Seattle's mayor wants to stop businesses from leaving for Bellevue.
Mayor Katie Wilson signed Executive Order 2026-06 on Wednesday, Sept. 9, directing the city's Office of Economic Development to create a task force and propose a new investment fund. An independent report released the same day found Seattle is losing jobs and companies to regional competitors, with Bellevue chief among them.
The order comes as Seattle faces tech layoffs, office vacancies, boarded-up storefronts and growth shifting to Bellevue and other areas, KOMO News reported.
"We are in a fragile moment," Wilson said.
The numbers back up Bellevue's advantage. Downtown Bellevue jobs grew 12.6% between 2023 and 2025, while Seattle lost 1.3% over the same period, according to a June 2026 Downtown Bellevue Network report. Downtown Bellevue's office vacancy rate stood at 24% in 2025, compared to 32% in downtown Seattle. Seattle's business and occupation tax rate runs two to four times higher than Bellevue's, depending on the industry.
What the order directs
Wilson's executive order takes four steps: convene a Resilient Seattle Economy Task Force, propose a Seattle Strategic Initiatives Fund that could invest directly in startups, expand opportunities for emerging businesses and streamline permitting.
The task force, led by Seattle Office of Economic Development Director Beto Yarce, will begin meeting in October 2026. It is expected to deliver initial recommendations to Wilson in February 2027 and final recommendations within a year.
The proposed investment fund aims to keep mid-sized firms from relocating to cities like Austin and Denver once they outgrow local incubators, according to KUOW. The fund's financing mechanism and dollar amount have not been determined. Seattle faces a projected budget deficit in 2027, with The Center Square reporting $150 million and KOMO News reporting $175 million.
Why it matters to Bellevue
The study behind the order, titled "Seawall: Building a Resilient Seattle Economy," found that mid-sized firms accounted for just 16.6% of net job growth in the Seattle metro area from 2014 to 2023. That trailed every peer region and fell well below the national rate of 22.7%. Four major corporations account for roughly 25% of all software engineering roles in Seattle, Hoodline reported, citing the study.
Jon Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, called Seattle's economic performance "sluggish" and said the city is losing jobs while other cities see double-digit growth, according to The Center Square. In a separate interview with KOMO News, Scholes said he thinks more taxes will mean fewer jobs and that Seattle is "losing out to Bellevue in many ways."
Wilson's order arrives about three months after Gov. Bob Ferguson created the Governor's Economic Development Council, a 26-member advisory body that includes Amazon's David Zapolsky and Microsoft's Brad Smith. Both companies are major Bellevue employers. A statewide economic competitiveness plan is due in June 2027.
No public response from Bellevue Mayor Mo Malakoutian or the Bellevue City Council has been reported.
