This is an interesting read. Written by Ken Huber – he does make some interesting points about American and what it has become. Our apologies for the small print in the article.
He makes several comparisons which will open your mind and perhaps cause debate.
It’s one of tallest and most respected icons in Seattle – The Smith Tower. In fact it has stood in Pioneer Square for over 100 years now. The building itself is 38 stories high and was completed in 1914. The Smith Tower is the oldest in the city and until 1931 it was the tallest office building west of the Mississippi River. Many building are taller than it now. The Seattle Space Needle towered over it in 1962.
The Smith Tower is considered a Seattle landmark and was named after its creator Lyman Cornelius Smith. Initially Lyman Smith only planned on building a 14 story building but later was convinced to make a larger to beat a larger skyscraper in Tacoma known as the National Realty Building. At the time it was considered the tallest west of the Mississippi. The doors opened with a ribbon cutting on July 3rd 1914. As of today, it’s been acquired by several owners and renovated twice (1986 & 1999).
In the recent years the Smith Tower has been the focus areas for many new start-ups. The building is setup with fiber-optics and that was attracted many occupants. The building is also located very close to transportation options including the Sounder Train.
Security at the building is very tight and pass is needed to visit the varies stories in the building. In 2012, the build was struggling with covering it’s operating expenses and was old via public foreclosure to CBRE.
At the very top of building there is one residence. This is the only residence in the building and it’s occupied by Petra Franklin, husband David Lahaie, and their two daughters.
On the 38th floor there is an observation deck available to the public with a pass. For adults the price is $7.50 and children $5.00 (2014 rates).
The city surrounding the building is Pioneer Square. It features lots of visitors, coffee shops, and parking lots.
Address visitor information:
The Smith Tower
506 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 622-4004
The Seattle Council is considering allowing micro-housing in the city. If you’re not in the loop of what micro-housing is exactly it’s a much smaller option of living. Typically they are the size of a bedroom and they have common areas like kitchens and bathrooms that everyone shares. Yesterday the Seattle Council held a public discussion for comments and feedback. As you know with the Seattle Council, it’s ultimately their decision if it goes through or not. Over the years I have learned one thing and that is the Seattle Council will do what they want. It’s about the money and less about the people. This solution will certainly move forward but will be regulated so they can track the money easier.
Supporters suggest it’s an affordable solution to housing. While I like their ambitiousness, I assure you it won’t be cheap or even affordable. It will be expensive and Seattle residents will continue to pay their crazy rent. The demand is high for this so why would they make it cheap? Think about it.
Even though I understand the strain of more people in the city and even more parking issues, I do support micro-housing. Not because “it’s going to be affordable” (because it won’t) – I support it on the principle that land owners should be able to do what they want with their property. It’s also very common in other countries and we’re just behind the times on many issues including micro-housing.
According to Amazon.com, Seattle is ranked 4th for the best read city. Alexandria, Virginia topped the list. Now don’t let this confuse you and think Seattle is the smartest city… it just means we read a lot. It does make sense because we are coffee town USA with Starbucks and all. Miami came in 2nd place where their top orders were books, magazines, and health and mind. What else you going to do when you’re at the beach all day. If we actually had a good beach (and hotter weather) I’m positive we would be #1 on this list because everyone would buy more. On a side note, did you know Washington State sells more sunglasses than any other state? Yes, it’s true.
As reported previously by Lilly, it is now official President Obama will be making a visit to the devastated OSO mudslide site. It’s obviously a way for him to build his popularity, show remorse, and shake a few hands. If he really cared, he would stay home and send/write a check for 2 million plus dollars as that’s about what it takes in fuel/staff just to get here. The money would be 100x more beneficial to the people then him standing around taking photographs and getting publicity out of it. For Obama, however, it’s all about him and making the people love him. He continues to say one thing and then goes and does another. This is just another example of wasted time and money provided by President Obama. The reality is we all feel bad about the situation (it’s horrible) but these people need money to buy food and get back on there feet. A hand shake, photographs, and positive news coverage doesn’t solve a thing. Plus, the time and resources to get the President here is a huge waste of taxpayers money. It costs millions to fly him around.
It’s never been about the wasted money for Obama, however. Just look at Obamacare this guy will spend billions maybe even trillions of dollars just to make the program work. I hear about it on the TV and radio every day! Even if it’s failing horribly, he will dump every last penny to make the program work so he doesn’t look bad over it. There is a point and we probably have already past it where just giving all the uninsured people a check for 100K would have been a better option and it would cost much less.
The OSO mugslide is horrible but let’s be honest here how is Obama going to help with the efforts except making himself look good by being there. This publicity is going to be on every news channel across the country and it’s just one be positive PR stunt.
To date, 41 lives have been lost due to the disaster. A few individuals in the area still remain missing and have not been accounted. Each day approx. 625 workers continue the search and clean up efforts.
Mighty-O Donuts, Seattle’s über-conscientious donut company, has pledged to make its Wallingford neighborhood location a garbage-free facility effective Earth Day 2014.
Generating waste is unavoidable in any city. Seattle sends more than 300,000 tons of waste to the landfills each year (komonews.com). Visualize 100 train cars heading to a landfill every day. Seeking better solutions, Mighty-O Donuts follows a zero-waste strategy.
To accomplish a landfill-free facility, Mighty-O is working with vendors to minimize unnecessary waste and to use only recyclable or compostable packaging. The company is also kindly asking that customers do not bring trash into the Wallingford donut shop. Currently 90 percent of the waste from this facility is composted or recycled. Additionally, all leftover food is donated to the city’s homeless and hungry.
Along with helping to save the environment it is predicted that Mighty-O will save thousands of dollars each year. More importantly, it’s an opportunity to set an example and lead other businesses to do the same.
In 2013 Mighty-O was a finalist in the “Setting an Example” category at the Sustainable Seattle Awards, and is devoted to ensuring all of its ingredients come from companies with sustainable practices, organic production standards and the fair treatment of farmers and employees. In addition to being a certified organic bakery, Mighty-O is verified by the Non-GMO Project, and refrains from using animal products in its donuts or using ingredients that have been genetically engineered. In 2011 it won the televised Donut Champion Challenge on the Food Network, and was named by Bon Appétit Magazine as one of the “Top 10 Best Places for Donuts” in the country.
For more information about Mighty-O Donuts please visit www.mightyo.com or call 206-547-0335. Visit them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Once in a while we share our top stories for the month. Below you’ll find our top stories for April 2014 determined by our visitors at the Emerald City Journal.
Mike Asimos favorite Seattle hiking locations was one of our popular pages during the month. We discuss some of hot spots and also some of the hiking locations most people don’t visit or don’t know about. Powered by Mike Asimos.
History of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington was recently featured from Wikipedia. This popular page is getting more attention due to the research, history, and information presented.
Mike McGinn analysis which is old news now but we ran an informational article about Mike McGinn and his history as the Mayor of Seattle.
Washington State Liquor Control Board informational page and analysis of how our Liquor Board manages the program.
Mike Asimos Grateful Dead collection interview. We caught up with Mike Asimos to discuss his large collection and his travel experiences in Seattle, Washington.
OSO, WA – The Rhodes River Ranch is hosting a community-organized fundraising event benefiting the Oso Firemen’s Association (www.facebook.com/OsoFireDepartment ), a local, non-profit and registered charitable organization in support of the mudslide rescue efforts.
This is an opportunity to support the Oso community and celebrate the many who have gathered to help the rescue efforts.
Located on the south side of the Stillaguamish River and a mere 4-miles from the slide location, the Rhodes River Ranch (www.rhodesriverranch.com) is a 150-acre,award-winning breeding and horse-training facility. Many working here have friends and families affected by this tragedy and are thankful to have the ability and facilities to help the community.
During initial and continuing rescue efforts, the Rhodes River Ranch is one of the staging grounds for relief efforts. The fundraiser will be held in their large indoor arena (one of the largest professional ranch arenas west of the Mississippi).
Favorite local bands and musicians will be performing at the event and the Rhodes River Ranch Restaurant will be serving specialty beer, cocktails, beverages and a special buffet dinner.
The silent auction begins at 1:00pm and the live auction at 5:00pm and there is a silent auction featuring works by such artists as Art Wolfe.
OSO STRONG
Mudslide Benefit Fundraiser
Rhodes River Ranch
Oso/Arlington, WA
Saturday, April 5, 1-7pm
For information or interviews, contact
Bonnie Rose, (360) 474-8313x 230
bonnie@rhodesriverranch.com
In the business world, the name Mark Hurd has become well known over the last 30 years. Mark Hurd’s continued successes ever since he began as a field salesman for NCR Corp in 1980 have shown his dedication to hard work and self improvement. There are countless field salesman and low level marketing employees in the world of business. Many of them rise over time. Few, however, have risen to such great heights as Mark Hurd.
Part of what has made Mark Hurd so successful is his dedication to excellence and his ambition. The business world is a hard school to learn in, and technology business, in particular, is even harder. Success necessitates quick decision making and forward thinking to keep up with the fast moving and ever changing world of technology.
This post is about the co-CEO of Oracle. We have gather all the great information about him and his career from the Internet and wrote a well organized article.
Mark Hurd climbed the ladder at NCR Corp, rising from field salesman to positions of ever increasing responsibility and management. NCR Corp, formerly known as the National Cash Register, has been a US-based company specializing in computer hardware, software, and electronics. For a young man interested in business and technology, it was a perfect place to start.
By 1994, Mark Hurd had worked his way up to Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Americas Professional Services Division for NCR Corp, a position which he held for 4 years. In 1998, Mark Hurd was promoted to Senior Vice President of Teradata Solutions Group. After 2 years he was named Executive Vice President of NCR Corp, and from 2000 on, Mark Hurd wore several different hats as one of the top managers of the corporation.
While serving as Executive VP, Mark Hurd was also the Chief Operating Officer of the Teradata Division and Global Leader in such fields as enterprise data warehousing, data warehousing services, and analytic applications. In 2001, he was named the president of NCR Corp, a position which he held until his departure in 2005.
In 2002, Mark Hurd began serving as COO of NCR Corp, with the responsibility of driving its business performance. This included performance in retail store automation, payment and imaging, financial self service, worldwide customer services, Systemedia and Teradata data warehousing. Mark Hurd was instrumental during this time in planning and carrying out strategies that maximized the operating efficiency and profits of NCR Corp.
From 2003 until his departure, Mark was named Chief Executive Officer, and he served as president and CEO for 2 years, completing a total of 25 years of service at NCR Corp. After leaving NCR Corp, Mark Hurd continued his success as CEO and president of Hewlett-Packard. After only one year at HP, he was named chairman of the board after the resignation of former chairman Pat Dunn.
Under Mark Hurd’s direction, HP increased its profits for 22 straight quarters, meeting Wall Street expectations for all but one of those quarters. The company rose to first in laptop computer sales in 2006 and first in desktop computer sales in 2007, a position which it held throughout his tenure. Mark Hurd also led the company to a 63% increase in revenue and a doubling of stock prices.
One of the most impressive feats that Mark Hurd accomplished while at HP was in the success of a merger that had begun before he even arrived on the scene. In 2002, HP negotiated a merger with computer company, Compaq, in a move heavily criticized by experts at the time. Carly Fiorina, the chairwoman and CEO before Mark Hurd, was unable to turn the combined company into a smoothly operating and profiting business.
When Mark Hurd arrived and took over the company, he managed to pull off what the New York Times called “one of the great rescue missions in American corporate history, refocusing the strife-ridden company and leading it to five years of revenue gains and a stock that soared 130 percent.” Even during the middle of the recession, when Hurd himself prophesied a 5% drop in sales for 2009, company profit increased by 6%.
Mark Hurd was recognized many times for his successes as a manager and business leader throughout his time at HP by such groups as Fortune 500, Business 2.0, and Forbes. In 2010, Mark left HP to become the president and member of the board of the Oracle Corporation. As a leader at the Oracle Corporation, Mark Hurd is responsible for Oracle’s global field operations, focusing primarily on strategy, innovation, leadership, and customers. There is no doubt that Oracle Corporation will be successful in the years to come, with Mark Hurd at the helm. The reality is that when Hurd speaks the World listens. He has a proven record of increasing companies growth and revenue for over 30 years.
OpenWorld Events:
Mr. Hurd is a regular speaker at OpenWorld. This year, 2015, he is speaking about the future of cloud and forecasting its predictions. According to Diginomica, Hurd declared victory in the Cloud computing niche.
UPDATE: Mark Hurd continues with his success at Oracle in 2016. The company stock and cloud revenue is on the rise each quarters as he as done in the past with other companies. If you want to really get to know him I recommend this article by USAToday called “Meet the new co-CEOs of Oracle: Mark Hurd and Safra Catz.” Be sure to check that out on Google.
Mark Hurd’s Inclusion in Forbes Magazine has been the mark of success among businessman in the world of technology, trade, and finance almost since the publication’s conception in 1917. Like its competitors, Fortune Magazine and Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes often includes lists of the most successful or influential corporations and individuals. To be featured on such a list almost guarantees you a place in the upper echelons of the American business world.
Mark V Hurd, current President of the Oracle Corporation, has been featured in one list or another on multiple occasions. In 2007, he was named one of Fortune Magazine’s “25 Most Powerful People in Business.” He was included multiple times by lists in the Business 2.0 magazine and by Barron’s “Best CEOs” list, and in 2008, he was named the “CEO of the Year” by the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2009, Mark Hurd was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of Forbes’ Market’s Best Managers.
Mr. Hurd had reached the top of the business game, and he was getting recognized for it. But, that success was not handed to him on a silver platter of privilege. No, Mark Hurd worked for 30 years in the field of business and technology before attaining the success that he deserved.
The first 25 years of Mark Hurd’s career were spent at NCR Corp, a US computer company based in Dayton, Ohio (the company has since moved headquarters to outside of Atlanta, Georgia). Mark began as a field salesman in 1980, fresh out of college with his Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baylor University. He sold computer hardware, software, and electronics and slowly moved through the ranks of administration and management.
In 1994, after 14 years of salesmanship and middle management positions, Mark Hurd was a division vice president for NCR Corp. He rose to Executive Vice president of the company, and eventually president and Chief Operations Officer. In 2003, Mark Hurd was the president and CEO of NCR Corp, a position which he held for two years. At the end of those two years, marking 25 years with NCR, Mark Hurd moved on to take the reins at Hewlett-Packard.
As president and CEO of HP, and a year later as Chairman of the Board, Mark Hurd was in the perfect position to make a name for himself and his company. HP stocks doubled in the time that Mark was in charge, and revenues increased by 63%. Mark Hurd knew how to cut costs and turn a profit, and that is exactly what he did.
The success of the company did not go unnoticed, and it was at HP that Mark Hurd’s accolades began to flood in. His inclusion in Fortune Magazine coincided with HP’s success in sales; the company was number one in laptop and desktop computer sales, and they were number one every year while Mark Hurd headed the business. In 2008, market share for HP in inkjet and laser printers both increased – to 46 percent for inkjet printers and 50.5 percent for laser printers.
Mark enjoyed 4 years of success at HP, righting the struggling company in the wake of its merger with Compaq and turning a profit for 21 successful quarters. There was only one quarter during Mark Hurd’s tenure in which HP did not meet the expectations of Wall Street. In 2010, Mark Hurd took a position as the president of the Oracle Corporation, seeking to bring the same success to this company as he had to his previous companies.
The Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer company based out of Redwood City, California, specializing in hardware and enterprise software programs. Oracle is the second highest producer of software after Microsoft. In hiring Mark Hurd as President, CEO Larry Ellison sought to use Mark’s focus on customers, innovation, and efficient operations, and execution to bring his company success.
As Mark Hurd’s experience and inclusion in some of the most exclusive magazine lists in the world has shown us, he knows about success. He knows the struggle it takes to be successful as an individual and the direction and leadership that is needed for an individual to bring that success to his company. As Oracle continues to move forward, it can only be assumed that Mark Hurd’s direction and leadership will bring the company as much success as they might wish for.
