The new West Sound branch office of E.K.Riley Investments is now open in Poulsbo.

Investment Manager Ed Stern will be providing full-range brokerage services including bonds, stocks, mutual funds and insurance annuity contracts to support short and long-term financial goals in accordance with savings, college and retirement plans. With well over twenty-years experience in the financial industry, specifically in the Poulsbo area, Stern brings the maturity and perspective important to successful investing. read more »

Bremerton’s second downtown hotel is scheduled to open sometime this month. The addition is expected to boost interest in bringing bigger events to the Kitsap Conference Center, located just around the corner.

The 105-room Fairfield Inn & Suites, located on Fourth Avenue is owned and operated by Hotel Concepts of Kitsap County LLC, which also owns downtown’s first hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites. The Hampton opened in 2004, concurrently with the conference center (the two businesses are not affiliated). read more »

Local entrepreneurs and Port Orchard natives, Matt Haver and Jordan Stephens, recently announced the formation of their new website, logo and advertising design firm, 360Tactics LLC.

Haver and Stephens launched the business in November 2009, with the intention of reaching out to, predominantly, local and area businesses. read more »

Steve Krecker and Mark Timmerman, owners of two Port Orchard heating and air conditioning (HVAC) companies, Air Masters Inc. and Mark Air, have merged the two firms to provide the best possible service to the residents and businesses of the Kitsap Peninsula.

Located at 3210 SE Mile Drive in Port Orchard, the new firm has 13 employees specializing in residential and light commercial heating and air conditioning, commercial refrigeration and maintenance contracting. read more »

Mirracole Morsels Granola Factory and The Borrowed Kitchen Bakery have teamed up to create Kingston’s, and perhaps Kitsap County’s first co-op bakery.

After Nicole Matheson, owner of Mirracole Morsels, had moved her eight-year-old business into the Old Kingston Hotel, she commented, “After the kitchen was up and running I kept looking around saying to myself, ‘it is so amazing here; I think more people need to have the opportunity to experience this.”

Her idea was to create a co-op, where several bakers can rent the kitchen space and sell baked goods. read more »

When the Port Gamble General Store reopens sometimes in March, longtime customers will see some familiar sights but most of the looks will change — from the faces of the owners to the cafe seating that has been added.

The store had been closed since December, when previous owners closed the business after three years in operation, citing the poor economy.

For Erik Kleiva and Kim Campbell, the vacant space was an opportunity too good to pass up. Campbell, who owned a gift shop in Port Gamble a couple of years ago, says the general store had been a dream. read more »

The Ark, located at 343 N. Wycoff in Bremerton, will offer used and vintage books and magazines and paperback exchanges. The Ark will be open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information call (360) 627-7129.

Port Orchard resident Zac Steimle has returned to his hometown to start a business after learning the trade of luthier from a second generation maestro in Cuenca, Ecuador. Steimle has spent the last eight years living in Ecuador with his family, volunteering in a non-profit medical clinic, the Fundacion Hogar de Ecuador. While there, his quality wood craftsmanship skills fused with his love of music in the luthier trade. read more »