ Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce — Weekly luncheon meetings are held Mondays at noon in the second-floor meeting room of the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St.
This Monday’s featured speaker will be Harold Norlund, manager of the Nippon Paper Industries USA Inc. mill, who will discuss the newly completed biomass cogeneration plant on the mill property.
Tickets for the luncheon are $15 and can be purchased from the meeting room cashier.
For those not having lunch, there is a $3 participation fee that includes a beverage.
■ Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce — Weekly luncheon meetings are held Mondays at noon at the Port Townsend Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St.
This Monday’s program will feature U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, who will discuss his first year in Congress.
Lunch at $8 will be catered by Subway. The meeting sponsor will be Kitsap Bank.
■ Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce — Luncheon meetings are held the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at noon at SunLand Golf & Country Club, 109 Hilltop Drive, Sequim.
This Tuesday’s speaker will be Mary Budke, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula.
The meeting sponsor is Ameriprise Financial/Leonard P. Lewicki.
This will be December’s only luncheon meeting because of Christmas.
Luncheon reservations closed Friday, but seats are available for those who are not having lunch. Coffee or tea is $3. Phone 360-683-6197 or email info@sequimchamber.com for information.
■ Forks Chamber of Commerce — Luncheon meetings are Wednesdays at noon at JT’s Sweet Stuffs, 80 N. Forks Ave.
Featured speaker this Wednesday will be Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict.
Lunch costs $8; a bowl of soup, $4.75; and a cup of soup, $4. The entree is lasagna.
■ North Hood Canal Chamber of Commerce — Representing the “Emerald Towns” of the Hood Canal, Quilcene and Brinnon, the chamber meets monthly on the third Monday of the month.
This month’s meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Brinnon Community Center, 306144 U.S. Highway 101 in Brinnon.
Featured speaker will be Elaine Jones, small-business adviser, on free services offered by the Washington State Small Business Development Center.
■ Port Angeles Business Association — Breakfast meetings are Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. at Joshua’s Restaurant, 113 DelGuzzi Drive, Port Angeles.
This Tuesday’s program was not announced.
There is a $3 minimum charge by Joshua’s for those who do not order breakfast.
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Nonprofit fetes 16th year with Founder’s Award
PORT TOWNSEND — ECHHO — Ecumenical Christian Helping Hands Organization — celebrated its 16th anniversary with an open house at Port Townsend’s First Presbyterian Church.
About 30 volunteers and friends were in attendance as board chair Hank Hazen asked ECHHO founders Bruce and Jeanette Travis to present this year’s Founder’s Award to Mary Brunner and Nellie Dunnet.
Brunner and Dunnet have been ECHHO volunteers since the organization’s founding in 1997.
Other attendees included Chester Prudhomme and Mac Magary, both of whom were recognized for their volunteer service as drivers with the highest mileage totals.
ECHHO is a nonprofit organization that works with volunteers and community organizations to provide transportation, chores, social support and medical equipment to Jefferson County residents to “help them continue to live independently.”
In 2012, ECHHO served 970 area residents, providing more than 3,000 services.
For more information, contact Executive Director Ken Dane at 360-379-3246 or ken@echhojc.org.
New product lines
SEQUIM — Brian’s Sporting Goods & More has added new clothing lines for men and women.
It has added the Helly Hansen and Under Armour brands for men and Columbia Sportswear and Woolrich lines for women.
Brian’s Sporting Goods is located at 609 W. Washington St., No. 21.
For more information, phone Brian’s at 360-683-1950.
Day care recognizes its staff
PORT ANGELES — BoBaggins Daycare Inc. held the annual winter appreciation event for its employees.
An employee from each of its three centers was recognized with an “Over the Top” award: Jeannie Byrum, Bibity Bobity a Kid’s Place; Ashley Harden, Banbury Corner Daycare and Preschool; and Sally Allen, BoBaggins Daycare and Learning Center.
Nicole Goettling, supervisor for Bibity Bobity, received the “Early AchieverAward.”
Bandbury and BoBaggins Daycare are in Port Angeles; Bibity Bobity is in Carlsborg.
Early Achievers is a new program in Washington State focusing on quality childcare.
These three sites are registered participants in the program and will be rated in 2014.
Sheila Smith, Sara Reed and Sally Allen were recognized for giving more than 20 years of service to early childhood working at BoBaggins and Banbury Corner.
The three centers are owned by Jane Childers and managed by Anna Reardon.
Nominations sought for yearly awards
The Clallam Bay-Sekiu Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for its annual Member, Business and Town Beautification awards.
Member and business awardees must be chamber members who have contributed above and beyond their occupation or expected duties to the community and/or chamber.
A list of members can be found at www.sekiu.com.
The Town Beautification Award does not require chamber membership. Nominees can be a business or individual who has significantly improved the appearance of Clallam Bay/Sekiu by constructing or renovating a building, landscape or other aesthetic improvement.
The Chamber Executive Committee will review nomination letters and select recipients.
Nomination letters can be emailed to info@clallambay.com or sent to the Clallam Bay/Sekiu Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 355, Clallam Bay, WA 98326.
The deadline for nominations is Thursday, Dec. 26.
Awards will be presented at the chamber meeting at Sunsets West Co-op, 16795 state Highway 112 in Clallam Bay, at noon Wednesday, Jan. 8.
Businesses join
SEQUIM — Parisian Nails, a retail store and nail salon, has joined forces with Glitter & Glitz, a vintage holiday gift and furniture retailer, at 31 Valley Center Place.
Owners Sara Cole, Irene Schmidt and Holly Bock invited the public to an open house at their location from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. last Saturday (Dec. 7).
For more information, phone Schmidt at 360-460-4040 or email queenirene60@gmail.com.
Nonprofit courses
PORT TOWNSEND — A pilot program for certification in nonprofit management is being launched in Jefferson County by the University of Washington-Tacoma KeyBank Professional Development Center.
The program’s core classes will be featured.
If at least eight participants sign up, classes begin Jan. 25 and will be held at First Federal, 1321 Sims Way, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays.
Leadership will be covered Jan. 25 and Feb. 1; financial management Feb. 22 and March 8; human resources March 15 and 22; performance measurement April 5 and 12; and fundraising April 26 and May 3.
The Jefferson County Community Foundation, or JCCF, initiated the process to bring the program to Port Townsend.
Should the minimum number of participants be sustained through the pilot program, UW-Tacoma will offer the remaining courses required for certification.
Designed for people working or volunteering in the nonprofit sector, courses will include strategies for building effective programs, maintaining an efficient nonprofit organization and supervising personnel.
The courses will be taught by instructors who are nonprofit professionals.
Fees are $195 per class plus the cost of books.
People may sign up for individual classes for professional enrichment or for all of the classes if their goal is to receive certification.
To register for classes or for more information, visit www.tacoma.uw.edu/KeyPDC or phone 253-692-4618.
61,000 sign up
OLYMPIA — About 61,000 Washington residents have signed up for private insurance through the state’s new health care exchange since it opened on Oct. 1.
But 43,000 of them need to finish enrolling by paying for their new health coverage that is set to begin in January.
State officials say another 150,000 Washington residents have signed up for free insurance through Medicaid.
Of that group, more than 80,000 had no health insurance before qualifying for Medicaid.
Before the federal Affordable Care Act, an estimated one million Washington residents did not have health insurance.
Officials at the exchange are expecting a spike in completed enrollments this month.
Their goal is to have 130,000 people buy private insurance in time to have coverage on Jan. 1.
About 50,000 people have started the process but have not signed up for insurance.
Applebee’s tablets
GLENDALE, Calif. — How to deal with boredom at the table and long waits for the check while dining out?
Applebee’s is betting on 100,000 tablets.
The casual dining chain is planning to install the technology at every table and many bars at its more than 1,800 locations by the end of 2014.
The E La Carte Presto tablets — powered by Intel — will allow patrons to pay from their seats while also adding food and beverages to their existing orders, according to DineEquity, Applebee’s Glendale-based parent company.
