Jim Karcher, PE will be retiring as Whatcom County Engineer in June after three decades of public service. We reached out to his colleagues, who were glad to share about his time with the county.
While Jim has served in Whatcom County Public Works for 22 years, his background also includes 10 years serving as a Civil Engineer for Skagit County, 5 years traveling with Anvil Corporation and a few years of building roads with the Forest Service.
His first project in Whatcom County Project was Park Road (up Blue Canyon from south Lake Whatcom) and, over the past 22 years, Jim has been responsible for many more significant projects in our county, including the four biggest capital projects Whatcom County has ever constructed:
- High Bridge on Lake Whatcom Blvd
- Birch Bay-Lynden/Portal Intersection
- Potter Road Bridge
- Birch Bay Berm
All four projects positively impacted our community and won regional engineering awards.
In the words of his colleagues:
Our county engineer’s job description reads: “Displays exemplary personal character and maintains composure under stressful situations. Invests in the well-being and professional growth of employees. Builds and enables high-functioning, results-oriented teams. Identifies trends and diagnoses problems hindering organizational growth and develops recommendations for improvement.” Jim embodies all of these attributes to a tee.
Jim is incredibly sincere, honest, and a genuinely all-around fantastic person. We will miss working with him through both the easy and difficult times. Most of all, we will miss his laugh, his humor, and the positive energy that he brings to work every day.
His last day of employment with Whatcom County will be June 30, 2023. Congratulations on your retirement, Jim!
