Mayor Mike McGinn and librarians from The Seattle Public Library are launching a pilot program, Books on Bikes, to bring Library services to popular community events via bike this summer.

Mayor McGinn joined ten librarians for the inaugural bicycle ride to TOPS K-8 School. The group arrived at TOPS where a fourth grade class met the mayor and City Librarian Marcellus Turner, heard book talks, got new Library cards and chose from among the many books from the special Books on Bikes trailer.

“This is a great program that will help people access library services wherever they are” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “Books on Bikes will build awareness of library resources, as well as of the health benefits and fun of bike riding.”

Books on Bikes was the inspiration of Montlake Branch Librarian Jared Mills, who submitted the idea to a staff committee for grant funding. “I thought it would be great to combine two things Seattle loves: our libraries and bikes,” Mills said. The proposal was enthusiastically received by the committee.

“The Seattle Public Library is always looking for new ways to meet our patrons where they are,” said City Librarian Marcellus Turner. “This project brings mobile Library services to neighborhoods and events we might not otherwise reach in a fun and innovative way.”

Mills, a Central District resident, said Books on Bikes is a “full-service library model. I’m not aware of any other library that does this. We will be able to provide people with help on digital downloads, as well as offer reading suggestions, have popular new titles available for check-out, provide Library card sign-ups, assist with research and much more,” he said. The trailer to accommodate all the librarians’ needs was developed and constructed by Colin Stevens, who runs Haulin’ Colin in Seattle.

“It was specially designed to haul a lot of weight, as well as display books and other materials on the built-in shelves,” Mills said. “It also has a handy umbrella holder so we can keep our new books from getting wet if the weather changes while we are out riding.”

After TOPS K-8 Schools, the next stop for Books on Bikes will be at Pratt Park, 1800 S Main St., on Saturday, June 1, as part of Hopscotch CD. Other confirmed visits to date include the Pride Parade and PrideFest on June 30, Cyclefest on July 18, Umoja Fest on Aug. 3 and Fiestas Patrias on Sept. 14. The Books on Bikes team also plans to attend selected KEXP Concerts at the Mural and do pop-up story times at parks and farmer’s markets throughout the city.

Posted by: Words: April Thomas, Pictures: Jen Nance

The Leadership Alliance Against Coal now has 40 members representing cities, counties and tribes from across Washington and Oregon.  We have all agreed that the proposal to export coal from Western Washington presents unacceptable impacts to our communities.  I would like to thank all of the leaders who are taking a stand to protect their communities.  In particular, I’d like to express my gratitude to my colleagues on the Seattle City Council who are joining me in opposing 18 mile-and-a- half long trains per day from disrupting traffic and damaging our environment and economy here in Seattle.  Thank you Tim Burgess, Sally Bagshaw, Richard Conlin, Nick Licata and Mike O’Brien.

Coal export will have damaging local economic, cultural, and health impacts. The numbers also show that Northwest coal exports could generate more carbon emissions that the Keystone XL pipeline.  I’m concerned this will exacerbate global climate change and impact our region with changing weather patterns, rising sea level and more destructive storms.  Together with the other members of the Alliance, my City Council colleagues and I will work to raise awareness about these damaging impacts and call on the regulatory agencies to deny the permits for Northwest coal terminals.

Posted by: Mayor Mike McGinn

Mayor Mike McGinn and Deputy Chief Nick Metz announced today that new “Predictive Policing” software will be deployed in all five precincts, and asked community members to get involved by reporting crimes proactively. The software has been used by police departments all over the nation to reduce crime through deep analysis of crime and location data. The software makes predictions about the places where crime is likely to occur, based on crime and location data from police reports.  It does not predict who, only where.  But by knowing the place where crimes are likely to occur, it enables SPD to deploy patrols where they are most needed, and it allows the community to develop strategies to make places safer.

“We’ve heard from communities, particularly in the North Precinct, through our Safe Communities outreach process that we need better data analysis to prevent property crime” said Mayor McGinn. “We’ve had anecdotal successes with the pilot project in East and Southwest Precincts, so we’re expanding Predictive Policing citywide. We’re asking the community to get involved by reporting even minor property crimes so we can improve our data set and predict where crime is likely to occur. This is a tool that can help us prevent some crimes before they happen, so it’s very important that community members get involved.”

“Predictive Policing is a technology tool that increases our odds of stopping crime because it tells law enforcement when and where crime is likely to occur” said Deputy Chief Metz. “With the community’s help, we can prevent some crimes before they take place by being in the right place at the right time.”

Using computer models similar to those used to predict earthquake aftershocks, Predictive Policing analyzes crime data dating back to 2008 and forecasts times and locations where crime is likely to occur—down to a geographic area as small as 500 feet by 500 feet. Officers receive new crime forecasts at the beginning of each shift, telling them when and where they should focus their patrols in between 911 calls. But the predictions are based on police reports, so they can only be effective if community members are proactive about reporting even minor property crimes with the department’s online tool at seattle.gov/police/report. The more data the system has, the better the predictions it produces.

“As an active community member and business owner in the North Precinct, I’ve seen firsthand how community members can make a difference in public safety,” said local business owner Pete Hanning. “I encourage everyone who is concerned about public safety in their neighborhood to get involved in their neighborhood or local block watch by visiting seattle.gov/police/blockwatch. And be sure to report any crimes in your neighborhood by calling 911 or through the police department’s online reporting tool. The Predictive Policing software is only as good as the data we plug into it.”

Posted by: Words: April Thomas, Pictures: Jen Nance

Today the Mayor announced that the city of Seattle will deepen their partnership with the school district to invest in arts education.

Former Youngstown student Sammy Tekle speaks about the importance of arts education

Investment dollars will ensure that every student in the Central Pathway of Seattle Public Schools receive a minimum of two hours per week of arts education programming, as well as support the purchase of instruments and other art supplies for classrooms. The Central Pathway, which consists of schools in and around Seattle’s Central District, was chosen due to strong existing partnerships with community-based arts education organizations. The eventual goal of the program is to expand the program each year until all students at Seattle Public Schools receive two hours per week of arts education programming by 2020.

This investment was made possible by higher than expected admission tax revenue, primarily due to the new cultural facilities Chihuly Garden & Glass at Seattle Center and the Great Wheel on the waterfront. City bylaws require that 75 percent of admissions tax funding be dedicated to arts-related programming, allowing the city to invest $500,000 in arts education programs over the next two years.

“This investment will allow us to deepen our existing partnership with Seattle Public Schools to improve access to arts education for all students in our community” said Mayor McGinn. “Arts education has been consistently shown to improve educational outcomes, increase attendance rates and decrease discipline rates.”

Studies have found that Seattle students do not have consistent access to arts education, and access can be predicted based on ethnicity, English-language-learner status or free-and-reduced-lunch status.

This investment builds on the innovative partnership between the city of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools (SPS), now called The Creative Advantage.  In 2011 the city and SPS received a Wallace Foundation planning grant of $1 million, which provided for the creation of a comprehensive K-12 arts plan that ensures that every student will receive 120 minutes of arts instruction per week. This investment kick-starts the implementation phase of the Creative Advantage.

“Our community has spent the last two years developing and writing this plan, and the time is now to make it a reality,” said Superintendent Jose Banda. “Our first investment area is the Central Pathway.”

“Furthering our work in arts education is the most important thing I can do in this job,” said newly appointed Director Randy Engstrom, Office of Arts & Culture. “This initiative will change the way nearly 50,000 of our city’s young citizens engage with their community and think about the world. This investment is a major turning point.”

Posted by: Words: April Thomas, Pictures: Jen Nance

THE READER
From the Office of Mayor Mike McGinn
News, Updates, and Information
Click here to receive The Reader via email.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

More funding for road safety projects
Mayor McGinn announced a proposal for $3.25 million in transportation investments made possible by additional savings from the Spokane Street viaduct project. These investments include pavement maintenance and bicycle safety improvements on East Marginal Way in SoDo, improvements to Lower Spokane Street, a cycle track on the Westlake Avenue corridor on the west side of Lake Union, pedestrian projects, and funding for transit-oriented design near light rail stations.

Last month McGinn announced $11.75 million in transportation investments resulting from savings on the Spokane Street Viaduct project. Those savings occurred because of cost savings due to a favorable bidding climate and strong management of this $163 million project. Today’s funding comes from additional project savings, bringing the total savings to $15 million.

“We have heard from the public that they want safety improvements on our roads,” said McGinn. “These improvements will help protect safety for people on these busy corridors whether they’re in their cars and trucks, on foot, or on a bicycle.”

The $3.25 million in funding is proposed for projects outlined here.

Panel discussion on coal trains this Saturday
Dan Jaffe, a University of Washington chemist and air pollution expert, and Mayor McGinn will lead a discussion of the economic, environmental, health and safety impacts of an additional 18 trains passing through Seattle en route to the proposed coal export terminal near Bellingham.

Please join us this Saturday, May 18th at the Queen Anne Community Center (1901 1st Avenue West), starting at 12:15 p.m.

For the latest on the Leadership Alliance Against Coal’s work, “Like” the alliance on Facebook and follow @NoCoalNW on Twitter.

Mayor announces $500k investment in arts education
Mayor McGinn announced that the city of Seattle will deepen their partnership with the school district to invest in arts education.

Investment dollars will ensure that every student in the Central Pathway of Seattle Public Schools receive a minimum of two hours per week of arts education programming, as well as support the purchase of instruments and other art supplies for classrooms. The Central Pathway, which consists of schools in and around Seattle’s Central District, was chosen due to strong existing partnerships with community-based arts education organizations. The eventual goal of the program is to expand the program each year until all students at Seattle Public Schools receive two hours per week of arts education programming by 2020.

This investment was made possible by higher than expected admission tax revenue, primarily due to the new cultural facilities Chihuly Garden & Glass at Seattle Center and the Great Wheel on the waterfront. City bylaws require that 75 percent of admissions tax funding be dedicated to arts-related programming, allowing the city to invest $500k in arts education programs over the next two years.

Bringing the Portland Loo to Seattle
There will be a public meeting tonight to share details about our work to tackle the challenging issue of public restroom access in our city. There is an ongoing need in many neighborhoods for safe, accessible public restroom facilities. One neighborhood in particular has been active and vocal about the need for this service – Pioneer Square.

To address the need, City departments partnered with the Alliance for Pioneer Square to map current publicly accessible restrooms and identified a big gap in the middle of the neighborhood where the need is greatest. We analyzed several alternatives and concluded the best option was the regionally famous Portland Loo, which is designed specifically for the needs of urban neighborhoods. The west end of the Sinking Ship Garage was identified by neighborhood stakeholders and City staff as the preferred location. Much progress has been made – SDOT traffic has approved the site, Seattle Public Utilities has located water and waste water infrastructure nearby and the Pioneer Square Preservation Board is supportive of the Loo facility and the proposed location. Most importantly, we have identified non-City sources of funding for both installation and maintenance of the facility.

Read more here.

Upcoming events (for more see http://seattle.gov/mayor/Engage/access.htm):
May 15, 6:00 p.m. – Genesee CSO Reduction Project drop-in meeting, 4800 Lake Washington Blvd S

May 16, 7:00 p.m. – Parks Legacy Plan Draft Report Public Meeting, Jefferson Community Center (3801 Beacon Ave S)

May 17, 4:00 p.m. – Volunteer Park Play Area Renovation Celebration, Volunteer Park (1247 15th Ave E)

May 18, 12:15 p.m. – Coal train impacts in your neighborhood: a panel discussion, Queen Anne Community Center (1901 1st Ave W)

What we’re reading:
Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving

Fight Brewing Over New Tent Cities – Bill Would Allow Homeless Encampments on Public and Private Property

Washington state jobless rate now at 7%, lowest since 2008

Cyclists Aren’t ‘Special’, and They Shouldn’t Play by Their Own Rules

Posted by: Nathaniel Merrill

This morning nearly 43% of commuters to downtown Seattle used transit to get to work. Throughout the day and across our city, buses help carry people to their jobs, to their schools, to their local businesses, and to their homes. The buses operated by King County Metro, Community Transit, Sound Transit, and other systems also help provide everyone with an affordable option to get around, saving households money at a time when gas prices continue to climb. Without transit, traffic would be worse. With transit, we can help reduce our carbon emissions.

Across America we’re seeing that more people are choosing to take transit. But here in Washington State we’re not keeping up with demand. In fact, we’re struggling to maintain funding for the bus system we already have.

Unless the state legislature steps up and provides us with the local revenue authority we need to preserve transit service, King County Metro will be forced to cut 17% of its bus service next year. Those cuts would be devastating to our community.

More people will have to wait longer for increasingly overcrowded buses, travel out of their way or transfer to make trips, or find another way altogether to get where they need to go. For many, driving would be the only alternative. That will hit low income communities especially hard. It’ll make traffic worse – equivalent to closing lanes on Interstate 5. And it will add more carbon emissions to our climate.

This problem has been coming for some time. That’s why I brought together 47 mayors from across the state to propose a solution to local communities’ transportation challenges. In February we agreed on a joint proposal that we brought to the governor and the legislature to provide us with new funding to support our transportation needs. In Seattle, those options will help us preserve and expand transit service, as well as tackle our road maintenance backlog. This was an unprecedented collaboration between mayors from both parties, from cities large and small, who all agreed that giving local governments these tools was essential to our economy and our quality of life.

This mayors’ coalition and other groups have lobbied our legislators to adopt new transportation revenue tools, including local options, in this legislative session so that we can avoid the catastrophe that would result from having to cut transit funding, and address our cities’ road maintenance backlog. Transit funding must be a top priority for our legislators. I urge them to come together, as we mayors have, around a common solution to keep our buses rolling on well maintained, local roads.

It’s time for your voice to be heard. King County Metro is soliciting feedback on the future of the system. If you would like to weigh in on these important issues, you can also contact your legislators. Seattle’s future is riding on this.

Posted by: Mayor Mike McGinn

Mayor Mike McGinn today announced a proposal for $3.25 million in transportation investments made possible by additional savings from the Spokane Street viaduct project. These investments include pavement maintenance and bicycle safety improvements on East Marginal Way in SoDo, improvements to Lower Spokane Street, a cycle track on the Westlake Avenue corridor on the west side of Lake Union, pedestrian projects, and funding for transit-oriented design near light rail stations.

Last month McGinn announced $11.75 million in transportation investments resulting from savings on the Spokane Street Viaduct project. Those savings occurred because of cost savings due to a favorable bidding climate and strong management of this $163 million project. Today’s funding comes from additional project savings, bringing the total savings to $15 million.

“We have heard from the public that they want safety improvements on our roads,” said McGinn. “These improvements will help protect safety for people on these busy corridors whether they’re in their cars and trucks, on foot, or on a bicycle.”

The $3.25 million in funding will be used for the following projects:

• Improvements to East Marginal Way in SoDo
  • $700,000 for pavement maintenance, restriping, and exploring interim cycle track options to provide further separation of bicycles and auto traffic.
  • $200,000 will be included for conceptual planning and pre-design for a permanent reconstruction to the road, which will also include a long-term design of separated bicycle facilities such as a cycle track.
• Westlake Avenue Cycle Track
  • $1.2 million for final design and construction of this project to improve separation between bicycles and vehicles and link the Ship Canal trail to South Lake Union. When combined with previous funding from the City and Puget Sound Regional Council, this project will have $2.3 million of funding which may be enough to build the facility depending on final design.
• $500,000 for Lower Spokane Street Safety Improvements. Project elements will be developed with input from the community, the Port, and other stakeholders and may include:
  • Improving pavement conditions along the pathway.
  • Improving crossing at Port driveways
  • Improving crossing for bicyclists at Chelan (5-way) intersection.
  • Improving crossing for bicyclists from the path to SW Avalon Way/SW Admiral Way.
  • Increase separation for bicyclists on SW Admiral Way.
  • Improving Delridge to Andover connection to the bicycle path.
• $400,000 for implementation of the Pedestrian Master Plan
• $250,000 for transit-oriented design in multiple neighborhoods:
  • Study at Rainier Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South to identify alternatives, conduct a traffic analysis, conceptual design, develop conceptual cost estimates and conduct public outreach
  • New transportation analysis near Roosevelt light rail station, assessing station area access issues including evaluation of the Roosevelt/11^th one-way couplet
  • Station access and transit-oriented design near Othello Station

This is in addition to the previously announced $11.75 million in transportation investments from Spokane Street Viaduct savings. That funding was included in the First Quarter Supplemental Budget, and includes:

• $4.5 million for major road improvements on Northgate Way, closing the funding gap for this approximately $14 million project. This project includes paving, sidewalks and curb ramps, traffic signals, and lighting.
• $1 million in new funding for Pedestrian Master Plan implementation
• Design work on pedestrian projects currently being identified through the Lake City Way Traffic Safety Corridor Project and other community processes, and additional pedestrian mobility improvements along the length of the corridor and intersecting streets.
• Planning for intersection improvements at Rainier Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, which was identified as a high priority in the Southeast Transportation Study.
• Installation of a special pedestrian flashing beacon at 47th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Admiral Way. We will also work with the community to begin the technical design process for a permanent traffic signal at that location, and are working to identify funding sources for its construction.
• Installation of safety improvements on Northeast 75th Street near Nathan Eckstein Middle School. In April we described these improvements in greater detail. They include a flashing school zone beacon, evaluation of this site for a school zone speed camera, remarking of crosswalks, evaluation of Northeast 68th Street and 25th Avenue Northeast for a traffic signal, and new pedestrian countdown heads at existing traffic signals in the area. We have also been working with the community to examine possible physical changes to the roadway to reduce speeds. SDOT is currently analyzing this feedback and will develop a proposal in the coming weeks.

Be sure to take our community survey on school road safety so your input can be included in this process.

Posted by: Aaron Pickus, Spokesperson

Tomorrow night the Alliance for Pioneer Square will hold a public meeting to share details about our work to tackle the challenging issue of public restroom access in our city. There is an ongoing need in many neighborhoods for safe, accessible public restroom facilities. One neighborhood in particular has been active and vocal about the need for this service – Pioneer Square.

To address the need, City departments partnered with the Alliance for Pioneer Square to map current publicly accessible restrooms and identified a big gap in the middle of the neighborhood where the need is greatest. We analyzed several alternatives and concluded the best option was the regionally famous Portland Loo, which is designed specifically for the needs of urban neighborhoods. The west end of the Sinking Ship Garage was identified by neighborhood stakeholders and City staff as the preferred location. Much progress has been made – SDOT traffic has approved the site, Seattle Public Utilities has located water and waste water infrastructure nearby and the Pioneer Square Preservation Board is supportive of the Loo facility and the proposed location. Most importantly, we have identified non-City sources of funding for both installation and maintenance of the facility.

The developer of a proposed building nearby, Urban Visions, has stepped in to provide this facility as the project’s  public benefit, in exchange for the ability to build to 130 feet, above the current height limit. We are proposing that the developer acquire, transport and install the facility, transferring ownership to the City once the Loo is operational.  The City will lease the Loo to the Alliance for Pioneer Square who will be responsible for operation and maintenance, contracting with a vendor to provide twice daily cleaning.

Through creative thinking and collaboration, we have a plan to bring public restroom access to Pioneer Square as a pilot program. If this effort is successful, this model could be duplicated in other neighborhoods across the city. We anticipate the Loo will be installed in late summer or early fall. Check back on our blog for more as this plan develops.

Posted by: April Thomas

THE READER
From the Office of Mayor Mike McGinn
News, Updates, and Information
Click here to receive The Reader via email.

FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2013

Launching the Startup Seattle initative
Leaders of Seattle’s startup community and the city of Seattle have teamed up to launch Startup Seattle, an initiative to support the growth of the Seattle technology startup community and establish Seattle as an internationally recognized home for emerging technology companies. Yesterday, Mayor McGinn hosted a press conference to announce the group’s action plan at the downtown Seattle headquarters of Zillow, one of Seattle’s most successful startups in recent years.

“Startup companies are an important part of Seattle’s innovative local economy,” said McGinn. “That’s why we are working hard to support startup businesses that could turn in to the next Microsoft or Amazon. I thank all of our partners in this work to help support our local economy, which is growing faster than the rest of the region, state and country.”

Read more on our blog, GeekWire, or Xconomy.

Mayor McGinn announces ‘million gallon challenge’
Mayor McGinn announced this week that he has directed City departments to build on earlier “green fleet” efforts to meet the challenge of cutting the City’s annual use of petroleum-based fuels by 1 million gallons by 2020. Accomplishing this goal will require improving operational efficiencies, making investments in alternative-fuel infrastructure, and ramping up purchases of alternative vehicles.

“Reducing consumption of petroleum-based fuels is good for the climate and good for the economy,” said McGinn. “By ramping up demand on the government side we can help support businesses that are interested in innovating sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. I encourage my colleagues across the region and country to take similar actions.”

Outreach effort on gun violence
Mayor McGinn announced an outreach effort to inspire conversation among the youth of Seattle about gun violence. The City of Seattle, with the support of Chihuly Studio and Schnitzer Steel is launching a contest called “Weapons to Words” that asks children in Seattle to come up with a short quotation on the subject of gun violence. Plaques made from metal upcycled from guns recovered from future Seattle gun buyback programs will feature quotes from Seattle students about what a violence-free future means to them.

“Our city has been through a lot lately. Gun violence has left many in our community wondering what they can do to help” said Mayor McGinn. “These upcycled plaques, inscribed with the hopes and dreams of the next generation, will transform weapons of violence into something positive. It is my hope that this project will spur a conversation in our community about what kind of city we want to be, and how we can get there together.”

Students can enter by submitting their quote on the subject of gun violence to seattle.gov/weaponstowords, where you can also find contest guidelines and rules. Contest entries should come from students in the first through twelfth grades living in Seattle, and should be no more than 50 words. The panel will select the winning entries by September 15th, 2013.

Upcoming events (for more see http://seattle.gov/mayor/Engage/access.htm):
May 13, 5:30 p.m. – Parks Legacy Plan Draft Report Public Meeting, Northgate Community Center (10510 5th Ave NE)

May 14, 4:00 p.m. – King County Council hearing on potential Metro cuts, Union Station (401 S Jackson St)

May 17, all day – F5 Bike to Work Day (citywide)

Video highlights (for more see http://seattle.gov/mayor/photos/videos.htm):

Changes to SPD recruitment policies	Weapons to Words overview
Million Gallon Challenge	Startup Seattle launch

What we’re reading:
Five years of Seattle bicycle collision data makes case for cycle tracks

Wednesday Video: Speaking Out Against the Coal Trains

McGinn deserves recognition for work on parks, infrastructure

The Fight Against Small Apartments

The Latest on Bringing the NBA Back to Seattle

To subscribe to The Reader via email, click here.

Posted by: Nathaniel Merrill

Leaders of Seattle’s startup community and the city of Seattle have teamed up to launch Startup Seattle, an initiative to support the growth of the Seattle technology startup community and establish Seattle as an internationally recognized home for emerging technology companies. Today, Mayor Mike McGinn hosted a press conference to announce the group’s action plan at the downtown Seattle headquarters of Zillow, one of Seattle’s most successful startups in recent years.

“Startup companies are an important part of Seattle’s innovative local economy,” said McGinn. “That’s why we are working hard to support startup businesses that could turn in to the next Microsoft or Amazon. I thank all of our partners in this work to help support our local economy, which is growing faster than the rest of the region, state and country.”

“Economic recovery doesn’t happen all on its own and this initiative is consistent with Council’s economic recovery resolution calling for actions that make it easier to do business in Seattle,” said Councilmember Richard Conlin.

During the next year, the City plans to hire a startup business sector liaison, relaunch the resource website startupseattle.com, form partnerships with local organizations such as Code.org and Startup Weekend to increase access and connect high school students with local technology opportunities, and develop a marketing campaign to help attract talent to Seattle from across the country. In addition, the City will continue to support “innovation hubs” that make neighborhoods more attractive to early-stage technology companies and initiate a market assessment of real-estate needs for startups that will be used to guide new transit-oriented development in the University District.

“Designating the University District as an ‘innovation hub’ will create a magnet for tech companies of all sizes, and terrific opportunities for companies, students and faculty. The University of Washington already is the region’s educational hub and a great source of entrepreneurship; adding flexible low cost office space and other amenities will make the U-District an extremely desirable area for technology innovation,” said Ed Lazowska, Bill & Melinda Gates Chair of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. “The City put a stake in the ground to do something really important and the time is right for this kind of transformation.”

Seattle already offers significant resources for technology companies such as an internationally recognized computer science program at the University of Washington, a vibrant tech community and an unmatched quality of life that is significantly more affordable than in the San Francisco Bay Area or New York City.

Many of Seattle’s iconic companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon and Costco were venture-backed and put Seattle on the startup map. Today, Seattle’s technology startup community is comprised of more than 700 companies such as Big Fish, DocuSign, Tableau, Zillow and zulily. Seattle’s entrepreneurs are a significant and growing segment of the local economy and Startup Seattle will create an even more robust environment for them and future generations.

“Seattle’s current economic success was built by prior generations of entrepreneurs who chose to build their companies here such as Bill Boeing, John Nordstrom and Craig McCaw’s namesake companies to Bill Gates with Microsoft, Howard Schultz with Starbucks, Jim Sinegal and Jeff Brotman with Costco, and Jeff Bezos with Amazon,” said Chris DeVore, co-founder and general partner at Founders’ Co-op. “Innovation is the bedrock of our culture and the entire Seattle community is working together to ensure that we attract and support the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

The advisory group that worked with the City to create the Startup Seattle initiative was comprised of the following individuals:

• Amy Bohutinsky, Zillow
• Marcelo Calbucci, EveryMove
• John Cook, GeekWire
• Chris DeVore, Founders Co-op/TechStars Seattle
• Emer Dooley, University of Washington/Alliance of Angels
• Greg Gottesman, Madrona Venture Group
• Seaton Gras, SURF Incubator
• Ed Lazowska, University of Washington
• Amy McCullough, Trilogy Partnership
• Omri Mor, Ziibra
• Marc Nager, Startup Weekend
• Marcus Womack, Familiar

A smaller advisory group will continue to support the initiative going forward, including several of the individuals above as well as representatives from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services.

Posted by: Sol Villarreal