The Kent Downtown Partnership is joining a growing opposition to a plan from the governor to remove funding for the Washington State Main Street Program as a way to help close the state's $2.6 billion budget gap.
With the 2010 legislative session under way in Olympia, the Kent Chamber of Commerce has released its priorities for this session.
According to Executive Director Andrea Keikkala, the top priority for the chamber this session deal with the potential for flooding throughout the Green River Valley.
The 2010 Washington State legislative session has begun.
This year’s session is expected to once again be dominated by the state budget and attempts to fill a $2.6 billion budget gap created by falling state revenues due to the recession.
As relief supplies from all around the world are pouring into the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation of Haiti, one Kent-based company is sure their product will begin to make a difference as soon as it arrives.
Kent-based LaserMotive won the NASA-sponsored Space Elevator Laser Beaming Challenge in November and is gearing up for the next competition in May.
Wade Schwartz, whose Seattle salon closed because of the monorail land purchases has opened a new shop in Kent and plans to expand even further.
Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent wants to bring flood-threatened businesses along the Green River to Bremerton, but some businesses threatened by floods said no thanks.
Beginning Jan. 18, Find It In Kent will launch the Amazing Place scavenger hunt. This eight-week promotion encourages Kent residents to shop locally, learn more about local businesses and to educate all on the benefit of tax dollars to their community.
The economic recession was one of the most prominent news stories of 2009, with good reason: more Washingtonians were unemployed, more received unemployment benefits, and more sought job-search assistance than ever before.
Here are some figures regarding the recession's effects in Washington this year and the Employment Security Department's efforts to respond.
A record-setting year:
Christmas may celebrate the birth of Christ - and Santa sailing down the chimney with gifts - but in Mexico, there is a bigger, home-grown holiday acknowledging the birth of Christianity.
To most people, the barrels of old cooking oil sitting out near the dumpsters of their favorite restaurant are waste, filled to the brim with the disgusting remnant of hundreds of meals.
With the holiday season upon us, many homes around the region are anxiously awaiting a visit from a man loaded down with goodies to make the yuletide bright.
Not, not that visitor, but close.
For businesses and residents living the Green River Valley, watching the odds of a flood this fall go from 1 in 3 to 1 in 32 has been something of a yo-yo and even if the waters don't come, Danny Kakuk of Little David's Sub Shop in Kent said this has already been "history."
"We have been living this thing," he said. "It's already history."
In response to concerns voiced by residents about the recently elevated risk of flooding in the Green River Valley, Weidner Apartment Homes is offering to purchase a flood insurance policy for all residents at its Island Park Apartments in Kent who want flood insurance.
There are some new faces in the local business community as of late, including a new membership director at the Kent Chamber of Commerce.Shannon Collins… Continue reading
For the fourth year in a row, the Make a Difference Christmas Tree Lot is setting up shop in Kent, this year right in the… Continue reading
As Black Friday dawned across Kent, the blue skies seemed to herald two things retailers had been hoping for: shoppers and optimism for a good holiday season.
"It feels better than last year's," said Nick Samas, store manager at the Kent Station Game Stop.
A Seattle-based printing company has bought the print shop that former belonged to David Cooke, the late husband of Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke.
The Kent Chamber of Commerce is hosting it December Business After Hours and Holiday party Dec. 5 at Valley Bank.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that means only one thing for retailers: Black Friday is nearly upon us.
Named for the day when store owners traditionally see their books go from the red to the black (indicating profits for the year), the day after Thanksgiving has become the biggest shopping day of the year and retailers all around the country - and in Kent - are getting ready.
