Opening Bell
Hire Purpose
Intense employee vetting and healthy conflict rocket StrataCore to the pinnacle of the 100 Best Companies list
On the surface, Aaron Loehr has a pretty straightforward management philosophy: Hire exceptional people and “let them do their thing.” In reality, it’s nowhere near that simple. Loehr, the founder and chief executive officer of Seattle tech company StrataCore Inc., relies on an in-depth battery of cognitive and behavioral testing to assess the strengths and…
On Reflection: A Shell of an Idea
Tidal Vision rides chitosan growth wave
This story is featured in the October issue of Seattle Business magazine. Subscribe here to access the print edition. Former commercial fisherman Craig Kasberg thinks about shrimp, crab and lobster in very different ways than most people. Kasberg is the founder of Tidal Vision, a Bellingham-based company riding an explosive wave of growth based on…
Editor’s Note: A Gang of Green
Sustainable building and adaptive reuse increasingly dominate Seattles building landscape
This story is featured in the October issue of Seattle Business magazine. Subscribe here to access the print edition. Though Climate Pledge Arena generates most of the headlines, the real push to combat climate change in Seattle is nestled into neighborhoods across the city. This issue alone contains no fewer than four stories detailing the…
Statshot: The numbers behind Washington state’s charitable giving
The charitable sector in Washington state creates hope for those in need, a personal sense of satisfaction for those in a position to give and also provides a sizable boost to the state economy. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the state’s nonprofit community. 32,084: Nonprofit organizations in Washington state 22,343: Public charities 1,515: Private foundations…
Spotlight: Inspector Gadgets
Tech-construction company HeadLight brings a level of scrutiny to projects
This story is featured in the October issue of Seattle Business magazine. Subscribe here to access the print edition. George White cofounded his construction-tech company because of his experience with potholes. You read that right. Potholes. White had recently graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in mechanical engineering when he joined a…
Editor’s Note: Against Long Odds
Crystal Allenton survived domestic abuse and homelessness to earn two college degrees.
This story is featured in the July issue of Seattle Business magazine. Subscribe here to access the print edition. Long before the pandemic, Crystal Allenton knew she needed to make some big decisions to change her life. Allenton now holds bachelors and masters degrees from WGU Washington and teaches high school English, but there was…
Editor’s Note: Return of the Restaurant
As the pandemic eases, the hard-hit restaurant sector eyes a resurgence
This story is featured in the May/June issue of Seattle magazine. Subscribe here to access the print edition. Like everyone else, MJ Munsell visits a restaurant for the food and social benefits. Unlike everyone else, shes keenly aware of the sequencing, lighting and spacing. Munsell, the chief creative officer at Seattle architecture, design strategy and…
Editor’s Note: Seeking Space
Housing patterns reflect the no-commute lockdown.
This story is featured in the March issue of Seattle magazine. Subscribe here to access the print edition. After almost a year of pandemic-induced lockdown, we recently moved from a smallish condo to a house with double the space. It became steadily apparent as the months slowly ticked off last year that the condo we…
On Reflection: Foreign Service
An unlikely alliance is pointing out how immigration reform would aid the economy.
The United States has long been schizophrenic on the issue of immigration, says Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) CEO Michael Schutzler. As each new wave of arrivals played critical roles in the nations economic growth, their presence often generated fear and disdain. Recent anger toward Muslims and Mexicans expressed at presidential candidate Donald Trumps rallies…
On Reflection: Corporate Game Changer
Gamification software from a UW startup makes biz-school case studies more authentic.
Imagine youre the CEO of an airline in crisis. Customers and shareholders are unhappy. Your employees have just gone on strike. What do you do? Give in to union demands? Hold your ground and negotiate? Fire all the employees? Its the first of a cascading set of decisions you must make in The Signature Case…
On Reflection: Amazon’s Cloud Control
Amazon Web Services is gaining market share at an astonishing rate.
The rapidly growing cloud business of Amazon Web Services (AWS) could soon begin to put the same kind of pressure on the legacy IT sector that Amazon.com has already put on the retail sector. KeyBanc Capital Markets estimates AWS is adding $1 billion in incremental revenues every quarter. Analysts expect annual AWS revenue will more…
On Reflection: Who will be Our Pecora?
Lessons from the depression resonate today.
Eight years on, it seems were still trying to make sense of the financial meltdown, with films like Margin Call, The Big Short and Money Monster grappling with the facts, fixations and fury of that upheaval. A small Seattle theater company called The Repertory Collective joined the fray in March, noting how we confronted this…
On Reflection: Working the Phone
Amazons Mechanical Turk was the first service to allow businesses to connect with hundreds of thousands of anonymous workers around the world and have them handle small tasks for small sums of money. Seattles Spare5 has improved on that model by offering screened experts to perform micro-tasks on a mobile device for micro-payments. Spare5, which…