Commentary
Pike Place Market Strikes the Perfect Balance of Bureaucracy and Entrepreneurship, People and Profits, Past and Future
The creative tension at work in the market plays out across every sector of our economy.
This article appears in print in the March 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Ever since our office moved downtown a few years ago, one of my biggest joys has been periodically taking a break to experience the bustle and bedlam of Pike Place Market. Ill go to Michou Deli and, if its…
8 Ways Businesses Can Be Proactive in the Age of #MeToo
Harassment in the workplace not a new issue and businesses need to plan to prevent misconduct.
This article was contributed by Catharine Morisset of the labor and employment law firm Fisher Phillips in Seattle. With heightened attention on workplace sexual harassment, employers are renewing their commitment to preventing and effectively addressing such unlawful conduct. Despite recent headlines, the challenge is not new. Over the past 20 years, sex-based workplace discrimination charges…
Ichiros Return to the Seattle Mariners Is Great for Some Fans. But for Baseball? Meh!
Ichiro Suzuki will be back at Safeco at age 44, but his return is indicative of how things have gone for the Mariners in the Safeco Era, says former sports columnist John Levesque.
I worked as a sports columnist for a few years and covered the Seattle Mariners when Ichiro Suzuki was in his prime. Though I was never convinced Ichiro could lead the Mariners to a World Series championship, he was fun to watch. I even wrote this column of appreciation in 2004 after previously suggesting that…
How the New Tax Law Affects Businesses Claiming the R&D Tax Credit in Washington State
Expert analysis on how your business will be impacted.
This article is a contributed story by Star Fischer and Tom Sanger, CPAs, Partners, Moss Adams The new tax law, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), will have a significant impact on Washington state companies and owners. Heres an overview of changes impacting taxpayers that perform research and development (R&D): R&D Tax Credit…
Why Landlords Are Forcing Whole Foods 365 and Teavana Stores to Stay Open
Starbucks and Amazon/Whole Foods discover that mall operators prefer a low-performing store to a shuttered one.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Businesses close all the time, for all sorts of reasons. Thats not a bug of the capitalist system. Its a feature. Churn can be tough on the participants, but the continuous testing of ideas, products, services and technologies in…
Downtown Seattle Continues to Blossom, but Whats Next?
The Downtown Seattle Association took a victory lap at its annual meeting, but keynote speaker Bruce Katz says there are a few things Seattle must now do.
Downtown Seattle is core to the Greater Seattle region, one of the fastest-growing in the country. So when the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) has its annual breakfast meeting, as it did on Wednesday, the ballroom is packed and interest is high. As every year for the past half decade, the meeting began with a celebration…
Tim Leiweke Has the City’s Support, but Don’t Mistake the Potential Seattle Sonics Savior for a Philanthropist
"Bear in mind that when Seattle gets a professional hockey or basketball team, neither is going to be called the Seattle Altruists."
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Like a squirrel discovering a bird feeder that hasnt been varmint-proofed, the Seattle City Council has vigorously glommed onto Tim Leiweke and fully expects to extract from him the following promissory kernels: Making Seattle Center great again. | Fixing…
Cafe Presse’s Take-Home Dinner for Two is Perfect for Last-Minute Valentine’s Day Planners
No plans? No worries!
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Youre working late on February 14. Or you forgot to make a restaurant reservation. Or your relationship has progressed to the point where sharing a meal at home in your PJs is tres romantique. Cafe Presse has you covered…
Why Seattle Could Be an Important Test Case for Trump’s Tax Overhaul
Simply waiting for a rising economic tide to lift all boats is a dubious strategy, as we may soon see in Seattle.
This article appears in print in the February 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. The nations new tax overhaul may give a short-term boost to the economy by pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the pockets of businesses and, temporarily, individuals. But will it also bolster wages of working men and women…
What Do Amazon and China Have in Common?
Both are disruptive, too big to ignore and absolutely key to the future of Seattle and Washington.
This article appears in print in the January 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription. What do China and Amazon have in common aside from being featured in this issue of Seattle Business magazine? Well, they are both disruptive, too big to ignore and inextricably tied to our regions economic future. China, like Korea…
How Will Mayor Jenny Durkan Influence the Seattle Economy?
The economy will take care of itself. Not alienating the middle class is more difficult.
This article appears in print in the January 2017 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Four years and five mayors ago (McGinn, Murray, Harrell, Burgess and now Durkan), this column opined that when it comes to devising and carrying out economic development policy, no big-city mayor has it as easy as whoever happens to…
The Next Recession
Knowing when were in one is easy; accurately predicting one is the hard part.
This article appears in print in the December 2017 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Whatever the official parameters for defining the onset of a recession, most people link the start of national and regional recessions to some specific triggering event the Black Tuesday stock market crash of 1929, the cancellation of the SST…
Collaboration Between Amazon and Microsoft Strengthens the Puget Sound Business Environment
When competitors cooperate and inspire each other, we all benefit.
This article appears in print in the December 2017 issue. Click here for a free subscription. Even as employment in the Puget Sound region has soared to more than 2.2 million, up an astounding 344,000 workers since 2000, and a growing number of local companies have a global presence, the Seattle areas business community has…