They’re raising the final piece of steel this week at the Lynnwood Convention Center, a $30 million project that officials hope will become a city landmark as well as a cash cow.
Officials hope the 55,000-square-foot building will bring in $10 million a year from various meetings, conferences and other events.
If it’s anything like Everett’s new conference center adjacent to the new arena, it certainly should help stimulate business activity in the community. The new Everett center has been the place to meet in the community for the past nine months, largely because everyone was interested in what the new facility looked like.
In Lynnwood, the city hopes to come up with enough money eventually to build a 6,500-seat performing arts center on the property, which would make the site a magnet for even more activity.
If nothing else, Lynnwood should wind up with some new restaurants in the area. That seems to be what’s happening in downtown Everett as the events center is bringing more people into the area at night and on weekends.
A Subway shop, a Quiznos sub shop, a Mexican restaurant and a Spanish restaurant have all opened in recent months.
Boeing deal
Bruce Troth of Everett raised some good points in taking issue with my column last week in support of the state’s $3.2 billion deal with Boeing that made it decide to build the new 7E7 jet here.
Here are some excerpts from his e-mail message:
“Public financing of Boeing is very simply put, wrong. This is hardly free enterprise. What it does confirm without politicians having to admit publicly (is that) taxes are too high in Washington state to sustain good paying jobs. Take a look at investments being made in the local economy, take out public dollars and there is very little left.
“As an owner of small companies, I can attest to this firsthand. Payroll taxes along can run 42 percent of payroll depending on the amount of federal income tax withheld!
“Public financing of high-paying jobs is really a slap in the face of other wage earners who have to work two or three jobs to survive. The aerospace industry is one industry with the highest profit margins as compared to others. It hardly needs a handout. The state is very much pro big business and anti small business and this is confirmation of the ongoing policies.”
Ken Weigel also sent an e-mail chastising people at the extreme end of the environmental movement who seem to want no economic activity, and pro-business zealots who seem not to care at all about the environment.
He said you can create new jobs and have a good place to live.
I agree.
Bill Rambo also sent an e-mail saying he’d heard enough about the Boeing deal and asked to hear more about the fishing in Maine that I did while on vacation.
I’d like to write more about that, too, Bill, but this is a business column.
Mike Benbow: 425-3393459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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