Bottom Line Blog Office of Economic Development

Bottom Line

News from Seattle's Office of Economic Development

Five deadly leadership power drains

by

Five deadly leadership power drains   
Businessweek
Even the best leaders can lose their voltage, but there’s always away to prevent this from happening. Leaders, like batteries, can lose their voltage and, with it, their ability to lead and influence others. Learn about five leadership power sources and how they can become power drains.

Reaching your limit as a business owner   
New York Times
Being an entrepreneur presents its challenges, but the road ahead can get better. It’s important to keep your eyes on the prize when faced with adversity. At some point every business owner reaches their threshold; but knowing the next appropriate steps to sustaining your business is crucial.

Green design expert advises caution with living buildings   
Daily Journal of Commerce
Although there are many advantages to living buildings, there are cautions to consider. Generally it costs up to $30,000 to have a project certified LEED gold, but costs can skyrocket due to materials challenges. “One of the things we’ve found is that no one knows enough about these materials to really say definitely whether we can use them, one of the key lessons learned is that you’re going to have to be very agile, nimble during construction to quickly make decisions, to do quick research,” said Max Richter, an architect with Busby, Perkins+Will.

________________________________________________________________________

As a service to the Seattle business community, the Office of Economic Development curates a daily business news blast, Daily Digest. As a feature on Bottom Line, we’re posting a handful of stories from the Daily Digest every day.  Find the stories informative or helpful? Keep checking Bottom Line or sign up for Daily Digest to receive the full version in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Daily Digest here.

Seattle is the 2nd best city for the next decade

by

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance today ranked Seattle No. 2 in a feature on the “10 Best Cities for the Next Decade.”

Jane Bennett Clark of Kiplinger’s writes, “Home to a well-educated workforce, a world-class research university, and innovators Amazon, Boeing, and Microsoft, Seattle crackles with creative energy. Also thriving is the life-sciences industry, a staple of the Seattle business scene, thanks to the University of Washington’s billion-dollar-a-year research budget and a cluster of topflight medical and bioscience centers.” 

The article highlights Seattle’s leadership in healthcare, clean technology, aerospace, and academic research and talks with University of Washington’s President Mark Emmert; Washington Global Health Alliance’s Executive Director Lisa Cohen; and the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development’s Acting Director Steve Johnson.

“Other areas have been deliberate in how economic development occurs…We’ve been more laissez-faire. We realized with this recession that our city and region need to be much more aggressive in business development,” Johnson says.

View Mayor McGinn’s press release here.

View the full Kiplinger’s article here.

“Next Fifty” project envisions Seattle from 2012 – 2062

by

In 2012, Seattle will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair – an event that turned the world’s eyes to the Pacific Northwest.

What lies in store during the next phase of Seattle’s history? The Seattle Center Foundation is determined to find out, launching a brand new website – http://seattlecenter.org/the-next-fifty/ – to serves as a forum for Seattleites to discuss and shape where the city will go in the fifty years to come.

The site encourages Seattleites to explore the seven core areas where the city has exercised significant national and global leadership:

  • Arts, Culture and Design
  • Sustainability
  • Global Health
  • Science and Technology
  • Learning
  • Commerce and the Innovation Economy
  • Civic Action

Leaders already supporting this effort include Governor Christine Gregoire, Seattle City Mayor Mike McGinn, Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin, Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark, and many more.

Visit http://seattlecenter.org/the-next-fifty/ to share ideas, observations, and creative suggestions on the next fifty years in Seattle.