Seattle Office of Economic Development

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City of Seattle
Office of Economic Development
700 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5752,
PO Box 94708
Seattle, WA 98124-4708

Phone: 206.684.8090
Fax: 206.684.0379

Stephen H. Johnson,
Acting Director

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Huarachitos, Rainier Valley, Seattle

Welcome to the Office of Economic Development. Our mission is to create a robust economy and broadly shared prosperity in Seattle. As advocates for industry, we provide core services for Seattle's businesses and organizations.
Contact us today for assistance.

Find out why Seattle thrives.

What's New at OED

Support and celebrate the South Park neighborhood

The South Park Bridge, originally opened in 1931, was closed on June 30th, 2010 to all forms of traffic. The Office of Economic Development (OED) is working to help local South Park businesses affected by the closure. During and after the closure, OED will be collaborating with other City departments, ECOSS, South Park businesses, and community leaders on comprehensive strategies and techniques to activate street life, make physical improvements to the area, and bring people into South Park.

Download the Office of Economic Development's "Assistance for South Park Businesses" flyers.

Versions (PDF):

Please click on the South Park image below to learn more about South Park, the bridge closure, and what the City and community are doing to help the area.

To view King County's South Park Access Route map, please click here.

July 19, 2010

Elected officials and industry leaders announce joint letter to keep NOAA in Seattle

On Thursday, July 8th, Mayor Mike McGinn joined with Congressman Jim McDermott, City Councilmembers Jean Godden and Nick Licata, Todd Pacific Shipyards' John Lockwood, King County Labor Council's Executive Secretary David Freiboth, Office of the Governor's Director of External Affairs Marty Loesch, and other industry leaders to urge U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to intervene and seriously consider the use of existing federal facilities in Seattle for NOAA's Marine Operations Center-Pacific homeport in light of the Department of Commerce's Inspector General Report. The event took place at Herring's House Park, along the Duwamish River across from Federal Center South, one of the existing federal facilities that could house the NOAA fleet.

Read the full press release here
Read the joint letter here
Read coverage from West Seattle Blog here
Read coverage from The Seattle Times here
Read the Department of Commerce's Inspector General Report here

NOAA press event

July 9, 2010

Mayor Mike McGinn announces 21-member music commission to guide the City of Music's future

Today Mayor Mike McGinn introduced the Seattle Music Commission, a diverse group of community, business and industry leaders who will guide the city's efforts to support, promote, expand and encourage Seattle's vibrant culture of music.

The 21-member Music Commission will serve as an ongoing city body representing a cross section of the music sector with the goal of advancing the City of Music vision throughout the larger community and providing guidance and direction regarding the city's support of music.

Formed as part of the Seattle City of Music Initiative, the Music Commission will provide support, direction and advice to the city about the use of existing resources and priorities to ensure smart and meaningful investments to advance Seattle's music culture and business are made.

Download the Mayor's full press release (PDF)
Download biographies of the new City of Seattle Music Commissioners (PDF)

June 14, 2010

Pioneer Square Revitalization Committee formalizes recommendations for neighborhood

Since last November, the Pioneer Square Revitalization Committee - a coalition of City of Seattle employees, members of the Pioneer Square business community, and Pioneer Square residents - have been meeting to identify strategies to reestablish the neighborhood's competiveness and strengthen the health of its businesses.

This week, the committee finalized "Pioneer Square 2015: A Strategy for Seattle's First Neighborhood," a report on community and city strategies for bolstering the neighborhood's economic health. These priorities include improving public safety experience and perception; supporting residential density and adaptive reuse of historic buildings; supporting infrastructure for economic growth; and building organizational capacity around business advocacy.