By: David Allen, Chair of the Board, enterpriseSeattle
Puget Sound Business Journal Special Supplement
Bring on ‘07
It is hard to imagine a year with more positive regional economic news than 2006. Not only did an Urban Land Institute study rank Seattle the No.1 market for office space, it also moved Seattle from No. 10 to No. 4 on its list of “global gateway cities,” an exciting indicator of our region’s broad economic growth.
Another study by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group in its “Projections 2007” publication ranked the Seattle area No. 2 in its lifestyle advantage amongst the nation’s high-tech regions. That report focused on cost of doing business, cost-of-living, and overall quality of life to employees. Most exciting though is that these accolades come on top of several like rankings in the areas of literacy, culture, educated workforce, recreation, tourism and cultural depth. Bring on 07!
Getting noticed is great. Those of us here, living the exploding economy may be wondering what took so long? It didn’t! We are earning it through the work of so many stewards of our regional economic development, both public and private: the economic development councils of our region, the Port of Seattle and its partners, King County and its 39 cities and their development teams. And let us not forget the many trade associations and Chambers and their myriad of private investors and Board members who work tirelessly strengthening and competing. We are all competing for our region and the work is going well. Bring on 07!
The Puget Sound Regional Council’s “Prosperity Partnership” yielded a solid plan for economic growth. It identified five critical economic clusters that we must embrace and embellish: IT/Software, Life Sciences, Aerospace, International Trade/Logistics, and Clean Technology.
While great work is being done to build on those clusters, many are unaware that the Puget Sound has 14 economic clusters at or above the national average for each one. Only Southern California can boast more (16) while most major cities and regions are lucky to have developed six or more.
Though I am not an economist, I can say with certainty that we are in excellent shape. Construction cranes aren’t just on office towers or condos, they are on sites of future biotech labs and hospitals. They are erecting schools and retirement facilities, corporate campuses and data centers, shopping centers elevated rail and cruise ship terminals. Throw in a ton of military work and countless cities redeveloping their civic cores and you have a big story. Bring on 07!
enterpriseSeattle gets it. The group’s mission is clear and it delivers results in the form of successful business recruitment and retention. The organization entered this year with word that its leader, John Powers, would be moving on in his storied career. With John’s leadership and the dedicated work of enterpriseSeattle’s county-wide board of directions, it successfully re-built, re-established and re-funded King County’s economic development council. The leadership truly turned the corner of created a sophisticated, competitive organization that can serve a vital role in the region’s economic future. A sincere thanks John Power.
All great organizations build from within and enterpriseSeattle has done just that in building its next leadership team. Tom Flavin has stepped in as president and CEO, while Jeff Marcell serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer. The new leadership team brings over 35 year of experience in the field of economic development, both public and private to the organization.
The region is blessed with quality private-sector businesses leaders and economic development savvy public officials. Together they can do great things to compete and win. Bring on 07
David Allen is the Chair of the Board of Directors of enterpriseSeattle and vice-president of marketing at McKinstry Co. Reach him at
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