EVERETT – A local company leased the last available arena suite at the Everett Events Center, and officials say the deal marks the formal end to a sluggish start that left the city’s newest gem with budget shortfalls.

Acro Machining Inc., an Arlington-based company, signed a one-year lease early this week for $30,000, joining a handful of local families and businesses including Boeing, Northwest Plus Credit Union, Crown Distributing and Comcast at the center’s luxury level.

Now, fans must wait at least a year before one of the 19 leased suites opens up. Marketing coordinator Stevi Boskovich said a waiting list has already formed.

“At the time the arena opened, the economy was slow,” executive director Fred Safstrom said. “It’s not a coincidence that now that the economy has grown stronger, we’ve seen these sell out.”

Kim Bedier, the Events Center’s general manager, blamed the slow start on an outside marketing firm hired by the Everett Public Facilities District, which operates the center. Once the marketing was done in-house, sales picked up.

“We have people who live here in Everett, and they understand the market,” Bedier said. “They’ve made an approach that’s more of a partnership than a sale.”

Now that the Events Center has attracted more and bigger acts, the suites have grown in value.

The newest suite owners gain 12 tickets to every show the center brings, including every home game for the Everett Silvertips hockey team and Everett Hawks indoor football team. Suites run from $30,000 to $40,000 a year, but as the center’s calendar fills, the cost of a suite may increase, said Earl Dutton, a public facilities district board member.

Dutton was among the first to lease a suite.

Ten suites were leased in 2003, five were leased in 2004 and four have been leased this year. One of those suites went to the Everett Silvertips as part of its licensing agreement. The 20th suite will remain empty for center promotional purposes.

Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.