Readers,

I’m compiling a list of local people who’ve done something great and spectacular with their lives and have contributed to making West Sound a better place. I’ll be writing profiles about them in the months to come. Who do you think deserves some recognition? While most of the people I know are in the business and social-services communities, due to the beats I cover, I’m sure you know of a deserving person that I haven’t though of. Give me a call or email me. Thanks.

Rachel Pritchett, reporter
rpritchett@kitsapsun.com
360-475-3783

Readers,

The big new clubhouse and events facility at White Horse Golf Course opens to the public Sunday, March 17. Overseers plan St. Patrick’s Day-themed food specials all day long, from 8 a.m. to dusk. I’m always interested when something of this magnitude comes online in West Sound, and since this is in my stomping grounds, I think I’ll stop by early afternoon. So if you see me, say hi and tell me how I’m doing here in my 29th year at the Sun.

Here’s the story about the facility that’s Port Madison Enterprise leaders hope attracts the same wedding and conference traffic that the very successful Hood Canal Vista Pavilion at Port Gamble enjoys, to say nothing of the golfing crowd, which is small but growing.

Here’s the story I wrote about the facility:

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2013/mar/09/destination-clubhouse-opens-at-renewed-white/

Rachel Pritchett, business reporter

Readers,

The Tacoma Narrows Airports has a control tower and Bremerton National Airport doesn’t. But under sequestration, Tacoma’s could close, according to a Tacoma News Tribune piece today. Some local pilots say a control tower draws corporate-jet traffic. Would that even the field? Here’s Steve Maynard’s story:

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/street/2013/03/06/sequestration-may-shut-down-control-tower-at-tacoma-narrows-airport/

Rachel Pritchett

We’re paying $3.93 on average for a gallon of unleaded gas today in Kitsap County, up 3 cents from a week ago, but down from the $4.09 we were paying this day last year.

Some relief is in sight. Analysts now are backing off their “$4 by spring” mantra. A short-term energy outlook from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is predicting that the average gas price nationally, now at $3.85, will bump up to around $3.90 in April, but then follow a slow decline through the rest of the year. In December, the price should be around $3.20, the Administration predicts.

You can read more here.

http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/

— Rachel Prichett

How does the South Kitsap Industrial Area stack up with other industrial areas in Puget Sound? On the smaller side, far less developed side, I’d say. As you may know, SKIA consists of the Olympic View Industrial and Business Parks on the west side of Highway 3, Bremerton National Airport, and the vast mostly undeveloped area east of the runway. SKIA covers 3,690 acres and has 39 firms in it for about 1,000 jobs, according to the Puget Sound Regional Council.

PSRC compared it to the seven other designated industrial areas that include Ballard/Interbay, Duwamish, Frederickson, Kent, North Tukwila, Paine Field/Boeing and the Port of Tacoma.

It found that SKIA has more acreage than the average of the eight, which was 3,178 acres. It had far fewer jobs than the average, which was 20,309, far fewer firms present in it (average was 557), and far fewer parcels. SKIA has 148 parcels and the average is 593 parcels.

Which I suppose means room to grow. It’s kind of an unfair comparison. Some of these industrial areas are as old as Seattle. SKIA’s still new, though there’s been little interest in it by potential businesses to date.

Rachel Pritchett

Published eight times a year, this report from the Federal Reserve Banks gives in-depth analysis of regional U.S. economies:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook/default.htm