In the rapidly evolving COVID-19 crisis, new Information becomes available nearly every day.  In an effort to cull through the endless data, in order to provide just the information of use to businesses in Lacey, here are two resources: The Guide to the CARES Act for Small Businesses The COVID-19 Tool Kit for Families and…

To assist small, locally owned Lacey-based for-profit businesses, the City of Lacey committed  $1 million to the COVID-19 Lacey Small Business Stabilization Grant Fund, an emergency fund that provided working capital grants in amounts up to $10,000 to qualifying small businesses. Those fund s have now all been awarded or committed.  

COVID-19 Federal Assistance for Small Businesses   In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the “CARES” Act (HR 748) has been signed into law. This legislation provides nearly $2 trillion in assistance, including tax credits and $377 billion for loans and grants to assist small businesses with…

The Washington State Department of Commerce has provided information on their website to assist businesses concerned about their insurance coverage for potential losses due to the COVI-19 virus.  Washington state business owners typically buy insurance coverage to protect themselves from potential losses. With the outbreak of a coronavirus (COVID-19), business owners may question if their…

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.…