Published July 2003

Loomis finds niche in utilities, Snohomish

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

“Team” and “partnership” are words that often come up when Liz Loomis discusses her work as head of Liz Loomis Public Affairs, a communication services agency based in Snohomish.

Snohomish County Business Journal/ KIMBERLY HILDEN “I am home here,” Liz Loomis says of Snohomish, the city in which she lives and started her business, Liz Loomis Public Affairs. “... Everyone wants to do what’s best for this town.” Along with running a business, Loomis serves on the City Council and the Citizen Police Advisory Board and volunteers for a number of youth initiatives.

Whether it’s delegating ad design to her creative director or partnering with a permit specialist on a public relations project, Loomis, affectionately known as “the field marshal,” rallies the troops to get the job done.

“The team you are able to assemble is the key to success,” said Loomis, who started her business six years ago to fill a niche market serving electric utilities.

She learned of the niche while working for the Washington Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Olympia for two legislative sessions, a job that opened her eyes to the issues — and opportunities — facing public power.

“I fell in love with the issue and the communities involved. Public power is really democracy at its very core,” she said, noting how utility leaders and their customers come together to resolve issues.

During her stint with the WRECA, co-op members would call requesting individual attention that the association didn’t have the means to satisfy.

So Loomis, whose political experience includes managing campaigns for Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel and state Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, stepped in to fill the gap — becoming a small-business owner in the process — to provide public relations management, grass-roots organizing, market research, advertising services and Web-site design.

“My first client was Orcas Power & Light (Cooperative),” Loomis said. “Then I grew to four clients, and word of mouth spread.”

Now, her client list includes more than a dozen electric utilities and trade organizations, including her former employer, the WRECA, as well as a number of non-utility enterprises, such as Cadman Inc., L&B Auto Repair and Dynamic Diesel.

Revenue projections for 2003 point toward more growth, and the company now stands at a crossroads.

Since its inception in 1997, Liz Loomis Public Affairs, with the aid of telecommunications tools, has been operating out of Loomis’ home. “But I am literally at the door where I have to decide whether to move the business into an office,” she said.

It will not be an easy decision to make for Loomis, who admits she likes “being small” — and being free from the added pressure of dealing with office overhead.

“It allows me to be choosy in whom I work with,” she said.

Like clients who care about the communities in which they operate — a key quality in Loomis’ book.

“The first question I ask a potential client is ‘Are you willing to take input on what you’re proposing to do?’” Loomis said. “If you don’t have people who are impacted by the project be a part of planning it from the ground up, it’s not going to be a success.”

For Loomis, commitment to community extends beyond the mission of Liz Loomis Public Affairs.

Since 1997, Loomis has been a member of the Snohomish City Council. She serves on the Citizen Police Advisory Board and the Snohomish Drug & Alcohol Committee, the YMCA Teen Services Board and the Snohomish Valley Athletic Council.

It’s her way of giving back to the town and region where, in 1995, she decided to put down roots.

“I am home here,” said Loomis, who grew up in Connecticut and attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., graduating with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs in 1992.

“People in this community work so hard. Everyone wants to do what’s best for this town,” she said, before adding, “I’m just having a great time.”

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