COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          11a 
BRIEFING ITEM                            Date of Meeting        May 25, 2021 
DATE:     May 5, 2021 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    David McFadden, Managing Director  Economic Development Division 
SUBJECT:  Equitable Recovery Panel Briefing 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
Staff is organizing a panel presentation with leaders from the Washington Department of
Commerce, King County, and the City of Seattle to highlight the resources they are investing to
support equitable economic recovery. The panel will include: 
Pamela Banks, City of Seattle Director of Recovery and Equitable Investment and Interim
Director of Office of Economic Development 
Chris Green, Assistant Director, WA Department of Commerce 
Ashton Allison, Director of Economic Development and Recovery, King County
Executive's Office 
Kate Becker, Creative Economy Director, King County Executive's Office 

Each panelist will highlight the resources their jurisdiction is dedicating to equitable recovery.
The panel will complement the Port Commission's listening sessions and an earlier study
session in February featuring Greater Seattle Partners (GSP), the Workforce Development
Council, and the Washington Tourism Alliance.
As part of the briefing staff will provide updates on our listening sessions and progress made by
GSP, the Tourism Alliance and the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County since
our March study session 
BACKGROUND 
Since passage of the CARES and American Rescue Plan Acts, Washington State and local
government jurisdictions have played a key role distributing and fortifying resources to support
equitable recovery in King County. This briefing will highlight the recovery initiatives that the
City of Seattle, King County and Washington State are advancing.
These jurisdictions received significant federal resources to support public health and economic
recovery. The American Rescue Plan distributes $7.1 billion to Washington state, including

Template revised April 12, 2018.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 11a                                Page 2 of 3 
Meeting Date: May 25, 2021 
$437 million for King County. The City of Seattle will receive $239 million. These resources are
on top of the CARES funding allocated in 2020. 
Panelists will highlight how they are using federal, state, and local resources to support
equitable recovery.  Presentations will provide Port Commissioners with details surrounding
workforce, economic, and community investments these partner jurisdictions are making
across King County and in Seattle.  The briefing comes at an opportune time when Port
Commissioners are evaluating their own potential recovery investments and partnerships.
There is an opportunity to leverage Port recovery investments strategically with these partners. 
The briefing will include updates on other regional recovery plans and initiatives (Greater
Seattle Partners, Workforce Development Council, and WA Tourism Alliance). Staff will strive to
highlight common needs/strategies from our earlier briefing in February  and our  recent 
listening sessions to set the stage for this briefing with our government partners.
At this point the Port Commission office has also hosted eight listening sessions with key
stakeholders.    Four  more  sessions  are  planned  (Elected  officials,  aviation,  art,  &
workforce/trades).  Staff will briefly update the Commission on the status of these listening
session. Themes from these sessions so far include: 
Equitable Sustainable recovery needed 
o  Low wage predominantly BIPOC communities impacted 
o  Job losses, childcare disruption, mental health issues, etc. are acute 
Concerns about complexities surrounding Port contracting and grant processes 
Small business impacted (esp. BIPOC)  need funding and technical support to
rebound 
Keep spending and investing. Capital programs, operations, and community
investments matter 
o  Strong support for tourism, economic and workforce development
investments 
Port needs to be part of team addressing Seattle's public safety issues 
Port is an excellent convener and advocate 
o  Make sure to be inclusive and that all communities have spot and voice at
Port tables 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
(1)   Presentation slides 
(2)   Seattle Recovery slides 
(3)   Department of Commerce recovery deck 
(4)   King County recovery slides 
(5)   Tourism Recovery initiatives update 


Template revised September 22, 2016.


COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 11a                                Page 3 of 3 
Meeting Date: May 25, 2021 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS [For information and examples, follow this link.] 
February 23, 2021  Economic Recovery briefing with Greater Seattle Partners, Workforce
Development Council of Seattle-King County and WA Tourism Alliance 

















Template revised September 22, 2016.