Affordability preludes economic growth in Whatcom County, candidates say

Local businesses that comprise Bellingham’s small economy are fairly insulated to economic swings, said Hart Hodges, the director of Western Washington University’s Center for Economic and Business Research. Whatcom County’s economy doesn’t see a rise in employment and rapid economic growth in times of expansion because the county’s largest employers — PeaceHealth, Western, Bellingham Public Schools, governments, tribes and BP — have a “non-cyclical core,” the economics professor said.

“When things are slower, when there’s a bit of a contraction, we don’t slow down as much,” Hodges told CDN. “A lot of students stay for a little while, and then a lot of students have to leave because it’s a very small economy.”

This leaves open economic opportunities in the information technology sector and on the waterfront, Hodges said. Incumbent Port of Bellingham commissioner Ken Bell said the shipping terminal is number one on his list, “because there’s just no better place on the port to create the high-wage work that we need.”