The Best of Business 2008

Let’s face it: 2008 was, without a doubt, one of the ugliest years any of us can remember. Probably not since 1929 have so many of the Puget Sound region’s most powerful economic titans looked so vulnerable.

There was the near-collapse of the world’s financial system due to a whole string of obscure and complex derivatives that virtually no one understands. Once-stalwart banks and investment institutions disappeared virtually overnight. The stock market suffered one of the most spectacular meltdowns in history. Many investors panicked and pulled their money out of the market, making a bad situation even worse.

The unthinkable collapse of Washington Mutual brought home the dual crises in the nation’s housing market and banking system in a particularly brutal way to Puget Sound residents.

Boeing faced one mess after another. It lost the multi-billion-dollar deal to build a new generation of tankers, had to fix production snafus for the 787 Dreamliner and dealt with a crippled airline industry when fuel costs skyrocketed earlier this year. Oh, yeah, and then there was that costly two-month strike by its 27,000 machinists.

Starbucks has had to deal with the difficulties of downsizing—from closing stores and laying off employees to being dismissed by independent coffee shops as nearly irrelevant.

Even the mighty Microsoft suffered through plenty of changes this year. The company said farewell to co-founder and driving force Bill Gates, who retired to devote himself to his charitable foundation. It was also ridiculed for the performance of its new operating system, Vista.

Despite increasing sales and profits, Microsoft officials acknowledged that they would slow expansion in 2009, putting the Puget Sound area economy in an even more precarious position.

Still, despite such heart-stopping events, there was some positive news to report in the local business world. Companies like Steve Singh’s Concur continued to grow and dominate their niche markets. Innovations such as Amazon.com’s Kindle Electronic Reader, were poised to create entirely new industries. And a new crop of startup companies gained traction.

Seattle Business rounds up the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly from 2008. It was a year we won’t forget… no matter how hard we may try.

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Finance-guru-turned-felon Wade Cook has begun his new career as a