Amazon, Data Center Turn Hot Idea into Cool Technology

Seattle Times | Sanjay Bhatt | November 12

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/amazon-towers-will-be-heated-by-neighbors-excess-energy/

“When Amazon.com’s eye-catching spheres and towers open over the next year, the heat for their thousands of tech workers and hundreds of green plants won’t be a drag on the power grid. Instead, the heat for Amazon’s high-rise Denny Triangle campus will be recycled, essentially, from the Pacific Northwest’s telecom hub on an adjacent block — an innovative partnership that could spread to other downtown buildings… Heat coming from the 34-story Westin Building Exchange will be used to warm just over 4 million square feet of development on Amazon’s four-block campus, saving 80 million kilowatt-hours over 20 years, or about 4 million kilowatt-hours a year, officials said Thursday. The first 1.1 million-square-foot tower opens next month, and a second is expected to open by next fall.”

Alibaba Founder: ‘Without Seattle, There Would Be No Alibaba’

Puget Sound Business Journal | Ashley Stewart | November 12

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/11/without-seattle-there-would-be-no-alibaba.html

“Alibaba has the potential to erode Puget Sound-area businesses, and not just Amazon. The company has big plans to take on Microsoft and Amazon Web Services in the cloud and, just this week, moved in on Expedia with a major hotel partnership for its travel business. The city has itself to blame for Seattle tech companies’ biggest competition. “Without Seattle, there would be no Alibaba,” Ma said.”

 

Amazon Funds Risky UW Projects & More Recent Seattle Tech News

Xconomy | Benjamin Romano | November 12

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2015/11/12/amazon-funds-risky-uw-projects-more-recent-seattle-tech-news/

“The public research university is the source of so much that makes an innovation ecosystem run: talent, technology, fresh ideas, and a conduit for research funding. But where federal dollars fall short, Amazon is stepping in with a new program of small grants to back students, researchers, and others pursuing “bold, risky, globally impactful projects.” The program, Amazon Catalyst, begins at the University of Washington, which has been busy. With leaders in China, the UW announced that its inaugural program in the Global Innovation Exchange will begin at Tsinghua University next fall. The UW was also tapped by the National Science Foundation for another big data effort. And it’s poised to green-light a new biology building.”

 

Seattle Officials Debate $5M Proposal to Test Municipal Broadband Network

GeekWire | Jacob Demmitt | November 10

http://www.geekwire.com/2015/seattle-officials-debate-5m-proposal-to-test-municipal-broadband-in-one-part-of-town/

“The Seattle City Council is debating behind closed doors this week over whether to move forward with a pilot program that would bring municipal broadband to part of the city’s North Beacon Hill neighborhood. The $5 million project would serve as an experiment, testing the possibility of building the same kind of network across the entire city — a much more ambitious undertaking that would likely cost between $480 million and $665 million, according to a study commissioned by the city in June.”

 

Large Companies Game H-1B Visa Program, Costing the U.S. Jobs

New York Times | Julie Preston | November 10

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/us/large-companies-game-h-1b-visa-program-leaving-smaller-ones-in-the-cold.html

“Congress set up the H-1B program to help American companies hire foreigners with exceptional skills, to fill open jobs and to help their businesses grow. But the program has been failing many American employers who cannot get visas for foreigners with the special skills they need. Instead, the outsourcing firms are increasingly dominating the program, federal records show. In recent years, they have obtained many thousands of the visas — which are limited to 85,000 a year — by learning to game the H-1B system without breaking the rules, researchers and lawyers said.”

 

What Are the Best and Worst States for Entrepreneurs? The Answers May Surprise You

Inc. | Minda Zetlin | November 9

http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/what-are-the-best-and-worst-states-for-entrepreneurs-the-answers-may-surprise-yo.html

“Yup, my new home state [Washington] turns out to be the ideal place to launch a new business. It has the second-highest new business survival rate, after California, a high per-capita GDP, and a very favorable business tax climate. Not to mention, no state income tax. GOBankingRates also praises its high number of available employees, and that number is getting higher every day.”