Seattle Business
DARING WOMEN
EXECUTIVES SPEAK OUT ON LEADERSHIP TRAPS AND OVERCOMING BIAS
SB PROFILE
HOW KETUL PATEL IS BLENDING TWO LARGE HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS
SE AT T L E B U SI N E SSM A G .COM • M AY/J UNE 2 0 2 1
WEYERHAEUSER TO WOODBRIDGE YEARS-LONG CONFLICT MAY BE NEARING ITS END
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ON REFLECTION
CAUGHT IN A JAM State has eight of the 100 worst bottlenecks in the nation You probably haven’t been stuck in traffic much during the past year as the pandemic forced remote work, but for those who must drive, traffic congestion remains pronounced. Washington has eight of the nation’s worst bottlenecks for trucks, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual list.
Other major bottlenecks include I-5 at I-90, I-5 at State Route 16 in Tacoma and I-5 at State Route 18 in Federal Way. Another report by personal finance website WalletHub finds that the state ranks as the third worst for drivers because of congestion, steep gas and vehicle prices, high rates of car theft and poor road quality. Only Hawaii and California fared worse. — Rob Smith
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SPOTLIGHT
FEDERAL WAY PLOTS ITS FUTURE THE CITY IS BANKING ON ITS LOCATION AND AN EVOLVING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY by Rob Smith
federal way has long been a city associated with the dreaded word “potential.” If Rebecca Martin has her way, it’s well on the road to becoming an increasingly significant regional player in its own right. “We’ve transitioned out of a bedroom community into urban density,” says Martin, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce. “It’s what I like to call the heartbeat of the South Puget Sound corridor.” Long considered a dumping ground for multifamily development prior to its incorporation as a city in 1989, Federal Way’s population is now just shy of 100,000. It’s 22 miles south of Seattle via Interstate 5 and just 13 miles north of Tacoma, the two largest cities
in the Puget Sound region. New residents have accounted for almost all of its growth the past 10 years; unlike several nearby cities, Federal Way didn’t add population through annexation. Despite its location and growth, the city has challenges. Its central business district consists of strip malls alongside an urban corridor. The city has been trying to create a traditional downtown for the better part of a decade, but is constrained by the haphazard
COURTESY OF GREATER FEDERAL WAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The worst is at the Interstate-5 bridge (Columbia River Crossing) between Vancouver and Portland. The report notes that the average speed at the Columbia River Crossing is only 45.9 miles per hour. The posted speed limit is 60 miles per hour. The bridge is the 23rd worst bottleneck in the United States.
S E L L I N G A C I T Y.
COURTESY OF GREATER FEDERAL WAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Federal Way Community Center (left) has a large aquatics center, and Celebration Park is the city's largest.
development of its past. Martin says the city is working to align its economic development strategy with key sectors driving the state’s economy. “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” she says. A 2020 study examining the city’s regional footprint found opportunities in health care — the city’s second-largest industry, behind government — and telecommunications. The potential redevelopment of the former Weyerhaeuser campus (see story on page 84) would also bring thousands of living-wage jobs to the city. Brad Broberg, former editor of the now defunct Federal Way News for about 15 years, says the city’s proximity to both Seattle and Tacoma is a key selling point. He notes that it lacks cohesion because of the “laissez-faire, hodgepodge” development allowed under King County rules prior to incorporation. Weyerhaeuser moving its headquarters to Pioneer Square was also a blow. “Federal Way really doesn’t have a main street with a lot of locally owned small businesses,” Broberg says. “It never had something to grow around. And one thing I’ve always thought of Federal Way is with Weyerhaeuser, you had a private entity with vision and resources. I don’t think Federal Way has had private-development champions who did things on a certain scale. You had big shopping center-type developers.” Despite the hurdles, Martin says there are “lots of opportunities” for economic development. “In commerce, it’s evolve or die,” Martin adds. “We’re working to bring in jobs that will feed families in Federal Way.” S E AT T L E BU S I N E SS
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QUOTE/UNQUOTE
“You want businesses to come to your city? They want to make sure they can have their employees be safe and their customers be safe.” – Carmen Best, former Seattle Police chief
THE BIG NUMBER
$900 million
Loss in economic impact from the cancellation of the 2020 cruise season due to the pandemic. Source: Downtown Seattle Association
S TAT S H O T
DOWNTOWN SEATTLE ON THE MEND LEADERS TAKE AN UPBEAT TONE AFTER A TRYING 2020 city and business leaders are optimistic that Seattle will recover after a pronounced economic downturn caused by the pandemic last year. The theme of the Downtown Seattle Association’s recent annual meeting — held virtually — was “Recovery Starts Here.” “I’m extremely bullish on the future of downtown Seattle,” says Jamie Nordstrom, president of Stores at Nordstrom Inc. “Maybe I’m biased, but I can’t think of very many places in North America that have the ability to come back stronger than before.” Here’s a snapshot of downtown Seattle at the end of 2020.
21
Projects finished
33
300,375 Downtown jobs
Projects finished in 2019
48,000 Jobs lost last year
Projects in the pipeline
28,000 Jobs lost during the Great Recession
3.1 million Square feet of office space under construction
54
205
2,025
Residential units completed
84,201
Downtown population
13,895
Senior citizens who live downtown
Projects under construction Source: Downtown Seattle Association
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GENE FAUGHT
12
Number of neighborhoods that constitute downtown Seattle