Growth at Amazon and other area companies is banks’ cup of tea, err, coffee Management Financial Trends. 1Management MORE

Blue Lion Capital, which had a recent request for a board seat rejected, plans to nominate multiple people to run for the board at HomeStreet's next annual meeting. Community banking Activist Investors M&A Mortgages Capital Growth strategies Washington MORE

OfferUp, a secondhand mobile marketplace, closed its latest funding round $11 million higher than previously reported and added PayPal co-founder Max Levchin as an investor. Venture funding Mobile technology Mobile payments MORE

A Seattle Times noted that Seattle-area credit unions have made substantial market share gains. 28 percent of Seattle-area households bank primarily with a credit union now, up from 21.5 About half of all households banking with a credit union in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area are with BECU. percent in 2008, according to market data firm Scarborough Research. MORE

Founded in 2010 as BBC Easy and rebranding as Finagraph in 2013, the Seattle-based company demonstrated its Base Borrowing Certificate technology at FinovateSpring. The post Seattle-Based Finagraph Completes $5 Million Financing appeared first on Finovate. MORE

Blue Lion Capital has complained about the company's reliance on mortgages and bank acquisitions. Community banking Activist Investors M&A Capital Washington MORE

Seattle, Washington is known for a great many things including its rainy weather and many pop culture phenomenas. From Grey’s Anatomy to Frasier, Sleepless in Seattle and the band that started the grunge movement in the early 90’s, Nirvana, the city has seen its fair share of recognition and consequentially tourism attraction over the years. What people may not know is that Seattle is creeping up on becoming the next big center for the tech industry. MORE

Retail coffee chain Merchant Innovation News personnel Seattle starbucks What's HotAfter growing Starbucks from a humble 11 stores to a worldwide operation with 28,000 locations in 77 countries, Howard Schultz is stepping down as executive chairman and a member of the company’s board of directors. Schultz will become chairman emeritus as of June 26, the coffee chain said in an announcement. Since the company’s public offering in 1992, the company’s shares have grown by 21,000 percent. MORE

Seattle locals dropped everything once word started to spread online that the yellow vending “Snapbot” was spotted at Dick’s Drive-In restaurant. GeekWire interviewed some of the of Seattle residents waiting in line, like Ian Atianza, who came down from the Capitol Hill neighborhood and was one of the first people in line. It didn’t take long before a massive line formed, with people waiting an hour or more to get a pair of the much-coveted Spectacles. MORE

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Local Host: Northwest Credit Union Association. Filene Host: Tansley Stearns. Click the arrow below to REGISTER for this event: WHAT IS AN IMPACT ROADSHOW? MORE

The company will pay $191 million for Skagit Bancorp, a deposit-rich bank in Washington's North Sound region. Community banking M&A Capital Washington MORE

Plaza Bank in Seattle has promoted its chief lending officer to become CEO. The $65 million-asset bank said in a press release Monday that Michael Anderson also succeeded Michael Clabby as president on Nov. breaking_news people corporate-governance wa community-banking MORE

You’ve never been to a conference like NAFCU’s 51st Annual Conference & Solutions Expo in beautiful Seattle, Washington. Strengthen your strategic skills in Seattle…. Unforgettable experiences await your guests in Seattle. MORE

Credit union professionals from across the country are gathering today in Seattle to kick off NAFCU’s 51st Annual Conference and Solutions Expo – the industry’s premier strategic planning event for credit union executives and board members. The post NAFCU’s 51st Annual Conference and Solutions Expo kicks off in Seattle appeared first on CUInsight. Industry News NAFCU NAFCU Annual Conference and Solutions Expo NAFCU News Seattle MORE

While more than 1,000 state lawmakers swarmed Seattle Monday for what is considered the nation’s largest gathering of legislators and their staff, credit union advocates also converged on the city to make their voices heard. MORE

Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders FC announced that it has reached a partnership agreement with BECU to become the official credit union of Sounders FC. The sponsorship will include signage and promotions. In addition, BECU will make a $250 donation to support financial literacy programs at YouthCare for every Sounders FC goalkeeper save on the field during regular season home matches. Terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed. Read the story. Branding Sponsorships MORE

Spin is a San Francisco-based bike-sharing service that announced news that it is going online for the first time this week in the Bay Area — after previously having launched in Seattle and Dallas. The firm’s Seattle launch, Euwyn Poon told Webster, was greatly boosted by the fact that one of those publicly owned docked bike solutions, Pronto, was folding just as they were launching in the city earlier this year. “In In Seattle, it was an interesting experience. MORE

Brent Beardall, who recently took the helm at Washington Federal, discusses having excess capital, myriad potential fintech partners and why he would tweak — not repeal — Dodd-Frank. Community banking Fintech Infrastructure Capital Dodd-Frank Washington MORE

HomeStreet's CEO said mortgage expansion and bank acquisitions — concerns highlighted recently by Blue Lion Capital — are helping the company diversify. Community banking Mortgages M&A Activist investors Sailthru NMN origination no display Washington MORE

The acquisition is the first for Hope since a transformative merger last year. Community banking M&A California Washington MORE

Laid out on a series of hills on Puget Sound’s eastern shore, Seattle is the biggest city in the Pacific Northwest. Even if you’ve never been there, you’ve probably seen pictures of its iconic natural and man-made landmarks: Mount… Best 38 Fun Things to Do in Seattle – Activities & Attractions on the Cheap is a post from the Money Crashers personal finance blog. MORE

The new store is also located in Seattle, and according to Geekwire will stand about a mile away from the other one. In a statement, Amazon said “we are excited to bring Amazon Go to 920 5th Avenue in Seattle. The first cashierless Amazon Go store opened in January in Seattle after being in development for five years. Amazon AiFi amazon go checkout lanes checkout-free eCommerce lanes grocery News Seattle MORE

Amazon is partnering with nonprofit organization FareStart to launch a job training program in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The initiative will also bring five new eateries to Seattle, which will serve as the training location for those enrolled in the program and help people in entry-level foodservice jobs attain the skills needed to earn a higher income. Poverty and income inequality are growing in Seattle. MORE

A court agreed with HomeStreet that Blue Lion Capital failed to comply with the company's advance-notice bylaw when it submitted director nominations and shareholder proposals. Community banking Litigation Activist Investors M&A Washington MORE

HomeStreet in Seattle has raised $65 million from issuing senior debt. The $4.8 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that the proceeds from the offering with support growth and other general corporate purposes. capital small-business strategic-alternatives community-banking MORE

Blue Lion Capital believes a heavy focus on mortgages and acquisitions is hurting HomeStreet's financial performance. Community banking M&A Capital Mortgages Expense management Sailthru NMN origination no display Washington MORE

The headlines during the penultimate week of June in The Washington Post regarding the Seattle minimum wage increase might have been a bit confusing to the casual observer. an hour by the city of Seattle is not killing jobs but is nonetheless ruining the lives of working class people, unless it isn’t — and it is actually working just fine. Imagine being a working-class citizen in Seattle. MORE

No one knows exactly what Amazon’s plans are for a 9,759-square-foot retail space in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, but plans dug up by GeekWire seem to indicate that the space is being renovated into a drive-through grocery. GeekWire made the connection because the wording in the Seattle permits is almost an exact match for planning documents for Amazon drive-up grocery stores planned in the San Francisco Bay Area. MORE

The city wanted to sever its relationship with the bank, but it ran into a big obstacle. Commercial banking Government finance Deposits Law and regulation Wells Fargo Washington MORE

But that’s what happened to customers of Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities on Sunday (Sept. The City of Seattle was busy trying to fix a glitch that sent links to over 3,000 people in error. The mailings marked the launch of Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities’ new billing system. Security & Fraud News Seattle Utilities What's Trending MORE

Amazon, the nation’s largest online retailer, is taking home delivery to the next level : instead of just delivering goods to customers’ homes, the company will now be providing actual homes for the homeless at its new six-story headquarters in downtown Seattle. Seattle non-profit Mary’s Place was already using space in Amazon’s existing headquarters, a converted Travelodge motel, purchased last year. MORE

Washington Federal Chairman and Chief Executive Roy M. Whitehead will hand off his CEO duties to Brent Beardall this spring. breaking_news people succession-planning corporate-governance community-banking MORE

Seattle, with great demographics and low unemployment, is an attractive market, but M&A is constrained by a dearth of locally owned banks. dealmaking-strategy consolidation m-a community-banking MORE

Seattle’s city council has approved a new tax for the city’s biggest companies, including Amazon , to combat a housing crisis impacting the city’s working class. The company said it is still evaluating whether to sub-lease space in a second future office tower in Seattle, a project called Rainier Square. In addition to Amazon, the tax would also affect Seattle-based coffee retailer Starbucks and department store chain Nordstrom. MORE

Reports out of Seattle say that Amazon has significantly cut the number of open positions in the city, and some employees are even talking about a hiring freeze. Both the Seattle Times and CNBC reported on the story, speaking to employees about hiring freezes or postponements in their groups, the first sign of a slowdown in Amazon’s rapid expansion. Amazon Amazon Headquarters Amazon Hiring Freeze Amazon Jobs Amazon Seattle News What's Hot MORE

Seattle Taxation Change of Heart. It looks like the tax situation in Seattle may be getting a bit stickier: Seattle’s city council has approved a new tax for the city’s biggest companies, including Amazon, to combat a housing crisis impacting the city’s working class. Reports indicate that the tax comes as Seattle considers the housing crisis at least partly brought on by a local economic boom that has spiked the cost of local real estate. MORE

Amazon appears to be behind the construction of a new drive-up grocery store being built in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, at least, according to an online report citing city permitting records. Now, GeekWire is reporting that a post-issuance submittal for the project on file with the city of Seattle contains this project description: “storage racks insulation plans on main floor for Amazon.”. MORE

(The Paypers) Amazon has recnetly launched its newest service, Amazon GO, a new shopping technology to improve the the Seattle-located store shopping experience MORE

Much like those locations, the new location of Princi in Seattle has ovens that bake items in the store. In a second run at the bakery business, Starbucks has opened the doors to a brick-and-mortar location of Princi bakery and café in the U.S. The coffee chain had previously shuttered all of bakery chain La Boulange’s locations after acquiring the company in 2013, Chain Store Age reported. MORE

Tencent, whose mobile chat and social commerce app Wechat sees over 889 million active users, has decided to open up shop in Seattle — and by shop, we mean an AI research center run by former Microsoft principal researcher Yu Dong, said The Information. Artificial Intelligence AI artificial intelligence china e-commerce Mobile Payments News Seattle tencent What's Hot MORE

With the acquisition Timberland would add $187 million in assets in the Puget Sound area. Community banking M&A Capital Growth strategies Washington MORE

The online retail giant announced that AmazonFresh is getting a physical pickup option , starting with two brick-and-mortar locations in Seattle, Washington. Amazon amazonfresh brick and mortar grocery News Retail Seattle What's Hot MORE

Amazon is reducing its headcount at its corporate office in Seattle, with the eCommerce giant reportedly laying off several hundred employees in what is seen as a rare move by the company. According to news from The Seattle Times , in addition to the several hundred being laid off at its Seattle headquarters, hundreds more are being let go at the company’s global operations. Amazon e-commerce jobs Layoffs News Retail Seattle What's Hot MORE