Another Successful Annual Meeting for the EDB with nearly 600 business and community stakeholders from the Pierce County community in attendance.

On Thursday, March 4, 2020, the EDB hosted business and community stakeholders at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center to celebrate another year of hard work and growth for the Pierce County community and release the EDB’s Annual Report.

Because most deals take well over a year to conclude, the EDB measures its results in five-year increments. The EDB’s $140:1 return on its investors’ dollars from 2015-2019 is indicative of the strength of its recruitment and retention programs. Other program highlights noted in the annual meeting include:

The Annual Meeting also awarded this years’ Excellent 10 and Golden Shovel Awards.

The Excellent 10 is a list of ten great economic development projects in Pierce County that were worked on or completed between January and December of the previous year. These projects are key drivers of jobs, capital investment,  or other important community development in our region. This years Excellent 10 are:

1. 1. Canyon road Expansion (Infrastructure Project)
   2. Currie & Brown (Recruitment Project)
   3. Cutting Edge Meats (Expansion Project)
   4. InvestPierceCounty.com (Community Partnership)
   5. Lakewood Colonial Plaza (Development Project)
   6. MetroParks Tacoma (Community/Development Project)
   7. Ocean5 (Development Project)
   8. Port of Tacoma, Completion of Frederickson (Community/Development Project)
   9. Tote Headquarters Announcement (Recruitment Project)
   10. Van Lierop Park and Step by Step Farm (Community/Development Project)

The EDB created the Golden Shovel award to honor organizations or individuals that have made a significant contribution to the economic well-being of Tacoma-Pierce County. This year the Golden Shovel was presented to McMenamins Elks Temple for its revitalization of the Elks Temple building and its impact on Downtown Tacoma.

Thank you to all of those who attended the EDB Annual Meeting 2020! Looking forward to seeing you all next year!