Whatcom and Skagit Communities Served From Bellingham, WA

One office for two counties

There is a single Oakridge Business Loans office, on Commercial Street in Bellingham, WA. No staff or offices exist in the other communities on this page. Requests work the same way wherever the business is: by phone, by the online form and by email.

Communities with their own pages

Miles are measured in a straight line from the office to the Census internal point of each place (U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer 2025). Employer counts are for the postal ZIP code, which covers far more land than the town itself (U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file). The office's own city is covered on the Bellingham, WA page.

Blaine, WA and Birch Bay, WA

Blaine is a Whatcom County city about 20 miles northwest of the office. ZIP 98230 had 450 employer establishments in 2023, and 64.2 percent had fewer than five employees; construction was the largest sector, with 59 (U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). Blaine covers about 13 percent of that ZIP's land. Birch Bay, a census-designated place about 17 miles northwest, shares nearby postal ZIPs and has no business count of its own; an estimated 13.0 percent of its employed residents were self-employed (plus or minus 4.9 points) (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates).

Burlington, WA, Mount Vernon, WA and La Conner, WA

These Skagit County communities sit 21 to 25 miles south of the office, and Whatcom County figures do not describe them. ZIP 98233 (Burlington) had 706 employer establishments in 2023, with retail trade the largest sector at 131. ZIP 98273 (Mount Vernon) had 1,053, led by retail trade (146), construction (125) and health care (118). ZIP 98257 (La Conner) had 151, with retail trade (29) and accommodation and food services (28) on top (U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). Each ZIP covers much more than the town it is named for.

Sudden Valley, WA, Geneva, WA and Marietta-Alderwood, WA

These census-designated places sit within seven miles of the office and share Bellingham-area ZIP codes, so there are no separate business counts for them. Self-employment estimates exist for two: Sudden Valley, 14.6 percent of employed residents (plus or minus 4.2 points), and Marietta-Alderwood, 20.6 percent (plus or minus 7.2) (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates). Geneva has no separate figures.

Deming, WA, Custer, WA, Sumas, WA and Maple Falls, WA

Smaller Whatcom County communities between 12 and 22 miles from the office. Their postal ZIPs had fewer than 100 employer establishments each in 2023: 83 in ZIP 98244 (Deming), 71 in 98240 (Custer), 77 in 98295 (Sumas) and 44 in 98266 (Maple Falls), with construction the largest sector in three of the four (U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). Those ZIPs reach well beyond each community.

Nooksack, WA and other nearby places

Nooksack, a Whatcom County city about 14 miles north-northeast, has too few employer establishments in its ZIP for a reliable profile. Acme, Kendall and Peaceful Valley in Whatcom County, and Alger, Edison, Bay View, Clear Lake and Lyman in Skagit County, are smaller places with no separate business figures. Owners there are just as welcome to call.

What stays the same everywhere

• Oakridge Business Loans is a broker, not a lender; each lending partner reaches its own decision on terms.
• Every community has access to the same six funding types.
• Registration differs by city: check your own city's rules as well as the state's.

By Oakridge Business Loans · Updated 2026-10-16