About the Washington State Department of Commerce

Creating a prosperous, sustainable economy goes hand in hand with building resilient communities. One cannot exist without the other. As the state’s economic development office, we focus on strengthening our key industries, expanding international trade, helping small businesses grow, providing training to a new generation of workers, providing access to funding, and supporting the work of our local economic development partners in all 39 counties.

The Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness (OEDC) offers a seasoned team of business professionals and adaptive programs and services to help businesses inrease sales, enter new markets, find new partners and hire and train more workers.

About My StartUp 365

My Startup 365.com is managed by OEDC, within the agency. This site serves as a clearinghouse for information and resources that entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses need to achieve success, including funding sources, training and technical assistance, mentorship, education and information.

Rural and small business economic development work is housed in the OEDC’s Small Business Training & Education, State Marketing and Tourism team. Most of these individuals have started their own businesses, been entrepreneurs or consulted with companies large and small, around the state and around the world.

Lynn Longan  

Lynn Longan, Small Business Training & Education Programs Director

Linda

Linda Alongi, Education & Training Program Manager

Project partners include:

Jacquie Goodwill, Marketing Communications Manager
Alex Harper, Graphic Designer

The Department of Commerce is committed to strengthening communities and growing local economies that celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit, provide the necessary infrastructure to support growth and expansion, have the right mix of services and programs to support intelligent economic development and offer families a safe place to live, work and play.