Washington Business Winter 2020 | Washington Business | Seite 27

what’s working
Employer of the Year
Blackwood Builders Group of Seattle took home the top honor as the 2019 Employer of the Year.
Blackwood Builders is a growing team of contractors, project managers, designers and real estate developers
that build custom homes in the Seattle area. The company emphasizes open
communication, training, outstanding benefits and teamwork to both care for
its employees and accomplish projects.
Its charitable work is extensive, including support for Seattle Children’s
Hospital, Bainbridge Land Trust, New Beginnings, Weld Seattle, Rampathon,
Seattle For Growth, and building homes for families in need in Central
America.
Entrepreneur of the Year
Discuss.io is a Seattle company that has created innovative ways for
companies to connect with consumers around the world.
The company’s online video conversations and market research platform
allows companies to easily connect with customers. In contrast, focus groups
can provide valuable insights, but take months to organize. The company’s live
video platform can provide customer insights more quickly and affordably.
Discuss.io started small a few years ago, and now connects companies to
millions of customers in more than 95 countries. The firm was ranked among
the nation’s fastest growing companies by Inc. magazine last year.
Leading Environmental
Practices Award
Avista, Spokane, winner of the Leading Environmental
Practices Award
Clean and reliable power is critical for
Washington’s overall success. Avista has
delivered it for more than a century.
Avista is a regional, investor-owned utility created
in 1889. It was founded on clean, renewable
hydropower on the banks of the Spokane River.
Avista has maintained a generation portfolio
that is already more than half renewable, while
continuously making investments in renewable
energy, advancing the efficient use of electricity and
natural gas, and driving technological innovation to
a clean energy future.
The company is expanding its wind generating
capacity, piloting a battery system to store renewable
energy, and has partnered with Washington State
University on a major smart grid demonstration
project. Avista’s goal is to have a carbon-neutral
electricity supply by 2027, and serve customers with
100 percent clean electricity by 2045.
Blackwood Builders Groups, Seattle, winner of the Employer of the Year Award
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