After a major fire last year, a Bellingham company recently announced it is back in business.
Blue Sea Systems makes electrical parts for use on boats, and sustained heavy damage to its warehouse in a 2018 blaze. The company said that the support it received from the local community helped it get back to full production. It has moved to a new location, north of Whatcom Community College, on Ryzex Way. This is close to the location of its first warehouse, and is about the same size as the previous one.
According to Lee Gordon, a company spokesman, the new facility is a long-term answer for Blue Sea. He also noted that there are about 75 people working for the company, and getting them back to work quickly took substantial effort from them, but also from the larger community.
According to Blue Sea's senior vice president, Dave Johnson, the company received phone calls and emails from suppliers, customers, and even some competitors asking how they could help. Johnson mentioned Lithtex NW and Allsop as being two of the companies that assisted Blue Sea. In addition, the company continued to pay its employees and provide healthcare during the time it was being rebuilt.
Kelli Teichman, who has worked at Blue Sea for 17 years, said the experience made the employees realize they are more than co-workers, and part of a family. In situations like this, brochure printing can be used to create pamphlets reminding customers of the products available.
