Jobs and the Economy

SEATTLE — Small businesses across the Seattle area pushed back against the door busters and deep discounts of big stores with Small Business Saturday. The retail holiday is designed to drive sales to mom and pop shops between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. To read the whole article and view the video clip, click HERE. Read more »

“Small Business Saturday,” the holiday shopping antidote to Black Friday, has won enthusiastic backing from two members of Washington’s congressional delegation. “Small businesses are the foundation of America’s economy across the country (and) small businesses on Main Street are the key drivers of job creation,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.,… Read more »

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene announced that the Northwest Agriculture Business Center in Mount Vernon will receive $200,000 from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support local farmers and agriculture related businesses. Awarded through the USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant program, the funds will go to help the Northwest Agriculture Business Center’s work in… Read more »

Today the House Judiciary Committee approved the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309), bipartisan legislation to address the growing problem of abusive patent litigation. The Innovation Act includes a number of measures designed to deter abusive patent litigation while protecting our patent system for innovators, educators and entrepreneurs. The final version reported out by the committee reflects… Read more »

Ninety-five percent of the world’s mouths to feed live outside the United States, and 160,000 people in Washington are gainfully employed in feeding them, yet the state’s $40 billion agricultural export trade is threatened by Congress’ prolonged failure to write a new farm bill. The farm bill stalemate is another Tea Party-caused breakdown of business in Washington,… Read more »

Northwest lawmakers are urging federal officials to quickly allow Bering Sea fishermen to start fishing for Alaskan king crab. The crab season was scheduled to start on October 15th, but due to the government shutdown, the federal employees at the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) have been unable to issue permits for the fleet, thereby delaying the start of the season. In a… Read more »

Theirs is one of the deadliest occupations, with 800-pound crab pots menacing life and limb, and stormy waters threatening their ships. But the men and women who ply the Bering Sea pursuing the lucrative catch are facing a different challenge: The three-month Alaska crab season starts Tuesday, but government workers, idled by the federal shutdown, aren’t issuing the necessary… Read more »

DARRINGTON -- Owners of a Darrington river-rafting business find themselves beached until the federal government is motoring at full throttle again. Brian Pernick and his sister, Sarah, were in the process of obtaining a new use permit from the U.S. Forest Service to provide whitewater rafting and scenic float trips on the Sauk River. But the agency shuttered its doors Oct. 1 when the… Read more »

SEATTLE — Most crab fishermen from Washington are already in Alaska preparing for the start of the season in just ten days, but if the government shutdown drags on, they’ll be forced to stay docked. “The problem is the federal government is the one that actually issues the permits,” said Mark Gleason, who represents the industry. “The people in charge of… Read more »

In an effort to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene today co-sponsored new reform legislation. DelBene is leading the effort with Representative Joe Garcia (FL-26), Representative Judy Chu (CA-27), Representative Jared Polis (CO-02) and Representative Steven Horsford (NV-04). “Immigration reform is critical… Read more »