Commentary
Virgin on Business: The City of Amazon
For the final column of 2014, tradition demands that we select a person, place or thing for which the coming year will prove to be critical and pivotal for said person, place or thing, and for the regional economy. Truth be told: Tradition barely hints that we go through such an exercise, this being just…
Final Analysis: The Year in Review
Even if it means we have to watch more TV commercials starring football players who cant act paging Mr. Lynch, Mr. Marshawn Lynch the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl victory last February defined 2014 in the Puget Sound region, so youll get no complaints here. Three days after the Seahawks made the Denver Broncos look utterly…
Letters to the Editor
Our readers weigh in.
DOING GOOD, DOING WELLI was pleased to see John Levesques Final Analysis column in the October issue. He made a wonderful story of Cobalts conference rooms named for accomplished women. I dont think we had time to talk about our Girls Who Code program. We have formed a wonderful partnership with Holy Names Academy; 20…
Editor’s Note: Whose Job Is It, Anyway?
Five years ago, Pioneer Square was so dead that the much-revered Elliott Bay Book Company packed up and moved its store to Capitol Hill. Now, the neighborhood is coming back to life, thanks in large part to a reinvigorated Pioneer Square Business Improvement Area (BIA). BIAs are neighborhood business organizations authorized by the City of…
CEO Adviser: Peak Performance
Has a customer, work environment or mountain ever told you no? Its natural to feel discouraged when you encounter a serious setback. Years ago, after 63 days of battling the cold, jetstream-force winds and snow, we couldnt close the deal. Just 1,400 feet shy of the summit, we were forced to retreat. Two months of…
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…