Local Tips and Conversation Starters for Business Travelers in Seattle
The Puget Sound Business Journal is a good source of information for potential business transactions in Seattle.
There is no state or local income tax in Seattle. The state sales tax rate is 6.5% and the local sales tax rate is 1.0%.
According to city-data.com, the five largest employers in the area are Boeing (by far), the Port of Seattle, Alaska Air Group, Inc., Microsoft and the University of Washington.
Seattle has such a wide range of temperatures and weather conditions that it’s a good idea to plan for any type of weather, especially rain.
Successful companies located in the Seattle area include Washington Mutual, Starbucks, Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Nordstrom.
TRADITIONS
The Seafair Festival is a summer staple in Seattle. Parades, planes and boats are the main attractions, with a special appearance by the Blue Angels.
Gourmet coffee and chocolate are very popular here. If you like black coffee, get ready to try something new.
The most common image associated with the city is the Space Needle, a tower that was built to impress guests at the 1962 World’s Fair. The bottom of its foundations is 30 feet deep, and the Needle itself reaches 605 feet at the air, swaying about an inch for every 10 mph of wind. The Bite of Seattle is an annual celebration of the best food in the city.
SPORTS
NFL Football: Seattle Seahawks (at Qwest Field in Seattle)
WNBA Basketball: Seattle Storm (at the KeyArena in Seattle)
MLB Baseball: Seattle Mariners (at Safeco Field in Seattle)
WHL Hockey: Seattle Thunderbirds (at the Kent Events Center in Kent)
MLS Soccer: Seattle Sounders FC (at Qwest Field in Seattle)
The Sounders FC won’t start play until 2009. It will be the first season for an MLS soccer team in Seattle. Its predecessor, the Seattle Sounders, is a USL league team that will finish the 2008 season at the Starfire Sports Complex in Seattle.
TRIVIA
The term “slip row” comes from the “slip path” used to slide lumber up to the sawmill.
Like the United States, Seattle grew by simply annexing one neighboring community after another, usually due to the economic problems of the annexed community. The “FREE BALLARD” bumper sticker protests one such acquisition several years after the fact.
Some of Seattle’s homeless sell a newspaper called Real Change instead of asking for brochures.
A building in the city has the words “NONE OF US” at the top of the arch above the door. Legend has it that the knights who built the building were too modest to name it after him, so they put those words on the door.
Even with all the rumors of rain, Seattle still sells more pairs of sunglasses per capita than any other city in the United States.