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In the latest sign of trouble for Washington's cooling economy, the state saw the launch of yet another star-studded economic task force.
On Monday, Seattle-area politicians and business leaders gathered to launch the Partnership for a Competitive Puget Sound, a high-profile task force aimed at reviving a regional economy at risk of faltering even as other parts of the U.S. are increasingly hungry for commerce.
“Trust me, the competition out there is fierce — other regions are working literally every single day to win our businesses,” said Christine Gregoire, the former Washington governor now serving as CEO of Challenge Seattle, which has spearheaded the partnership.
It's the third major effort at economic resuscitation launched this year — and a sign of a slowly emerging political consensus around the need to take action in face of growing economic challenges.
On Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced her own task force to help revive and diversify Seattle's tech-dependent economy. Last month, Gov. Bob Ferguson held the first session of his new state economic development council, which aims to reduce barriers for business growth.
Like those high-profile initiatives, the Gregoire-led enterprise starts with a data-driven warning that the regional economy of King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties is at risk of losing the momentum it has enjoyed for a generation.
In 2025, the region lost nearly 7,000 jobs — the first net loss in more than 20 years that couldn’t be blamed on a recession or other national economic shock, while metro area unemployment hit 5.2%, more than a full point above the national rate, according to materials distributed by the new task force.
Business creation is struggling in Washington, with barely 4 in 10 businesses lasting five years — the worst survival rate in the U.S.
Venture capital investment lags other centers, like the San Francisco Bay Area or even Austin, Texas.
In downtown Seattle, long the engine of the regional economy, employment fell by 13,000 jobs, or 4%, from 2024 to 2025.
The region still has powerful economic assets, including massive tech and manufacturing sectors, a busy port, a huge talent pool, top-tier research institutions and one of the most attractive natural environments in the U.S.
But it can no longer count on the seemingly effortless growth of the past, when every day, every year, success came easily (and) jobs grew," said Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft and another member of the Gregoire-led task force.
“It is 2026, and the warning signs are flashing on our economy, and we need to heed the call,” he told the crowd assembled Monday on the rooftop of the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. Smith is also a member of the Ferguson task force.
To address those risks, the new partnership is pushing local governments, businesses, labor and others to manage the region as a coordinated economic area, and not a patchwork of rival jurisdictions.
To that end, the partnership offers a detailed “playbook” for city councils and mayors with information on attracting businesses and case studies from other states.
The partnership is also advocating for changes in local and state tax policy and business regulation.
"Simplify and help us navigate city permitting and other processes, because time is money,” said Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin of the requests she gets from local businesses.
That need for speed is particularly keen around housing permits, a major factor in a regional affordability crisis and a growing challenge for employers.
“When our recruiters reach out nationwide to fill roles in Everett that we can't fill locally, cost of living is one of the top reasons candidates cite for turning us down,” said Rob Cords, Everett-based CEO of Aviation Technical Services, one of the many local suppliers of Boeing, at Monday's launch.
As a possible model, the partnership points to Minnesota, which mandates that local governments approve or deny many land use and building permits within 60 days.
A big focus on Monday was taxes, notably, the state’s recent increases in business taxes and its new income tax for high-earning households.
Some business leaders, including several at Monday's event, say those tax increases, and the prospect of more in the coming legislative session, are hurting the region’s competitiveness.
The expectation is that the partnership will be looking to oppose new taxes by reigning in state spending, which Gregoire has called for in recent months.
Still, partnership members seemed as focused on softer elements of the region's competitive edge, not least its attitude toward business.
When surveyed, many regional business executives say their top concern isn't taxes or regulation but "business climate," Gregoire said. "Wherever they go in the country, the welcome mat is out, and they don't feel that here in their own backyard."
On Monday, that concern was also echoed by many political leaders, including Seattle's mayor, who has previously criticized business leaders in the city.
In her own remarks at Monday's event, the self-described democratic socialist often sounded more like a spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce.
"Today's convening is exactly the kind of thing we need: bringing leaders together, supporting business growth and innovation, and making it easier for businesses to open, operate, and expand all across our region," Wilson said at the start of a panel discussion that followed a news conference.
"This effort will give us a shared foundation to take action, to retain major employers, to broaden our economic base, and to create the conditions for businesses of all sizes to succeed," she added.
Despite the heavy pro-business vibe, the region's progressive voice was still audible, if subdued.
April Sims, president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, noted that businesses weren't the only ones "needing predictability and enough margin to invest and innovate and take risks."
"Working people need margins too," Sims said.
As with the two tasks forces launched earlier this year, the chances for success with the Gregoire-led venture remain unclear.
Business leaders are waiting to see how city, county and state lawmakers approach their respective budgets in the coming months.
More broadly, some of the region's biggest challenges are beyond the reach a regional or even a state organization, said Jacob Vigdor, an economist with the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy who follows state and local job markets, and who was at Monday's event.
The tech employment slowdown is driven in part by a global shift in tech spending toward AI. The state's economy has also been deeply affected by federal policies on trade and immigration.
But perhaps the strongest sentiment of the day, both for those at Monday's event and those who watched from afar, was a sense of impatience.
This isn't the first time the region or state has convened task forces to solve economic issues — Gregoire herself launched one 20 years ago. Some of the ideas discussed Monday have been around for years, said Bob Donegan, president of the Ivar's seafood chain.
A veteran of civic ventures, most recently the new Seattle Waterfront, Donegan likes the list of action items that the Gregoire-led venture has assembled.
But the key, he added, is to take action immediately and start delivering visible progress.
The Seattle region has been talking about accelerating its local economy "for a long time," Donegan said. "We know the ingredients, we know the recipe, we know what the opportunity is. It's time to turn the stove on and get cooking."
"No more discussion about plans. We need outcomes.
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