Startup Blog
Strengthening Communities with Business Capital
At the Washington State Department of Commerce, we believe entrepreneurs and small business owners drive our economy. The Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness (OEDC) is just one of the divisions within Commerce that is hard at work helping fuel the...
Is it time to Scale Up?
ScaleUp: Helping you create a path to seven figures for your business On the first day of the New Year, a lot of people make resolutions, often with a greater goal in mind. Let’s say you might want to visit the historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, a 15th-century Inca...
Bright. Shiny. Things.
What they are and why they are important to your brand. A common myth holds that crows, magpies, and other jaybirds collect bright, shiny things. Cue the way-back fantasy movie from 1982 (released before many of you were born), the Secret of NIMH. The crow character,...
Ready — Set — Action
Helping real entrepreneurs succeed because entrepreneurship is for everyone. Hollywood often casts entrepreneurs as high rollers. Frequently portrayed as men, they have big wads of cash in their pockets, wear bowler-style hats, smoke cigars, and when they emerge from...
You Look Good in Hats
The Wardrobe of Hats Worn by Entrepreneurs It’s no surprise that entrepreneurs wear a lot of hats. It’s an analogy, not a literal expression. Though, if you think of it literally, it’s equally true. Think of the owner of a hot dog stand who sets up shop outside a...
Time to Tip the Scales in Your Favor?
The ScaleUp program helps you create a path to seven figures. On a warm late summer day in 1896, three men enjoyed a day of fishing on Rabbit Creek in the Canadian Yukon Territory. One of them spied something shiny in the water and bent over to pick it up, retrieving...
It Takes Money to Make Money
The satirical novel, Catch-22, came to symbolize the dilemma of solving a problem that is, basically, unsolvable. The characters fought air combat in World War II and the number of missions necessary to complete a tour of duty rose continually – they could never go...
Waltz of the wallflowers
This blog was written by Robb Zerr. We remember Robb's legacy with Commerce and OEDC. Starting a business is relatively easy. At least when you compare it to getting people to walk through your door, push the buy button on your website or pony up some hard-earned...
For the shell of it…
This blog was written by Robb Zerr. We remember Robb's legacy with Commerce and OEDC.It’s not often that we do a blog that mentions small businesses and money laundering in the same sentence, but we feel it’s important to keep you out of hot water. Without much...