Seattle startup leaders remain optimistic despite pandemic, new GeekWire 200 CEO survey shows, UW researchers driving around Seattle using street view-style camera to study response to pandemic, and more from this week’s Seattle in the Spotlight.

Seattle Startup Leaders Remain Optimistic Despite Pandemic, New GeekWire 200 CEO Survey Shows

GeekWire | Taylor Soper | October 1

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/seattle-startup-leaders-remain-optimistic-despite-pandemic-new-geekwire-200-ceo-survey-shows/

“A majority of top startups in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest are seeing little or no impact on their businesses from the pandemic, or even a positive impact.

Most plan to hire more employees this year. And many are optimistic about the regional economy over the next 18 months. Those are some of the takeaways from the first-ever GeekWire 200 CEO Insights survey. We polled the leaders of companies ranked on the GeekWire 200, our list of the top privately-held tech startups in the Pacific Northwest, and received nearly 50 responses. Topics included everything from the timing of bringing employees back to the physical office to whether a Trump or Biden administration would have a more positive impact on the U.S. tech and business climate.”

UW Researchers Driving Around Seattle Using Street View-Style Camera to Study Response to Pandemic

GeekWire | Kurt Schlosser | September 30

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/uw-researchers-driving-around-seattle-using-street-view-style-camera-study-response-pandemic/

“The COVID-19 pandemic has altered life as we know it in Seattle, and a team from the University of Washington is conducting research using images from around the city to better understand just how much. Since May, researchers have been driving around Seattle, scanning the streets with a car-mounted camera similar to Google’s Street View technology. Images capture a particular point in time and illustrate whether people are outside, how many cars are on the road, which business are open and so forth. According to UW News, researchers hope the massive data set will help answer questions about what makes a city resilient and how to better prepare for potential future pandemics and other disasters.”

Washington’s Minimum Wage to Increase to $13.69 in 2021

Seattle PI | Seattle PI Staff | September 30

https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Washington-s-minimum-wage-to-increase-to-13-69-15609795.php

“Washington state’s minimum wage is increasing 19 cents to $13.69 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2021, the first increase determined by inflation instead of a voter-approved ballot measure that determined increases over the past four years. The increase, announced Wednesday by the state Department of Labor and Industries, also is the first to affect wages paid to some salaried employees exempt from overtime. Salaried executive, administrative and professional workers, and computer professionals must earn a salary above a minimum specified amount to remain overtime exempt. Starting in 2021, that amount will increase based on the number of employees at a business.”