EVERETT — Word is out that Everett could land the headquarters of a new company potentially large enough to be listed on Fortune 500, an annual compilation of America’s largest businesses.
While that would be a big deal economically, it also offers other important benefits for Everett, including an increase in prestige and a boost to local philanthropy.
The parent company of Everett’s Fluke Corp. announced earlier this year that it’s separating into two businesses by the end of 2016.
One company would remain known as Danaher, which is based in Washington, D.C. A second company, known now as NewCo, would include Danaher’s test and measurement businesses, such as Fluke, as well as its other specialty industrial businesses.
The group of businesses that would make up NewCo generated $6 billion in revenue during its last fiscal year.
A state official said Thursday that NewCo had made the decision to open its new headquarters here. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson confirmed the city has been trying to attract the company’s headquarters, but said the city hadn’t heard the official word.
Fluke and Danaher representatives aren’t commenting yet.
If the new company does set up shop in Everett — and it remains the same size — it would rank somewhere about 400 on Fortune magazine’s list of biggest businesses.
That would make it one of only 11 companies on the list in Washington, and the only one outside of King County.
Corporate offices don’t always include a lot of jobs. This move is expected to bring only 50 jobs to Everett.
But those jobs would be key executives and that can only be a good thing for Everett, said Sandeep Krishnamurthy, dean of the University of Washington Bothell School of Business.
“If you have headquarters here, the decision-makers are here,” Krishnamurthy said. “They’re commuting. They’re going past the same buildings you are. They understand what’s going on in the community.”
He pointed to Microsoft, the homegrown tech giant based in Redmond. He said Microsoft has a depth of engagement with the community and actively seeks partnerships with other institutions.
That’s in contrast with other businesses, like Google, Facebook or Hewlett Packard, which do business in the Puget Sound area, but aren’t from here.
“You don’t hear them say things like, ‘How do you make the community stronger?’ ” Krishnamurthy said. “You hear them say, ‘We’re trying to recruit 15 people here.’”
Having a Fortune 500 company’s corporate headquarters as a neighbor “is a really big deal” for local business boosters, said John Monroe, interim head of Economic Alliance Snohomish County.
“It makes it that much easier to bring” other corporate offices here, he said.
While a headquarters may only bring a relatively small number of jobs at first, that could change, Monroe said.
“If a company is going to grow, and they are happy here, why wouldn’t they grow here?” he asked.
On the flipside, the Boeing Co. moved its corporate offices from Seattle to Chicago in 2001 and only a few hundred jobs went away.
Boeing has never opened an airplane final assembly line or other manufacturing operation in Chicago. Today, the aerospace giant only has about 500 of its roughly 163,000 employees in its Chicago headquarters.
But the void when Boeing’s leadership left can still be felt.
Bill Tsoukalas has been the executive director of the Boys &Girls Club of Snohomish County since 1992. He said it’s harder for nonprofits to get the attention of Boeing executives now that they’re based in Chicago.
“They’re still involved in the community,” Tsoukalas said. “We get our share of support, but it’s not like the old days when you would see people around town.”
The Boeing Employees Community Fund Puget Sound donates generously, but that’s with employees and a set of trustees who live and work in this area.
While there are a lot of companies that do business in Snohomish County, it’s sometimes hard for nonprofits to figure out who to talk to about a need if they’re not based here, Tsoukalas said.
Tsoukalas praised both Fluke’s executives and its employees, who he said are generous with community efforts. The Boys &Girls Club is in the process of developing a new club building in Mukilteo and Fluke stepped up right way.
“They were one of the first companies in,” Tsoukalas said. “They made a nice, six-figure contribution to that effort. They do their part.”
Local 500s
Only 10 companies in Washington this year landed on Fortune 500, an annual list compiled by the magazine of companies based on total revenue for their respective fiscal years.
All of the companies are in King County.
18. Costco, Issaquah, Specialty retailers
29. Amazon, Seattle, Internet services
31. Microsoft, Redmond, Computer software
158. Paccar, Bellevue, Motor vehicles and parts
187. Starbucks, Seattle, Food services
224. Nordstrom, Seattle, General merchandiser
335. Weyerhauser, Federal Way, Forest and paper products
413. Expeditors International of Washington, Seattle, Transportation logistics
458. Expedia, Bellevue, Internet services
484. Alaska Air Group, Seattle, Airlines
Source: Fortune magazine
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