Story Photos
 Judy's co-managers Joel and Shannon Bass keep their business fresh by mixing tasty standards like their desserts and pasta with new recipes and updated marketing methods. Bill Wagner / The Daily News
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Talking Business: Judy's celebrates 25 years
Monday, October 13, 2008 5:43 PM PDT
By Erik Oslon
Printable version
E-mail this articleWhen she was 13, Shannon Bass waited tables, washed dishes and performed other tasks at her mother’s fledgling restaurant on Washington Way.
“I would sit and do homework by the window to make it look like there were customers,” said Bass, now 39.
Now Bass and her husband, Joel, are co-managers of Judy’s Restaurant and Catering, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.
Owner Judy Merila said the idea to start the business came while she was working as a corrections officer serving prisoners breakfast at the jail about 30 years ago. She had talked of owning a restaurant before, and a friend urged her to make the jump, Merila said.
She first got a job managing a supermarket, then parlayed that experience into Judy’s at 1036 Washington Way in 1983.
“It’s an accomplishment. It’s been all I thought it would be and more,” Merila said.
Three years ago, health concerns prompted the owner to step away from day-to-day operations, and the Basses stepped in.
“My children made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Merila said.
Judy’s Restaurant has always specialized in making pasta and desserts from scratch, but the menu has evolved as times have changed, Joel Bass said. Catering makes up about a third of the restaurant’s business, and Judy’s offers a number of meals-to-go for people who don’t have time to sit down at a restaurant, he said.
The 25-year anniversary is significant to the Basses. They plan to donate money from the sale of their famous peanut butter pies to CAP, the local Community Action Program. And they’ve got a gala scheduled for November.
“You have to have a party to celebrate 25 years,” Shannon Bass said.
Judy’s Restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Thursday through Saturday. For more information, call 423-9262.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story listed an incorrect last name for Joel and Shannon Bass.
Cowlitz Credit Union names new CEO
Virginia Russeff, who started her career as a Cowlitz Credit Union teller in 1974, has been named the financial institution’s new chief executive officer, the agency recently announced.
Russeff has held positions as loan officer, collection manager, data processing supervisor and chief financial officer, according to Cowlitz Credit Union. She also worked as CEO of City Employees of Clark County Federal Credit Union in Vancouver from 1997-2004.
Russeff is a lifelong Cowlitz County resident with a degree from Lower Columbia College.
Founded in 1957, Cowlitz Credit Union has $38 million in assets and about 5,000 members.
Study finds Lee newspapers’ readership rising
Young adults’ online and print readership of Lee Enterprises top 10 markets grew over the last year, according to a study commissioned by the company.
The study, conducted by Wilkerson and Associates, found that young adults’ online readership grew from 54 percent to 64 percent in June 2008 and from 48 percent to 55 percent on the print side, according to the company.
The Daily News is owned by Lee but was not selected to participate in the study. The company’s flagship paper is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The study also found that the combined reach of those 10 papers and their sites grew from 66 percent of all adults in 2007 to 71 percent in 2008.
Talking Business is a weekly column about business openings, closings or major changes. Contact reporter Erik Olson with any business news tips at eolson@tdn.com or at 577-2510.
Drayvan wrote on Oct 13, 2008 12:09 PM:
Tired of thinking of user names wrote on Oct 13, 2008 12:55 PM:
wazzu coug wrote on Oct 13, 2008 3:04 PM:
The Columbian is bailing out of a brand new building less than a year after moving in and your numbers are up?
Hmm, must be time to increase subscription and advertising rates. "
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