AGP Executive Report

WARN Watch: Washington’s unemployment picture is softening as five companies filed WARN notices for nearly 600 permanent layoffs, including Amazon’s 121 cuts tied to its Sumner fulfillment center and Seattle/Bellevue offices. Manufacturing: Georgia-Pacific Gypsum is closing its Tacoma facility, eliminating 120 jobs effective in late October. Energy Efficiency Grants: WWU and Ferndale schools are among recipients of nearly $30M in state Commerce funding for building upgrades, audits, and Clean Buildings Performance Standard compliance. Port & Power Planning: The Port of Moses Lake is launching an industrial symbiosis effort to link local industries and study projects that could support regional energy and water needs. Tech & Connectivity: AWS is building a 420 Tbps subsea cable from Japan to Washington, with a new Ocean Shores landing station planned to feed growing data center demand. Transportation Disruptions: US 101’s Hoh River Bridge is set for overnight and multi-day closures starting Sept. 14 for floor-beam repairs.

Vaccine Guidance: A coalition of major medical groups issued seasonal COVID-19, flu, and RSV recommendations after CDC’s vaccine advisory committee was thrown into legal limbo, saying a fresh review found no new safety concerns. Prediction Markets Clash: Washington’s regulators face fresh pressure as Kalshi accuses the state of selectively enforcing rules—sparking another legal fight over whether prediction platforms are gambling. Maritime Automation: Short-staffed shipyards are turning to mobile robotic welding, with four-legged systems designed to bring automation to complex ship hull work. Aviation Pipeline: New Market Skills Center launched an Aviation Careers Academy to feed Washington’s pilot, maintenance, and aerospace engineering workforce needs. Local Tech Dealmaking: Seismic’s Seattle merger with Highspot is moving into leadership integration, with the combined sales-enablement company mapping jobs and revenue plans. Healthcare & Biotech: FDA accelerated approval for a new multiple myeloma regimen highlights continued biotech momentum in the Seattle region. Local Business: Headset, a Seattle marijuana data firm, agreed to pay $1M+ to settle claims tied to a PPP loan. Infrastructure Connectivity: Toptana Technologies plans to break ground on a Pacific cable landing station to support future subsea systems into Washington.

FTC vs. Amazon: The U.S. FTC and 22 states sued Amazon in federal court, alleging it secretly inflated sponsored ad prices by raising the minimum bid needed to show ads, claiming up to $20B in harm to advertisers. Wildfire Response: Gov. Bob Ferguson expanded Washington’s wildfire emergency for Walla Walla and added more counties, keeping housing protections and opening federal aid tied to wildfire impacts on drinking water and flood risk. Real Estate/MLS: Compass settled a 17-month dispute with Northwest Multiple Listing Service, preserving its “First Look” pre-marketing listings while aligning with Washington’s private-listing limits. Port & Critical Minerals: Nova Minerals shipped hundreds of tons of antimony refinery equipment from Seattle to Port MacKenzie, Alaska, aiming for first production in 2027. Local Governance/Grants: King County launched a new participatory budgeting cycle for White Center/North Highline, with $1.1M in resident-directed grants. Tech Leadership: Rocket Companies named former Meta executive Alessio Sanfilippo as Redfin CEO after Rocket’s acquisition. Education Labor: Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association were still negotiating as parents prepared for possible strike-related childcare disruptions.

FTC & State AGs vs. Amazon: The FTC and 22 states, including Washington, sued Amazon in federal court in Washington, alleging it secretly inflated ad prices by manipulating its real-time ad auctions, potentially extracting $20B+ from more than a million advertisers; Amazon denies wrongdoing. Washington Labor & Transit: Ferry workers say state negotiators are cherry-picking survey data to justify wage proposals that don’t raise pay, adding pressure to an already strained Puget Sound system. Defense Manufacturing: Quickparts is adding 12 Stratasys NEO 3D printers across its Seattle and overseas sites, boosting large-format 3D printing throughput by 40% for national security and defense work. Energy Costs: Avista asked Washington regulators to cut natural gas rates this winter (average ~11% if approved), while a separate request would raise rates later through 2030. Local Economy & Growth: Seattle-area biotech raised $35M for a hepatitis D drug, while Oleria named a new CEO to scale its AI-native identity security platform. Business & Trade: A new Lloyd’s List Top 100 ports ranking shows global container growth continued in 2025, but with reshuffled routes and regional shifts.

FTC vs. Amazon: The FTC and 22 states sued Amazon in Seattle federal court, alleging the company secretly manipulated ad auctions and overcharged about 1.2 million advertisers by $20B+ since 2019, with Amazon denying wrongdoing. Tech & Jobs: Seattle-based Monod Bio licensed AI-designed protein tech to SignalChem for drug discovery assays, extending its computational protein work into CRO services. Real Estate: Compass and Washington’s NWMLS settled their lawsuit, creating a new “First Look” listing status that lets brokers pre-market homes without triggering public MLS penalties. Aerospace Labor: Boeing and SPEEA negotiators will resume talks Sept. 8 after members rejected Boeing’s latest contract offer. Education Labor: Seattle Public Schools warned a strike could begin Sept. 2 if contract talks with the teachers union miss the deadline. Energy Policy: A new report highlights how Washington’s hydrogen ambitions face uncertainty as federal support stalls and litigation looms. Workforce Watch: Central Washington unemployment fell in July across Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties.

Port Labor Dispute: Port of Anacortes will stop accepting American Cruise Lines berthing reservations from Sept. 7 after the cruise operator refused to use local ILWU dockworkers, canceling 17 scheduled visits. Transit Engineering: Sound Transit and WSDOT say 600,000-pound passenger trains are now crossing Lake Washington on the state’s floating rail bridge, solving major hurdles around weight, motion, and power. Federal Policy—Data Centers: A “Federal Focus” look at Walla Walla’s proposed AWS data center highlights local worries about energy, environmental impacts, and ratepayer costs as AI-driven buildouts accelerate. Trade Impacts on Agriculture: Washington lawmakers weigh a potential trade war with Canada as tariffs ripple into Walla Walla wine margins and pricing. Housing Market: Redfin reports U.S. housing inventory at a four-month high while pending sales hit a six-month low, with buyers pausing amid rate uncertainty. Finance Regulation: Washington’s regulator fined a company $75K and ordered it to stop for alleged unlicensed mortgage processing/underwriting. Local Business/Tech: Seattle-based Also, an electric micromobility startup spun from Rivian, opened a Lake Union office to build operations and customer functions. AI/Marketing: Amazon Ads launched “First Day Ready” to connect brands with Gen Z via shoppable video, campus activations, and a livestreamed concert. AI for Enterprise: Gradial won the 2026 IA40 award for agentic marketing operations.

Nuclear for shipping: The U.S. is pushing small modular reactors into commercial ports, with new agreements to explore SMR-powered vessel propulsion and port microgrids at Long Beach and Corpus Christi—aimed at resilience and training the next generation of mariners. Food safety and waste: Washington State University won multiple USDA NIFA grants to cut microbes that spoil food and improve safety across pre-harvest, processing, and post-processing, including new work on food-safe coatings. Transportation updates: WSDOT says major I-5 work near Joint Base Lewis-MChord is largely closing out, and it issued Labor Day travel guidance on congestion, ferry demand, and key corridor toll changes. Engineering spotlight: Registration opened for ASCE2027, the Infrastructure and Engineering Experience, bringing infrastructure professionals together for cross-discipline problem solving. Aviation supply chain: Boeing’s Everett-built 787-9 deliveries continue, with Air India announcing its fourth made-for-the-carrier Dreamliner has arrived in Delhi. Local sports/business tie-in: Sound Transit’s floating light rail bridge is highlighted as a world-first engineering feat, underscoring Washington’s infrastructure innovation.

Semiconductors & AI Supply Chain: NVIDIA’s record quarter ($96.2B) is translating into real-world momentum for Seattle-area tech, with the company delivering its first Vera CPU server and Vera Rubin GPU to AWS in the city—another sign that the “picks and shovels” are winning big in the AI boom. Aerospace Labor: Boeing and SPEEA (about 17,000 engineers/technical workers) are set to resume stalled contract talks after members rejected the latest offer, keeping pressure on Washington’s aerospace workforce. Space Resources: Seattle startup Interlune says it recreated 15,000 years of lunar solar-wind exposure in lunar-soil simulant in four hours, aiming to speed testing for helium-3 mining; separate reporting frames the race as potentially worth $20 quadrillion. Agriculture: Grant County’s apple orchard acreage is rising as Quincy shifts from row crops toward fruit, with Honeycrisp-focused growth highlighted by recent USDA census figures. Public Health: Wildfire smoke across Washington is linked to asthma and heart strain risks, with UW experts warning kids, older adults, and outdoor workers face the most harm. Housing Tech: NWMLS launched a revamped home search on NWMLS.com with AI conversational search and direct broker attribution via Broker Public Portal. Trade Policy: Washington lawmakers weigh whether U.S.-Canada tariff escalation is a temporary bump or a sign of deeper damage to the state’s $7B trade relationship.

Cascadia Risk Update: A new USGS seismic analysis suggests the Juan de Fuca slab beneath northern Oregon sits about 5 kilometers shallower than thought, potentially boosting projected megathrust shaking along the coast by roughly 9% to 17%. Public Health: Seattle and King County found elevated lead in Interbay near 23rd Ave W; roadway samples hit 55.3 parts per million and a basin sample reached 451 ppm, with officials urging alternate routes while more testing continues. Local Industry & Land Use: King County ended a decade-long fight over a proposed Cedar River asphalt plant by buying the disputed site, shifting the plan toward parks and public access. Major Construction: Western State Hospital’s new forensic building hit a topping-out milestone for a $947 million project aimed at 350 patients, with interior work and patient move-in still ahead. Aviation/Manufacturing: Boeing and SPEEA will resume stalled contract talks Monday as union members reject a latest offer, with potential strike risk tied to 737 MAX 10 and 777-9 certification delays. Transit/Traffic: WSDOT warned of I-405 backups in Bellevue tied to construction and a ramp closure, while urging drivers not to flood 9-1-1 call centers.

Boeing Supply-Chain Stress: More than 30 completed 777-9 jets are parked in Washington as certification delays force major modifications before delivery, putting pressure on Lufthansa and other launch customers and raising questions about timing into 2027. Construction Costs & Permitting Reality: A Census-based look at 2023 builds shows addition costs swing from about $29,300 in the South to $220.95 per square foot in the Northeast—highlighting how local labor, land, and building practices can blow up budgets. Transportation Infrastructure: WSDOT is finishing the last big scheduled phase of its decade-long I-5 work near JBLM, with weekend lane closures tied to drainage rerouting and paving. Housing Policy & Transparency: Oregon’s low-income housing spending surged, but a public-records carve-out keeps project cost details hidden—fueling calls for more openness as the region tackles affordability. Energy & Tech: Washington researchers report AI-guided 3D-printing settings for NASA’s rocket alloy at power levels as low as 500 watts, a potential boost for aerospace manufacturing. Passenger Rail Progress (But Slower Than Planned): A first step to restore Chicago-to-Seattle passenger rail is 95% complete, but FRA review is paused pending policy updates.

Power & Grid Policy: The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission is drafting rules to stop data centers and AI-heavy power users from pushing higher costs and reliability risks onto other customers, as local moratoriums spread across the state. Rail Safety & Automation: A BNSF hazmat train in Eastern Washington nearly hit a roadway worker after an AI dispatch system bypassed safety protections—prompting calls to keep the tool shut down. Aerospace & Jobs: Boeing’s 777-9 certification progress continues, but more than 30 largely finished airframes are sitting in Washington sites, with airlines pressing Boeing over how those early planes are handled. Manufacturing Safety: A Longview paper mill tank was flagged as unfit months before a deadly collapse, raising fresh questions about oversight and compliance. Construction & Labor: Washington’s Western State Hospital psychiatric facility hit a topping milestone as state workers protested stalled bargaining over a collective bargaining agreement. Tech & Space: A Seattle startup is building superconducting satellite motors to help spacecraft maneuver using Earth’s magnetic field. Local Business & Community: A recall targets Little Loves and Co. youth clothing sets over drawstring entrapment risk, while Washington’s farmers see more shoppers after a lettuce-linked cyclosporiasis scare.

Industrial Safety & Environment: The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says Nippon Dynawave managers at its Longview paper mill received warnings months before a May 26 implosion killed 11 workers, including findings that a “G Tank” was “not fit for continued service” due to dangerous thinning—yet it stayed in normal operation; Washington Ecology also cited 35 environmental violations after the blast. Local Economy & Workforce: The Longview mill is now facing added scrutiny from regulators and unions as CSB’s final report is expected in spring 2027. Tech & Business: Seattle’s Arkero expands into English soccer by adding Bolton Wanderers, building a custom “club intelligence layer” for data and AI operations. AI for Finance: OnTrade, launched by former Pro.com leaders, is rolling out AI agents that connect advisor tools for tasks like tax-loss harvesting and drafting client reports. Aviation & Trade: New 2027 nonstop routes include Alaska Airlines adding Seattle service to Athens and Paris. Washington Spotlight: Washington’s low-cost heat pump program expands across four counties with $11.1 million.

Critical Minerals Supply Chain: Nova Minerals shipped about 454 tons of antimony processing and refining equipment from Seattle to Alaska’s Port MacKenzie, with the barge due in early September and construction starting toward first production in 2027. Public Health & Travel: A popular Mount Rainier-area hotel, the Gateway Inn, was shut down mid-stay after health department action, leaving travelers scrambling for last-minute lodging. Transit & Commuter Costs: Sound Transit approved a plan to install fare gates at 14 high-traffic Link light rail stations, targeting installation in 2029-2030 and estimating about $87 million for the pilot. Environmental Enforcement: Washington Ecology issued a notice documenting 35 violations tied to the Nippon Dynawave tank failure that killed 11 workers, setting up potential enforcement action. Local Infrastructure: WSDOT and partners opened the SR 14 Bingen Access Improvements project, building an underpass and roundabout to keep trains from blocking road access to the port. Sports Business: The Seahawks agreed to a three-year, $90 million extension for defensive tackle Leonard Williams, keeping a key Super Bowl-era leader in Seattle.

Healthcare & Legal: Washington Attorney General Nick Brown joined a 23-state coalition suing to block new federal Title X conditions that would force providers to discourage contraception, push marriage/childbearing messaging, and exclude transgender patients to keep funding. Labor & Retail: Starbucks Workers United announced a boycott tied to stalled contract talks, urging customers not to spend at Starbucks until pay, hours, and staffing improve. Tech & Manufacturing: WSU researchers used AI to speed up and cut the cost of 3D-printing a high-performance NASA copper alloy, potentially making it feasible on more common commercial printers. Energy & Industry: A Seattle-based space startup, Interlune, says it replicated helium-trapping lunar soil on Earth in hours, a step toward validating moon mining processing. Public Safety & Mobility: Reports say robotaxi test drivers for Waymo and Zoox logged dozens of injuries tied to hard braking or sudden swerves, raising workplace safety questions as the services scale. Trade & Business: Businesses are preparing for federal counter-tariffs that could hit steel, aluminum, and everyday hardware.

Big Tech Accountability: Washington AG Nick Brown announced a record $17.1B multistate settlement with Meta over Instagram/Facebook child-safety failures, with Washington guaranteed $237M and potentially nearly $339M over 10 years, plus new teen usage limits, stronger age checks, and tighter controls. Trade & Exports: Washington exporters are bracing for Canadian tariffs after a fresh U.S.-Canada trade fight, with key sectors like papermaking, industrial machinery, and seafood facing 15%–50% duties starting Sept. AI & Jobs: Bill Gates warns AI could become “the worst source of injustice” unless governments and employers plan now for major disruption to work and society. Public Sector Cybersecurity: Galvanick and Carahsoft are partnering to bring OT threat detection to government buyers via major procurement contracts. Ag & Water Infrastructure: John Deere is investing $10M over three years in agtech incubator Reservoir Farms to accelerate “rugged AI” for specialty crops. Housing Permits: Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson signed an executive order to speed residential permitting through an interdepartmental team and an affordable housing ombuds proposal. Energy & Grid Resilience: A Warm Springs community update reports power restored after a wildfire-safety outage and highlights a new local resource list.