SEATTLE — Around half of Seattle businesses report that are considering moving or shrinking, blaming a business environment that they say is getting worse and don’t believe it looks like it will get better, according to a survey from the Downtown Seattle Association and Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Fifty-six percent of businesses say the business climate has worsened, 61% are pessimistic about the next 12 months, 47% have considered moving jobs out of Seattle, and 72% say Seattle’s taxes, fees, and compliance costs are not competitive.
Jamila Conley, the owner of WeRise Wine Bar, says it’s hard not to consider other locations than her spot in downtown
“Now I understand why people go to Bellevue,” Conley said. “You travel five miles over the water and your minimum wage drops, your insurance drops, your taxes drop and it’s just like, ‘oh I get it.’ I am Seattle ride or die, but it sure does look appealing.”
Conley understands the choices some businesses make when they don’t have the same commitment to the Emerald City as she does, especially by exempting tips from minimum wage at the beginning of this year and by raising the rate again at the start of next.
Mayor Katie Wilson says the automatic increase is important to keep workers afloat in the city.
“That is really important when we’re thinking about what it takes for our lower-wage workers to actually live in this city, right, and we want to create a city where people can afford to live in the communities where they work,” Conley said.
Conley gets it, but points out that wages are rising faster than inflation and the cost of living.
“I support all of that, but you can’t do that in a vacuum because all you’re doing is like, yeah, this person used to be able to have this job, but if the place they’re working can’t afford them anymore, how is this helping?” Conley said.
After more than two years in business, Conley put up a gate in front of her door at 2nd Ave. and Stewart St. to keep her employees safe. She would find half a dozen people huddled in the doorway, sometimes using drugs, sometimes sleeping, other times defecating.
“It became more of a business decision and a safety risk than financial,” Conley said.
The process took six months to get a permit; Mayor Katie Wilson says she hopes to streamline it into a one-stop shop for businesses.
Sixty-four percent of businesses reported that both taxes and public safety are their top challenges to staying open, according to the survey from the Downtown Seattle Association and Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Conley is grateful for the Downtown Seattle Association ambassadors that help keep the area in front of her store clean.
Wilson says she’s continually looking at ways to improve public safety and homelessness, pointing to her recent streets-to-shelter initiative.
Conley served on a council of small businesses under the past mayor and hopes to do something similar for Wilson.
“We need to do more. So my office and OED are going to be doing a lot of conversations with small businesses moving forward,” Wilson said.
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