The latest & greatest on all things Bellevue, Eastside, and Chamber-member-related.
The Bellevue Mobility Coalition sent City Council a framework for a potential Transportation Benefit District: five funding categories anchored to the growth centers, with property tax and vehicle fee tools reserved for neighborhoods. Signed by Chamber CEO Joe Fain. Continue Reading
Washington's March collections missed forecast by $71.2M, the two-month shortfall is now $113.8M, and lawmakers left just a $231M ending balance. CEO Joe Fain on why this isn't austerity, why even healthy revenue growth won't save a budget built on aggressive assumptions, and what comes next. Continue Reading
Federal and state tax experts unpacked the biggest changes in a generation at April's Chamber Lunch. Cindy Ranzow on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Scott Edwards on WA's largest tax increase in history, and Neil Strege on the spending trends driving it all. Continue Reading
Theatre33's second annual Bellevue International Theatre Festival drew 1,463 attendees across 7 multilingual productions, workshops, and an awards dinner. BITFest 2027 announced for April 2-4. Continue Reading
Inside the April 9 Eastside Business Roundtable: Boeing's Wendy Sowers led a high-level briefing on the commercial aviation market outlook, production backlog and supply chain recovery, and the safety and certification work shaping the next decade of commercial aviation. Continue Reading
Every month, new businesses join the Bellevue Chamber and become part of a network committed to strengthening the Eastside economy. Continue Reading
The April Policy Council meeting covered three pressing topics: Sound Transit’s $35 to $40 billion ST3 funding gap and the East King sub area equity debate Continue Reading
The Bellevue Chamber's Transportation Committee met April 2 to hear from WSDOT's Director of Innovative Partnerships Anthony Buckley on the state's emerging public-private partnership program, with brief updates on the King County Transportation Benefit District vote and Sound Transit realignment. Continue Reading
The 2026 Eastside Real Estate Symposium opened with Amazon Public Policy Director Guy Palumbo and CBRE Senior Vice President Bryan Oliver on the forces reshaping the region's housing and office markets. Continue Reading
Washington needs 1.1 million homes over 20 years and currently falls short by tens of thousands annually. The ERES policy panel brought together Senator Jessica Bateman on systemic housing reform, Bellevue Director Nick Whipple on development services improvements and GovStream AI, and Saf Rabah Continue Reading
Since the Wilburton rezone passed in June 2025, developers have submitted applications for over 2,300 housing units in the 300-acre neighborhood. The ERES panel examined the code buildability strategies, MFTE Supercharger, and East Rail infrastructure that made Wilburton a model Continue Reading
Dartmouth economist Andrew Samwick closed ERES 2026 with a keynote on federal fiscal headwinds, AI's real employment impact, and the structural advantages positioning the Eastside for continued growth. Continue Reading
