Here are all the winners and finalists from this year’s Whatcom Business Awards event
The 38th annual Whatcom Business Awards, hosted by the Whatcom Business Alliance and Business Pulse magazine, took place on March 27 and recognized many local businesses and entrepreneurs.
The countywide award competition has six categories: Small Business of the Year; Business Person of the Year; Start-up Business of the Year; Lifetime Achievement award; Employee of the Year; and a Public Service award.
The awards also recognize the finalists, not just the award winners, by featuring each finalist with a full-length feature article in the March/April edition of Business Pulse magazine.
“Every year, the WBA hosts the Whatcom Business Awards Black & Gold Gala to shine a spotlight on 15 individuals whose talents and achievements might otherwise go unrecognized,” WBA Executive Director Barbara Chase said in a news release.
“The WBA invests significant professional work to tell the story of every finalist, not just the ultimate award winner in each category,” Chase said.
Here are the 2025 Whatcom Business Award winners and finalists:
▪ Small Business of the Year: Avenue Bread. Finalists included Stemma Brewing, Summit Bookkeeping and Bellingham Bay Builders.
▪ Start-Up Business of the Year: Create it Studio. Finalists included Bloomhaven Bottle Shop, King of Kings Window Cleaning and Cooper Northwest.
▪ Business Person of the Year: Ty McClellan, Hardware Sales. Finalists included Brad Barron of Barron Heating AC Electrical & Plumbing, Trip Randall of Superfeet Worldwide and Stowe Talbot of Talbot Group.
▪ Whatcom Lifetime Achievement Award: Mike Hammes, RAM Construction
▪ Employee of the Year Award: Jennifer Boer, Mount Baker Vision Clinic
▪ Public Service Award: John Perry, Mayor of Everson
