Kitsap Great Give

TODAY IS THE DAY

The Kitsap Great Give is a 24-hour, online giving event presented by the Kitsap Community Foundation and United Way of Kitsap County for the benefit of our entire community.

Raising more than $2 million dollars for community organizations, and showcasing many nonprofits that make Kitsap (and surrounding areas) a great place to live - for everyone. 

Chamber Workshop: BIPD Met with Business Owners to Discuss Safety

During a special Chamber Workshop on Wednesday April 5, Bainbridge Island Police Department Chief Joe Clark and Community Resource Officer Zach Burnham addressed a cross-section of local business and commercial property owners in the BIMA Auditorium.

They updated the community with tips and tactics based on the kinds of break-ins island businesses have been subjected to in recent months, best practices to secure their locations, and a new service from the BIPD to help support those efforts.

Hood Canal Bridge Cancels Full Weekend Closures

WSDOT has announced that due to public feedback, there will be NO full weekend closures of the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge this summer.

Repairs to the floating bridge that connects Kitsap and Jefferson counties will now take place through multiple overnight closures on both weekdays and weekends in May, June and September.

Legislation Work Continues on Housing & REET Tax

Wednesday is the last day for bills to make it completely through both the House and Senate in some form, except those related to the budget.

A shortage of homes is driving the housing affordability crisis and there are a couple of bipartisan package of bills that aims to increase housing supply: follow HB 1110 (promoting the development of smaller multi-family housing) & HB 1337 (easing restriction on the construction of ADUs). 

Lawmakers are still considering a bill that would raise the real estate excise tax (REET) rate. HB 1628 aims to raise revenue for affordable housing, but it would only make housing more expensive by causing Washington to have the highest REET rate in America.

Work Ready Bainbridge: Application Window Open For Employers, Employees

The Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce and Bainbridge Youth Services (BYS) joined forces to create Work Ready Bainbridge 2023 – an eight-week summer employment and workforce certification program connecting local youth employees (ages 16-24) with employers and the local business/nonprofit community on Bainbridge Island.

Local Government 101 - How Commissioners, County + Citizens Work Together

Kitsap County faces important decisions in the coming years, decisions about land use and population growth, development and infrastructure, and about who its next leaders will be.

This chamber explores each of the 5 basic pillars that form the foundation of the county: the Board of Commissioners, other elected officials, departments and staff, citizen advisory groups, and the Kitsap County Superior Court.

The elected and non-elected officials that make up each pillar play a crucial role in developing, enacting, and enforcing policy that make a difference in your life daily.

COBI: Additional 90-Day Food Service Ware Extension Available

In response to feedback from the business community, The City of Bainbridge Island has agreed to allow businesses to request another three-month extension (through June 30) to use up their existing supply of non-home compostable, disposable food service ware.

To request an extension, businesses need to submit a request form by Friday, April 14th.

On The Agenda:

City Council Regular Business Meeting

Tue April 11 at 6pm

Key Items:

Item 8B: Receive comprehensive plan update progress report from planning department

Item 8C: Discussion about state's housing allocation methods to plan for population growth

Purchase Your Tickets Now for the Business Awards Party

Sat Apr 29, 5 - 9pm

And the winners are...well, not quite yet, those will be announced on April 29 at the 2023 Business Awards Show/After Party at The Manor House!

To be the first to know who the winners are it is time to purchase your tickets now, as only 15 of the150 remain.

The all-inclusive tickets are priced at $70 for members and their guests.

Thank you to Bainbridge Event Rentals for bringing their "The Lightning Booth" photo fun, Eleven Winery for donating wine and Town & Country Markets for supplying desserts.

Broad Stripes & Bright Stars: Grand Old 4th Planning

We are preparing to celebrate the Island's largest and longest-running island tradition - The Grand Old 4th!

As your hosts, the Chamber is delighted to have registration open for the Street Fair (all vendors, including food) & Hometown Parade, as well as to humbly ask for Community Volunteers to consider signing up to be part of the fun.

Important Upcoming Dates:

• June 2 - Street Fair Vendor Deadline
• June 16 - Parade Deadline

TechDNA

Tech DNA provides comprehensive, confidential and unbiased analysis of software and software teams in the M&A context. 

They are extremely experienced software developers, each with at least 20 years of pre-Tech DNA experience in technical specialties from low-level drivers to end-user applications to cloud services. 

On top of their individual experience, they are market leaders in technical due diligence; since 2010, they have evaluated millions of lines of code across hundreds of acquisitions valued, at acquisition, at over $50 billion.

Visit their website to learn more

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice ... Meet Bon Bon's New Owner Kate Durand

Kate Durand came to Bainbridge Island in 1997 and spent three years commuting to the University of Washington before opening Island Movies - the small video rental store formerly across the street from the Pavilion.

She had a lot of fun with that and met lots of Bainbridge Island’s movie buffs, but when Netflix came along, she moved on to selling Real Estate at John L Scott for the next six years. In 2009, her husband John’s career took the family to San Francisco, but Kate longed to return home to Bainbridge Island and finally did so in 2019 with the intention of running another small business.

When Bon Bon became available for sale, it was the perfect opportunity and Kate jumped on it. She is thrilled to be continuing to produce delicious Bainbridge Island Fudge and to be selling candy to island friends, neighbors, and visitors.

Meet Kate at Bon Bon at 230 Winslow Way E

Rock Your Socks Off at Rockin' Ruby Records

The parking lot was full on Saturday while Poulsbo's Mayor Becky Erickson & Bainbridge's Mayor Brenda Fantroy-Johnson helped cut the ribbon to Poulsbo’s first-ever record store with owners Melanie, Mary, & Jo from Rockin' Ruby Records.

This 1200 sq feet of space is filled with new and preowned vinyl, CDs, and cassettes, alongside an extensive selection of LEGOs and figurines.

Retro music gifts, clothing, and one-of-a-kind artwork is available, as is fresh drip from Pegasus Coffee (with all beverage profits donated to local animal rescues).

Visit in person at 279 Lindvig Way or online

April Earth Month Activities

Zero Waste has a month of activities to support Earth Month from picking up liter to playing Earth Bingo.

Plus they are partnering with local organizations to help reuse & recycle household items:

• Bay Hay and Feed is collecting socks - bring in any kind of clean socks, singles or pairs, with holes or not
• Marge Williams Center (221 Winslow Way West) is collecting CDs & DVDs
• Bainbridge Farmers' Market (Persephone Farm, Butler Green Farms, & Central Valley Nursery vendors) is collecting plant pots

Or take action for the environment and pick a roadway or trash-strewn area - borrow waste grabbers from BI Zero Waste to help cleanup litter.

Celebrate trees & ideas to cleanup our planet

Plum's 2023 Haiku Winners

Bainbridge's Plum announced their winners for the 2023 competition and over 75 haiku poems were submitted. Stop by to see all of the haiku displayed on the Plum deck (124 Winslow Way E) during the month of April. Congratulations to all the winners!

1st Place - Bill Fay

prelude

a meadowlark's song

over the fields

2nd Place - Maria Tosti

almond blossoms -

the first poem written

in the clear sky

3rd Place - Mary Carlson

In a slushy curve,

the forsythia

bellowing yellow

Shop Online at Plum in Downtown Winslow Asian-inspired, Pacific Northwest shop

Four Free Online Programs on Finances & Investing

Apr 13 & Apr 20, at 4:30pm

Financial literacy is empowering—yet good, practical education about financial management is too often out of reach for people, especially those with limited incomes.

On behalf of BCF, every year Paul Merriman organizes free virtual events with speakers who are nationally renowned experts in their fields in order to help educate our community on how to better plan for our futures.

This year, each event is targeting a specific age group on topics relevant to their stage in life.

Learn More & Register for These Free Events

Each month the Chambers of Commerce ask a single question to gather information on our communities and our county...

Q: How do you feel about the e-commerce element of your business?