The Swedish/Issaquah Freestanding Emergency Department was recently named a 2009 Summit Award Winner by Press Ganey Associates.

The department, opened in March 2005, received the award by achieving and maintaining patient satisfaction scores in the 95th percentile or above for at least three years. The Press Ganey Summit Award is the health-care-satisfaction industry’s most coveted symbol of achievement.

The Swedish/Issaquah emergency department sees 24,000 patients per year. It was honored in June 2008 by Consumer Checkbook when it was rated the No. 1 emergency department in western Washington.

Sip. has new executive chef

Sip. Issaquah recently promoted Chris Brown to executive chef.

Brown, who was born in the United Kingdom and spent time in Italy as a child, has lived in the Seattle area for 15 years and has been with Sip. Issaquah since it opened in 2007.

Brown began as sous chef under then-Executive Chef Cody Reaves, who now heads up the kitchen at Sip. Seattle.

After attending the culinary program at the Art Institute of Seattle, Brown’s career flourished at BADA Lounge even before he completed his studies. He spent two years at BADA, then moved to Susan’s 5100 before landing in Kirkland at the Beach Cafe at Carillon Point.

While there, he learned of the position at Sip. Issaquah. He jumped at the opportunity to both expand his knowledge of wine and focus on a fresh, seasonally changing menu.

“He has a true culinary passion, understands the balance of flavors and presentations, and consistently delivers dishes to our guests that are above and beyond expectation,” said owner Lane Scelzi.

Goddard School celebrated grand opening Jan. 16

The Goddard School celebrated its grand opening Jan. 16.

Families can tour the school, meet teachers and learn about Goddard’s programs anytime. The school is located at 5716 E. Lake Sammamish Parkway S.E. Call 391-5233.

Issaquah’s Little Gym is tops in kid fitness

The Little Gym, with a location in Issaquah, ranked No. 1 in the Children’s Fitness category in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Franchises List, otherwise known as Franchise 500.

This is the fourth consecutive year the franchise company has earned the ranking.

The Little Gym offers classes for children from 4 months to 12 years. Programs include parent/child classes in motor skill development, gymnastics, sports skills development, karate, cheerleading, and dance. Kids progressively build skills, leading to enhanced self-confidence and socialization.

The Issaquah Little Gym is at 690 N.W. Gilman Blvd. Call 837-1414.

Meadow Creek Professional Center plans expansion

Meadow Creek Professional Center has extended its lease at Meadow Creek Office Park for five years, with options to renew, and plans improvements to expand the number of offices available.

The additional offices, at 22525 S.E. 64th Place, will make it one of the top 10 executive suites in the Puget Sound area.

The improvements will include the construction of 10 new offices in previously underutilized space. The offices will provide space for the newly-introduced Club Meadow Creek shared space offering.

For a nominal monthly fee, members have privileges to reserve various hours of office space per month along with using space on an as-available basis.

The center is a business of Humerlis Inc., providing office suites, conference rooms, hourly offices, phone answering, customer and sales support, and management consulting services.

Issaquah High School graduate Ryan Atkins displays a T-shirt from his clothing line, Atty Clothing. By Tim Pfarr

Issaquah High School graduate Ryan Atkins has always been heavily influenced by music, and in college he began to take an interest in fashion.

“That last semester, my notes were all doodles,” Atkins said, recalling the end of his college career at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

He graduated in 2008 with a degree in political science, and he began working at a Starbucks in Whistler. He transferred to a store on Mercer Island and moved back to his Issaquah home, and after seven months with the coffee chain, he decided it was time for a change.

“I needed to jump in the deep end,” he said. “I needed to do something on my own.”

He took a job at the Volcom outlet store in North Bend, where he refined his interest in clothing. Several months later, he started his own business, Atty Clothing, from his bedroom office. The name Atty came from a nickname a co-worker at Volcom had given him.

Atkins, now 25, had always taken an interest in graphic design, and he created his own designs for the company and silk-screened his own shirts. The business has evolved since its creation in August; so did the designs. He also modeled his shirts in photo shoots, and he began outsourcing the silk-screening.

“It’s been pretty quick,” he said regarding the evolution of his company.

He received his business license in August, but he still works on the side as a delivery driver for Extreme Pizza.

Now, he has 13 designs to be placed on T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts and hooded sweatshirts. His next step is to team up with retailers and begin selling his products. Atkins began contacting retailers last week, and he said he hopes to have his clothes on the market by this spring.

Atkins cites the band Blink-182 as one of his largest influences, as each member of the band has ties to clothing lines. He said Atty Clothing is more or less intended for people who listen to loud music and aren’t afraid to believe in themselves.

Although Atty Clothing has not yet launched, Atkins has already started planning the expansion of his business. Eventually, he plans to have Atty Clothing produce pants, hats, socks and belts as well.

Ryan Atkins’ mother, Nancy, said she feels the business is a good fit for Ryan and his personality.

“I think it really fits with what he wants,” she said.

She has helped Ryan with the business and so have other family members. She said the business can only lead to good things, be it personal experience for Ryan or a successful business.

“Either way, it’s a good outcome,” she said.

On the Webhttp://attyclothing.com

Tim Pfarr: 392-6434, ext. 239, or newcas@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Businesses that contribute $250 or more will receive an invitation to the foundation’s annual Nourish Every Mind Benefit Luncheon.

The foundation’s mission is to help Issaquah schools provide funding for students in the district to receive a 21st century education, thereby preparing them to be successful in our community and throughout the world, according to a press release.

The district “has a positive impact on our property values, our highly educated local work force, and on our attractiveness to potential new residents,” Matthew Bott, CEO of the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, said in a press release. “The community and business benefits of having such an accomplished local educational system are considerable.

Call 416-2045 or go to www.issaquahschoolsfoundation.org.

Phyllis Pieri

Franchise coach Phyllis Pieri clearly remembers her first business venture — a lemonade stand.

“When I was a child visiting my grandparents, I remember us driving past the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco,” Pieri said. “It needed to replace a broken stain-glassed window.”

Determined to help, Pieri opened a lemonade stand and sold an impressive $285 of the thirst quencher.

That entrepreneurial spirit followed her into adulthood. With only a degree earned from the school of hard knocks, Pieri has parlayed years of managerial experience in running local franchises (Sir Speedy and Automotive Lube & Tune) into an international consultation agency, MatchPoint, headquartered in her Issaquah Highlands home.

“I’ve been consulting now for around 20 years,” Pieri said. “My goal is to quit being the best-kept secret.”The way franchise consulting works, Pieri explained, is she helps a client chart his or her path into the business world.

“Too many people go into their venture not as a CEO,” she said. “Then, when their business doesn’t grow, they don’t understand why they’re not making it.”

As a franchise coach, she helps steer the client toward what they would be best at and how to best utilize what skills they have. About 95 percent of franchise proposals center on the food industry. With the market saturated with “ma and pa” startups that eventually fail, Pieri said she has helped tap into that 5 percent. The service business is one example.

“I had a guy from Idaho who actually said he would want a maid business. He didn’t want to be a cleaning person,” she said. “But I helped turn it around for him. He enjoyed managing, mentoring teams. And that’s what the maid cleaning business was, teams that performed the work. It’s all how you look at it.”

She pointed to another model franchise from the service sector — Great Clips. Once the business is set up, it can be run absentee. The owner doesn’t have to be a hair stylist to keep it running, she said. With technology, you can log on to the Web and monitor it from there.

Pieri has also helped venture capitalists tap into other sectors, including the burgeoning senior services business.

“Senior business is huge,” Pieri said. “Senior helpers, or companions, is a very scalable franchise. CNAs (certified nurses assistant) are plentiful and are perfect for this franchise opportunity.”

Through MatchPoint, Pieri has also helped many women entrepreneurs.

“I have a lot of empty nesters, with husbands who work long hours. What better opportunity for them than going to work in a franchise?” Pieri asked. “They are very passionate about having autonomy, being able to grow something without asking the husband for help.”

Pieri said she feels assured that it’s the small businesses that are going to help lead the way back to economic recovery for the country. She is really enjoying helping others be a part of the bigger picture.

“I love what I do,” she said. “I’m very passionate about helping people make the right decisions.”

David Hayes: dhayes@isspress.com, 392-6434, ext. 237. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

The former Allen’s Furniture space, at 131 Front St. N., will be the new home for a bicycle shop and restaurant. By Warren Kagarise

The former Allen’s Furniture store — a vacant space in downtown Issaquah — will be remodeled and reopened as a bicycle shop and a restaurant.

City Senior Planner Jerry Lind said the 7,795-square-foot former furniture store would be repurposed. Crews will add restrooms and a dividing wall to separate the bicycle shop from the restaurant. The developer will be required to adhere to Olde Towne design standards in order to blend with the quaint downtown surroundings. Lind said the revamp would be accomplished with “more of a light touch.”

The plate-glass windows will go, and workers will add windows with smaller panes, Lind said. City planners received the site development permit request in mid-October. The building, at 131 Front St. N., was built in the 1950s and needed updates, Lind said.Bicycle Center of Issaquah will move into half of the old Allen’s Furniture space. Lind said the move for the bicycle center would occur because the store needs more space. The proposed restaurant next door will likely serve Italian cuisine.

DownTown Issaquah Association Executive Director Greg Spranger said he welcomed the addition of a new building to Front Street. The building occupied by Bicycle Center of Issaquah, at 111 Front St. N., is “a great old building,” Spranger said. He said the building would make a fitting space for a gallery.

Spranger said he hoped the businesses would be ready by the time the next ArtWalk returned in May.

“Having a new restaurant downtown, that’s always a plus,” Spranger said.

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

“We can make a huge difference by banding together, supporting each other and promoting our community and our businesses,” Tony Rehn, chamber board member and Evergreen Ford general manager, said in a news release.

Organizers said the program would also provide additional exposure for Issaquah businesses, in order to attract new customers. Shop Issaquah was formed with input from business leaders, and support from city officials.

“The success of our local economic recovery depends in large part on the success of our businesses,” chamber CEO Matt Bott said in a news release. “Businesses provide jobs, commerce, tax revenue, livelihoods for our citizens, critical services such as public safety, parks and recreation support, etc.”

As part of the program, chamber officials will develop a Web site to help local businesses showcase special offers to consumers. They will also develop pieces to communicate the role businesses play in aiding economic recovery and supporting the community. Other tools under development by chamber leaders include ways for Issaquah consumers to assess the amount they spend outside the community and encourage them to return the spending to Issaquah.

“The chamber hopes that this information will help encourage consumers to rediscover the outstanding goods, services, products and businesses we have right in our backyard,” Bott said. “If this program helps save even a few jobs, a few small businesses or simply brings consumers a greater awareness of the options available locally, we will count it as a major success.”

A financial management workshop will be at noon Dec. 9 at Timber Ridge at Talus. The social media workshop is scheduled for Jan. 27; no venue has been selected yet.

Bott said the seminar series would help business owners ready themselves for the economic recovery.

“We want Issaquah businesses to be on the leading edge of this recovery, and we believe that these educational seminars can be a critical component of this success,” said Bott.

Tickets are $30 per seminar for chamber members and $50 for nonmembers. Lunch is included with each seminar. R.S.V.P. by calling 392-7024.

Carmen Llewellyn, vice president of the 11-member senior center board, said the center received more than a dozen applications for the director post. Llewellyn said board members would begin interviewing qualified candidates within the next few weeks. She described the ideal candidate as someone with good people skills and, hopefully, experience working with seniors.

Board members have not determined when the next director will be hired.

In the meantime, the center’s two office employees will oversee day-to-day operations. The center, in downtown Issaquah near City Hall, has about 700 paid members, Llewellyn said. Offerings from the center include fitness activities; health, nutrition and financial planning workshops; and outreach to homebound seniors.

Llewellyn lamented the departure of Koriath, who will serve as a recreation director at a Nevada retirement center in Spanish Springs, northeast of Reno. Koriath served as director of the Issaquah center for three years.

“We wanted her to stay forever,” Llewellyn said.

Authorities arrested the salon proprietor Aug. 24. Officials said He had injected patients with the counterfeit cosmetics since November 2004.

Agents discovered vials labeled with Chinese characters when He’s Bellevue salon, Natural Beauty, was searched in April. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved Chinese-made products similar to Botox and Restylane. He, a licensed esthetician and manicurist, was not authorized to prescribe or administer Botox and Restylane. But authorities said she injected clients as early as 2004.

In July 2006, state health officials sent a cease-and-desist order to He asking her to stop performing medical procedures, but she continued to administer the treatments.

Last April, He injected a Bothell woman with counterfeit Restylane, authorities said. Authorities said He injected the woman with a substance she identified as Restylane into the customer’s cheeks, forehead and chin.

After the injection, the woman suffered inflammation and scarring, and turned to a cosmetic surgeon for treatment.

A Blockbuster spokesman said the Northwest Gilman Boulevard store would close by Jan. 10. A banner outside the outlet announced the impending closure.

Blockbuster executives announced a plan in September under which the chain could close as many as 960 stores by the end of 2010. Randy Hargrove, a spokesman at Blockbuster corporate headquarters in Dallas, said the company would close the Issaquah store as part of the strategy.

“We’re closing a handful of our 7,100 stores,” Hargrove said.

Though Hargrove could not provide specific figures for the Issaquah store, he said Blockbuster locations typically employ about seven workers. Hargrove said Blockbuster would work with interested employees to place them elsewhere in the chain.

Hargrove said the company chose which stores to close based on the proximity to other Blockbuster locations. The chain hopes to steer Issaquah customers to a Klahanie store. Hargrove said customers would be offered incentives, such as discounted movie rentals, to encourage them to make the switch.

The spokesman touted offerings such as Blockbuster on Demand, which allow users to download flicks to computers or certain home theater systems.

“We are taking efforts to let them know how they can continue to enjoy entertainment from Blockbuster,” Hargrove said.

Blockbuster has struggled as other services, such as Netflix and Redbox, sprouted and siphoned business. Customers also became accustomed to competing services, such as DVDs delivered through the mail and movies streamed over broadband connections.

Hargrove said the company looked forward to a strong fourth quarter, when summer blockbusters “Star Trek” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” are released on DVD.