There hasn’t been much of that recently, in almost every type of business, as this Great Recession insists on lingering on and on like a bad winter cold.
But that does make it doubly pleasurable, when we get to announce something new and improved – as we are doing today.
Inside today’s newspaper, you’ll find we’ve added a new local business page on the front of our classified advertising section.
We haven’t had a business page since 2009, and this one will feature interesting and innovative local businesses, as well as business people making the news.
Our first story features two Olympia entrepreneurs who are expanding their wine rack enterprise to include the manufacture of surfboards and paddleboards. It’s an inspiring story about a couple willing to change in a highly fluid economic period.
The page also will include a busy column of the faces and names of business people on the move and a column on personal finance.
Upcoming business pages will profile some of the new downtown businesses, such as Olympia Olive Oil and Oly Vegan, as well as taking a look at those longtime anchors that have weathered several decades of Thurston County economic cycles.
Our business reporter, Rolf Boone, will champion the page, though other reporters will contribute from time to time.
Some of the brief news items might appear first on Boone’s popular Business Blog, which you can find on our website, www.theolym pian.com .
Local businesses can contribute to the page by emailing Boone at rboone@theolympian.com .
Boone was born and raised in Portland and attended The Evergreen State College.
After graduating with a TESC degree, he spent about 18 months trying to make it in the movie business in L.A. He later spent seven years in Japan, teaching English in private and public schools, mostly in the Hiroshima area.
Boone also started to take freelance writing projects in Japan and that fueled his interest to continue writing. He started at an online technology news site, which brought him to Seattle. He then worked for The Wenatchee Business Journal for nearly four years before joining The Olympian in August 2005.
There are a plethora of interesting business stories to tell these days as individuals and companies all try to reinvent themselves for success in this new economy.
We’ve started telling those stories today.
ET CETERA
The news from Ward Lake is that the water is warming up.
Our open water swimming correspondent, Steve Bean, sometimes known as a local attorney, reports the water temperature has finally risen past the 66-degree mark, which he regards as too cold to flail (as his swimming technique has often been described).
Bean has been swimming across the spring-fed, cold lake since the 1980s because he hates indoor pools and loves the open water. Of all the types of swimming, Bean prefers the backstroke, a position that allows him to get a suntan at the same time.
On Thursday, he swam 36 minutes in 69-degree water, which almost made a round trip. Last year’s first swim didn’t occur until June 17 in 71-degree water, so he’s in particularly good shape for the upcoming season.
George Le Masurier, publisher of The Olympian, can be reached at 360-357-0206 or glemasurier@theolympian.
