The Bellingham Business Journal is a monthly business publication published in Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...

 that seeks to bring its the readership the most accurate and in-depth picture of the Bellingham business community possible. Established in 1992, the newspaper has won several Society of Professional Journalists

Society of Professional Journalists

The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...

 awards for reporting, editorial and design content.

The paper is owned by Sound Publishing (a Black Press company), based in Poulsbo

Poulsbo, Washington

Poulsbo is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the fourth largest city in Kitsap County and one of the main suburbs of Seattle in the Kitsap area. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census....

. The publication was purchased from Marysville, Washington-based Sun News Inc. in August 2007. The newspaper has an approximate circulation of 5,000 and is free to Bellingham businesses, with paid circulation to businesses outside of the area and to residences.

BBJToday.com, the online arm of The Bellingham Business Journal, launched in July 2009 and currently gets more than 20,000 page views a month from more than 5,000 visitors. The site offers breaking Bellingham business news, in-depth features, public records and daily news tips.

History

The Bellingham Business Journal was founded by Al Raines, owner of Raines Publishing, in November 1992. In the first issue, Raines states in his opening column that he started the paper because "local business professionals... need a publication that will keep them abreast of what's going on in the business environment around them." Raines continued to publish the newspaper every month until it was purchased Robin Yeager in early 1994. Yeager sold the paper nearly six months later to Wenatchee Business Journal owners Mike Cassidy and Jim Corcoran.

Cassidy and Corcoran owned the two business journals for the next seven years. The partners also started a new business journal in Everett, Washington. The partners sold the business to Sun News Inc. in 2001. Sun News owners Robert Marshall and Kristopher Passey also purchased Cassidy and Corcoran's other two business newspapers, The Wenatchee Business Journal and The Everett Business Journal. The Bellingham paper was sold to Sound Publishing in 2007 just prior to the death of Marshall from ALS. The newspaper's current publisher is DeAnna Emborski. The editor is Lance Henderson and the multimedia sales director is Vince McLeod.