Reed has been crafting jewelry for many years, including experimenting with a special precious metal clay made from recycled silver. When her niece was born in 2003, she made a personalized “dog tag” with the girl’s name and birth date for the proud mom. The mom loved it, told her friends about it, and next thing she knew Reed was filling orders.

At her father’s encouragement, she developed a Web site and sent a sample to American Baby magazine. When the magazine featured her jewelry the following April, Mommy Tags (www.mommytags.com) received $10,000 worth of orders — and Reed realized she may have finally found the niche she’s been looking for...  (Full Article)

During the third quarter 2005, the company completed the acquisition of Redmond National Bank and its parent company, Washington Commercial Bancorp. This acquisition added to the significant growth that Venture experienced in 2005.

Only 12 percent of all small animal veterinary practices in the U.S. have achieved accreditation by the American Animal Hospital Association. In order to maintain accredited status, Wheaton Way Veterinary Clinic must continue to be evaluated regularly by the association’s trained consultants.

Although the $624 million budget request is $31 million more than the initial request for 2006, the budget is artificially inflated with a sizeable allocation that was not part of this year’s budget.

Taken apart, the operating budget would be $429 million, or 28 percent less than the initial $593 million for 2006. Moreover, the 2007 request cuts SBA staff by 24 percent, increases costs to borrowers for future disaster loans, increases fees for small business loans, and axes a number of programs including the Microloan and Microloan Technical Assistance Programs, which serve a large proportion of minority- and women-owned small businesses.

Comcast donated the production and airtime, estimated at $40,000, for the PSA, which was filmed on location, Oct. 13, 2004 and featured several YMCA members as spokes people, including Lanny Dowell, Amanda Provost, Becky Lewis, Maria Lewis, and the Busch family, Cherie, Clair, John, Paul and Cass.

Customers can purchase an additional box of cookies and Girl Scouts will get it into the hands of Navy personnel deployed on the USS Stennis, submarine crews based at Bangor and personnel in military hospitals locally and around the world.

In announcing the acquisition, Stephen Woodworth, president of Masterworks, stated that “TouchPoint Solutions enhances capacity to ensure seamless integration between major donor and general donor communications.”

Morss Medical Architecture can be reached at (206) 780-9282.

In an official statement, Knight said, “The Make-A-Wish Foundation thanks The Chiropractors Clinic and Massage Therapy Center for the time and effort they put into collecting toys and games during their recent toy drive. This generous donation will be used to bring smiles to the faces of our wish children.”

Maria Smelzer and Blair Crittendon, massage therapists, were also thanked for giving complementary massages to those who donated toys during the drive.

In addition to recycling automotive wastes, the entire Skills Center campus has a comprehensive recycling program for office paper, aluminum, glass, plastics, packaging materials, and rechargeable batteries.

The Automotive Technology Program also incorporates environmental stewardship into its curriculum. The shop operations class includes training on spill response, waste management, and pollution prevention, and students are required to know how to interpret a Material Safety Data Sheet for all hazardous products they use.

The cost for the 16-page report, including bonus material, available in PDF format, is $22. For more information, contact Dan Weedin at (360) 697-1058; (360) 824-8100 (fax); or dan@toroinsurance.com.

According to Steve Politakis, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, “Al brings tremendous expertise in developing capital structure and financial solutions for business owners, with a focus on building strong, lasting customer relationships. We are very pleased to have him on board.”

Saliba was previously with Merrill Lynch as Vice President and Business Financial Advisor in Seattle; and prior to that was Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer with American Marine Bank on Bainbridge Island.

Snuffin was also named a finalist in the Best Catered Hors d’Oeuvre category for the Catered Arts Through Innovative Excellence (CATIE) award.

Snuffin’s Catering can be reached at (253) 851-2900 or www.snuffins.com.

Reach the Candy Shoppe at (360) 874-2576.

The company is based in Peoria Ill. and most contacts are coming in the form of calls, although there appears to be a representative working the area. The Silverdale Chamber is not endorsing any sales project at present with the exception of its Destination Guide.

If you have any questions, call the Chamber office at (360) 692-6800.