Commentary
Editor’s Note: Investing for Impact
Paul Allen left Microsoft in 1982 after findinghimself increasingly in conflict with Bill Gates, with whom he had founded the company, and after a change in outlook brought about by a diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma. As he wrote in his memoir, Idea Man, I wanted to enjoy life. He began traveling, learned to scuba dive,…
Letters to the Editor
THE CARBON TAX QUESTIONMany thanks to Leslie Helm for taking a stand on the need to put a price on carbon in Washington state [Editors Note, September 2014]. While I was serving as director of the states Department of Commerce, we updated Washingtons Energy Strategy in 2012 for the first time in 17 years. The…
Rail Thin: Freight Train Traffic Is Booming …
Washington has a freight mobility issue. Two of them, actually. The one youve heard about involves rubber tires on concrete and asphalt, lines of cars, trucks and buses, and the need to build more roads to accommodate those vehicles. You wont get much argument from people who navigate such rolling parking lots as I-405 between…
Critical Habitat: What It Means to You
Recently, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed amendments to fundamental regulatory concepts that could affect Seattle area businesses, including project developers and companies in the maritime industry. The agencies propose to change the way they designate and evaluate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposals…
CEO Adviser: Money, Money, Money
When the renowned New York City Opera filed for bankruptcy protection and closed its doors last year, the reverberations were felt well beyond the art world. How did a 70-year-old cultural institution with a generous endowment run out of money? The story is not as intriguing as the operas it produced. The City Opera tapped…
Editor’s Note: Ballmer & Nadella
Steve Ballmer, in spite of his $21 billion of net worth, can sometimes seem like a tragic figure. In the year since he announced he would step down as CEO of Microsoft, he has faced a barrage of coverage criticizing his leadership of the company. Nobody will let him forget the way he dismissed the…
CEO Adviser: Its Not About You
“To make a difference is not a matter of accident. What the late Maya Angelou said applies to all volunteers. Our communities are better because we give of ourselves. And many of us give our time and resources willingly. But before agreeing to serve on a nonprofit board, be aware that this commitment represents a…
Letters to the Editor
TRY ON THESE SHOESIm not sure where to begin, but the narrow view taken on Leslie Helms column regarding employment practices/drivers in the Northwest and the United States [May 2014] is disappointing. You make employers out to be hardened 19th century capitalists intent on repressing the working population. This broad brush of poisonous text is…
Commentary: Branding Your Business for Good
Social enterprise is a popular phrase often linked with tech startups, Fortune 500 corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and global, multimillion-dollar nonprofit ventures like Matt Damons Water.org. But what makes a business a social enterprise? How can you become a social entrepreneur? Entrepreneurs at every level have always served a philanthropic role in the community,…
CEO Adviser: Watch Like a Hawk
Sea-HAWKS! Sea-HAWKS! Its that time of year again. And we all know the chant that whips the crowd into a frenzy on Seahawks game days is not confined to CenturyLink Field. Ive heard it while walking through the airport, having lunch at a sports bar, even picking up a few things at the grocery store….
Bill Virgin: Giving Them the Business
Is there something worse than continually winding up on the short end of political fights? Why, yes, there is. Its being considered irrelevant to the discussion in the first place. Thats about where the Seattle business community, such as it is, appears headed in the wake of the $15-an-hour minimum wage proposal by the mayor…
Final Analysis: Tunnel Vision
Is it possible for road traffic to decline over a period of time and driver frustration to go up during that same period? As we used to say in Ballard before it went from quaint Scandinavian enclave to architecturally bankrupt sanctuary of the condo/apartment overlords, Ya sure, you betcha. The Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based nonprofit…
Editor’s Note: Winners & Losers
Rising health care expenses are a heavy burden on companies and consumers alike. So when opportunities arise to reverse that trend potentially lowering the price of doing business in our state we should aggressively pursue them. In one landmark deal, weve done just that. But in another case, we have allowed one company, Premera Blue…