One of the many effective tools of economic development is placemaking: creating an environment that is attractive, welcoming, engaging, and makes people want to gather. Many successful historic downtowns are examples of successful placemaking. Most of Lacey developed well after World War II, and was incorporated as a city in 1966: a time when most…

Lacey Celebrates 2019 & Looks Ahead to 2020 We are honored to have earned a spot on Money’s 2019 “100 Best Places to Live in America” list. To compile the ranking, Money looked at nearly 160,000 data points, including economic health, cost of living, ethnic and economic diversity, public education, income, health and safety, ease…

The next Business TuneUp Course begins September 12, 2019 Does this sound like you? Your business has grown and you now have more work than you can handle, but also more problems to deal with. You work hard to get things under control only to have new issues develop. Your revenues have plateaued, but you…

    Owners of many types of businesses rely on visibility from the street to help to promote their businesses. Not surprisingly, lease rates for locations with high visibility, measured by traffic counts, often command a premium over locations of similar quality, but lower traffic. To help business owners seeking a new location to determine…

Who are the largest employers in the Lacey area?  The best answer comes from information that was recently updated by the Thurston Economic Development Council: the list of the largest employers in Thurston County. Not surprisingly, given Thurston County being the site of the state capital, state government makes up the single largest employer with…

    Lacey Vacancy Rates Continue to Decline Vacancy Rates 2Q 2018 2Q 2017 Change Type Vacancy Rate Vacancy Rate Vacancy Rate Industrial 1.6% 5.8% -4.2% Office 4.9% 9.0% -4.1% Retail 3.0% 3.8% -0.9% Total 2.9% 6.2% -3.3%   Year-over-year comparisons of Lacey’s industrial, office, and retail space show that vacancy rates continue to decline.…

  According to the recent update of demographic information on the City of Lacey’s stand-alone economic development website, locationlocationlacey.com, Lacey’s market area continues to grow. Many businesses prefer to look at the “drive-time” it takes customers to reach their businesses, rather than the actual distance traveled. The 30-minute drive time is especially popular, so the…

Are you having a challenging time finding the skilled talent your business needs? Interested in sharing best practices or learning how you can influence and build the talent pipelines you need? Join the Thurston Economic Development Council and the Pathway to Prosperity Planning Partners October 12th from 9am-1pm at the Pathways to Prosperity Conference to…

The City of Lacey’s economic development partner, the Thurston Economic Development Council and the Center for Business and Innovation will be offering Tune-up Your Business, an new eight-week program for existing businesses.  The group meets every Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Lacey Campus of South Puget Sound Community College–4220 6th Ave.,…