what’s working
“The issue of minimum wage should not be done on a city-by-city
basis. It should be dealt with in the Legislature because this issue
is not going away.”
— Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, speaking during the Minimum Wage panel
training others, she should go into business doing it herself. She learned the job from the ground up, and said that experience
continues to help her as CEO of a firm specializing in transportation of hazardous, radioactive and other potentially difficult
materials.
“It made me a better business owner to know what it means to be on the road driving and missing family, just like my
employees,” Savage said.
A panel that included leaders of Avista, Puget Sound Energy, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Pacific Power and
Energy Northwest offered perspectives on the energy industry, from nuclear to natural gas.
The lunchtime speaker was author and pollster John Zogby, who drilled down into the 2016 presidential campaign
and discussed the way millennials — which he called America’s first truly global generation — approach politics and the
workplace.
“They all got a trophy,” Zogby said about the millennial generation, which he noted was the first to spend more time playing
the global sport of soccer than baseball or football. “And you know something, that worked. They tell you, overwhelming
majorities, ‘My personal achievement matters less than what I contributed to the success of the team.’ That’s worth a $6
trophy right there.”
With much more to discuss, the Policy Summit expanded this year for the first time into separate tracks in the afternoon.
While top lawmakers, including Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond, and Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, discussed budgets and
taxation in one room, high-tech manufacturers discussed carbon composites in another. During a robust policy discussion
on education funding, down the hall there was a news-you-can-use talk on cybersecurity.
Other discussions touched on education and levy reform, high-tech manufacturing and the minimum wage.
“I really enjoyed the opportunity to have the quality content. The smaller, more intimate setting really made it easier to
interact with the speakers and moderators,” said Austin Nielsen of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The day ended with Mulally, whose keynote and Q&A offered an interactive chance to learn about leadership and
collaboration.
The 2016 Policy Summ