Wednesday, August 19, 2026 | |
Secure You Spot in the Greater Kitsap
Chamber's Destination Guide
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We are pleased to announce our continued partnership with Lunar Cow Publishing, a firm specializing in destination marketing for the Greater Kitsap Chamber & Visitor Center Destination Guide. We are excited about the opportunities this new publication will offer you.
The Greater Kitsap Chamber & Visitor Center Destination Guide is our premier promotional piece. The guide is the first resource visitors will use when looking for attractions and planning trips to the area. Participation in the Destination Guide has terrific advantages. Distribution includes 7,500 printed copies placed in prime locations to assist in driving traffic to our advertisers. Our digital GoGuide® allows your business exposure potential to reach thousands more customers. Your advertisement in the digital GoGuide® will be linked to your website, giving readers one-click access to your business.
Please note: Ad Sales begin this week so Chamber members may be contacted by phone or email by Lunar Cow Publishing.
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August Membership Luncheon
Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 11:00am
| | Join us for our annual New Member Showcase on August 26th at the Kitsap Conference Center. This month's Luncheon is focused on connecting with new businesses who have joined the Chamber in the last year and learning how to maximize your Chamber membership. Hear from a panel of networking pros and gain insights into fostering meaningful business relationships and collaboration across Kitsap County. | |
Ribbon Cutting & Grand Reopening: Hwy 420
Saturday, August 29, 2026, 12:00pm
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Save-the-Date: GKC Business Awards Gala
Friday, December 11, 2026, 5:30pm
| Join us for an evening celebrating Kitsap's Northern Lights and honoring the businesses, nonprofits, events, and leaders whose dedication to our community truly shines. | | |
Accessible Healthcare with NICE
Business Health Trust Has You Covered
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Less downtime is a benefits strategy.
When care is slow, employees wait. They miss work. They delay treatment. They head to urgent care because it feels like the only available option.
Business Health Trust helps chamber members offer benefits that are built for real life. Members can access broad plan choice and the buying power of a statewide association health plan, helping small and mid-sized employers compete with stronger benefits.
Many BHT medical plans also include Nice Healthcare at $0, with no copays or deductibles for Nice visits. Employees can use Nice for common illnesses, minor injuries, stress, physical therapy needs, and ongoing concerns. Faster access means people can get help sooner, ask questions earlier, and spend less time navigating the system.
🔗 Webpage Link: https://businesshealthtrust.com/products/nice-healthcare/
Questions? Contact BHT!
(425) 201-1972
nice@businesshealthtrust.com
Not a BHT member? Are you ready to build a better benefits package?
Visit bhtquote.com to learn more and get a free quote.
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Renew your membership today to ensure your benefits as a member of the Greater Kitsap Chamber! Questions about when to renew or how to upgrade your membership? Need a new membership window cling or digital badge? Contact us now!
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Missed a previous edition of the Chamber's Community Connections?
View all the past issues on our website HERE.
| | New Members - Welcome to the Chamber! | Keller Williams Greater 360 - Tamara Bright | |
KBA's Builders Classic Golf Tournament
Friday, September 11, 2026, 11:00am
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Kitsap Conference Center Open House
Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 4:00pm
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Chamber Night Out at Ocean5
Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 5:00pm
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Join the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce for Chamber Night Out at Ocean 5 for a fun night of bowling and brunch bites from Table 47's new brunch menu! Chamber members from across the region will be in attendance, making this a great opportunity to expand your network and build new connections.
Tickets are $10 for Chamber members and $20 for non-members. Space is limited, so register today!
*For GKC Members, use the promo code "GKCmember" when registering to get the member rate.
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Changing Faces, Changing Places
Share your business news today
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Has your team recently welcomed a new hire, celebrated a promotion, or marked a retirement? Kitsap Business magazine's Changing Faces, Changing Places section highlights the people powering our local business community. Chamber members are invited to share their staff updates for inclusion in an upcoming issue.
Send your announcements to news@kitsapbusiness.com and let us help you recognize the faces behind your success.
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Business & Professional Development Committee | | Member Education & Training Resources | | |
SBDC: Don't Burn Your Brand
Intellectual Property for Food Businesses
Thursday, August 20, 2026, 11:00am
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Are you a restaurateur? A chef? A food truck operator? Do you want to learn how IP rights can help you protect your business? If so, this free, virtual event is a must-attend! Join a trademark attorney from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for an overview of trademarks, patents, copyrights, and trade secrets in the food-service industry. You’ll learn about each of these intellectual property rights and how to use them to protect what makes your restaurant special.
Jason Lott is the Managing Attorney for Trademarks Customer Outreach at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where he specializes in helping small business owners understand trademarks and the federal trademark registration process. He conceptualizes and delivers educational content using live presentations, creative videos, and other multimedia platforms. He also presents to experienced practitioners on advanced trademark topics, providing them the tools and expertise to better serve their clients. Jason began his career at the USPTO in 2000 as a trademark examining attorney.
Registration Fee: FREE
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SCORE: Tax Savings Strategies
for Small Businesses
Tuesday, August 25, 2026, 10:00am
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This workshop focuses on the Federal tax saving strategies that work best for small businesses, which are:
- Electing S-Corporation status with the IRS.
- Maximizing the deduction for business use of the home.
- Demonstrating two ways you can compute the deduction for business use of personal vehicle.
- Providing you examples of 7 different retirement plans and showing you which one is best for you.
- Describing how to maximize the benefits of health savings accounts.
- Show you the difference between smart equipment purchases and not-so-smart ones for maximizing the tax benefit.
- Explain the difference between cash versus accrual accounting and let you know which is better for you.
- And much, much more!
View this short 2-minute video to understand more about this workshop: video teaser
Registration Fee: FREE
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SBDC: How Local Economies Work
Thursday, August 27, 2026, 11:00am
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If you want a stronger local economy, you need to understand what truly drives one. In this workshop, you’ll see how jobs, wages, primary industries, and community decisions all tie together – and what it takes to build a resilient, higher-quality economy over time.
Presented by:
Steve McCaslin is a Washington SBDC Certified Business Advisor and is located in Coupeville, WA. Steve is a retired Naval Flight Officer and has spent 20+ years in the corporate world in sales, strategy and business development, business consulting, corporate training, and leadership development training, mentoring, and coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a BS in Agriculture, where he majored in Poultry Science.
Registration Fee: FREE
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Business News & Resources | | Childcare Costs Are Soaring Nationwide | |
Published in the Kitsap Sun, August 17, 2026
Photo: Child Care Aware of America, U.S. Census Bureau
Want to find childcare in Washington? It will cost you.
A new report form ConsumerAffairs found that Washington is the fourth most expensive state for childcare in the country. On average, parents pay $20,544 per year for full-time, center-based toddler care. The average monthly cost is $1,712 according to the report. Oregon ranks one spot above Washington with an average annual childcare bill of $20,567.
ConsumerAffairs also calculated how much total income families need to afford toddler care in the US. Nationally, the report found that families need to earn around $205,000 to afford toddler care. In Washington, the income needed to afford childcare balloons to $293,486.
In most states, childcare costs 35% more than in-state tuition at a four-year public school. But childcare is also cheaper than the median mortgage and rent payments in most states, according to the report.
Read the article here
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Here's How Gyms, Salons and Ice Cream
Are Changing America's Main Streets
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Published by NPR, August 12, 2026
Photo: Thalia Juarez/NPR
Change sprawls constantly across the storefronts on the postcard streets of downtown Ridgewood, New Jersey.
The big avenue, East Ridgewood, cuts across streets called Walnut, Chestnut and Oak, and then abuts the train station that connects this commuter suburb to New York City. It's a town where anything is reachable within five, 10 minutes of driving, and its center is the proverbial Main Street.
"Ridgewood has always been known as the place to go shopping," says Joan Groome, who has lived here since 1968, when she opened a ski shop above a family-run store selling gifts and art.
Over the years, Groome watched a wave of big-box chains sweep through Ridgewood and then a wave of banks. Local retail like hers strived and survived or went under; doors have shut on a beloved stationery store, a family-owned pharmacy, a hardware shop.
Read the article here
| | The Greater Kitsap Chamber is proud to serve as a resource partner with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Stay tuned to this section quarterly for education, resources and more from L&I. | | |
What an Accident Prevention Program Is
and Why Every Employer Needs One
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Every employer in Washington state is required to create and maintain a written Accident Prevention Program (APP) to address safety and health hazards in the workplace. Many employers consider their APP to be the cornerstone of their overall safety program, but what exactly is an APP, and why is it so essential?
What Is an Accident Prevention Program?
An Accident Prevention Program is a plan of action that involves both workers and management in maintaining a safe workplace. An effective APP identifies and controls workplace hazards and clearly outlines procedures for responding to injuries, unsafe conditions, and workplace emergencies. By proactively addressing risks, employers can prevent accidents before they occur and ensure that, when incidents do happen, they are handled consistently and appropriately. You must establish, supervise, and enforce your accident prevention program in a manner that is effective in practice.
Why Do You Need an APP?
Under the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) every employer is required to have an APP. During a DOSH inspection, employers may face citations and monetary penalties if serious hazards are identified and no APP exists or if the APP has major deficiencies.
Beyond regulatory compliance, an APP plays a critical role in improving workplace safety. A well-designed program helps prevent costly injuries and keeps employees healthy and working. APPs can also help control industrial insurance (workers’ compensation) costs. Since an employer’s premium rates are influenced by injury claims, preventing accidents can directly benefit a business’s bottom line.
What Should Be Included in an APP?
For many employers, a General Industry or Small Business APP template will meet basic requirements. However, because every workplace is different, APPs must be tailored to the specific hazards and operations of each business, and additional elements may be required depending on the industry.
At a minimum, all Accident Prevention Programs must be:
• Written and available to employees
• Customized to the specific worksite and tasks performed
• Inclusive of employee safety orientation and ongoing training
• Supported by safety meetings or a safety committee, as required
• Actively implemented, supervised, and enforced
How Do You Know If Your APP Is Effective?
An APP is considered effective when regular and predictable hazards are
identified and addressed, and when serious or recurring injuries are not
occurring. L&I offers a wide range of tools and support to help employers build
and maintain effective APPs.
To learn more and access L&I’s resources, visit: Lni.wa.gov/safety-health/preventing-injuries-illnesses/create-a-safetyprogram/accident-prevention-program
| | Nonprofit News & Resources | |
The Kitsap Community Foundation's
Annual Community Grant Cycle is Now Open
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The Kitsap Community Foundation’s annual Community Grant Cycle will open on Monday, August 17th, and close at midnight on Monday, September 14th. This is a key opportunity for nonprofits serving Kitsap and North Mason Counties to apply for funding that helps power their mission.
This cycle includes funding opportunities through:
- KCF Community Impact Grants
- Kitsap County Association of Realtors Foundation (KCAR)
- Kitsap Racial Equity & Empowerment Fund (KREEF)
- Women’s Giving Circle of the Kitsap Peninsula (WGCKP)
- Youth Mentoring
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Could Kitsap Customers
Switch Energy Providers?
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Published in the Kitsap Sun, August 14, 2026
Photo courtesy of the Kitsap Sun
Since January, thousands of complaints have been filed against Washington state's primary electricity provider, Puget Sound Energy (PSE), in relation to rising service rates. Despite PSE's attempts to mediate costs and explain the causes behind rate increases, many customers aren't satisfied and have raised the question: What if a public utility, rather than PSE, a private utility, was providing electricity? Would that lower costs?
In Kitsap County, Kitsap Public Utility District (KPUD) is interested in exploring the question.
Despite never having provided electric services, KPUD's board voted in July to put a measure on the November ballot where voters may grant them the authority to do so. Although the public utility is not required to provide electric service if the vote is in favor -- the measure is strictly related to KPUD's legal authority rather than an actual commitment -- it may illustrate how Kitsap residents feel about public power and the possibility of lower rates. But those aren't promised.
Read the article here
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Port Orchard Concerts by the Bay
Thursday, August 20, 2026, 6:30pm
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Port Orchard Night Market
Saturday, August 22, 2026, 6:00pm
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Kitsap County Fair & Stampede
August 26 - August 30, 2026
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Clearwater Casino Presents:
Fever 103 - Foreigner Tribute
Friday, August 21, 2026, 8:30pm
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Invincible - Pat Benatar Tribute
Saturday, August 22, 2026, 8:30pm
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Bainbridge Performing Arts
William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night"
August 8 - August 23, 2026
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Set in the curious, sun-drenched world of Illyria, a place where logic loosens its grip and desire refuses to stay in neat boxes, Twelfth Night unfolds as one of Shakespeare’s most exquisitely constructed comedies. At its heart is a story that explores gender constructs, the gap between who we are and how we are seen, and the porous boundaries between friendship, attraction, and love.
By turns riotously funny and quietly aching, Twelfth Night balances farce with emotional depth, and presents its audience with a play in which perception is thrown delightfully off balance, love and desire are allowed to move in unexpected directions, and everyone becomes just a little bit undone.
Great for teens and adults; family-friendly, with Shakespeare’s language made welcoming for devoted Shakespeare lovers and first-time audiences alike.
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2026 Blackberry Festival
September 5 - September 7, 2026
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Stay in the know with what's happening for events
in Central Kitsap by checking out and liking the
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Have something to share? CLICK HERE to submit stories and
events for our weekly Community Connections!
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Office (360) 479-3579 | 705 Pacific Avenue in Downtown Bremerton
Silverdale Office (360) 692-6800 | Kitsap Mall
PO Box 1218 Silverdale WA 98383
If you need assistance, please contact us directly.
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