City of Puyallup > Economic Development

Find your place in Puyallup

For a suburban city of roughly 12.5 square miles and nearly 39,000 people, Puyallup benefits from an amazingly diverse economy. What other comparable community features:

The fifth-largest shopping mall in the region
A 14-member car dealers' association that ranks near the top in the region
A growing medical colony anchored by the current $450 million renovation and expansion of the Good Samaritan Hospital regional medical center
The seventh-largest fair in the U.S., whose downtown fairgrounds and events center have grown into a year-round venue for conventions, conferences, trade shows and other events
The region's No. 1 commuter rail station in terms of daily boardings that has inspired an aggressive push for transit oriented development for residential and commercial growth in the downtown core

Why Downtown Puyallup?

More than any other city in the South Sound region, Puyallup features a walkable, vibrant downtown ─ with a nostalgic feel ─ packed with destination attractions and events. Find out more about how your business can benefit from shopping, dining, playing and staying downtown at the Puyallup Main Street Association's web site.

What's new with the economy?

From the Business Examiner - March 5, 2010

Northwest MLS brokers say housing market in recovery Northwest Multiple Listing Service members reported strong gains in home sales during February, with brokers pointing to several encouraging signs for a busy spring season.

Improving consumer confidence and a looming deadline for homebuyer tax credits are helping to boost activity, according to NWMLS officials.

Pending sales (offers made and accepted, but not yet closed) jumped nearly 45 percent last month compared to a year ago, marking the 11th straight month of month-over-month increases. Closed sales also outperformed year-ago totals, rising 33.5 percent. Members tallied 3,214 completed transactions last month, up from the 2,407 closed sales for February 2009.

Prices, while showing signs of stabilizing, still lagged year-ago figures. Areawide, the median price for last month's closed sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) was $260,000, down about 6.5 percent from a year ago.

The median price in Pierce County was $217,800. In Mason County it was $145,000 and in Lewis County it was $126,900. The median price in Thurston County was $232,995.

Dick Beeson, broker/owner of Windermere Real Estate/Commencement Associates in Tacoma, attributed the lift in activity to lower prices and a hopeful jobs picture. He said the price point of new listings in some areas is 10 to 15 percent lower than the asking price of new listings added at this time a year ago, which is opening up opportunities for more buyers.

Extension of SBA programs will  support $1.8B in lending

The deadline for the U.S. Small Business Administration's ability to provide small business loans that are enhanced with special provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including a higher guarantee of SBA-backed loans and a waiver of loan fees normally paid by borrowers, has been extended to March 28.

SBA estimates the additional funding will support about $1.8 billion in small business lending.

New approvals of eligible loans with the higher guarantee and reduced fees made possible by the Recovery Act are expected to resume on March 10. Loan applications from borrowers in SBA's Recovery Loan Queue will be funded first, followed by new loan applications.

As part of the Recovery Act, SBA received $730 million, which included $375 million to increase the SBA guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90 percent and to waive borrower fees on most 7(a) and 504 loans. The funds for these programs were exhausted Nov. 23, and an additional $125 million was provided during December. Those funds were exhausted in late February.

SBA has implemented the Recovery Loan Queue twice before as part of its temporary transitions back to pre-Recovery Act lending. Eligible small businesses, in consultation with their lender, could choose to be placed in the queue for possible approval of a Recovery Act loan if funding became available from loans canceled for a variety of reasons. Currently there are 652 loan requests totaling $230 million in the Recovery Loan Queue.

This extension does not affect other SBA Recovery Act programs, including the America's Recovery Capital loan program or the agency's microloans. Recovery Act funding still remains available for both of those programs.

Contact Puyallup

City of Puyallup
Economic Development
253-841-5584
Email Us.