Talent, Business Climate Drive Headquarters Expansions

Amazon, Starbucks, Costco and Microsoft are household names in the Seattle metro’s corporate headquarters community. But companies based in Washington that employ thousands can be found around the state — in Spokane (Teck American and Keytronic), Liberty Lake (Itron), Vancouver (Barrett Business Services and PeaceHealth) and Bellevue (Paccar and Expedia Group) among others. Eight Fortune 500 companies call Washington home.

In December 2020, Washington welcomed another headquarters when Tanium, a cybersecurity and systems management company, relocated from San Francisco to Kirkland, on the East shore of Lake Washington. “Seattle has many incredible assets that Tanium values — world-class enterprise talent, a favorable business climate, and access to both customers and peer organizations,” said Orion Hindawi, co-founder and CEO of Tanium. “While we’re excited to tap into the potential here, Tanium continues to keep a large presence in the San Francisco area and many other parts of the country, and we expect to deepen our support for remote-first work to give our people flexibility to live where they want, and work from there.”

Spokane Attracts Contract Manufacturing Projects 

Contract manufacturers in the life sciences sector in Spokane are in expansion mode. Jubilant HollisterStier, for example, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jubilant Pharmova Limited, announced in June a $92 million investment to expand sterile injectable manufacturing capacity in the city. This investment is being made to set up a high-speed, 400-vials-a-minute injectable fill line with isolator technology, which will enhance the Spokane facility’s capacity by 50%. The expansion will be spread over 50,000 square feet and will be commercially operational by the end of 2024. Jubilant HollisterStier has already begun filling new roles to support this expansion and will continue to recruit additional talent. 

“We are excited to expand our sterile injectable and vaccine manufacturing capacity and meet the increasing demand from our customers,” said Amit Arora, president of Jubilant HollisterStier. “With two facilities in North America working to manufacture multiple COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, we remain committed to supporting efforts to eradicate this global pandemic and are prepared for a potential future pandemic response.

This expansion will also help us meet high demand from our global Specialty Pharmaceutical customers, with whom the company has established strong relationships,” added Pramod Yadav, CEO of Jubilant Pharma Limited.

Selkirk Pharma, a Spokane-based contract manufacturer of injectable drugs, therapeutics and vaccines, is planning a 145,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant in the city. The intention, according to CEO Patrick Haffey, is to manufacture such products in the U.S.

Amazon Adds to Bellevue’s Skyline

Meanwhile, Washington’s signature corporations continue to add to their already sizable property footprints. In 2020, Amazon announced plans to bring 25,000 jobs to Bellevue as part of the expansion of its Puget Sound headquarters. Construction of the first office tower at 600 108th Avenue NE is under way. In April, Amazon submitted its proposed design for the second tower at Bellevue 600. The Bellevue 600 site spans 3.5 acres and will feature two sustainable office buildings with a total capacity for more than 7,000 employees. 
The second tower of the project will include 31 stories of mixed-use office space, meeting rooms, and informal gathering areas. It will feature an 8,000-sq.-ft. retail and exhibition space on the ground floor. The space will provide public access to new art installations and a locally operated coffee bar. It also will include more than 14,000 square feet of street-level retail space and a new daycare center, all available to the community. The Bellevue 600 site will also provide employees and visitors with more commute options, thanks to direct access to the adjacent Bellevue Transit Center and Link light rail station. 

Amazon’s new Bellevue 600 site will include more than 28,000 square-feet of ground level retail and two daycare centers

Images courtesy of Amazon