News
More than Milk
Smith Brothers Farms is more than just a dairy
Dusty Highland is firmly rooted in modern times, but the fourth-generation owner of rapidly growing Smith Brothers Farms still centers his company on a time-tested business practice that dates back to colonial New England. Despite having a fancy app and a business model built around acquisitions, new products and corporate partnerships, Kent-based Smith Brothers still…
The Train Keeps Going
Why workforce development is always a work in progress
Regina Mills would shop late at night, when her two sons and neighbors were not around, because she was ashamed that she needed the state’s food assistance program to pay for groceries. She had been rejected from one job after another because of a charge of possession and burglary that, though dismissed, kept showing up…
Higher-Ed Dread
Optimal works to untangle the chaotic world of choosing a college
The difference between Harvard University and your local community college may not be as great as you think. It depends on your focus and interests. Just ask Sung Rhee. His Kirkland-based company, Optimal, prioritizes tuition costs and alumni salaries in ranking colleges. Unlike U.S. News & World Report — once considered the gold standard for…
Therapy by Chatbox
Seattle startups test promises, challenges
Could a chatbot be more empathetic than your therapist? Could bots augment or even replace a trusted mental health professional? Those questions lit up the internet when JAMA, the influential Journal of the American Medical Association, published a study in late April concluding that ChatGPT (generative pertained transformer) responds with more empathy to patients than…
When AI Saves Lives
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health's Mission Control Center is innovative, impressive and imperfect. Here's why it works
When CHI Franciscan launched its Mission Control Center, it became the first health system in Washington state and only the fifth globally to use artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to coordinate patient care across its entire system. Four years later, the NASA-inspired effort — created in collaboration with GE Healthcare — is credited with shortening…
Is Your Business One Of Washington’s Best Companies To Work For? Nominate Here!
Showcase your company’s culture and reward your employees by registering for Seattle Business magazine’s Best Companies To Work For survey. Registration deadline is June 23. Register here: https://bestcompaniesgroup.com/best-companies-to-work-for-in-washington/program-registration/ Seattle Business magazine will publish its 34th annual Best Companies issue in January 2024. An optional in-depth report from our program partner, Best Companies Group, provides rare…
Pier review: Everett’s Waterfront is in the midst of a transformational makeover
If you haven’t been to the Everett waterfront in a while, you’re in for a surprise. What was once an industrial mill town with smokestacks is gradually turning into the Puget Sound region’s new go-to destination with upscale restaurants, wine bars, breweries, hip hotels, waterfront housing, and four miles of walking trails with mountain and…
Good Save
Twyla Dill achieved an audacious savings and sales goal. What she learned changed her life
Twyla Dill didn’t always want to make jewelry. She came across it by accident. After studying Arabic at Edmonds College in Lynnwood for a year, Dill made plans to move to Lebanon in 2011, making what was planned to be a brief stop in Istanbul, Turkey, to visit a friend before landing in her new…
‘The Tyranny of Geography’
Zillow all but ditched its physical offices years ago. It has no plans to reverse course
Zillow Group made a bold move in the summer of 2020 when it announced that most of its employees would work from home at least part of the time “indefinitely.” The Seattle-based real estate tech company was one of the first in the United States to adopt a “permanently flexible” workplace. Today, the bulk of…
Common Ground
The office of the future? Shared spaces, quiet rooms, natural light and a sustainable ethos
The workplace of the future is not just about some employees working from home while their counterparts toil in an office. It’s about rethinking the concept of an office entirely. Consider what’s happening on the 48th and 49th floors of the iconic Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle. The completely redesigned, 41,000-square-foot corporate headquarters of Seattle-based…
Icertis’ Big Contract Hits
Culture ‘at the forefront’ of every decision at growing contract-management company
Contract-management company Icertis has grown into a global software-as-a-service behemoth since its launch in 2009 — with some 2,400 employees globally, including about 400 in the U.S. and 140 in Washington state. The privately held company, headed by Chairman and CEO Samir Bodas, has raised more than $400 million in financing, including securing a $150…
Power Play
Nationally recognized Omnidian is building a clean-energy future with passion, purpose
Seattle-based Omnidian has become a national powerhouse in clean energy since its launch in 2017. The provider of performance-assurance contracts in the solar-power arena today has some 185 employees nationwide, including 75 in Washington, plus a national network of 200 external field-service providers. “We guarantee that the (solar-power) asset is working,” says Mark Liffmann, cofounder…