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Mountlake Terrace economic development manager outlines branding, World Cup and business-retention priorities
Summary
New Economic Development Manager Ryan Doss told the Mountlake Terrace Planning Commission on June 23 that his office will pursue a citywide branding RFP, World Cup coordination, a business directory and support for town center development; his FY25 budget is just over $300,000.
Ryan Doss, the city’s newly hired economic development manager, introduced himself to the Mountlake Terrace Planning Commission on June 23 and laid out a short-term agenda that includes a citywide branding RFP, World Cup coordination and a business retention effort tied to town center redevelopment.
Doss said he has been with the city “for just over 2 months” and described his immediate priorities as building partnerships, updating the city’s economic web presence, and supporting private investment near the light-rail station. “The station is already seeing an average of over 1,200 riders per day,” Doss told commissioners, noting the transit access will be “a big game changer” for attracting businesses and developers.
The new position is housed in the city manager’s office and has a fiscal year 2025 budget “just over $300,000,” Doss said; those funds will cover administrative expenses, marketing, outreach, program development and what he described as “supportive funding for the Mountlake Terrace Chamber of Commerce.” He also told the commission that the RFP for a citywide branding strategy is set to close the week of July 3 and that he expects the consultant selection process to include Planning Commission input.
Why it matters: Doss framed his work as aligning economic tools with existing land-use plans — including the city’s comprehensive plan and the 2024–2029 economic development strategic plan — to attract developers and support small businesses. He said the city has “nearly 10,000 housing units,” more than 500 businesses, and population estimates close to 25,000 residents, which he called indicators that Mountlake Terrace is “primed for growth.”
Commissioners asked about outreach strategies and whether the city will target local, regional or national developers. Doss said the city will pursue all of those avenues: maintain relationships with local brokers and developers while doing broader outreach to attract firms that might “see it as numbers on a spreadsheet,” and help make the case that projects will “pencil out.” He described ongoing coordination with the Mountlake Terrace Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County and said he has begun conversations with neighboring cities to create regional partnerships.
On small-business support, Doss said the city and chamber are developing a business directory and a database to underpin a formal business retention and expansion program. That effort, he said, will support regular outreach and issue tracking for existing businesses and inform marketing aimed at site selectors and developers.
Commissioners and staff told Doss they expect close coordination between economic development and planning work, including early cross‑departmental engagement on design guidelines, code updates and development reviews to ensure economic goals and land-use rules align. Commissioners also encouraged neighborhood-level branding, parks integration into the community identity effort and outreach beyond the town center nodes.
Doss closed by saying he will return to the commission with updates and asked commissioners to provide feedback on the branding RFP and other initiatives as consultant work begins.
