Bio
Jim Haguewood was born and raised in Port Angeles, Washington, where he was introduced early in life to the private sector business world. For 46 years, his family owned and operated Haguewood's Restaurant, a well known landmark in the area. Jim began working at age 12, where he learned all aspects of the operation, most importantly, the value of customer service.
After graduating with a BA degree in Hotel/Restaurant Management from Washington State University, Jim returned to his hometown as the President of Haguewood's Restaurant, which he owned and managed for 20 years. During this time, Jim was committed to his community and became involved in many business groups aimed at improving the regions business climate. He was the President of the Port Angeles Downtown Association, which was successful in downtown redevelopment, and started the Main Street Program.
In 1998, he sold Haguewood's Restaurant to pursue other career endeavors. Jim owns and manages rental properties and is involved in business development. In 2000, Jim was hired as the Executive Director of the Clallam County Economic Development Council where he continued the task of promoting and growing business opportunities in the area. He led an industry cluster strategy called Clallam netWorks that was highlighted with the Washington State 2003 Governor's Economic Development Award for "Unique Partnerships". This strategy resulted in historic economic improvements to the county including its removal from the Washington State Distressed County List in 2004 with the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, over 9,000 jobs were created in four years. In addition there was a 35% increase in retail sales from 2001-2004.
In June of 2005, Jim left Clallam netWorks to establish a private consulting firm: The ONE Group. The ONE Group (Olympic Network Executives) is a group of prominent executives with a proven record of formation and execution of comprehensive economic, community and business development strategies. They have particular expertise with industry clusters, business incubation, community branding, and marketing. In March 2006, The ONE Group was hired to manage The Incubator@Lincoln Center, with Jim as the director and Neil Gamroth as client advisor. The ONE Group recently joined the ViTAL Economy Alliance Partners to expand its project resources and participate in leading regional economic and community development projects.