The theme of this year’s Salmon Days will be Streaming Live.” The name was revealed Jan. 24 at the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce’s Innovation in Issaquah lunch.
Director of festivals Robin Kelley announced “Streaming Live” will take place Oct. 5-6.
The main purpose of the luncheon was to recognize this year’s winning innovators in business in Issaquah, selected from 30 nominees.
SanMar, which located its corporate headquarters to Issaquah last year, is a sportswear supplier with six locations across the U.S. The company imprints goods with customized logos. The award was accepted by HR manager Sandy Garner and recruiter Kristie Georgell.
Another winner was WISErg, which offers clean technology by taking food waste and turning it into fertilizer. The honor was accepted by Tim Robie.
In the non-profit category, Village Theater was honored for its productions that have earned national acclaim since 1979. Director of marketing Jamie Lilly accepted the award.
Gary Kaplan, MD, Chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason Health Systems, was the keynote speaker. Kaplan spoke about Virginia Mason’s implementation of Lean production, also known as Toyota Production System, which is centered on preserving value by eliminating waste.
Kaplan said health care, higher education and government are the three most difficult industries to change, but by adopting these principals Virginia Mason has inspired other health care facilities to come and see what its done.
He and two colleagues from Virginia Mason had traveled to Japan, to the Toyota factory, to watch Lean principles at work, then adapted them to fit the health care model.
“We opened our eyes to outside manufacturing businesses to adapt to change,” he said.
Kaplan was given the honor of unveiling this year’s Salmon Days logo.
Sandy Garner, left, and Kristie Georgell, accept an Innovator award on behalf of SanMar from Matt Bott, CEO of the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce.
Tim Robie of WISErg accepts an Innovator award from Matt Bott, CEO of the Issaquah Chamber.
