Business Pulse

Sharon and Dan Washburn on career planning: “It’s always
been focused on continuity for our family.”
“And he said, ‘Well, Mr.
Washburn, you have a decision to
make. You can give us $200, or we
won’t do business in the future.’ I
told him that I’d love to, but we
didn’t have the $200 to do that.
“This turns out to be Howard
Lincoln.”
Lincoln was the CEO of
Nintendo USA. Now he’s the
chairman and CEO of the Seattle
Mariners baseball team. “That
$200 was a big deal for our little
company just starting out; it made
sense to me, and it didn’t make
sense to this guy who was pushing
me. But I’ve never made that mistake
again.”
When Washburn graduated
from the University of Washington
in accounting, he had no foreshadowing
of his eventual business
career. IBM altered his path.
“At first thought I’d be a CPA
(certified public accountant),” he
said. “As I was interviewing for
that and thinking about a career, I
interviewed with IBM and learned
about their whole environment.
Turns out, it’s where I
felt I fit best.”
He said friends kidded
him about having
to wear dark suits and
white shirts and neckties.
“I said, ‘Yeah,
good – I love that.’
Plus, it was a great
place to learn your
trade, and learn how
to sell in a very professional,
relationshiporiented
approach at
the highest level.”
IBM would have
paved his way to
corporate management,
he said if he’d
been willing to move
around the country.
For example, they
offered him a position
in Buffalo, N.Y.
“My wife,” he said,
“told me, ‘Fine, if you
want to do that, but
it’s going to be a long commute
for you.’ Early in our marriage we
learned to make decisions through
discussion and mutual agreement.
We agreed it was best to keep our
family in Seattle. As far as a business
or career plan, it’s always
been focused on continuity for our
family.”
After five years at IBM he
accepted an equity position with
a printing firm William Dierickx
Company in 1979. It flourished on
Canon’s back in the copier market,
and in 1986 an East Coast corporation
bought it and renamed it
IKON. Washburn stayed on, and
during his 12 years with the company
the staff grew to exceed 400,
and sales mounted to a $60-$70
million peak, he said.
Another partnership opportunity
arose with an established small
company that the group renamed
Image Tech, a photo-copy machine
distributor, with a goal of growing
it. About four years in, Ricoh
bought it in 1994.
By then, the Washburns had
empty-nest syndrome, and felt a
pull towards Bellingham. It was
familiar turf, as both daughters
and their son had graduated from
Western. Plus Dan had attended
one year there, and the area later
had been part of his IBM territory.
Their oldest daughter married
a Bellingham policeman, and the
first of 11 Washburn grandchildren
was born here. So, logically,
with the family plan leading the
business plan, Washburn sought
a way to start anew here. He
met Jim Shapiro, the president
Dan Washburn made two
decisions early in his first
business that taught him
strong lessons. Both were
in dealings with young,
small business owners
named Gates and Lincoln.
One ended very well, one
not so much.
of Windermere’s Seattle-based
regional real estate giant, who
introduced him to multiple-agency
owner Craig Shriner. He had the
Windermere rights to Whatcom
County. Washburn bought threefourths
of that franchise in 1995,
and the rest in `99.
Statistically, the spread of local
Windermere from its home in
Bellingham to four other locations
– sales agencies in Fairhaven,
Blaine, and Lynden, and an outlet
in Bellis Fair Mall – as this
region’s real estate leader reveals
a remarkable story. Steadily it has
carved out the highest numbers in
the industry. (See boxed insert)
But big numbers, always
impressive, don’t do justice to
the larger story of the culture
within and the outreach of the
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