Civic - GeekWire

Oct 13, 2026, 1:46 PM

Seattle voters view economy as weakening in survey that reveals short-lived World Cup euphoria

The eleventh edition of The Index, a semiannual survey tracking voter sentiment commissioned by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, reveals a sharp erosion in public confidence regarding the city’s economic trajectory. Read More

Oct 9, 2026, 5:49 PM

Billionaire Jeff Bezos: ‘Success is not villainy’

Speaking from Blue Origin’s factory floor in Florida, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos offered an unapologetic defense of free enterprise, declaring that “success is not villainy.” For Seattle and the broader tech landscape, his comments offer a window into the foundational mindset that built Amazon—and arrive as Washington voters prepare to decide the fate of high-earner tax policy this November. Read More

Oct 8, 2026, 10:48 AM

Microsoft responds to White House immigration crackdown as Trump honors Nadella

The Labor Department suspended Microsoft from the federal program it uses to help foreign workers stay in the U.S. permanently, and won’t process the company’s pending applications. The announcement came hours before President Trump was scheduled to give Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Read More

Oct 7, 2026, 10:12 AM

In effort to diversify economy and build resilience, Seattle Mayor names 18 leaders to new task force

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has assembled a new task force of business, labor and industry leaders to tackle the city’s economic challenges, with a focus on diversifying the economy, attracting and retaining companies, and making it easier to do business in Seattle. Read More

Oct 7, 2026, 9:50 AM

Opinion: Washington’s new state income tax must be repealed

Opinion: Venture capitalist Matt McIlwain of Madrona urges Washington voters to pass Initiative 645 and repeal the state’s new income tax. He argues the tax is written to expand beyond high earners and that employers and residents are already leaving. Read More

Oct 5, 2026, 10:00 AM

Seattle’s tax burden shifted to business as jobs slipped away, new report finds

A new joint report from the Downtown Seattle Association and the Seattle Metro Chamber shows city tax collections nearly tripling since 2013, surging far past population and job growth as the tax burden shifts heavily onto a small pool of major employers. Read More

Oct 2, 2026, 2:05 AM

Amazon pledges $1B to data center communities, warns that local opposition threatens U.S. AI lead

Amazon says it will spend more than $1 billion over five years on community college, job training and other programs in the U.S. communities that host its data centers. The move responds to a growing backlash that AWS CEO Matt Garman says threatens the country’s lead in AI. Read More

Sep 30, 2026, 1:33 PM

Report: Downtown Seattle lost 13,000 jobs in a year, while Bellevue’s tech hub boomed

Seattle lost 18,000 jobs between 2024 and 2025—with 70% concentrated downtown—while Bellevue added over 5,300, according to new Downtown Seattle Association data. Amid business claims that the JumpStart payroll tax is driving tech across the lake, Mayor Katie Wilson has moved to freeze tax rates in her new budget to give employers stability amid broader industry shifts. Read More

Sep 22, 2026, 3:17 PM

Facing ‘seismic shifts’ in tech sector, Seattle mayor freezes JumpStart tax rates in new budget

Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposed budget closes a $175 million deficit through spending cuts and leaves the JumpStart payroll tax untouched, offering big tech employers a period of tax stability. Read More

Sep 14, 2026, 4:34 PM

‘The warning signs are flashing’: New regional partnership calls for cohesive Seattle-area tech strategy

Regional leaders from four counties launched the Partnership for a Competitive Puget Sound, a 20-point plan responding to the loss of nearly 7,000 jobs last year. The group’s report says the Seattle area’s technology industry has no coordinated strategy of its own. Read More

Sep 10, 2026, 8:58 PM

‘You cannot fund compassion from an empty treasury’: Seattle Chamber CEO frames economic growth as a civic imperative

Speaking at the Seattle Chamber’s 144th annual meeting, CEO Joe Nguyen framed local business growth as an essential prerequisite for progressive civic priorities—warning regional leaders that public services, housing, and transit cannot be funded without protecting the region’s $600 billion economic engine. Read More

Sep 10, 2026, 3:42 PM

Top Seattle tech and business leaders demand 100-day public safety action plan from City Hall

In a letter sent Thursday, executives from major area employers — including Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco, F5, Alaska Airlines, Zillow, and others — urged city leaders to protect and expand public safety funding amid growing skepticism that the city currently has an effective strategy to address crime and homelessness. Read More

Sep 10, 2026, 8:58 AM

Seattle economic study finds strong tech assets, a risky concentration, and a tax that ‘penalizes’ hiring

An independent study commissioned by the City of Seattle says the city should protect the big tech employers it has while building a more diverse economy on top of them. The 127-page report also says Seattle’s tax structure is unique among its peers in penalizing the hiring of senior, high-compensation workers. Read More

Aug 24, 2026, 10:07 AM

Washington state pioneered a privacy model for the nation — when will it finally pass the law at home?

More than 20 states have adopted privacy laws modeled on legislation first introduced in Washington state in 2019. Despite this, Washington still hasn’t passed a law of its own, and AI is only complicating the issue. AG Nick Brown is pushing lawmakers to try again this session. Read More

Aug 20, 2026, 7:00 AM

We’ve entered Seattle’s Third Act

A year after GeekWire asked where Seattle’s superstar AI startups were, two local venture capitalists offer an answer: they’re here, but they build rockets, geothermal plants and autonomous off-road vehicles rather than software. A guest opinion from Ascend’s Nate Bek and Plug and Play’s Ben Eisinger. Read More

Aug 17, 2026, 1:59 PM

From engineering to elected office: How a generation of Indian Americans is reshaping civic life

India’s 80th Independence Day drew a governor’s proclamation, declarations from four mayors, and a line around the block. Harini Gokul, who came to the U.S. as an engineer and now serves on the Medina City Council, explains how the same talent pool that filled engineering teams has risen to CEO offices and council seats. Read More

Aug 7, 2026, 10:39 AM

As Washington state’s AI task force winds down, the debate over how much to regulate is far from settled

Washington’s AI task force wrapped up two years of work with the state’s first AI laws on the books and its broader recommendations stalled in the Legislature. At a panel marking the end of the effort, consumer and labor advocates pushed for stronger rules while AI startups warned about the cost of complying. Read More

Aug 3, 2026, 7:28 AM

This civic activist used AI to assess how state Supreme Court candidates might rule on the millionaires’ tax

Viet Nguyen, a Seattle communications executive and former political campaign manager, used AI to build Culliton2026.org, a site that gauges how candidates for the Washington Supreme Court might rule on the state’s new millionaires’ tax. Critics call the whole premise faulty. Read More

Jul 9, 2026, 9:08 AM

Despite business angst, Washington climbs in CNBC’s state rankings — but still trails its former standing

Washington climbed three spots to No. 11 in CNBC’s annual America’s Top States for Business rankings, up from No. 14 last year, suggesting that many of the state’s underlying competitive strengths remain intact even as debate over its business climate has intensified. Read More

Jul 1, 2026, 8:51 AM

Opinion: Governor’s new economic council snubs startups, forgets AI

Seattle angel investor Charles Fitzgerald argues that Gov. Bob Ferguson’s new Economic Development Council is backward-looking, lacks startup and VC representation, and ignores AI — the single biggest force shaping Washington’s economy. Read More

Jun 29, 2026, 9:24 AM

Gov. Bob Ferguson taps Amazon, Microsoft and others as concerns over Washington economy grow

The group includes leaders from technology, aerospace, organized labor, higher education, tribal governments, ports and economic development organizations who will advise the governor on policies aimed at strengthening Washington’s economy. Read More

Jun 15, 2026, 8:14 AM

Report: Seattle using AI to route certain 911 calls — without caller knowledge or public review

Denmark-based Corti’s AI has been listening to all Seattle 911 medical calls and prompting dispatchers to route certain patients to a nurse-staffed Texas call center rather than send an ambulance, the Times found. Read More

Jun 12, 2026, 7:31 AM

What we learned in Cleveland about Seattle’s future: Advice from a Rust Belt city on the rise

What can Seattle learn from Cleveland’s fall and comeback? GeekWire’s John Cook and Seattle angel investor Charles Fitzgerald spent several days in Cleveland, talking with civic, business and political leaders — including the city’s mayor and the governor of Ohio — to find out. Read More

Jun 9, 2026, 12:03 PM

‘City at your fingertips’: Seattle powers up first digital wayfinding kiosk near tourist hot-spot

The first of dozens of IKE Smart City digital wayfinding kiosks planned for downtown and around Seattle was unveiled on Tuesday at the busy intersection of First Avenue and Pike Street. Read More

Jun 4, 2026, 8:17 AM

Data center operator reveals plans for downtown Seattle facility as city weighs one-year ban

Digital Realty has filed permits to redevelop a downtown Seattle building into a six-story data center, lab and retail project, as the City Council moves toward a one-year moratorium on new data centers. Read More

May 28, 2026, 10:27 AM

City of Seattle selects new CTO: Shannon Smith is longtime public-sector tech executive

Smith has more than 10 years experience working in technology with Seattle-area government agencies, including the cities of Seattle and Bellevue, as well as King County. Read More

May 22, 2026, 9:16 AM

The view from Bellevue: Seattle has the foundation for future growth — if it can fix its taxes

At a Bellevue Chamber panel, regional business leaders warned that Seattle’s aggressive tax policies threaten to undermine its world-class economic foundation. Read More

May 20, 2026, 3:48 PM

Data center resistance comes home to Seattle as council considers a one-year freeze

As Amazon and Microsoft pour billions into AI, Seattle residents push back against new data centers over worries about rising energy costs and environmental impacts. Read More

May 20, 2026, 9:52 AM

Seattle, we’ve got an image problem

GeekWire co-founder John Cook argues that Seattle’s increasingly anti-business national image threatens the city’s standing as an innovation hub, exactly 30 years after Newsweek celebrated it as one of America’s great boomtowns. Read More

May 14, 2026, 10:55 AM

Are we on a Road to Nowhere? Seattle’s growth masks deeper anxieties about its future

For three decades, Seattle’s tech industry has been an extraordinary economic engine, transforming the region into a global center for cloud computing, e-commerce and artificial intelligence. But are cracks beginning to form in that foundation? Read More