Sammamish rewriting home-business guidelines

December 5, 2011

New: Dec. 5, 2:23 p.m.

The Sammamish Chamber of Commerce estimates that 3,500 city residents – almost 8 percent of the population – work out of their homes in some fashion, whether that’s as a consultant, artist or dog-walker.

Though most of those existing businesses wouldn’t be affected, some business owners fear that a scheduled update of the city’s regulations on home businesses could make it more difficult for future residents to run a business from home. Read more

Written by Caleb Heeringa · Filed Under Business, Local News | Leave a Comment

Sammamish’ s Ace Hardware to close

December 1, 2011

New: Dec. 1, 12:13 p.m.

One of Sammamish’s longest-running businesses may soon be out of a home after a dispute over the lease with the company’s landlord.

Ace Hardware, which has inhabited the corner of Sammamish Highlands shopping center for nearly 20 years, will be moving out of the space by next September after owner Tim Koch could not agree to a new lease with Regency Centers, the nation-wide commercial real estate company that owns and runs both shopping centers in town.

Owner Tim Koch stands in front of the Sammamish Ace Hardware, which he has owned and operated since 2000. The store, which predates the city’s incorporation, may be out of a home due to a rent dispute with its landlord. Photo by Caleb Heeringa

Written by Caleb Heeringa · Filed Under Business, Local News | 16 Comments

Farmer’s market to start May 18

May 8, 2011

New: May 8, 11:18 a.m.

It’s back and bigger than ever,

The Sammamish Farmer’s Market will kick off its fourth year May 18, featuring even more organic produce and food, handmade artwork and family-friendly events.

Organizers, including new market manager Juliana Pash, say they have 28 food producers signed up for this year’s market, which happens from 4 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday through the end of September. That’s a far cry from the market’s modest beginning, which started with about seven farmers and a handful of artists in 2008.

“It has surpassed my expectations,” said Deb Sogge, executive director of the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce. “It was tough those first couple years getting everything set up and finding farmers … Now we have farmers spreading the word for us.” Read more

Written by Caleb Heeringa · Filed Under Business, Local News | Leave a Comment

Sammamish students seek work in slightly shrinking pool of opportunity

February 21, 2011

New: Feb. 21, 2:05 p.m.

It took Eastside Catholic senior Matt Wenzinger about a month to land his part-time job at Ristorante Simone in Sammamish. Many of his friends had also been applying for work, to take financial pressure off their parents, some of whom had been negatively affected by the down economy. He looked around, applying to other restaurants, but finally found the right fit at the new Italian restaurant in August.

“It didn’t come that easy for me, but when found that spot I got the job,” Wenzinger said. Read more

Written by Christopher Huber · Filed Under Business, Local News, Schools | 1 Comment

Has Sammamish real estate hit bottom?

February 2, 2011

NEW: Feb. 1, 9:45 a.m.

Sammamish saw a slight improvement in real estate sales in 2010, thanks in part to a federal tax credit for first-time home-buyers in the early part of the year.

But buyers rushing to complete deals by the April deadline may have contributed to a bit of a sluggish second half of the year, which saw a 15 percent drop in home sales compared to the same period in 2009.

And the numbers still aren’t what they were a few years ago, before one of the worst recessions in decades hit the country – Sammamish included.

Written by Caleb Heeringa · Filed Under Business, Local News | 4 Comments

Busy bees abound around Sammamish

April 20, 2010

If you’ve started to notice healthy quantities of bees buzzing around your garden or back patio, don’t be so quick to get out the fly swatter. There’s a chance those bees belong to a neighbor, like Sammamish resident Linda Hines, or Lisa Novich, owner of Knox Cellars Native Bees.

Lisa Novich, Sammamish resident and owner of Knox Cellars Native Bees, shows the set up for raising mason bees. Photo by Christopher Huber

Written by Christopher Huber · Filed Under Business, Community | Leave a Comment

Business to donate profits to food bank

December 15, 2009

Adam Gentry and Charley Lindsley were having a tough time finding work in this economy. So in August, they started a new business, Easy Oil.

“We invented jobs for ourselves,” Gentry said.

One of the pair will go to you, change your car’s oil and top off other fluids on-site, be it at your home or work.

The pair have been interested in helping the community and donated a portion of their profits to the Issaquah Food Bank, Gentry said.

But this month, they want to step up their efforts.

“We really wanted to get involved,” Gentry said.

So, through Jan. 10, they will be donating all of their profits to the Issaquah Food Bank.

“We wanted to take it to a different level,” Gentry said.

For more information about Easy Oil, visit www.easyoil.org.

Adam Gentry and Charley Lindsley were having a tough time finding work in this economy. So in August, they started a new business, Easy Oil.

“We invented jobs for ourselves,” Gentry said. Read more

Written by Ari Cetron · Filed Under Business | Leave a Comment

New business owners brave current market

September 1, 2009

Jason Schaefer, owner of Golf USA, takes a swing in his business’ indoor driving range. Photo by J.B. Wogan

Recession or no, Ray McCorkle decided to open A-Game Sports in Inglewood Plaza in August. He said he believed the presence of three high schools in Sammamish would create a steady demand for sports apparel.

So far, it’s been a struggle.

“We’re breathing. It’s short breaths, but we’re breathing. We need more business,” McCorkle said.

It might seem crazy to open a new business in today’s retail market. People aren’t buying like they did a couple of years ago. The state Department of Revenue released figures in July that said taxable retail sales in King County were down 14.4 percent from last year — about $3.5 billion.

But at least three local entrepreneurs are braving the market anyway and opening new businesses in Sammamish.

McCorkle, who calls himself a “gym rat,” said he has bought advertising in local newspapers and in high school football booster programs, but he still needs to find ways to get the word out that his store exists.

Deb Sogge, executive director of the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce, said McCorkle’s problem wasn’t unusual.

“I think the number one challenge is getting the word out that they’ve opened,” Sogge said. Sogge said new business owners often approach her about marketing strategies. Read more

Written by J.B. Wogan · Filed Under Business, Business News | Leave a Comment

Portal designed to keep an online eye on children

July 14, 2009

By Lauren McLaughlin

Not long ago, Christine Mason decided she was going to do something to make the Internet safe for children.

“My children were starting to spend more time online and my daughter wanted to get an e-mail address, so she could write to her grandparents in Arizona,” Mason said. “I did a little research and I just didn’t find anything that made sense for kids.”

So Mason,of Sammamish, created ZillaDog and ZillaMail, an Internet portal intended to provide a safe Web site and e-mail server for children. The site links to Web sites that Mason said are favored by children. There are trailers for movies rated G and PG, games, and links to other child-friendly Web sites.

“My kids are on it everyday,” Mason said. “The site’s links keep them clear of YouTube and other questionable Web sites.”

“We aren’t a net nanny or a lock down site,” Mason said. “But there’s no search engine, so it’s difficult for kids to stray from the Web site.”

Online safety expert Linda Criddle noted that, just because the Web site does not have a search engine, doesn’t mean children will not be able to connect to a site that does. Still, she said the site has value for younger children.

“It’s good for kids 10 and under,” Criddle said. “Kids those ages don’t feel particularly adventurous and are happy staying on sites they know.”

For younger children, the Web site is a safe environment, Criddle said.

“(Mason) has a nice site with great, fun content,” Criddle said. “It’s a nice playground for kids.”

According to Mason, the Web site attracts a monthly average of more than 30,000 visitors.

But parents do not choose ZillaDog just for Web browsing. ZillaMail, the Web mail service, is a big attraction.

ZillaMail is designed so parents can control the people their children connect with via e-mail. Parents can set up their child’s e-mail so they receive a blind carbon copy of each correspondence, message filtering and set preferences for the account.

ZillaMail removes profanity from the child’s e-mail. There is also a filter where the parents can customize additional words that they deem inappropriate for their children.

Criddle said ZillaMail doesn’t employ all the techniques it could to make the e-mail accounts safer for children to be on the Internet. For example, Criddle said ZillaMail should guide children to choose an alias that does not allude to their age, name or location when they create an e-mail account. Also, she thinks ZillaMail should help children select passwords that can’t easily be guessed.

The Web site and mail server are designed for children ages 6-13, Mason said.

“If they want to use it after they’re 13, we’re not going to boot them out,” Mason said. “But e-mail is something kids outgrow like everything else — they get cell phones and start texting.”

Criddle agreed that children 13 and older would not be inclined to continue their e-mail accounts with ZillaMail. The older they get, the less likely they are to be OK with their parents reading all their e-mails, Criddle said; they will go and find other e-mail address.

According to Mason, ZillaMail is close to reaching 7,000 subscribers, even though Mason has not marketed the site.

“Most of it’s word of mouth, but we have been mentioned on a few blogs,” she said. “A lot of Fort Smith schools in Arkansas are using the Web site. Even some international schools in Thailand and Australia are using the e-mail for pen-pals.”

While local schools may not use the Web site, many local children and their parents are. Justin Park, of Issaquah, has used it for about two years.

“I think it’s great. It makes me feel much more secure. I know who my daughters are e-mailing and what they’re saying, and they know I know,” Park said.

“I had an 11-year-old who wanted an e-mail address. ZillaDog was something she liked and I could control, so it worked for us.”

For more information, visit www.zilladog.com

Intern Lauren McLaughlin can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 244 or samrev@isspress.com. To comment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com

Not long ago, Christine Mason decided she was going to do something to make the Internet safe for children.