Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located in the U.S. state of Washington between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, nearly 108 miles (174 km) south of the United States–Canadian border in King County, of which it is the county seat.

Seattle was founded in the 1850s and named after Chief Seattle, also known as Noah Sealth. As of 2005, the city had an estimated population of 573,000 and a metropolitan population of around 3.8 million. Seattle is the hub for the Greater Puget Sound region. Its official nickname is the Emerald City because of the lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area; it is also referred to as the Rainy City, the Gateway to Alaska, Queen City, and Jet City, due to the local influence of Boeing. Seattle residents are known as Seattleites.

Seattle is known as the birthplace of grunge music, and it has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption: locally founded coffee companies include Starbucks and Tully's Coffee. Seattle was also the site of the 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization, and the attendant demonstrations by anti-globalization activists, which were in keeping with Seattle's Democratic history and reputation for liberal politics. Researchers at Central Connecticut State University ranked Seattle the most literate city in America in 2005.

1 The local economy
2 Recent Seattle business news
3 See also
4 External links

The local economy

Five companies on the 2004 Fortune 500 list of the United States' largest companies, based on total revenue, are currently headquartered in Seattle: financial services company Washington Mutual (#103), insurance company Safeco Corporation (#267), department store Nordstrom (#286), World Wide Web retailer Amazon.com, (#342) and coffee chain Starbucks (#425).

Prior to moving its headquarters to Chicago, aerospace manufacturer Boeing (#21) was the largest company based in Seattle. However, due to its largest division still being headquartered in Bellevue and large aircraft manufacturing plants in Everett and Renton, Boeing remains one of the largest private employers in the Seattle Metropolitan area.

Other Fortune 500 companies popularly associated with Seattle are based in nearby Puget Sound cities. Warehouse club chain Costco Wholesale Corp. (#29), the largest company in Washington, is based in Issaquah. Microsoft (#46), the American Division of Nintendo, Nintendo of America, and cellular telephone pioneer McCaw Cellular, prior to being bought out by AT&T Wireless (#120) in 1994 and then merging with Cingular in 2004, are all located in Redmond. Weyerhaeuser, the forest products company (#95), is based in Federal Way. Finally, Bellevue is home to truck manufacturer PACCAR (#250) and international mobile telephony giant T-Mobile's U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile USA.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has announced a desire to spark a new economic boom driven by the biotechnology industry. Major redevelopment of the South Lake Union neighborhood is underway in an effort to attract new and established biotech companies to the region, joining current biotech companies such as Corixa, Immunex (now part of Amgen), and ZymoGenetics.

Source - Wikipedia: Seattle, Washington

Recent Seattle business news

Links to recent headlines via Topix.net

Take a walk through history: Restored cannery open to the public: Kevin Harris' restoration of the turn-of-the-century waterfront cannery building is almost complete - and he is inviting the public to take a look.
With doughnuts driving the bus, everything changed: You probably know the name, but do you know the story behind Top Pot doughnuts? "We didn't even know what we were doing at first.
Greenspan: Don't use Fed as a 'magical piggy bank': Troubled by the Bear Stearns debacle, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is advocating a new way of dealing with government bailouts of companies whose sudden collapse could wreak havoc on the ...
Our Convention Center has growing pains: Seattle's Convention Center is taking a close look at expanding, perhaps at a different location.
'Season to Change' fashion show tonight on Front Street: From left, Christy Holtzinger, Garden Dance owner Michelle Wyles and Carly Holtzinger try on clothes at the Front Street boutique in preparation for an tonight's fashion show Carly is organizing as a fundraiser ...
Burke-Gilman Trail: Filling a gap: The embarrassing missing link on the Burke-Gilman Trail may be closer to going AWOL.
Under the Needle: Fremont Tugboat Co. has been holding the course for 93 years: It's well known around Lake Union that Erik Freeman is in possession of a voice that could startle a bullhorn.
Last week: It was just after 1 p.m. Thursday, six days before the first day of school and the halls of Auburn Mountainview High School already were filled with milling students, teachers and parents.