NSIA and North Seattle groups agree underground Ballard route for Sound Transit is best option

Several years ago, the North Seattle Industrial Association along with every other community group and business group in Ballard, Interbay, Queen Anne, agreed to a route for the Ballard line, not along 15th Ave West and underground in Ballard.  

This route would avoid our industrial area and our freight routes along 15th West. 

The Sound Transit picked another route that is above group along 15th West. It would destroy many of our businesses.  Read our position below.

The Ballard Locks serve more individual vessels than any other locks in the nation: more than 40,000 transits in 2015, and more commercial vessels than all but 12 of the 200+ other USACE locks.

That’s just one of the key findings of the Economic Impacts of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks analysis published in June 2017. The study was funded by a unique and diverse funding group, the Lake Washington Ship Canal Users Group, including the North Seattle Industrial Association and its members.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Locks’ opening day in 1917, and as the Locks reach this important milestone, there is growing concern about making the critical infrastructure upgrades needed for the Locks to continue operating reliably and safely. This report discusses the benefits of reliable Locks operation, the potential losses in the event of a closure, and describes some of the steps needed to mitigate these risks. 

To read the results of the Study, which was conducted by the McDowell Group, click here.

There has been a lot of discussion about the $15 dollar minimum wage and the recent election in the City of SeaTac on this topic.

To assist you in dealing with and understanding this issue, NSIA has written a paper, “The City of Seattle is becoming your Partner in Running Your Business.” As additional background, we’ve provided the Court Order on SeaTac that is discussed in the paper.

Please share this paper with your HR staff and your lawyers. This is an important issue for the coming years.

If you have any questions or comments,  contact NSIA President Eugene Wasserman.



Channel 13 did a news report on the proposed tolls on the SR99 Tunnel. Eugene Wasserman, NSIA, shared the Association’s view that there should not be tolls on the tunnel, that the diversion of traffic from the toll would adversely impact our businesses.

Click on the photo to watch the story.

Alaska Seafood Industry Impact on Washington

More than 50 fishing industry leaders attended a breakfast at Ivar's on August 28th to help launch the release of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's (ASMI) report on the economic value of Alaska's seafood industry.

Andy Wink of the Alaska-based research firm the McDowell Group presented data from the report, the first of its kind, showing the economic importance of the Alaska seafood industry on the rest of the country, specifically the Pacific Northwest.

The North Seattle Industrial Association, King County Maritime, Port of Seattle, Pacific Marine Expo, ASMI and Ivar's hosted the breakfast.

The complete study is here: http://pressroom.alaskaseafood.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/AK-Seafood-Impact-Report.pdf

A Plan B for the Burke Gilman’s ‘missing link’

How did a group of crusty old Ballard blue-collar businessmen come to embrace the hot new thing bike policy, only to be ignored by the city? Seattle Times Editorial columnist Jonathan Martin explains.

http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2020993463_jonathancolumnmissinglinkxml.html

Tug-of-war grows over portion of Seattle’s fishing fleet - KIRO7Seattle

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/tug-war-grows-over-portion-seattles-fishing-fleet/nXqCY/

Excellent KOMO TV story on demands by North Seattle Business Associations to drop the proposed tolling on the SR99 Deep Bore Tunnel.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Business-groups-ask-state-to-nix-tunnel-toll-raise-gas-tax-205903881.html

Questions for: Eugene Wasserman, president of North Seattle Industrial Association - Puget Sound Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/print-edition/2012/06/22/questions-for-eugene-wasserman.html?page=all