Economy in Seattle: big players and start-ups, the winning duo

It's just past midday on channel 6^e Avenue, at the corner of Lenora Street. In front of the "take away" windows of the avenue's restaurants, whole queues form. But it's all happening very quickly. Vegan salads and healthy mezze have been ordered and paid for online. All you have to do is pick up the package with your name on it before returning to one of the 33 new office towers inaugurated since 2017 by the online retail giant: Amazon. "The company has around 45,000 employees for a city of 780,000 inhabitants. That's a lotIt's a great place to live", explains Jack Cowan, Director of the Franco-American Chamber of Commerce in Seattle. Right in the centre of town, in the South Lake Union district, those known as the "AmazoniansThese young, casual graduates in jeans and trainers are all working for Jeff Bezos, whose name is no longer even mentioned in conversation. When people talk about him, they simply say "him".

Gone are the days when the company, founded in 1995, camped out on the outskirts of the city in old, crumbling warehouses. Since its takeover of organic supermarkets Whole Foods in January 2018 for nearly $14 billion, the global e-commerce giant has continued to make its mark. tops the online sales charts - In the United States, one out of every two products purchased online is on Amazon - and it is extending its web to the food market. "After an initial trial on the Amazon campus last year, the second AmazonGo shop has just opened.Jack Cowan continues. You present the barcode from your app to enter the shop, choose your items and leave without scanning anything. The technology detects everything you've bought." A third shop is due to open soon in Seattle, while others are planned for San Francisco and Chicago.

Goodbye tills, cashiers and lunchtime queues. Practical indeed, but what about the modest jobs that this type of business is gradually eliminating? A problem, especially in a city that is becoming ever more expensive due to the sharp rise in skilled jobs. "Here, the median salary is close to 80,000 dollars a year, a figure that is well above the average for the United States. higher than the national average which is in the region of $60,000"continues the Director of the Chamber of Commerce. And to emphasise that "Nearly 60 % of Seattleites have a university degree equivalent to a bachelor's degree or higher, while the national average is around 30 %."

"Seattle's economy is doing really well"confirms Carlton Vann, Director of International Business for the City of Seattle. In 2012, its GDP was 257 billion dollars. In 2017, it stood at 313 billion dollars.". Or the equivalent of Malaysia's GDP and very close to that of Singapore. "The city, which is the size of Hong Kong, has experienced annual growth of more than 5 % over the last seven years."says Carlton Vann. The cause of this continued growth? An enormous drawing power, mainly due to the dozen or so Fortune 500 companies. These include Amazon, of course, but also Microsoft. Along with Jeff Bezos, Seattle-born Bill Gates is one of the three richest men in America. "Like Amazon, Microsoft employs nearly 45,000 people in Seattle"continues Carlton Vann.

Historically, The Emerald City was founded in the second half of the 19th century.^e It was built in the 19th century as an anchorage for fishing boats bound for Alaska. But Seattle was also a town of gold diggers and lumberjacks. In 1900, Weyerhaeuser was founded, a major forestry company that has since joined the Fortune 500 and gradually moved into real estate. Like Weyerhaeuser, Alaska Air Group, Costco, Nordstrom, Paccar and Expedia, also founded in Washington State, have risen to the rank of big players. "Seattle has many strengths: transport and logistics, software, innovation..."says Carlton Vann. Not forgetting trade. Case in point? A tiny café in the Pike Place Market, founded in 1971, which initially didn't offer lattes or iced drinks flavoured with matcha tea or spiced pumpkin, but simple espressos... Since then, Starbucks has had 5,000 employees in its Seattle HQ and more than 28,000 establishments around the world.

Boeing, the quiet force

As a counterpoint to these success stories, aeronautics is the quiet strength of this city. "The presence of Boeing makes it the fourth largest exporter in the United States after Houston, New York and Los Angeles"continues Carlton Vann. While the figures for other sectors, such as tech, are rising sharply, the aerospace industry is showing unflagging stability, providing almost 100,000 jobs in the region, and has done so for many years. Several Boeing manufacturing sites, notably in the outlying towns of Everett, for the B787, and Renton, for the B737, produce a total of around sixty aircraft a month. "95 % of commercial aircraft in the United States are manufactured in the Seattle area, one of the world's largest aeronautical centres."Jack Cowan, from the Franco-American Chamber of Commerce, explains that the aeronautics ecosystem has given rise to a major cluster dedicated to aerospace research. "In 2000, Jeff Bezos launched Blue Origin, a company dedicated to advancing space technology. Thanks to the New Shepard rocket, it will soon be possible to take a quick trip into space, probably as early as 2020."he laughs. Tourism is still very expensive, with a trip of a few minutes beyond the stratosphere costing between 200 and 300,000 dollars...

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The fact remains that the presence of big money in Seattle not only propels us towards the stars, but also towards ever greater innovation. Like Bill and Melinda Gates, who created their foundation in Seattle, Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft (who died in October 2018), did the same. The aim: to help disadvantaged populations gain access to health and education, and to advance medical research, neuroscience and artificial intelligence... "This is a sector in the midst of a revolution, with major advances in facial and linguistic recognition."Half of the cloud computing sector comes from Washington State, while the video games industry, with 400 companies and branches such as Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo, generates annual revenues of 40 billion.

Second high-tech hub

This fertile breeding ground, combined with billionaires' generous support for research and innovation, means that a booming tech sector All of which generated $450 billion between 2005 and 2017. Since 2010, this sector has recorded annual growth of 6 % and now employs 178,000 people. The Emerald City has thus established itself as the second-largest technology hub in the US, after Paris. Silicon Valley with the University of Washington, recognised as the most innovative public university in the United States, as a breeding ground for young start-ups, and whose computer science programme is ranked as the sixth best in the country.

Inevitably, these opportunities attract business angels and venture capital funds which, in 2016, invested 1.5 billion in start-ups in Seattle. "With so much going on, as an economist I feel like I'm in a candy shop.It's a great way to promote the city's economy," says Brian McGowan, Director of Economic Affairs at Greater Seattle Partner, the public-private agency responsible for promoting the city's economy.

"The rest of the country sees Seattle as a cool and attractive cityIt's casual but stylish. It's also one of the most beautiful regions in the United States, with a kind of nature ethic and a lot of character.says the New York native. "The city has a population of 780,000 and a metropolitan area of 3.8 million, making it the eleventh largest urban economy in the United States and the third fastest growing after Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas."says the economist. And it's immediately obvious: construction cranes are everywhere to be seen. There are almost 80 of them in Seattle, the American city that is currently building the most. "Every day, around sixty people move to the region, which is still a little more affordable than San Francisco or New York."continues Brian McGowan.

Such an economic boom, such a wealth and talent pool, naturally leads to an increase in property prices. "Owners have the right to double or triple their rents almost overnightexplains one resident. The most modest people can suddenly find themselves on the street, with no social security cover.." In recent years, the number of homeless wandering around the historic Pioneer Square area has risen steadily, reaching record levels.

Giving back to the community

On the other side of the coin of this economic power, is the city of Kurt Cobain and grunge on the verge of becoming a bubble for the rich only? As was recently the case in San Francisco, will the big multinationals have to pay a tax to help the homeless? Here, however, the concept of "giving back to the community" is valued, the generous gestures of billionaires involved in their foundations and charities. The hope, therefore, of quickly making up for a situation that is becoming critical is not lost, far from it. And the rapid evolution of the city also comes with its share of celebrations. "Having lived in Seattle for fifteen years, I've seen the city become much more international, much more stimulating."This is the story of Susannah Matthis, an entrepreneur who came to Salt Lake City in the early 2000s.

Boosted by this new appeal, the Emerald City has seen its tourism industry grow by 3 % a year for several years, with a total of 126,500 employees directly or indirectly linked to the sector. Cruises to Alaska are a big part of this, which is why a new terminal is planned. So we embellish, we invite great architects Rem Koolhaas and Franck Gehry to sublimate the urban landscape and integrate it into the surrounding nature. The latest major project is Route 99, which in February 2019 will be replaced by a tunnel almost three kilometres long. The whole project cost five years and three billion dollars to complete, with the reward being the lush green surrounds of Alaskan Way, the city's main seafront thoroughfare. In the background, the mountains, but also the container port. Seattle remains a strategic point for maritime transport between Asia and the United States.

The final touch to this almost idyllic picture is transport. Today, with the exception of a few bus routes and the famous monorail leading to the Space Needle, this emblematic tower Built in 1961 for the World's Fair, there are few options for getting around Seattle cheaply. In keeping with this principle of "giving back to the community", Amazon invested $1.5 million last summer to increase the frequency of public bus services to its campus. In 2016, the city of Seattle launched a Master Plan aimed at improving its infrastructure, but with 2030 as the horizon. In the meantime, and to consolidate its increasingly cosmopolitan image, Seattle is due to add a new international terminal to its airport in 2019. With air traffic having grown by more than 110 % in ten years, it's high time it did.