While the election season heats up, you will hear more and more promises, claims and counter-claims from the candidates. As a citizen, you may or may not enjoy this “political theater,” but as an investor, you might be concerned over all the talk about taxes, Social Security, Medicare and other financial topics. Will you need to adjust your savings and investment strategies? If so, how?

Before you think about adjusting your investment strategy in anticipation of any actions coming from Washington, keep a couple of facts in mind. First, few campaign promises become reality. And second, due to our system of government, radical shifts in direction are difficult to implement — which is why so few of them occur. read more »

It all started with a Facebook invite. Tim Samuels, a loan officer at The Legacy Group in Silverdale, received a friend request from a former middle-school classmate who needed help buying a home.

Jenn Fairlie is a single mother with a full-time job at a local animal hospital. However, a divorce several years ago had left her on welfare for a time period and depleted her savings. Although she now has steady work and excellent credit, she didn’t expect to be able to buy a place any time soon.

Samuels invited Fairlie to a first-time homebuyers seminar. Because she hadn’t owned a home in three years, she qualified for several programs. At the seminar, Samuels talked about House Key Bremerton, a down-payment assistance program funded by the city and administered by the Washington State Housing Commission. read more »

By Jonathan Dienhart and Ken Lee

Despite record low mortgage rates, 2011 has seen a surprisingly high level of cash home purchases. Between tight lending standards and a desperate search for yield by investors, cash purchase of homes (especially distressed properties) became even more common in 2011 than in 2010. According to data from Housing IntelligencePro, 38 percent of homes purchased in 2011 were bought with all cash. That’s up from 34 percent in 2010, and double the 19 percent rate in 2006. The trend is likely to continue in the near term, with investors being responsible for an increasing share of home purchases as prior homeowners abandon the ownership market and head back to rentals. read more »

The aroma of baking bread wafts through the supermarket, even when the ovens are empty. The breezy scent of coconut oil floats through the bathing suit aisle of the department store when summer is months away.

Welcome to the world of scent marketing. Retailers are increasingly using ambient scents to induce shoppers to stay longer, spend more and maybe even behave a little more kindly toward fellow shoppers.

Retailers are wary of discussing it lest they be accused of manipulation. But the fragrance makers, researchers and advertising agents gathered in Miami Beach for the ScentWorld conference in December were happy to explain their art. read more »

Sixty-five years after opening its doors in Bremerton, Kitsap Sports has remained a local mainstay. Located in Silverdale since 1988, the retail store has stayed in the same family. Current owner David Degarimore is the grandson of founder, Ora, and took over the company from his parents about a decade ago. read more »

Consumers shopping in some New England stores this past holiday season may have spotted Quick Response codes in some unusual places. Research from mobile marketing and technology firm Nellymoser Inc. found that of more than 700 stores canvassed in the Boston area, 23 contained at least one QR code, a type of two-dimensional bar code.

Retailers use 2-D bar codes to enable consumers to view mobile web-based content with their smartphones. Consumers click to open a free scanning app, point the phone at the code, and the web content appears on the phone’s screen. read more »

I am often asked: “What does the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance do; how does it help to develop our local economy?” My “elevator pitch” answer is: “We deliver business development services to our clients — businesses small and large, local and global — to help them grow and prosper in Kitsap County; and we do so free of charge due to the financial commitment of our many investor partners, from both public and private sector partners. In short, KEDA practices economic development as a community-wide team sport executing client-based business retention, expansion and recruitment strategies which are aimed at attracting investment and creating jobs…one business at a time. read more »

After a year of limited operations, the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association (BIDA) has announced that the organization is back up and running with the return of its former executive director, Andrea Mackin.

Following the loss of City-based funding in 2010, the Downtown Association made the difficult decision to scale back operations in 2011. The loss of the organization’s advocacy and Main Street economic revitalization efforts were particularly felt by locally owned, small businesses during a year when downtown merchants were hard-hit by the effects of Winslow Way Reconstruction and the continued recession. read more »

The significant tightening of business credit brought by the recession has begun to lift. One recent, independent analysis of FDIC data reported five straight quarters of increasing overall commercial and industrial lending by banks.

As the credit squeeze eases with improving economic conditions, lenders remain cautious in their underwriting, even as interest rates remain at near-record lows. Consequently Kitsap area companies seeking to ride the recovery, as uncertain and erratic as it may admittedly seem at times in the short term, must be strategic in their use of credit. read more »