Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks never left the state where they started
- Microsoft moved to Bellevue in 1979, Amazon started in a Bellevue garage in 1994
- Boeing still builds jets in Everett — the largest building on Earth by volume
- Starbucks began as a bean shop at Pike Place Market in 1971
- The Evergreen State, 42nd to join the Union (1889)
How Washington’s digital economy grew
Washington becomes the 42nd state
Admitted to the Union on November 11.
Two garages, still two of the most valuable companies on Earth
Microsoft moved from Albuquerque to Bellevue in 1979 and into its Redmond headquarters in 1986, the same weeks it went public. Amazon started in a rented Bellevue house in 1994, with desks built from Home Depot doors. Neither company ever left — Microsoft is still headquartered in Redmond, Amazon in Seattle, and a 2018 "second headquarters" in Arlington, Virginia was explicitly framed as an addition, not a relocation.
The largest building on Earth, still expanding
Boeing’s corporate headquarters left Seattle for Chicago in 2001 and later Arlington, Virginia — but the manufacturing core never moved. Everett’s plant, opened in 1967 to build the 747, holds the Guinness World Record for largest building on Earth by volume, and in 2026 opened its first-ever 737 MAX production line, a $1 billion investment.
How Washington businesses buy websites
The tech and aerospace giants get the headlines, but most of Washington’s businesses are the trades and shops serving Spokane, Tacoma, and towns across the rest of the state.
Trades and home services
The Seattle metro and the rest of the state are very different markets — say plainly which one you serve.
Professional and B2B services
A tech and manufacturing economy rewards clarity about exactly what you do.
Shops and hospitality
Clear hours and location, readable on a phone, win the quick local search.
How well do you know Washington’s digital economy?
3 quick questions. Get all 3 right and you win a 10% off discount code. Every answer is somewhere on this page.
Washington quiz · 1 of 3
What was Amazon legally incorporated as before Jeff Bezos renamed it in 1994?
Why FastSites works here
A state where two garage startups grew into some of the world’s most valuable companies understands the value of starting simple. A clear one-page site, live in days, at a published price, is that same instinct for a small business.