Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber member and Pierce County Business Accelerator (PCBA) graduate, Arabia Essence, had the grand opening of their Olympia store on Monday, August 12! Arabia Essence offers a variety of Middle Eastern perfume oils and bottles, jewelry, and home decor. There is a selection of women’s formal wear, as well.  
 
The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber was able to partner with the Thurston County Chamber to celebrate the business milestone of Astou Sow, owner of Arabia Essence. 
 
Jessica Houchin, Operations and Events Coordinator for the Thurston County Chamber was able to share photos from the special day. Thank you, Jessica, and fellow Thurston County Chamber staff, for taking the lead on this event! 
 
Arabia Essence also has a store in the Kitsap Mall in Kitsap County, which will celebrate their grand opening on Tuesday, September 10. We are excited to partner with the Greater Kitsap Chamber to commemorate this additional milestone. 
 
Congratulations, Astou, on your two amazing business milestones! We look forward to seeing you continue to thrive and grow in our community. ​

Website: https://arabiaessencellc.com
Email: [email protected]

Around The Clock Child Care Center (ATC) has grown yet again – with facilities already in Fife and Tacoma, they opened their new building in Lakewood on Monday, July 8!
 
We always appreciate Erika Snell, founder of ATC, for always including us in their grand opening celebrations, and this is no different. This new care center is brightly colored, full of various toys, games, and curricular activities, and has multiple large rooms for the children of each age group respectively.
 
Joined by future care children and their families, the extreme heat was no match for the air-conditioned facility, which everyone received a sneak peak of. Although it looks like a brand-new establishment, it has quite a history. What started as the Thunderbird Shopping Center in 1960, the strip is now called Oakbrook Plaza. Previous tenants include Blockbuster, Jackson Hewitt, a different childcare center, and even had proposals for a softball team’s batting range.
 
Pierce County Councilmember, Jani Hitchen, shared a few words during the ribbon cutting ceremony and touched on how important it is to have customized childcare in this day-and-age where many parents aren’t working the typical 9-to-5 job. ATC will be, exactly as the name implies, a 24/7 care facility. Their program values cultural and social differences, takes a Montessori approach, and goes beyond the four learning styles: visual, auditory, reading/writing preference, and kinesthetic. The teachers and caregivers are highly experienced and are passionate about child development. They also offer scholarships for families in need.
 
Erika mentioned there will be a future ribbon cutting ceremony for another location, so be sure to follow ATC’s journey!
 
Website: https://atccenter.org
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 253-368-9705

​Booktrovert: [book-tro-vert-noun] A person who prefers the company of fictional characters to real people. Shannon Grover, owner of The Lakewood Bookstore, is a self-proclaimed booktrovert.

After many years of following her spouse's vocational journey, Shannon knew she was ready to start her own. Being the booklover she is, Grover decided to open her own bookstore; a place where she would be happy to come every day and pour her passion of reading into.
The Lakewood Bookstore is in an old cellphone store, but you’d never know that once you step in. There are two floors: the main floor carries the books, and the second floor is a fun hangout spot for people to read, play games, build puzzles, or just chat. Not only are there plenty of books in the store, but there is also stationery, stuffed animals, book accessories, puzzles, and more.

On the day of the ribbon cutting, the store was full of eager guests all in awe of the inventory, the design of the store, and the overall atmosphere. Grover is a graduate of the Pierce County Business Accelerator (PCBA) Program, which is also something to be celebrated! There were fellow graduates at the ceremony, and one of them even provided reuseable shopping bags for attendees, with The Lakewood Bookstore logo proudly displayed on the face of the bag.
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We were honored to be part of this exciting business milestone and look forward to a ‘happily ever after’ for The Lakewood Bookstore!

Website: https://thelakewoodbookstore.com
Email: [email protected]
Phone: ​253-625-7913

Many consider the butterfly to be a symbol of transformation, freedom, new beginnings, and hope amongst other lovely descriptors. Despite being so fragile, the butterfly can flutter gracefully to great lengths for survival, with the Monarch butterfly traveling over 1,000 miles for hibernation. This little insect is best known for the way they change shape as they grow, displaying their beauty and charm every step of the way.

At HopeSparks Family Services, they have been on the same journey for 125+ years to help families in Pierce County grow, transform, experience new beginnings, and most importantly give them hope. The butterfly can be seen in the logo for HopeSparks, and scattered all around the Children’s Developmental Services building located off Union Ave in Tacoma.

The Chamber was recently invited to celebrate the grand opening of the outdoor playground for said building. Being completely designed by the team at HopeSparks, the playground is the perfect space for kids to run around. Of course, the playground would not be complete without the symbolic butterfly, which can be seen not only in the rubberized ground cover, but in a whole climbing statute.

Dozens of guests came to witness the cutting of the ribbon and heard thoughtful words spoken by Heather Moss, Director of Pierce County Health Services; Joe LeRoy, President and CEO of HopeSparks; and Vianeth Zubrod, Director of HopeSparks. Calling it a “collective effervescence”, Joe and his crew could not wait for the playset to be enjoyed by generations of Pierce County tots for years to come.

The Chamber extends its thanks to HopeSparks for allowing us to be involved in their big day and wishes them well and good weather for playtime of course! To learn more about HopeSparks and how to get involved visit their website.

Website: https://hopesparks.org
Phone: (253) 565-4484
Email: [email protected]

Learning to drive is a big step in a person’s life. There's a new sense of freedom with the ability to travel anywhere you set your mind to. Those learning how to drive usually enroll into a driver’s education course where they are taught the rules and laws of driving, receive their learner’s permit to practice, and then an official driver’s license. Now there is a new resource in Tacoma for those looking for a driver's education program!

Complete Driving Experience, also known as CDX, is the perfect place for student drivers to learn the rules of the road in a safe and welcoming environment. At CDX, both teens and adults are welcome to join the program. They offer several services including defensive driving lessons, Washington State approved driver license exams, teen and adult driving courses, and even a driving simulator!

CDX has been helping student drivers for three years and the Chamber was proud to be invited to celebrate their anniversary. Surrounded by family and friends, Mrs. Dubois, the owner of Complete Driving Experience, cut the ribbon to commemorate the milestone. CDX started with the help of The R.I.S.E. Tacoma, but quickly grew and are now located in the historic Tacoma Armory. The office is decorated with hot wheel cars, cute signs with driving puns, and motivational quotes, welcoming visitors and hopeful drivers.

CDX is a family, woman, and black-owned business that is ready to help tailor driving lessons to each student respectively, giving them the skills, knowledge, and confidence to drive safely and legally on the road! To learn more about Complete Driving Experience and what they have to offer, visit their website or contact them via email or phone.

Website: https://www.completedrivingexp.com
Phone: (253) 387-7733
Email:  [email protected]

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber and Pierce County Economic Development recently celebrated the graduation of Cohorts 15 and 16 of the Pierce County Business Accelerator! Over the past six weeks, these cohorts of local entrepreneurs and business owners have been hard at work engaging in trainings, coaching, technical support, and networking to accelerate their businesses. 

Our Chamber is honored to have played a role in the Pierce County Business Accelerator from the beginning as the program administrator, in partnership with Pierce County. The Pierce County Business Accelerator serves entrepreneurs and business owners throughout Pierce County with a focus on BIPOC, veteran, and women-owned businesses to help foster innovation and create wealth-building opportunities. Congratulations to these amazing groups of graduates! 

View photos from the Cohort 15 & 16 graduations below, and learn more about the Pierce County Business Accelerator at www.pcba.biz!

“Invest in your community and your community will invest in you."

This motto is what owner, Kieth Dashofy, of Pella Windows & Doors follows every day. A Tacoma native, Dashofy knew he wanted to expand Pella into the Grit City when faced with the incredible choice of expansion. With a showroom in Bothell, which serves Seattle, Bellevue-Eastside, Sammamish, Everett, and Mount Vernon, the Pella team was ecstatic to travel South into Pierce County to offer their services.

As the full name implies, Pella is a windows and doors installation company. The Chamber was excited to celebrate the opening of the new Tacoma Showroom on May 16th! The new showroom has an array of door styles, window frame selections, and even a stocked mini fridge of the teams’ favorite beverages.

Keith was beaming with pride during his ceremony speech and expressed his gratitude for having an excellent team behind him. He is looking forward to connecting with his fellow Chamber members, so be sure to seek him out at future Chamber events to exchange business cards.

Whether you need new windows, doors, or want to make new Pierce County connections, you should take a trip to the new showroom to say 'hi' to the Pella team and wander through their product offerings. You will find yourself entertaining the thought of remodeling the kitchen windows that you’ve been putting off for years!

Website: https://www.pella.com/locations/wa/tacoma
Phone: (253) 563-3339

Spaceworks Alum and Chamber member, HIVE Co., celebrated their grand opening in April at 5436 S Tacoma Way, Tacoma, WA 9840. HIVE Co. is small maker, small batch vibes “gift” shop.
 
Founder, Michele Jones, created a place where vendors, artists, and makers can sell wholesale, lead workshops in the specially designed gathering space or participate in a vendor pop-up market. Be sure to check out what’s going on via the event calendar available on their website.

Congratulations to Jones on this achievement and be sure to visit HIVE Co. to peruse all their goodies!

Fawcett Avenue in Tacoma is buzzing with construction of new businesses on the street. What used to be a MultiCare facility, now homes the most recent addition, Comprehensive Life Resources’ new care center.

Dating back to 1957, CLR has been in Tacoma helping those seeking treatment for substance abuse, and behavioral and mental health matters, to name a few. The Chamber was proud to celebrate the grand opening of the care center and had a wonderful turnout from the community.

Even while still being an active construction site at the time of the ceremony, the building felt welcoming, and the sunshine was a perfect touch to the brisk morning. Some furniture and artwork were already placed in the lobby, and the big floor to ceiling windows on both floors let in the warm sunshine.

CLR’s CEO, Kim Zacher, was able to share more about the history of care they have provided over the last several decades as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic. Zacher thanked the investors that played a large role in the relocation, including Umpqua Bank and more. She also recognized those who are experts in the fields of medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and behavioral health who will be hard at work every day providing treatment to their patients.

Slated to officially open on Monday, April 22, 2024, we are excited to see the new footprint they will make in Downtown. If you or a loved one is wishing to learn more about the services Comprehensive Life Resources offers, please visit their website, or give them a call:

Website: www.comprehensiveliferesources.org
Phone: (253) 396-5800