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Port of Everett's Battuello Recognized 2020 Puget Sound Business Journal Commercial Real Estate Community Champion'

Date: Oct 13, 2020
Everett, Wash. – On Tuesday, October 6, the Port of Everett’s Chief of Business and Economic Development Terrie Battuello was honored by Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ) with the 2020 Community Champion Award during the publication’s second annual Commercial Real Estate Leadership awards ceremony.
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During the ceremony PSBJ Publisher and President Emily Parkhurst shared that the mission of the program is to spotlight the entire commercial real estate business this year including one public sector economic developer, Port of Everett’s Battuello. 

“My work as an economic developer for the last 31 years is rewarding in and of itself, but to be recognized among the Puget Sound’s CRE giants is humbling,” said Terrie Battuello, CEcD, Port Chief of Business and Economic Development. “This regional recognition is due in large part to the small but mighty Port team making history on the Everett waterfront. Through imagination and dogged persistence, the Port’s far-sighted vision is now being implemented. I take pride in anticipating future residents looking back approvingly long after we are gone at this incredible and indelible undertaking.”

Battuello is one of only 1,200 International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Certified Economic Developers (CEcD) internationally and has 31 years of economic development experience, working primarily in public-led commercial redevelopment, public-private partnership, and technology focused economic development. At the Port, Battuello manages the business and economic development program, and a portfolio of 3,300 acres of property and 45+ commercial leases. 

Parkhurst touted Battuello’s work over the years sharing that, “Terrie’s strong leadership allowed her to push forward the public-private commercial and industrial real estate initiatives, including the redevelopment of Riverside Business Park and Waterfront Place Central.”

Battuello leads the charge on two major redevelopment efforts at the Port, including the recent redevelopment of Riverside Business Park, an 85-acre, 600,000 square foot light industrial development now supporting 700+ jobs, and Waterfront Place Central, a 1.5 million square foot mixed-use development bringing a mix of housing, hospitality, retail and office to the waterfront. Both projects have transformed underutilized sites that once supported Everett’s booming wood product mill presence into sustainable, 21st century job centers to support future growth of the area and greater Puget Sound.

For the last three years, Battuello has served as port-city liaison to the Cascade Industrial Center (CIC), a 4,000 acre industrially zoned economic center. Working together with the cities of Arlington and Marysville, she is currently supporting CIC marketing, recruitment and the Arlington Airport Master Plan project and has initiated a Business Retention and Recruitment effort among existing instrumentation and fabrication companies thought to form a key emerging cluster there.  

Before joining the Port in 2013, Battuello’s career included working on two other major community redevelopment efforts. First, in Bremerton, Wash., where she worked to develop Bremerton’s successful revitalization of the waterfront and served as the Kitsap Public Facilities District Director, and subsequently, her time at the City of Bothell, leading economic development and revitalization efforts including recruiting McMenamins to open the Anderson School project there. Also, while in Bothell, she led the initiative to form the Innovation Partnership Zone and an incubator at Lake Washington Technical College to support the biomedical device cluster which emphasized the use of ultrasound. 

“Community Champion is the very definition of Terrie and exemplifies the passion she puts into her work here at the Port and throughout Snohomish County,” Port of Everett CEO Lisa Lefeber said. “Terrie’s innovative, think outside of the box approach has supported the revival of hundreds of acres of underutilized brownfield properties, bringing these sites back onto city tax rolls, creating key job centers and attracting quality developers and retailers to add to the vitality at the Everett waterfront – all the while, maintaining momentum toward the community’s long-range vision of a balanced working and recreational waterfront. Congratulations to Terrie on this well-deserved honor.”

Nominees were reviewed by seven industry judges who focused on how each CRE professional drove business, navigated unique challenges and led in their sector. Award categories ranged from Lifetime Achievement and Equity Champion to Skyline Shaper and others and included such names as the founders of Wright Runstad and global real estate professionals for Microsoft and Amazon. All 12 award recipients will be profiled in the October 30 issue of PSBJ.

For more information, contact Catherine Soper, Port of Everett Public Affairs Manager at 425.388.0680 or by e-mail at catherines@portofeverett.com.

 

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