This Bellingham office was set to close. Instead it was bought by another firm
A Bellingham office once slated to be closed will remain open thanks to an acquisition.
SDI Innovations announced in a news release on Monday, Jan. 13, that it has acquired the Bellingham office of Premier Agendas.
School Specialty Inc. announced in October that it was closing the Premier Agendas division, impacting 40 workers. In Monday’s news release, SDI said it would keep the remaining 27 full-time employees and the sales, customer service and production operations will remain in Bellingham.
School Specialty is keeping its office in Bellingham with about 30 employees, according to its announcement in October.
SDI, which is based in Lafayette, Indiana, is the parent company to School Datebooks. School Datebooks is a major player in the planning-calendar industry, serving more than 13,000 schools, said Tim Powers, president and CEO of SDI.
“(This acquisition) dramatically increases our market share and secures an opportunity for us to continue to grow in the educational industry,” Powers said in the news release.
There is the potential for the Bellingham office to grow and SDI does plan on hiring seasonal workers in the near future, said Jon Sautter, director of marketing for the company, in an email. He also noted the current staff is a great fit for SDI, as the corporate culture mirrors the one in Lafayette.
Although adopting a smaller Bellingham presence in recent years, Premier Agendas once had a large printing operation, making school planners and other school supplies at 2000 Kentucky St. That division, known as Premier Graphics, operated in Bellingham from 1994. It was acquired by Bellingham-based Lithtex Northwest in 2013.
In recent years Premier Agendas has maintained an office at 400 Sequoia Drive. Sautter said they plan on keeping Premier Agenda brand and will keep the Sequoia Drive office.
