Choose Washington Blog
Things are sure hoppin’ around here!
Anyone who lives in Western Washington knows that the greater Seattle area is a great place to start a business and put down some roots. The economy's growth is 5.2% net of inflation, three times faster than the average U.S. city. Incomes have grown too, up 4.7%...
Seattle is the place to be in 2019.
We usually don’t even bother to mention when we place lower than #5 in a ranking of states, but we can’t resist bragging about being the 8th top destination to visit in 2019 – in the world! Yes, the world. Lonely Planet, one of the largest publishers of guidebooks and...
Rocket test facility on state’s wish list.
Washington's growing space cluster is gaining the attention of Congress. With such industry stalwarts as Blue Origin, Spaceflight and Aerojet-Rocketdyne headquartered here, the future of the state's commercial space industry could never be brighter.Well, there is one...
Taking a quantum leap.
Quantum physics is a strange world indeed, but Boeing, Microsoft and others are exploring this new frontier to see how it can be applied to computer science. It's so important, in fact, that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that along with artificial intelligence...
Kent in final hunt for restoration funds.
The Morrill Bank building in downtown Kent is on the shortlist to get $150,000 from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, if the city gets enough votes. Built in 1924, the building is Kent’s first bank. In its heyday, it sported a grand,...
Blue Origin snags big rocket order.
United Launch Alliance has decided that Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine will be the propulsion of choice for its new Vulcan launch platform. The BE-4 has been under development since 2011 and has been vying for the contract for the last four years, completing with...
Washington snags 7th STEP grant.
Washington State received the second largest round of funding – $750,000 – in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s competitive State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) program. This marks the seventh year Washington has received the funding, which supports export...
Communities get $2.9 million for rural broadband.
Washington’s Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) is offering rural communities throughout the state $2.9 million in low-interest loans and grants to create additional connectivity to high-speed, open access broadband. Access to high-speed broadband is a key...
To the moon!
What do Seattle, Israel and the moon have in common? If all goes according to plan, Spaceflight’s first rideshare mission will escape the bonds of low-earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 and head for the moon. It will be the first non-governmental moon landing,...
Bezos announces new foundation.
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos have announced a new foundation that will funnel $2 billion into nonprofits working with homeless families as well as create a network of preschools in low-income communities. The founder of Seattle-based Amazon, Jeff and his wife created the...
Do we have to say it again?
O.K., we hate to keep bragging, but yet another highly respected research firm has placed Washington State at the top of the heap when it comes to the U.S. aerospace industry. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) scored Washington highly for its overall industry,...
Safe from the big blow.
In advance of Hurricane Florence, Volvo and Boeing both shut down their factories in South Carolina. While it's tough to get hundreds of new Volvos out of the way of an advancing storm that is hundreds of miles wide, Boeing could take heart in the fact that...