Warren Ave Multimodal Project Seeks Input
Complete a Community Survey Today
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The City of Bremerton has received $26.5M from the Washington State legislature to design and construct pedestrian and bicycle improvements on the Warren Avenue Bridge. We want to ensure future improvements reflect the needs and desires of the community. You can help by taking a few minutes to complete a survey: www.warrenavebridgeproject.com/community-outreach
Join the City of Bremerton on Monday, April 24th for an open house to learn more about the project.
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April Membership Luncheon
Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 11:00 am
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RECAP: St. Vincent de Paul Ribbon Cutting |
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Congratulations to St. Vincent de Paul on the opening of their new Super Store in East Bremerton. The Chamber was on hand to celebrate with a ribbon cutting on April 11, 2023. |
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RECAP: RE/MAX Anchor Ribbon Cutting |
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Downtown Bremerton's 4th Street was abuzz on Friday as local businesses and leaders celebrated the opening of RE/MAX Anchor across from the Historic Roxy Theatre. |
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Renew your membership today to ensure your place as a Charter Member of the Greater Kitsap Chamber! Questions about when to renew or how to upgrade your membership? Contact Irene now!
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Missed a previous edition of the Chamber's Community Connections?
View all the past issues on our website HERE.
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New Members - Welcome to the Chamber! |
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Encore Communities offer:
- Independent living
- Assisted living
- Memory care
- Respite care
- Short-term rehabilitation
Welcome to a full range of living and care communities, ensuring consistency, quality of care, and personalization. From charming private cottages, one- and two-bedroom apartments to studio suites to a state-of-the-art medical facility, we match living arrangements to changing resident needs and preferences. Six are Washington-area locations; four are in Silverdale and two in Shoreline. Working with our team of skilled nurses and healthcare professionals, we take time and great care to help select the right community and level of care for our residents. All accommodations are in warm, comfortable settings that offer inclusive resident-first options.
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12169 NW Country Meadows Lane | Silverdale, WA 98383 | (360) 692-1228 |
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Seattle Seahawk Hosts NFL Draft Party at Clearwater Casino Resort
Thursday, April 27, 2023, 4:00 pm
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Forever Memories - Sharyl Rapavy |
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At FOREVER, we are driven by the belief that family memories and traditions are priceless treasures. FOREVER is the only company that provides a complete family memory keeping service – one that includes digitization, permanent cloud storage, content organization, and printing. We also realize that your memories belong to you and need to be protected. Your content is triple backed up and secure. Owners can rest easy knowing that FOREVER is committed to protecting their precious photos and memories, ensuring that their legacies are passed on to future generations.
We offer the first guaranteed permanent online shareable storage service backed by an economic model that makes permanence possible. You pay for FOREVER Storage® once. A large portion of the fees paid into FOREVER Storage are invested into our ground-breaking FOREVER Guarantee Fund. Monies invested in the fund are restricted and invested solely to support the ongoing preservation of your memories.
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Weekly Legislative Updates
2023 Session: Week 14 Report
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As an exclusive benefit to our paid membership, the Greater Kitsap Chamber has again enlisted the services of Brad Boswell and team from Boswell Consulting to provide weekly legislative updates during the 2023 legislative session. Brad will also host a monthly Q&A on the last Friday of each month via Zoom to answer your questions directly. |
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Real Estate Excise Tax Amended: What's Next |
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The Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) increase (2SHB 1628), was amended and voted out of the House Finance Committee in Olympia on Friday and action is needed today from voters. Among other provisions, the bill would allow local governments to raise the local REET by .5% on all transactions and it would raise the state portion on tier 4 REET from 3% to 3.5%.
If this is an issue that impacts you and your business and you would like to amplify your voice with legislators, the Association of Washington Business is drafting a letter that local businesses can sign on to. Click the link below to view the letter and sign if you wish. The deadline to add your name is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 18.
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Member Education & Training Resources |
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ScaleUp Business Training is designed to help established businesses increase profitability, build capacity and spur growth.
The program is most beneficial for established business owners, with two or more years’ experience owning and operating a small business, and are currently based in Washington state.
This online program which normally costs $1,599 will be provided at no cost to Washington State businesses through June 30, 2023.
Upcoming Classes:
Tuesdays, April 18, 2023 - June 6, 2023 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - Register Here
Thursdays, May 4, 2023 - June 22nd, 2023 - 10:30 a.m. - Register Here
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Small Business Cybersecurity Training Series |
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Small businesses are under cyber and data-breach attacks more than ever given the current climate. Cyber attacks happen every day, and for a small business they can be very costly and cripple business operations. Having your systems and information compromised is not only a direct threat to your confidential data, it can also ruin your relationships with customers and cause legal vulnerability. It is imperative to learn how to boost your cyber defense systems.
This four-part training series was developed to help small businesses be cyber safe. The series will be a combination of cybersecurity presentation, subject matter expert panel and Q&A. Join us and become cyber safe today!
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SCORE: Pricing Products and
Delivering Satisfaction
Monday, April 24, 2023, 1:00 pm
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Nothing hurts the profitability of your business more than choosing the wrong price for your products or services. In this workshop we show you how to decide on your product and services pricing for greater profit. We also show you how to distribute your products and services efficiently, providing customer satisfaction.
Workshop Fee: $40
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Employment Security Department: Shared Work
Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 11:50 am
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- SharedWork helps stabilize businesses during temporary economic setbacks.
- Employers keep their workforce intact by temporarily reducing hours to save payroll costs and keep the businesses operating.
- SharedWork pays employees a prorated percentage of unemployment insurance benefits.
- Eligibility is open to most businesses and industries.
SharedWork and Office of Regulatory Innovation and Assistance (ORIA)
- Tuesday, April 25, 2023 - 1:50 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
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Virtual via Zoom live - Register Here
SharedWork y Permiso de Cuidado Pagado
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Martes, 9 de mayo - 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. - Registrate Ahora
- Patrocinado por la Cámara de Comercio de Greater Federal Way
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SBDC: Three Basic Financial Reports
Every Business Should Have
Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 1:00 pm
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A business has to prove its viability and worth to potential lenders and investors. In this webinar, we will discuss the three basic financial reports that every business should have whether it is a start-up or a well-established business. We will delve into who the typical users will be, what questions they may ask, and how you can use these reports to operate your business. |
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Lunchtime Lightning Talk @ Vibe Coworks:
"What it Means to Do Business as a Certified
B-Corp, Social Purpose or Minority-Owned Company"
Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 11:30 am
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BYO lunch and arrive at 11:30 for conversation and networking. Lightning talks begin at 12pm and end promptly at 1pm. Advanced RSVP is requested but not required.
This is a FREE event and open to the public. You do not need to be a member of the Chamber or of Vibe to attend.
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GSBA Offers LGBTBE Certification Workshops
May 2 & 9, 2023
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Part 1 - What is Supplier Diversity and How to Get Certified
May 2nd, 2023 - 9AM-10:30AM
In this introduction workshop, our CEO & President Ilona Lohrey will introduce you to the idea of supplier diversity and how to get certified. Ilona will be joined by Stacie Harwood, Sr. Program Manager, Supplier Diversity at T-Mobile, who will share insights into why certification is important and how it can benefit any business.
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Part 2 - Capability Statements and "I'm Certified, Now What?"
May 9th, 2023 - 9AM-10:30AM
In the 2nd half of these virtual workshops, we will cover some of the industry lingo you'll need to pitch your business, how to find your industry codes, how to identify the best corporations to partner with for your business, how to write a capability statement, and more.
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Military Relations Committee |
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Sign-Up Now for the Bremerton
Armed Forces Day Parade
Parade applications now available online!
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Business News & Resources |
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Inflation Cooled in March but Still Too High |
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The Consumer Price Index, the broadest measure of consumer prices, increased 5% from a year earlier, down from 6% in February and a 40-year high of 9.1% last June.
Why it matters: The overall fall of the topline inflation number will get attention. It is a positive step but stripping out volatile components like food and energy shows “core prices” are still rising rapidly (5.5% annually).
Details:
- Inflation rose 0.1% from February to March, a sharp decline from January and February.
- Housing was by far the largest contributor to the monthly increase.
- It more than offset declines in energy, which decreased 3.5% over the month.
- Food at home prices fell 0.3% during March.
- Core prices (all items less food and energy) rose 0.4%.
- On an annual basis, prices of necessities like electricity (10.2%), food at home (8.4%), and housing (8.2%) rose, while gas (-17%) declined.
Be smart: The inflation data will tell the Fed that higher interest rates are working, but that they still need to raise them more to get inflation back down to its 2% target. Look for another rate increase in May.
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eCommerce Prices Experience Decline in March |
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Despite ongoing inflationary pressures, online prices saw a 1.7% decrease in March compared to the previous year, as revealed by the Adobe Digital Price Index published by Adobe Analytics. This marks the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year price reductions in more than half of the categories monitored by Adobe.
Categories such as groceries, clothing, and personal care items experienced price increases of 10.3%, 6.6%, and 4.4%, respectively. On the other hand, the report indicated that electronics and furniture/bedding product prices fell by 12.9% and 0.9%, respectively.
Other categories witnessing price declines included flowers and gifts (24.3%), appliances (4.9%), toys (6.6%), and home and garden products (4.9%), as per the Adobe report.
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Nonprofit News & Resources |
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The Greater Kitsap Chamber is proud to be one of only five Chambers statewide selected to partner with the Nonprofit Association of Washington (NAWA) to bring education and resources to nonprofits in Western Washington. Stay tuned to this section of our weekly newsletter for education, resources and more for our nonprofit community. To learn more about NAWA, please visit their website here.
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Donor-Advised Funds:
Unlocking Funding for Our Communities
Friday, April 21, 2023, 10:00 am
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Currently over $234 billion is being held in Donor-Advised Funds. Join us for a conversation about the benefits and challenges of DAFs.
What reforms and practices will best unlock the funding our communities need in order to thrive? We’ll get perspectives from nonprofits, community foundation DAF sponsors and donors on how we can all better work together to ensure DAFs are supporting our communities.
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Finance Unlocked for Nonprofits
Monday, April 24, 2022
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Are you ready to unlock your nonprofit financial literacy? Join the Nonprofit Association of Washington's Director of Learning, Jennifer Chang and other nonprofit leaders in your area for a nonprofit finance workshop in Sequim on April 24. Finance Unlocked for Nonprofits, which intentionally abbreviates to FUN, was created to bring fun to finance. This workshop is for nonprofit board members and staff wanting to elevate financial knowledge within their organization. Teams are strongly encouraged. From key words and forms to understanding how everything fits together, you will increase your basic nonprofit finance knowledge. This workshop will cover balance sheets, income statements, IRS From 990, giving, oversight and more.
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Bremerton Looking at Police & Fire Levies |
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Bremerton voters may soon be asked to approve a tax increase that would add up to 17 new positions for the fire and police departments, with the city council set to consider placing a public safety levy lift on the Aug. 1 ballot.
The proposed public safety levy, scheduled for a vote at the city council's April 19 meeting, would raise more than $2.3 million annually to fund the staff positions as well as some equipment and training. It would raise the city's property tax rate by 40 cents per $1,000 of valuation to a total rate of $1.87 per $1,000, an increase of $160 for a total city property tax payment around $750 each year on a $400,000 home.
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New Silverdale Development on Its Way |
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More retail development is coming to Silverdale, across from The Trails, a recently built 30-acre shopping center.
An entity related to Cascadia Senior Living and Development is underway on a 25,000-square-foot retail center called Cascadia Pointe, located off Northwest Greaves Way. Signed tenants include Starbucks, Dave's Hot Chicken and Indigo Urgent Care.
The development is adjacent to Cascadia's future Fieldstone Memory Care property and a forthcoming hotel or office building planned by the company. The cost of the projects total $120 million.
"Restaurant sales are extremely high in Silverdale versus other regional markets in Puget Sound and many established operators who used to be Seattle/Eastside-centric are now open to expansion on this side of the water," said Steve Ruggiero, president of First American Properties, which leasing the project for Cascadia.
Cascadia hopes the development will play to the area's growing population and long-term federal investments in the nearby naval base. The land itself was added to the city's urban growth area in 2010.
The retail spaces are expected to be the first finished, with delivery set for the second quarter of 2024.
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Fast Ferry to the Rescue: Kitsap Transit's Commander passenger ferry pulls in close to the Washington State Ferry Walla Walla to tie up and take on the passengers of the ferry after it ran aground while transiting Rich Passage and ended up on the shore of Lynwood Center on Bainbridge Island on Saturday, April, 15. MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN |
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Ferry Walla Walla Runs Aground in Rich Passage |
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Published in the Kitsap Sun, April 15, 2023, updated April 16, 2023
Photos: Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun
The state ferry Walla Walla ran aground on a Bainbridge Island beach in Rich Passage Saturday afternoon, and remained stuck for hours though passengers were evacuated and transported to Bremerton by late evening.
The incident was first reported at about 4:40 p.m. Washington State Ferries spokesperson Ian Sterling said it appeared that the Walla Walla, which was built in 1973 and rebuilt in 2003, had a generator failure of some sort that led to a loss of control on the vessel.
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COVID-19 Updates & Resources |
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Masks & COVID Testing Kits Available
Free at the Greater Kitsap Chamber & Visitor Center
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The Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management provides local businesses with free KN95 masks and COVID testing kits. Pick up your supply at both Greater Kitsap Chamber locations today. |
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COVID-19 Support & Resources |
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Kitsap County Health District is now posting a regularly updated list of COVID-19 vaccine providers in Kitsap County. This list can be found here.
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Kitsap Caregiver Community Meetings
April 18, 2023
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Suquamish Community Earth Day Cleanup
Saturday, April 22, 2023, 9:00 am
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Live Well Kitsap! Community Hike
Saturday, April 29, 2023, 10:00 am
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Advertising Opportunity:
Put Your Business on the Map
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With nearly all 10,000 copies of last year's map distributed around the greater Puget Sound region, including 7,500 on our local ferries, the Greater Kitsap Visitor Center map is the place to advertise your business! The 2023 edition will include street maps of both Silverdale and Bremerton - perfect if you're new to the area or a long-time resident. Contact the Visitor Center for more information! |
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Admiral Theatre Presents
Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles
Saturday, April 22, 2023, 7:30 pm
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A spirited blend of originality and the pursuit of excellence have taken Hotel California “A Salute to the Eagles” to a level of recognition normally reserved for Gold and Platinum recording artists.
By respectfully and accurately reproducing the Grammy award winning sounds of our generation’s Greatest American Songbook, this legendary Southern California group, has touched the hearts of fans all over the world.
The most successful and longest running show of it’s kind, Hotel California “A Salute to the Eagles”, is the ONLY show to have ever received “Official Authorization” to perform the Eagles catalog of music.
So join us on a trip down a dark desert highway… Feel the cool wind in your hair … It’s time to check into …
The Hotel California.
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Day Trip from Kitsap: Spring State Fair
April 20-23, 2023
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Bremerton Community Theatre: Mary Poppins
Now thru April 30, 2023
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Bert, the jack-of-all trades, introduces us to the troubled Banks family in 1910 England. Using a combination of magic and common sense, a magical nanny named Mary Poppins must teach the family members how to value each other again. She takes the children on memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren't the only ones upon whom she has a profound effect. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that "anything can happen if you let it". Based on the books by P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film.
The lobby opens 1 hour, and the house opens approximately ½ hour, prior to curtain. Performances will be in the Robert Montgomery Auditorium and will run approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.
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Port Gamble Theatre: The Glass Menagerie
Now thru April 30, 2023
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Stay in the know with what's happening for events
in Central Kitsap by checking out and liking the
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Have something to share? CLICK HERE to submit stories and
events for Tuesday's Community Connections!
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David Emmons
President/CEO
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Irene Moyer
VP, Membership & Strategic Communications
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Brenda Kelley
Tourism Coordinator
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Bremerton Office (360) 479-3579 | 4th & Pacific Downtown Bremerton
Silverdale Office (360) 692-6800 | Kitsap Mall next to Macy's
PO Box 1218 Silverdale WA 98383
If you need assistance, please contact us directly.
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