Fall 2019, Port of Bremerton Quarterly Newsletter
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Table of Contents:
- Foreword by Commissioner Axel Strakeljahn
- Upcoming Annual Community Meeting
- Tenant Spotlight: Westwind Aviation
- Summer 2019 Airport Recap
- Economic Impact Report
- Tenant Spotlight: Freedom Boat Club
- Summer 2019 Marina Recap
- New Building in Industrial Park
- Avian building space full
- New Airport Diner
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The Future of the Port of Bremerton
From Commissioner Axel Strakeljahn
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The Port of Bremerton has delivered enormous successes in the past six years. The Port embraced its mission as leaders in the economic development realm for the region of Kitsap County through increased marketing, favorable leases, and providing a positive approach towards new and existing businesses. The Port of Bremerton is Open for Business!
Our Marinas are fully occupied, the Airport is showing growth and needing additional hanger space for both jet as well as general aviation use. Job growth is up 125%, tenant numbers have doubled and we are looking long-term to the future expansion of the Puget Sound Industrial Center to market and fill the demands of a growing and demanding environment.
With anticipated population growth in Puget Sound of over 1.8 million people in the next 15 to 20 years, we must be prepared to continue with a business-friendly environment and grow responsibly to not only be efficient, but to provide returns to our citizens and community we work and serve in.
Being the largest industrial center West of Puget Sound, we are working closely with the Washington State Department of Commerce and Governor’s office to attract new and existing businesses from across the nation as well as at the International level to maintain the leadership role of economic development in our Puget Sound Industrial Center.
Business climates and cultures have changed in our world—great advances in aviation, aerospace, electric planes, drones, autonomous travel as well as the space race has changed the way we see the future of our region as well as the future employment needs here in Kitsap County. Education and training facilities must be looking to the future to prepare the next generation to fill the job needs which are on our doorsteps.
With this said you can be assured your Port of Bremerton Commission and staff is on the leading edge- taking the leadership role to create new businesses and family-wage jobs for our community in fast changing and emerging markets. We continue to serve and strive to put the citizens and community in the forefront.
One thing is for sure, change will happen, and we must be prepared to embrace it while protecting the beauty of the Kitsap region we all live in.
Commissioner
Axel Strakeljahn
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Learn how the efforts of the Port are affecting your future at our first Annual Community Meeting on Tuesday, November 19! RSVP soon, it's less than a week away!
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Tenant Spotlight: Westwind Aviation
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Are you looking to spend a weekend in the San Juan Islands, attend a business meeting in Portland, or golf with friends in Bend? Westwind Aviation can take you there! Westwind provides personalized aircraft charters out of the Port’s Bremerton National Airport. There are many beautiful destinations in the Pacific Northwest and beyond that commercial airlines can’t access, but Westwind can! They also offer customized, breathtaking scenic flights.
One of the best kept secrets about Westwind’s flights are their special deals. If you have a little flexibility with dates and times, they can take you and two others on a day trip to Friday Harbor, or fly you to Boeing Field where you can grab a taxi to SeaTac and avoid the I-5 traffic. These trips are offered at super-saver prices. Call them for the details.
Westwind Aviation’s bases are in Bremerton and Friday Harbor. It’s owned by Patrick Heseltine who also owns Avian Flight Center, Avian Aeronautics, and Avian Leasing, which are all located at Bremerton National Airport. Along with charter operations, they offer flight training, aircraft maintenance, and a PSI Testing Center.
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Summer 2019 Airport Recap
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It was my first summer as Bremerton National Airport’s Airport Manager and I have thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to this vibrant aviation and industrial park community at “PWT,” the official Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airport identifier. Several great events attracted tremendous community participation and significantly increased the awareness of the airport’s value to wider Kitsap County. In addition, several projects have been completed or are underway, and there is much more to come.
Wings of Freedom returned to the airport in mid-June – for the second year in a row – with five World War II-era aircraft...
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The Port commissioned an Economic Impact Study to be done this year. The results have just been released and we will be presenting them at our Annual Community Meeting, after which they will be available to view on our website. Be sure to keep an eye out for them!
And thank you to those of you who took the survey, winners were selected from those who participated and were given $200 to Anthony's Restaurants. The happy winner for the airport is pictured to the left.
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Tenant Spotlight: Freedom Boat Club
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For those who want the perks of boat ownership without the hassle,
Freedom Boat Club, at the Port’s Bremerton Marina, might have been created just for you! The club allows members to take any boat from its fleet out for a fun day on the water any day of the week between 8:30 a.m. to a half an hour before sunset. Overnight trips are also available by request.
With Freedom Boat Club, you’re able to dock and dine at any number of waterfront restaurants in the Puget Sound, get involved in watersports, go fishing, diving, crabbing, and more! Member socials and ongoing training for things like the Seattle Locks are also regularly scheduled and the club partners with local businesses such as the Boatshed Restaurant and the Bremerton Bar and Grill for deals and discounts.
There are six boats currently at Freedom Boat Club’s Bremerton location, ranging from 19-26 feet powerboats of all types including bow-riders, pontoons, pilothouses, and more! Between the Bremerton, Tacoma, and Olympia locations, there are 20 boats to choose from and for every 10 members at one location, another boat is bought for the club. The Bremerton location is expecting to grow to 10 boats in 2020.
Members pay a one-time “new member” fee as well as monthly dues. After a 4 hour class, members are able to reserve boats and take them out. Being a Freedom Boat Club member is about 1/3-1/4 the cost of boat ownership and the club, not the members, does the cleaning, maintenance, repairs, and storage of the boats, making it a great way to have a boat without the work.
Shawn Ottenbreit and his wife Tracy started the local franchise in Tacoma with four boats before expanding to Bremerton and Olympia. Freedom Boat Club has 195+ locations throughout the US, Canada, and France and full members are able to get reciprocal access at any club worldwide. Started in 1989, Freedom Boat Club is the country’s oldest and largest members-only boat club.
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The summer of 2019 has been incredibly successful for both the Port Orchard Marina and the Bremerton Marina. The weather in Sinclair Inlet was pleasant and brought an increasing amount of guest moorage to both marinas as people celebrated together on the water, recreated, and enjoyed all the amenities that both the Cites of Port Orchard and Bremerton had to offer.
Port Orchard had many events over the summer which drew more and more people to the marina docks...
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New Building in Industrial Park for Rent
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The Port has just started building a new spec building located at 5550 Cruiser Loop SW in the Olympic View Industrial Park's NE Campus. The 17,400 sq ft building is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2020.
A few parties have expressed interest in becoming tenants. The space could be rented out to one tenant, or two or more tenants could take parts of the building.
If you're interested in the building, please contact Arne Bakker, Director of Business Development at
arneb@portofbremerton.org or at 360-813-0814.
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Avian building is full of tenants!
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In 2018 we added new office space in the second floor of the Avian building and now every space has a tenant! Welcome to our newest tenants, Canaan Corporation, John Sheridan, Peninsula Garage Door!
Tenants include:
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First Floor:
Avian Aeronautics
Avian Flight Center
Avian Leasing
PSI Testing Center
Westwind Aviation
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Second Floor:
Canaan Corporation
Direct Aviation
Ecological Land Services
John Sheridan
NW Wireless Enterprises
Peninsula Garage Door
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Port Remodeling Airport Diner
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In 2020, we are going to update and remodel the Airport Diner with a more modern and energy-efficient design, fantastic outdoor seating, and better work-flow. Our new concept includes a hangar and a new pilot's lounge.
After a detailed building assessment, the results of the analysis proved it to be significantly more cost-effective to redesign and rebuild the diner than to continually repair the building. After working together with the Dacy family on this project for over a year, we respect their decision to discontinue operations after the remodel. We’d like to encourage everyone to continue to support the Airport Diner until it closes at the end of December 2019.
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