Workplace
100 Best Companies to Work For 2013: Midsize Companies
RANK: First Place COMPANY: Torklift International, Sumner Opening Doors and Career OpportunitiesTorklift International, which manufactures towing and RV accessories, might want to think about creating a hitch-compatible trophy trailer. The engineering and manufacturing firm was the top-ranked midsize company in 2013, its first year in the 100 Best Companies rankings. The firms product line consists…
100 Best Companies to Work For 2013
From spectacular insurance benefits to inclusive workplace culture to generous work/life balance, the 100 Best Companies to Work For show how its done, year in and year out. The 15 firms profiled, in the estimation of our panel of judges, rose to the top of the 100 this year. (Find a complete PDF listing of…
Washington State Universities Get Poor Grades for Their Teacher Training Programs
Washington State’s universities and colleges received poor grades in an extensive evaluation of teacher training programs by the National Council on Teacher Quality and U.S. News & World Report. On a scale of four, fourteen of the twenty programs evaluated in the state received a score of 1.5 or less, including two of the University…
April unemployment rate in Washington state drops to 7 percent, the lowest since December 2008
The April unemployment rate in Washington state dropped to 7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The falling unemployment rate provides yet more evidence that we are slowly but steadily recovering from our economic doldrums. Here is the press release from the state’s Employment Security Department. April unemployment rate drops to 7 percent OLYMPIA Washingtons…
In sign of a cooling economy, Seattle wage growth slows in the first quarter after three quarters of strong growth.
The PayScale Index: Seattle Metro Area by Quarter After three consecutive quarters of strong growth in wages across almost every industry, job category and company size, wages grew more slowly in the first quarter of 2013, according to PayScale’s Q1 Index. his is one indication of a cooling economy. The slowdown in wage growth was…
Washington’s January Job Numbers Suggest a Boom–Or are they a statistical blip
The Washington State economy could be booming, or perhaps the numbers are wrong. Here’s the release from the state Employment Security Department. OLYMPIA The states seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged in January at 7.5 percent, while preliminary numbers from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest the state gained an estimated 24,100 jobs. However,…
Seattle is Second Best City for Women Entrepreneurs
Nerd Wallet, a personal finance site, examined which cities are the best for women entrepreneurs based on the following questions: Is the city an entrepreneurial one? We assessed the cities entrepreneurial climates by the number of businesses in the city per 100 residents. Are there female entrepreneurs (for networking or mentorship)? We analyzed the percentage…
Study Suggesting Costs to Paid Sick Leave in Connecticut May have Bearing on Washington State Proposal
Attorney, Paradigm Counsel “Everybody benefits. Thats what proponents of Connecticuts first-in-the-nation state paid sick leave law told legislators and the public during the debate that preceded the laws passage. Business owners werent so surepublic hearings on the legislation contained testimony from a number of businesses concerned about the effects of the law on their operations….
14 Honored at 2013 Executive Excellence Awards
Fourteen leaders from enterprises and nonprofits across Washington state became the first recipients of Seattle Business magazines Executive Excellence Awards on Thursday night at the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle. Jerry Lee, chairman of MulvannyG2 Architecture of Bellevue, received the programs Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong dedication to community service. Our intent with the Executive…
2013 Executive Excellence Awards (General Counsels): Kathleen Philips
KATHLEEN PHILIPS signed on with Zillow Inc. as general counsel six months before the Seattle real estate Web property launched its initial public offering in July 2011. She jumped at the chance to rejoin former colleagues Spencer Rascoff, Zillows CEO, and Amy Bohutinsky, its chief marketing officer, with whom she had worked some years before…
2013 Executive Excellence Awards (Human Resources): Marcia Mason
During Marcia Masons 19 years as vice president of human resources at Esterline, the Bellevue company completed more than 35 acquisitions and divested itself of more than a dozen operations. After first-year integration, all acquisitions were accretive to earnings, which is a testament to the huge integration task Mason spearheaded with each acquisition. A supplier…
2013 Executive Excellence Awards (COOs/CFOs): Kathryn Flores
As the CFO and chief administrative officer of Child Care Resources (CCR), KATHRYN FLORES is always thinking about the future because CCRs mission, to create a quality child care system that promotes school readiness, equity and a stable community for children, centers on building the best opportunities for the children it serves. When Flores joined…