What We're Really Talking About Here

Recently, the VITAL for Vashon group held a public meeting/forum to present a summary of the genesis of the VITAL group, our purpose and plans. We held two sessions and had a pretty good turnout at the evening session.

We greatly appreciate all who were able to come to the forum and thank those who have sent emails regarding your thoughts, feelings, ideas and suggestions. We learned a lot at the forum and have taken much of the input into consideration as we develop the next phase of our planning. If you missed the meetings, here is a summary of what was presented.

• Nine months out of the year, most Vashon businesses suffer from lack of on-island support, as well as a lack of tourism
• A group of island residents who also run businesses have come together to help build a long range plan to increase island support of the local businesses, as well as marginally increase tourism to Vashon during the “off seasons” (i.e. every month besides the summer months)
• VITAL (Vashon Island Tourism Awareness Leaders) is a Chamber initiative, however the efforts are inclusive
• The Chamber has hired Blonde Ambition (a Vashon-based Marketing, Media, Planning, and Project Management Agency) to help lead the initiative
• The information that was presented primarily called out the strategic, focused off-island efforts, but all work will cross into on-island messages about buying and supporting local businesses
• While we are working on the off-island visitor efforts, we’ll be creating and launching efforts to promote on-island commerce
• We’ll also be looking at ways to leverage the extended island family by making it easy for residents to welcome their friends, family and others to the island whenever they’re looking for that unique, relaxing weekend getaway, shopping excursion, night out on the town, etc. In short, we want to encourage islanders to be just as enthusiastic about spreading the word of Vashon within their network as we are!
• We have an opportunity with a “stranger” to Vashon or “friend we haven’t met yet” to create habits – such as education about the ferries and the vast number of island commuters. In other words, educate the “stranger/tourist” about taking say a 2:00 ferry on a Friday instead of a 6:00 to avoid a long ferry wait for themselves, and reduce their impact on regular island residents who just want to get home after a long week at work
• We are not looking to attract just anyone to Vashon with our off-island efforts. We are primarily looking at the female decision maker who finds time amongst nature, real people, good music and down-to-earth unpretentiousness her type of pampering and getaway. Someone who would blend into the regular Vashon scene very easily and respectfully
• In September, VITAL will review a detailed report from Blonde Ambition that will present a comprehensive proposal for on- and off-island efforts and projects and any associated costs. From there, Phase 2 of the process will begin: Development of communication materials and fund-raising. Within Phase 2, we’ll also be setting up tools and techniques for tracking, measuring and reporting so we can compare numbers and other important information as time goes by
• We do not intend to make Vashon like a Leavenworth, Gig Harbor, or any other similar “touristy” town. We can keep Vashon Vashon while creating a thriving environment for businesses and residents alike

In a nutshell: While it is ideal for Vashon businesses to be primarily supported by locals, unfortunately that is not the case today. Also, tourism is already here on Vashon, mostly during the summer months, but during the off-season months, the lack of local and tourism business/dollars are pushing local restaurants, artists, shops, rental homes/cottages and B&B’s to the breaking point. We all benefit from having a rich variety of residents and businesses on the island. In order to maintain what we have, something has to be done to promote knowledge and awareness for on-island residents, as well as off-island visitors, to improve commerce for Vashon, now and into the future.

“But I’m a/I run a [insert your business here] and I don’t benefit/depend on tourism for my business.” Actually, just about anyone who is their own business or runs their own business can ultimately benefit from tourism dollars. For example: Business ‘A’ begins to thrive thanks to an increase in local support and a slight increase in tourism during the off season. Business ‘A’ can now…

• Hire a fulltime employee: That fulltime position is filled by an island resident.


• Improve and redesign their website: They hire a local web designer for the project.


• Make some physical and aesthetic improvements to their business: They hire local contractors for some of the work and all materials are purchased at the local hardware stores.


• Donate to the local charity/non-profit that they’ve had to turn away in the past.

I could continue on into many different directions. And while Econ 101 tells us an improvement can start from a number of different leading factors, the VITAL work is focusing on tourism for Vashon at this time. But as I said at the forum, if this VITAL initiative can be the pebble that starts the ripple effect for Vashon commerce and improvements to many different areas of our beloved island – then great! We also recognize that if Vashon continues in the manner it has, which is basically running an island with a variety of diverse businesses without a cohesive and comprehensive plan, then anything can and will come to this island without a community-filter in place to help make decisions on what’s the best for Vashon and what isn’t. Currently we are an island united only sporadically. Part of the VITAL hope is that the various groups and initiatives begin to come together as one to help build a better Vashon for tomorrow and into the future.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the VITAL initiative. We look forward to working with many different individuals and businesses to achieve at least one common goal I’ll speculate we all have in common: to be able to live the life we intended when choosing to become a Vashonite, as well as enjoy a vital community where businesses can thrive and island residents actively participate in a variety of different aspects of island life.

We welcome your thoughts, comments, ideas, even constructive criticism; there is always something to learn from other’s viewpoints. So feel free to email us at vitalforvashon@gmail.com.

Thank you Vashon, one and all!

--Amy Herbig, President, Blonde Ambition