Opening Bell
Future Thinking
Leaning into lessons from her past, including the embrace of new technologies, Ava Van Snow launched her full-service PR firm with the goal of helping others tell their stories.
Public Relations specialist Ava Van Snow has always had big ambitions. Despite a series of challenges during her childhood in Renton—a father who walked out when she was young, being raised by her immigrant grandparents who fled Vietnam during the war, and depending on government assistance to survive—she set her sights on pursuing a career…
Something’s Brewing
Downtown Seattle is now a micro-hub for taprooms.
When Reuben’s Brews opened its newest location this summer—front-and-center on First Avenue—it joined a small but mighty cohort of taprooms taking up real estate downtown. With the continued influx of people to the neighborhood (tourists over the summer, workers returning to offices, and locals coming to check out the renovated waterfront), these breweries and cideries…
Brew Crew Culture
Pot O’ Gold brings people together, inside the office and out
Blake Jones has a very pragmatic and reasonable explanation for why Pot O’ Gold Coffee Service doesn’t allow remote or hybrid work schedules. “As an office coffee company, our success depends on people being present in the workplace rather than working from home,” says Jones, who serves as vice president of sales and marketing at…
Instruments of Inspiration
Music4Life gives kids the chance to find their voice through the gift of music
Editor’s Note: Music4Life founder David Endicott died unexpectedly on May 30. Music4Life plans to continue its work, both as a tribute to David and to help the many children who benefit from its services. Music saved David Endicott’s life. Endicott was a wayward youth when a band director named Emery Nordness took an interest in him….
Puget Powerhouses
Washington ranks No. 1 for women-owned businesses
Washington has a higher percentage of women-owned businesses than any other state. Forty-two percent of all businesses here are female owned. At 34%, the state also ranks No. 1 for its percentage of women-owned businesses that earn more than $1 million in annual revenue. The employment rate of all women across the state is 59%,…
Agrivillage Adventure
Ambitious co-housing project preserves Snohomish County farmland
Dave Boehnlein’s motivation was aspirational, practical and novel at the same time. The co-founder and project manager at nonprofit Rooted Northwest spearheaded a plan to prevent the former 240-acre Tillman Dairy Farm in Arlington from being split for development. Rooted purchased the property and worked with county officials to preserve the farmland while also providing…
Statshot: Creative At The Core
The most popular events at Seattle Center
Seattle Center is the most visited cultural attraction in Washington state and the 18th most popular in the United States. Nearly 10 million people visited “the city’s living room” in 2023. Here’s a quick glance at attendance at select events: Source: Seattle Center (2023) Big Number 4,196,993 Paid attendance at arts and cultural programs and…
Little Hands, Big Brands
Small ad agency lands major clients
Michael Boychuk likes the critically acclaimed TV show Mad Men as much as anyone. It’s not inaccurate, he says, just romanticized. He should know. Boychuk, who cut his teeth at venerable Seattle ad agency WongDoody, now runs Little Hands of Stone, an independent creative agency with a modest office in the Fremont neighborhood, with partner…
Gym Journey
Chris Travis launched SSP to help others in the same situation he once found himself in
Chris travis remembers working 80 hours a week after starting a new job at Amazon’s Kindle division back in 2010. Not surprisingly, it took a toll on his health. He was eating poorly. He had developed a bad back, and wasn’t exercising…
Statshot: Fitspiration
It’s resolution time. Here’s where Seattle ranks on a list of healthy cities
It’s a New Year. Time to hit the gym, improve the diet, become more mindful. Turns out that Seattle-area residents are already doing many of those things. An analysis by Forbes Advisor found that Seattle is the third-healthiest city in the United States, behind only San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas. Here’s the breakdown. 11.49…
Statshot: Columbia Crush
The grapenomics of Washington wine
Washington is the second-largest wine producing state in the nation, behind only California. Want to impress your guests this holiday season? Hit them with these Washington wine facts. 6-8 inches of annual rainfall in the Columbia Valley 17 average hours of summer sunlight 20 number of American Viticultural Areas, a specific region where grapes are…
Seattle Strong is on a Cold Streak
Cold coffee business was created in a college classroom
In 2017, Evan Oeflein wasn’t thinking about launching a cold brew coffee company. Like many students in the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, he was just trying to complete a class assignment. But the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship’s “Create a Company” program wasn’t your typical lecture — it pushed students to turn an…
On Reflection: Jockeying for Jobs
Competition in Seattle is intense
Having trouble finding a job? Know someone who is? It’s becoming a lot harder. Seattle boasts the dubious distinction of having the toughest labor market in the world. Career website Resume.io found that the city had the world’s largest percentage increase in job competition the past year, with the number of applicants for every open…