Number of Seattle Area’s Interactive Media Companies up 133% in Five years 

Seattle, WA – Jobs and revenue are still growing in the Seattle area’s Interactive Media industry announced Friday during the Washington Interactive Network’s 5th Annual Power of Play. There are more than 350 firms in the region, up from 150 in 2007 making it an annual growth rate of 18% in the last five years. Revenues from regional games companies estimated at $9.7 billion in 2010, up from $4.1 billion in 2006, a 25% compounded annual growth.These numbers are early results from a new Economic Impact Study and Cluster Analysis with the full report to be released in April. The study is being conducted by Community Attributes Inc. in Seattle, the same company that led the 2007 study. The study is funded by enterpriseSeattle and a grant provided by the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge.

The annual growth rate over the last five years in local industry jobs is estimated between 4 and 4.5% reaching a total of 16,500 to 17,500 interactive media employees in the Seattle area. “Tracking the jobs and dollars for the interactive media industry is quite challenging”, said Kristina Hudson, Executive Director of the Washington Interactive Network. “Many groups around the world attempt to give accurate numbers of this industry, but almost always they are using mailing lists, multipliers, and formulas to try and calculate the number of companies and employees in a region. We are the only group that I know of who actually tracks company-by-company to give the most accurate representation of employment as possible.”

An industry competitiveness study by was conducted in 2010 and it may shed some light as to the reason why the Seattle region is seeing this kind of growth. The study found that three cities rank in the top tier of the world’s leading regions in Interactive Media: Seattle, San Francisco, and San Jose. Of these top tier regions, this study finds the Seattle area the most competitive in the United States and the world for growth in the Interactive Media sector. These findings are based on industry-selected indicators of competitiveness: Number of firms, Computer and engineering talent, Multimedia and animation talent, Educational institutions, Cost of living, and Cost of business.

"These numbers will come as a breath of fresh air in a time of a struggling economy," said Jeff Marcell, President and CEO of enterpriseSeattle. "We are proud to have this growing industry in our region and we are committed to doing everything we can to maintaining the growth."

About Washington Interactive Network

The Washington Interactive Network (WIN) is enterpriseSeattle’s economic development program which recently awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge. The Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration (ETA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA) are funding the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge through separate funding sources Established in 2004, the purpose of WIN is to promote, nurture, and grow the Interactive Media industry in Washington State, and in the last five years the program has created and retained over 2,500 jobs and over $400 million in economic impact in the Puget Sound region.
www.WashingtonInteractiveNetwork.org
www.GameStartUp101.com

About enterpriseSeattle

For over 40 years, enterpriseSeattle has provided client-based economic development services to businesses throughout King County. enterpriseSeattle's mission is to be a "difference-maker" in the community by growing the jobs and tax base in King County, its 39 cities and the greater Puget Sound region. It accomplishes its mission through a customized client services program focused on business retention, expansion and recruitment. Its objective is to become the premier economic development organization in the US.
www.enterpriseSeattle.org

About Community Attributes

Community Attributes Inc., founded and led by Chris Mefford, provides research and analysis to increase awareness, inform decisions and improve results. We specialize in community and economic development, strategic planning and philanthropic and non-profit advisory services. We help our clients improve the lives of the individuals and communities they serve.
www.communityattributes.com

Contact:           

Kristina Hudson, Executive Director, Washington Interactive Network
Email: Khudson@enterpriseSeattle.orgPhone:              206.914.9056

Chris Mefford, President, Community Attributes Inc.
Email: cmefford@communityattributes.comPhone:        206.523.6683

— 12-14 early and expansion stage companies will be selected to give 5-minute presentations  (eligible for the ZINO Annual Angel Fund)
— 4-6 seed stage companies will be selected to give 2-minute presentations