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Policy Council gears up for election, 2025 legislative session
Policy Council gears up for election, 2025 legislative session

The Chamber’s Policy Council met in early October, and during its meeting, heard from voter behavior experts, City officials, and our very own advocacy leaders as we gear up for the election and upcoming legislative session. Kicking things off was Tony Williams and Jeff Bjornstad with W2A... Continue Reading

Date posted10/11/2024


PLUSH Committee learn about Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, previews COB’s legislative action
PLUSH Committee learn about Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, previews COB’s legislative action

At the September 24 meeting for the Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee, members learned a bit about Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, and previewed the City of Bellevue’s upcoming legislative actions. C.W. Early, Senior Managing Director at JLL, was on the advisory team working... Continue Reading

Date posted09/25/2024


Diane Carlson unanimously confirmed as Bellevue City Manager
Diane Carlson unanimously confirmed as Bellevue City Manager

The City of Bellevue has been looking for a new City Manager since Brad Miyake's departure at the end of 2023, but as of last night, Diane Carlson, who has been serving as Acting City Manager since then, has been officially — and should we mention, unanimously? — confirmed to the... Continue Reading

Date posted09/18/2024


BSD’s Dr. Aramaki discusses district goals with Policy Council
BSD’s Dr. Aramaki discusses district goals with Policy Council

At the Bellevue Chamber’s most recent Policy Council meeting, we were joined by Bellevue School District superintendent, Dr. Kelly Aramaki, as he gave an update on BSD’s programming updates, mission goals, and policy initiatives. The council was intrigued to hear about the innovative... Continue Reading

Date posted09/16/2024


Chamber’s Alberts weighs in on 5G successes in Bellevue
Chamber’s Alberts weighs in on 5G successes in Bellevue

Our VP of Government Affairs, Jodie Alberts, spoke at Bellevue City Council recently alongside Ken Lyons with Wireless Policy Group and several representatives from T-Mobile, ultimately thanking City staff for their work on expanding 5G facilities throughout town. “This has truly been years... Continue Reading

Date posted08/15/2024


Policy Council chats cross-Chamber collaboration, receives Wilburton update
Policy Council chats cross-Chamber collaboration, receives Wilburton update

At the Bellevue Chamber Policy Council’s July meeting, we were joined by Rachel Smith — President and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce — as we discussed how to further deepen the relationship between our chambers, specifically as it applies to regional issues... Continue Reading

Date posted07/17/2024


East King Chambers Coalition hosts six electeds at Legislative Wrap-Up event
East King Chambers Coalition hosts six electeds at Legislative Wrap-Up event

Chateau Ste. Michelle saw a slightly different crowd than usual last month, as we joined our fellow Eastside chambers of commerce, local government affairs specialists, and elected leaders for a Legislative Wrap-Up session. Six state legislators were able to hop on mic — Sen. Mark Mullet,... Continue Reading

Date posted07/1/2024


Chamber rallies behind Washington Roundtable, Challenge Seattle in tackling organized retail crime
Chamber rallies behind Washington Roundtable, Challenge Seattle in tackling organized retail crime

Good news: We are joining forces with Challenge Seattle, the Washington Retail Association (WR), the Sound Cities Association, and the Seattle Metro Chamber to tackle organized retail crime! Under the leadership of Gov. Christine Gregoire and WR’s Renée Sunde, we’ve created an... Continue Reading

Date posted06/25/2024


City staff debrief Comp Plan, tree code, Wilburton & BelRed at Chamber PLUSH meeting
City staff debrief Comp Plan, tree code, Wilburton & BelRed at Chamber PLUSH meeting

At the Bellevue Chamber PLUSH Committee’s most recent meeting, the City of Bellevue’s Planning Director, Emil King, and other staff provided an update on the Comprehensive Plan, the tree code, and the Wilburton and BelRed subarea plans. City staff indicated that certain portions of... Continue Reading

Date posted05/29/2024


Regional leaders come together on housing
Regional leaders come together on housing

Brookings Metro Senior Fellow, Jenny Schuetz, joins regional elected officials in an in depth discussion of the solutions to our housing crisis. Continue Reading

Date posted05/14/2024


PLUSH Committee speaks up on Wilburton
PLUSH Committee speaks up on Wilburton

The Chamber's Government Affairs Specialist, Gavin Haines, spoke during the City of Bellevue's Planning Commission meeting this week, using his time during Public Hearing to discuss current plans for the Wilburton region and the PLUSH Committee's take. Read his testimony below: Good evening... Continue Reading

Date posted05/2/2024


All Along the (2) Line: Coverage Round-Up
All Along the (2) Line: Coverage Round-Up

It feels like there’s always something groundbreaking happening on the Eastside, but our most recent development has found a different level of newsworthiness. The long-awaited opening of the 2 Line was not only well-attended in person, but well-covered by the media, too. So, instead of... Continue Reading

Date posted04/27/2024