Liberty Bay Bank has announced the promotions of Rhonda Morris to senior vice president of operations, and Kathy Thibeault to assistant vice president and controller. read more »

Kitsap Bank announced that Rebecca Lantz was named Employee of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2014. 

Lantz has worked in the Deposit Support Department since April 2013, and previously worked as a financial service specialist and a teller.  read more »

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON — The Partnership for a New American Economy and the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform released a new report showing how American families are eating more imported fresh produce today than ever before, in substantial part because U.S. growers lack enough labor to expand their production and compete with foreign importers.

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Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant is now offering to let small businesses and human service agencies phase in a $15-an-hour minimum wage over three years.

Sawant, a socialist who won a council seat by campaigning to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, is standing by her proposal to require big businesses to pay a $15 wage in 21015, but on Wednesday she issued a statement that said that “to make progress” she would allow a phase-in period for small businesses and human service agencies.

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The odds that Congress will pass an increase in the U.S. minimum wage before the November elections are so low that even the nation’s lobbyists are largely ignoring it.

The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest union group, won’t gear up for a push in Congress until a vote on an increase is scheduled in the Senate, said chief lobbyist Bill Samuel. His group, and business organizations that oppose raising hourly pay, are giving more attention to wage proposals in the states.

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After a week in which state Sen. Jan Angel drew strong criticism for blocking action on a bill to extend a funding source for programs that help the homeless, the Port Orchard Republican issued a press release trying to change the focus.

The press release issued March 7 noted that Angel’s decision to “hold” the bill — HB 2368, which would extend a temporary $40 fee on real-estate transactions to fund homeless assistance - “has caused a flurry of controversy and inaccurate accusations, despite her good intentions.”

The Seattle Times published an editorial March 6 that began: “State Sen. Jan Angel’s willingness to kill a bill that would help the homeless is wrong read more »

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is accusing Premera Blue Cross of using its political influence to gut a bill designed to protect the public from Ponzi schemes and financial meltdowns.

Premera sought and won an amendment last week to a bill known as the Holding Company Act that would give insurers a lengthy appeals process before the public release of financial information that they consider proprietary, such as reports on how they manage risk and other sensitive financial records.

When the change was made, Kreidler’s office fired off a press release saying the insurance company has too much influence in Olympia, and that the changes would harm consumers. read more »

Every day, startups and entrepreneurs across Washington develop exciting new products and services that might benefit consumers. Of course there are no guarantees. Any two-guys-in-a-garage idea could lead to brilliant commercial success or miserable failure, but there is no way to know until the new product or service is tested in the real-world marketplace. All these would-be profitable business owners face a basic problem (unless they are already wealthy) - raising enough money to get started.

The people behind any startup are usually untried and hold few assets, so they often can’t secure a bank loan, and their nascent project isn’t big enough to incorporate and launch a conventional IPO. One answer is crowdfunding, leveraging the connecting power of the internet to collect small contributions from a wide variety of people at very low transaction costs. The method can be used to finance nonprofit or for-profit projects. Either way, using crowdfunding to raise money is popular, simple and voluntary. read more »

Safeway is merging with Albertsons in a deal valued at about $9.2 billion.

Both grocery store chains have a substantial presence in Washington state. Safeway has 19 locations in Seattle alone; Albertsons has about 60 stores in the state.

Albertsons owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, will pay $40 a share to merge two of the largest supermarket chains in the U.S. Cerberus investor partners in the acquisition include Kimco Realty Corp., Klaff Realty LP, Lubert-Adler Partners LP and Schottenstein Stores Corp.

Safeway’s board of directors has unanimously approved the deal. read more »