By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

The Washington unemployment rate for August showed some improvement on a monthly basis, moving to 8.5%, compared to 10.2% the previous month. The Seattle/Bellevue/Everett unemployment rate fell from 8.2% in July to 7.4% in August. Twelve months ago the unemployment rate in Snohomish County was 3.0%, and 2.7% in King County. The August 2020 Monthly Employment Report marks the sixth month since the impacts of COVID-19 started showing up in the local labor market.

The Builder's Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, State of the Cities Data Systems, Office of Financial Management, and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

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Twenty members of the MBAKS Board of Directors and staff leadership team convened late last week for a two-day retreat at the beautiful Salish Lodge & Spa near Snoqualmie Falls.  The proceedings were facilitated by Donna Franza, Senior Consultant (Advisory Services) at NAHB, who is based in Washington, DC and has deep experience with the Association and our work.

The first day of the retreat began with creating a common understanding of the current state of the Association and of what constitutes good governance.  The team then built awareness of their individual leadership styles, and considered how those can be best leveraged to create a highly functioning Board next year.

Meet the 2025 Board!

After enjoying some evening team building and dinner, the group spent the second day discussing the MBAKS Strategic Plan, the status of its implementation and the extent to which the Association's current structure and activities align with that Plan.

All-in-all, the team left the retreat in a much better place to make home happen, carrying forward MBAKS' Belief, Purpose and Values in the coming year and beyond!

Help a service organization in your community!

MBAKS is currently accepting applications for our 15th Anniversary of Painting a Better Tomorrow.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to help a service organization in your community get their environment spruced up with a new coat of paint! We will be accepting applications for this year's event until July 31.

We're especially excited for this year's event, taking place on November 18 at a location to be determined, as 2017 marks 15 years of helping our community members brighten their days (and walls)! We encourage all service organizations in King and Snohomish counties to apply. We are aware that the aesthetic improvements of painting are also the easiest costs to cut from the annual budget in order to provide funding for crucial service needs to the community. To be considered, the organization must have a space that's in need of upkeep. That's it! Oh, and they also have to apply. We'll do the rest.

We ask you to reach out to organizations in your community and get an application in their hands. And make sure they get their application in by July 31!

Just think—by Thanksgiving, one local organization will be sitting in a beautiful, freshly painted space with one more item crossed off their 2018 budget.

Organizations can apply online or by contacting Michell Filleau-Maas, 425.460.8232 or mfilleau-maas@mbaks.com.