Seattle: A City at the Crossroads of the Americas and Asia-Pacific

Why go to Seattle to build and grow your digital business?

As a graduate of the University of Southern California, I am a big Pete Carroll fan and have adopted the Seahawks as one of my favorite NFL teams. And as part of the tech industry for over 20-years, I've spent a considerable amount of time in Seattle and fell in love with the city. Seattle has many similarities to where I grew up in San Francisco, with its feel and beauty…and great seafood! This is what Seattle means to me, but more importantly, here is what Seattle can mean to your business.

Situated on an isthmus between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington, just 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canadian border, Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest with approximately 4 million residents. Its economic strength ꟷ ranked 2nd among the 30 biggest metros in the U.S. by GDP ꟷ is bolstered by Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Costco, Microsoft, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Expedia, Alaska Air Group and Weyerhaeuser. Doing business in Seattle, puts you in very good company.

Tech-Friendly

Seattle's metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is ranked in the top 10 for global cities with technology venture capital investments. It is also the #1 metro area for STEM professionals in the nation, with 80% of STEM students staying in Washington upon graduation. Seattle is the #2 best metro to attract and grow tech talent in the nation, ranked by CBRE.[i] Thirteen percent of Washington's workforce is in tech, giving it an establish talent pool for companies to draw from in industries such as content and digital media, financial services, retail, software/application development and transportation. In addition, the state of Washington currently has 5,044 startups, with 2,286 of those within the city of Seattle, and companies investing heavily in automation, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). Seattle is a tech-rich environment ripe with possibilities.