Bellevue Chamber of Commerce

Bellevue Chamber of Commerce - Homepage

Technology the Driver
Diversification the Key
Wholesale and Retail
Services-the Foundation
Manufacturing on the Rise
Prime Office Space
Construction and Land Use
A Positive Business Climate
Where Business and Technology Connect
National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies

Bellevue has earned its reputation as an ideal city, a microcosm of the best of the best that people look for in a place to live and work. There's an abundance of energy in Bellevue, the kind of energy that springs from people who are heavily invested in their city's future. Bellevue residents display a no-nonsense determination mixed with an equal balance of humor and fun, a swagger of self-confidence that says, "Bellevue has arrived, and this is one happening place!"

A major player in the global marketplace, Bellevue boasts a preponderance of high-tech companies and a growing demand for its exports. It's a diversified economy, one that supports a population of 107,000 individuals who contribute an enterprising mix of talent and entrepreneurial zeal.

Technology the Driver
According to the Bellevue Economic Partnership, Bellevue, with only 7% of King County's population, is home to nearly 20% of the county's high-tech firms. Bellevue has grown to become the metropolitan hub for the Eastside's Technology Corridor, a community of high technology industries and cities that rival the Bay Area's famed "Silicon Valley". In King County, which encompasses Bellevue, the Eastside and Seattle, employment has grown steadily since 1990.

Employment growth in Bellevue over the past three decades show how the city has transformed from a suburban residential center for employers in Seattle, to become a thriving economic engine and job importer.

In their Bi-Annual Survey, the WSA (formerly the Washington Software Alliance), reported that employment in the state's software and internet industries increased 39 percent during the last two years. The software/internet industry in Washington accounts for $30 billion in revenue and employs 60,943- up 39% from last year. The survey also found more than 8,000 vacant positions in the region, about 13 percent of total industry employment, with an expected 12,000 more likely over the next two years.

Some of the high-tech companies located in and around Bellevue are Microsoft, Attachmate, Sierra-On-Line, Onyx Software, Asymetrix, Esterline Technologies, Western Wireless, Interlinq Software, Bsquare and Courtlink.

The Washington Software Alliance 2000-2001 Workforce Study revealed the following information:

	Washington's software and Internet industries are continuing to expand.
	There are thousands of vacant positions going unfilled.
	There is a projected need for many more thousands of positions over the next two years.

Bellevue is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these projected needs in technology-related fields, and its highly-skilled workforce need only stay put, and meld into the burgeoning opportunities.

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Diversification the Key
If technology is the driver of Bellevue's economy, diversity is the stabilizer. Bellevue, along with the greater Eastside is a diverse mix of industries: services, manufacturing, wholesale, retail, entertainment and tourism to name a few. Poised near the edge of the Pacific Rim, with access to the region's major ports and transportation arteries, Bellevue is an important player in a global marketplace, its exports are in high demand. A population of over 107,000 people draws from its diverse economic base, providing a solid backbone for continued growth and stability.

Bellevue's depth and breadth in a growing-number of industries clearly set its leadership role as the Eastside's business epicenter and a major force in the region. Nearly 75 percent of the firms doing business in Bellevue are in construction and contracting, services and retail trade.

Among the largest employers in the region are Bellevue Community College, Microsoft, PACCAR, Boeing, Nordstrom, Safeway, Puget Sound Energy and Overlake Hospital.

Bellevue is directly linked to the major forces of change occurring at the regional, national, international and global levels.

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Wholesale and Retail
Bellevue's close proximity to interstate highways, rail, international airports and ocean ports makes it an ideal location for wholesale trade. The number of wholesale firms in Bellevue has risen steadily since 1990, with an average annual growth rate of 2.67 percent.

Retail in Bellevue continues to flourish, while Bellevue's share of the growing regional retail market has remained steady at around 10%. Bellevue captures a plentiful share of the region's retail dollars due to Bellevue Square, major malls at Crossroads and Factoria, a concentration of auto sales and many other retail firms.

Bellevue Square, located in the heart of downtown Bellevue, is one of the leading shopping destinations in the western United States, attracting over 16 million visitors a year. Bellevue Square features over 200 of the nation's finest stores in a secure and climate controlled shopping paradise. Seattle Weekly readers voted Bellevue Square the "Best Mall," and the Square was recently voted the "Top Spot for Shoppers" by Seattle Times readers.

Factoria Mall is transforming itself into a unique, new neighborhood work/life environment - Factoria TownSquare. The phased Factoria TownSquare project, designed by Bellevue-based Mulvanny G2 Architects, will create over the next decade an upgrade to the existing Factoria Mall and will enhance the neighborhood through the addition of market-rate apartments and town homes, new offices to meet the growing demands of the high technology industry in Factoria and landscaped parking structures.

More importantly, Factoria TownSquare brings a park, plazas, terraces, low garden walls, weather-protected transit shelters and dozens of other amenities and streetscape improvements to the neighborhood.

Retail is not limited to one, two or even three venues. Downtown Bellevue and its environs are known throughout the Puget Sound Region as a "shopping mecca." Retail is everywhere! Bellevue Place, the first mixed-land use development in downtown Bellevue, is heralded as a "place for people." Among the office suites, the luxurious Hyatt Regency Hotel and fine dining, you'll find a prestigious collection of retail shops. Upscale galleries and boutiques are tucked into the office towers and side streets of downtown Bellevue, and fine shopping to suit every description and taste thrives in suburban areas as well.

Bellevue is also known for its concentration of automobile dealerships, representing some of the world's most prestigious auto makers. Not your ordinary, run-of-the mill showrooms, but luxurious showrooms with impeccable attention to comfort and d�cor. Purchasing your automobile in Bellevue can be quite an elegant affair!

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Services the Foundation
About 54% of Bellevue's jobs are in high-growth services. The service industries, like banking, insurance, computer, retail, real estate and other professional services are critical in serving the needs of the community. They also play an important role in attracting new businesses, because they create the infrastructure for all business activity. Engineering, architecture, advertising, and health care employment are all expected to continue in a growth pattern, fed by Bellevue's well-educated workforce.

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Manufacturing on the Rise
Light manufacturing continues to grow steadily, and performs as a stabilizer in the mix of the overall economy. Companies leading the way are PACCAR, Spacelabs Medical, ATL Ultrasound, Allied Signal, Precor and Physio Control.

PACCAR, the world's leading manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks, has a unique history in Bellevue that spans nearly a century. In 1905, William Piggott founded Seattle Car Manufacturing Company to produce railway and logging equipment. The company later merged with Twohy Brothers of Portland to become Pacific Car and Foundry Company, a name it retained for the next 55 years. Under the leadership of Paul Piggott, son of the founder, the company expanded its products to include a line of power winches for use on tractors in the logging industry. The company entered the heavy-duty truck market in 1945. In 1962, PACCAR's structural steel division fabricated the steel for constructing the Space Needle, and later played a major role in the construction of New York's World Trade Center.

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Prime Office Space
There are many office environments from which to choose in and around downtown Bellevue: high-rise urban Class A space; low-rise campus settings; executive suites for start-ups-with built-in, cutting-edge technologies and competitive leasing prices for any size business. Downtown Bellevue offers 4 million square feet of Class A, B, and C space in 39 buildings. The advantages of leasing office space in Bellevue include immediate occupancy with fast permitting.

The availability of office space is only part of the reason why the office environment in Bellevue is conducive to business. The infrastructure, including telecommunications and high-speed communications, is securely established. Bellevue is recognized as the center of the high-bandwidth community, central to competing in a global marketplace. Bellevue was the first city in Washington to install a state-of the-art, underground fiber optic loop, and is home to many leading multi-service communications providers. Some of the nation's largest Internet service providers, e-business web developers and wireless companies are located in Bellevue.

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Construction and Land Use
Bellevue's skyline grows more impressive with each passing year, and a standout is City Center Bellevue. Having an outstanding location doesn't hurt; Interstate 405 is just two blocks from the building and the Bellevue Transit Center is adjacent to the tower. In addition, the city's finest hotels, restaurants, the Harbor Club, Bellevue Square, Meydenbauer Convention Center, Bellevue Galleria and the Pedestrian Corridor are all within walking distance. The Bellevue Club is also nearby.

Stunning in its design, with six-foot-high windows that showcase views of Meydenbauer Bay, Lake Washington and Mount Rainier, Center Bellevue's structure is 27 stories tall with 473,000 square feet of leaseable space. A state-of-the-art conference center comfortably seats up to 75 people, supported by personal and business banking, restaurants, expert business and mailing services, and a variety of retail shops.

There is parking directly beneath the Center, in a well-lit garage with more than 700 spaces and a high-tech computerized access control system-in addition to a 24-hour security guard. Nine passenger elevators serve the tower.

One Bellevue Center is located on the corner of NE 4th Street and 108th Avenue in the heart of the Bellevue Central Business District and is easily accessible via Interstate 405. The building has 21 stories with 345,000 square feet of leaseable space.

Silhouetting the sky with its unique, multi-faceted shape and a wall of blue-tinted, reflective glass, One Bellevue Center commands spectacular views of downtown Seattle, Lake Washington, Olympic and Cascade Mountains and Mount Rainier.

Its lobby has a professional, contemporary appearance with natural wood and granite finishes. A 468-space parking garage is located underneath the building. There are also plans to add a conference room to the facility.

Strategically located across from Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place opened in 1989 as the first mixed-use development in downtown Bellevue. It has become an urban activity center, a place where work and social events come together under one roof. Bellevue Place is home to the Hyatt Regency Hotel, a complete health club, premier office space and some of the city's finest restaurants.

As downtown Bellevue becomes more and more an urban center for living and working, many new luxury apartments and condominiums are being constructed. Limestone, called a "beautiful home in the heart of the city," is an intimate community of only 48 luxury apartments within walking distance of all that Bellevue has to offer. The Palazzo is downtown Bellevue's high-tech condominium high-rise, and Courtyard Off Main is sophisticated living in the heart of Old Bellevue. Here residents enjoy the enchantment of a neighborhood enriched with diversified shopping, surrounded by the charm and intimacy of Main Street.

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A Positive Business Climate
Bellevue continues its efforts to promote business development through its small business tax relief. This is accomplished through an exemption from the Business & Occupation tax for companies with a gross income of less than $25,000 per quarter or $100,000 per year. Tax rates in Bellevue fall below the average of 21 Washington cities with populations over 30,000. Bellevue also boasts the region's lowest utility and property tax rate.

Significant effort has been paid to the City's relationship with the business community in recent years. Getting the most for the taxpayers dollars is a continuing high priority for the City Council, and being an active participant in the major regional issues that shape Bellevue is also a priority. This includes participating in the Sound Transit, the Puget Sound Regional Council, the City Growth management Planning Council, the Cascade Water Alliance and many other inter-governmental efforts.

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Where Business and Technology Connect
Bellevue is the axis in a wheel referred to as the Eastside Technology Corridor, an dynamic conglomerate of ever-expanding high-tech industries-from bio-medical technology and research to aerospace, from computer hardware and software to fiber optics, an extraordinary mix of companies and institutions that rivals California's Silicon Valley.

Over half the northwest region's high-tech jobs are located in the Eastside cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah and Bothell, and a growing proportion of overall employment is in technology-related industries. According to the WSA, the most important challenge facing our region is filling the industry growth with skilled workers (a problem any city would love to have). A diverse, high-tech economy has never been more synonymous with our region's continuing success.

Industry expansion of 26% is projected between 2000 and 2002, creating a need for over 12,000 new technically trained employees-43% of whom will be programmers or software engineers.

This kind of information isn't exactly news to Bellevue's business leaders. For years now, there has been a concerted effort to make the Eastside home to technology-related companies, then to supply them with skilled workers. The effort, spear-headed by area business leaders, educators and organizations like the BEP, has paid-off in spades. The Seattle and East King County region is fifth in the nation for a concentration of high-tech businesses, where wages are the highest in the nation. In King County there are over 1,100 high-tech companies employing more than 80,000 people.

The Bellevue Economic Partnership is a powerful alliance between the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, the Port of Seattle, the Bellevue Downtown Association and key business leaders from the area. The BEP is a major force in recruiting and retaining high-technology business for Bellevue, and in opening the door to other business opportunities critical to maintaining a strong and healthy economy.

To achieve its priorities, the BEP is addressing critical issues to the business force, such as:

	Why should companies choose Bellevue?
	What size community will a company grow best in?
	Does a fiscally responsible government who is responsive to a company's needs buoy the local economy?
	How good are the schools?
	Is the quality of life vibrant and exciting?

Now heading into its fourth year, the BEP plans on building on its success by solidifying partnerships with key organizations that support the BEP's mission of positioning Bellevue as the premier place for business in the Northwest. By working closely with the City and the high-tech community at large, the BEP is staying plugged in to what makes this economy grow.

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National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies
The New Economy is a result of the ever-increasing convergence of work, education and technology in our lives. The success of New-Economy, or high-tech industries depends on the availability of well-educated IT workers, and requires constant innovation and lifelong learning. The Center for Emerging Technologies, located on the campus of Bellevue Community College was created to deliver innovative solutions for IT education. Through its partnerships with industry leaders like Microsoft and Boeing, and governed by the best minds in technology education, the NWCET has assumed a national leadership role in identifying emerging technologies, assessing their workforce impact and responding through educational solutions.

On June 23, 2000, Members of the Corporate and Foundation Alliance (CFA) a national alliance of 39 corporations and foundations, selected the Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies as "exemplary" in its efforts to improve teaching and learning in science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) education, including technicians and K-12 teachers.

The NWCET brings together students, educators, government and employers in order to prepare the Information Technology workers of today and the future. Through sustaining strategic partnerships and funds provided over the past five years by the National Science Foundation, the NWCET has been able to develop infrastructure, conduct research and create products that will improve the quality and diversity of the IT workforce.

The NWCET and its partners access the expertise of the many thousands of individual member firms, thereby contributing to the value of the products and services derived from them. The NWCET provides these products and services for both the secondary and college markets, but concentrates most of its efforts on community colleges because of the vital role they play in bringing immediate marketing skills to new job entrance as well as to adults who are re-entering IT careers. The Information Technology Association of America adopted the NWCET - IT Skill Standards as the basis for a national study of IT workforce skills.

Bellevue has a remarkably high concentration of IT educational institutions, high-tech companies and careers for the New Economy. Because of its unique position at the top of the technology ladder, Bellevue is a cornerstone for integrating technology into everyday life - and sets a high standard. Companies looking for IT workers have a unique talent pool here, one set to continue as a standard-bearer for generations to come.

Fueled by an educated workforce, and with the support of key business and government, the technology industry will continue to dominate the region's economy. Looking to the future, Bellevue is increasingly linked to the major forces of change-regionally, nationally and globally. These links create the opportunities and challenges that will propel Bellevue into an even greater role as a leading northwest city, a place where business and technology intersect.

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