As business owners and workers at businesses throughout Clark County, you are busy balancing your work and family life while at the same time trying to keep an eye on the issues that impact you. There are so many issues coming out of local governments and, of course, at the state and federal levels that impact businesses and their ability to grow and hire more workers which can be overwhelming.
As we start a new year, it is great to see three new organizations that are now operating in our state that can help you stay up to date on issues as well as offering ways for you to engage and get involved.
The Center Square/Franklin News Foundation:
The Center Square was launched to fulfill the need for high-quality statehouse and other public policy news. The focus of their work is state- and local-level government and economic reporting. A taxpayer sensibility distinguishes their work from other coverage of state and local issues. As a result of this approach, readers are better informed about the focus of state and local government and its cost to the citizens and businesses whose tax dollars fund governmental decisions. They engage readers with essential news, data and analysis – delivered with velocity, frequency and consistency. They distribute their stories through three main channels at no cost to readers: a newswire service, TheCenterSquare.com, and social media.
The Center Square has launched a new Washington state bureau which includes an editor and reporting staff based here in Washington. They now produce a weekly email compiling their recent articles and daily stories that are being picked up by newspapers, TV and radio across our state. I encourage you to sign up for their WA state stories via their website: Washington | thecentersquare.com
Change Washington:
Change Washington is a strategic communications organization focused on bringing a business perspective and common sense to policy discussions across the state. Though not directly involved in last year’s Seattle election and not supporting candidates, Change Washington was talking about public safety, homelessness and policing issues for 12 months. Last fall’s election sent a message that it’s time for a dramatic shift in Seattle. ChangeWA’s work has helped move the conversation towards a more balanced approach to public safety and government accountability and in 2022 they will be taking that message and ability to educate voters statewide which include providing action alerts to busy people like you so you can quickly and easily make your views known to local and state policymakers. www.changewashington.org
