Mercer Island builds bridges to boost commerce

Hometown of a tech billionaire, a rock-and-roll Hall of Famer, and the mother of a U.S. President, Mercer Island is connected to the world economy by more than floating bridges.

Today, Mercer Island is building another bridge -- a virtual bridge to connect to an elaborate network that supports communities and commerce across the Evergreen State, Mercer Island is the newest partner in the state Business Licensing Service, joining more than 100 other Washington cities.

The city was the longtime home for the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, rocker Steve Miller, and Ann Dunham, mother of former President Barack Obama. She attended Mercer Island High School.

The island has about 25,000 residents and is the most populated island in a lake in the nation. Its local businesses will benefit from simplified and expedited registration and renewal processes for state and city licensing.

Mercer Island has also been home to a chairman for the Seattle Mariners, the CEO of Ford Motors, and many famous athletes and actors. As such it has one of the 100 richest zip codes in the United States, according to IRS figures.

Ahoy, Mercer Island!

Aerial view of Mercer Island between Seattle and Bellevue in Lake Washington.
Photo Credit: Dllu (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)