Danny Hagen joins Chinook Enterprises board

On the basketball court in high school and college, Danny Hagen would be called upon to block shots.

Today one of the Shelter Bay man’s callings is to make sure the disabled get a fair shot at fully participating in community life.

Hagen, a residential appraiser with the Skagit County Assessor’s Office, last week joined the Chinook Enterprises board of directors.

Chinook Enterprises provides job training, employment assistance and related services for people with disabilities or facing other barriers from its Mount Vernon base.

“The secret with Chinook is the mission,” Hagen, a Leadership Skagit alumnus, told the Weekly News. “People can’t help but get behind a business that wants better for those in our society who have it the hardest. To have the opportunity to support and spread the mission at Chinook is such an honor.”

A decade ago, Hagen saw Chinook’s impact first-hand as a member of its staff.

“I got my first real full-time job at Chinook Enterprises almost 10 years ago,” he said. “I was so appreciative to not only have a job, but to have the opportunity to work alongside so many incredible co-workers.”

Hagen was witness to Chinook’s manufacturing side, cutting, crimping and labeling of heavy gauge wire jobs in its wire harness production department.

“The chance to work side-by-side with people with all sorts of disabilities has helped to shape my view of the world,” he added. “I know I would not be where I am today without that job and the relationships I built in that time.”

In addition to in-house manufacturing, employment assistance and job training, Chinook Enterprises is contracted by local businesses for grounds maintenance and landscaping jobs. Various government agencies also tap Chinook to provide an array of support services.

Since 1980, Chinook staff has helped place nearly 1,200 people in jobs, demonstrating a positive work environment in the process. As a result, the Chinook mission has created a win-win climate across the Skagit community, Hagen said it is fostered by board president emeritus Rob Martin.

An overarching theme at Chinook, in place from the start, is that full community participation for trainees must start with successful employment.

“Rob Martin has been such a huge part of the past success of Chinook,” Hagen said. “Since his retirement, the board has been working hard to keep the standards he set for Chinook going strong.”

Hagen, who with wife Nicole has four children, said Chinook Enterprises remains perhaps among the Skagit Valley’s best kept secrets despite its long tradition of good works.

“I’m sure there are many people unaware of the incredible nonprofit Chinook Enterprises is,” he said.

By accepting appointment to the 12-member director’s panel, Hagen will do his best to shed light on the Chinook quest. He will start at home.

“In a world that is seemingly so divided,” he said, “I want to set an example for my kids that you don’t need to wait for anyone to start making your community better.”

Hagen is an ideal messenger on that score, recruited to the Chinook lineup a second time, 10 years between stints.

“Sometimes life brings you full circle to a place you’ve been before,” he said, “just to show you how much you have grown.”