Port of Skagit’s economic development efforts supported by CERB

Last fall, members of the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) toured several projects throughout Skagit County that have received funds from CERB, including four located on Port of Skagit properties. 

The Washington state Legislature created CERB in 1982 to help develop infrastructure necessary to develop or retain stable business and industrial activities. The board is comprised of representatives of both private and public sectors from across the state.

The primary goal of the board is to support private sector job creation by investing in economic development via public infrastructure. At Port of Skagit properties, CERB grants have helped to make additions and improvements that benefit Port tenants. 

A prime example is the improvements and expansion made to Chuckanut Brewery, located in the Bayview Business Park in Burlington. The “South Nut” tasting room and brewery has been located at the Port since 2016. 

Mari and Will Kemper, owners of the brewery, opened the South Nut as a second location, after opening the Bellingham brewery in 2008. Eventually, they shifted operations entirely to Burlington, which offered more space to expand.

CERB dollars funded utility work and site prep to make the location pad-ready for the construction of a 10,890-square-foot pre-engineered metal building, which includes both production and storage space. 

The Port of Skagit received a $72,000 grant and a $480,000 loan from CERB for the construction. Chuckanut Brewery invested $2.5 million and an additional $120,000 was matched by Port funds. 

The project is estimated to create 11 full-time jobs and retain eight full-time jobs at the brewery. Mari Kemper said the expansion is nearly complete and they expect to do the bulk of their hiring during the spring and summer.

“The most exciting part is we finally got our canning line installed and … will be sending the first batches of cans out to our distributors,” Kemper said in an email in early January.

A short drive away within the Bayview Business Park is the Island Grown Farmers Cooperative, a meat processing facility that started out, notably, as the first mobile meat-processing facility in the country. Now in its brick-and-mortar location since 2022, the cooperative supports 80 local farms. 

While the facility is primarily used for slaughtering, processing and packaging, its small retail store, NW Local Meats, is located on site and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday. 

CERB funds in the form of a grant and a loan totaled $240,000. The Port contributed another $60,000, along with a $1 million investment from the cooperative. Besides providing a way for local ranchers to get their products to consumers, the co-op has created 18 full-time equivalent jobs.

The Port has benefitted from CERB funds to begin the development process at the Watershed Business Park on Bayview Ridge in Burlington.

Watershed Business Park is currently undeveloped. The Port of Skagit received a $750,000 grant and a $4,250,000 loan to construct infrastructure to develop Watershed Business Park Project 1, including utilities, the internal road system, and site work for infrastructure construction and lot preparation. The property is zoned light industrial, so it’s a prime location for new businesses looking to locate here or existing businesses looking to expand their operations. This preliminary development work will make the property much more marketable.

The Port received an additional $48,000 grant for a “solutions-based” power study for Bayview Ridge, where the Watershed Business Park is located. The business park will be built out in three phases. Phase 1 is currently in permitting and design, and construction is slated to begin in the summer.

The SWIFT Center, formerly the site of the Northern State Hospital in Sedro-Woolley, was acquired from the state by the Port of Skagit in 2018. The Port, along with its partners, the City of Sedro-Woolley and Skagit County, are looking at ways to redevelop the campus with the goal of bringing family-wage professional jobs to the location. 

CERB board members got the opportunity to tour the Colman and Hub buildings on the site. Port management intends to renovate several of the existing buildings for new use as the property is redeveloped. A study by RMC 

Architects of Bellingham finds it would be possible, and even economically feasible, for the right development partner to renovate certain historic structures on the site. 

The Port is looking to public-private partnerships to renovate and redevelop the property, and likely will apply for CERB funding when the time is right. 

“CERB has been a strong partner to the Port for many years,” Port Executive Director Sara Young said. “CERB funding has made it possible for the Port to build buildings, expand broadband in rural communities, and generally build the infrastructure we need to recruit and retain critical employers in Skagit County.”