LYNNWOOD — The Lynnwood Chamber of Commerce held its annual meeting May 20 at Fogo de Chão in Alderwood, featuring a review of the organization’s 2025 accomplishments and remarks from Washington Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds).
Chamber CEO Frank Percival opened the evening with several announcements, including the upcoming launch of the Lynnwood Events and Experiences Map. The project, more than a year in the making, will debut in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The interactive map will highlight Lynnwood businesses and track events across Lynnwood and Snohomish County, giving tourists and residents an easy way to plan outings. The companion app will automatically display in the user’s smartphone language, whether English, French, Korean or others.
Percival said the chamber will also operate vendor booths at upcoming community events, including Lynnwood City Pride on June 6, the Fair on 44th, and the Mill Creek Festival. Chamber members can use the booths at no cost to promote their businesses.
For the second consecutive year, the Lynnwood Chamber of Commerce was named the best nonprofit in the Northwest by The Seattle Times, Percival noted.
Lynnwood Parks and Recreation Director Joel Faber announced that the department received a $10,000 sponsorship for the chamber’s upcoming golf tournament, named in honor of longtime Heritage Park volunteer Linda Myer.
“It just goes to show the support from a community of people like you and others,” Faber said. “This tournament will be the best one ever.”
Percival added that the $10,000 will support children attending summer camp.
ACCESS Project Founder Wally Webster II gave a brief presentation on efforts to restore school resource officers to the Edmonds School District. Lynnwood Dave & Buster’s General Manager Anthony Angel, who serves as chamber board chair, then provided a year-in-review and preview of upcoming initiatives.
In 2025 the chamber appeared at the Lynnwood State of the City address and open house, and organized its Par-4 Parks Golf Tournament. It also ran its second annual Best of Lynnwood campaign, which drew a record 51,000 votes for more than 100 businesses, professionals and nonprofits.
The chamber hosted 36 hours of one-on-one networking events, including happy hours and luncheons. It mailed its business directory to thousands of homes and launched the Lynnwood Marketplace app, which surpassed 2,000 downloads last year. Chamber leaders also spent much of the year planning for the FIFA World Cup and expanded marketing partnerships with the Lynnwood Event Center, Alderwood Mall, Meadowdale Park, the light rail and Paine Field.
The chamber promoted several local causes, including Bella’s Voice, the Lynnwood Food Bank, PAWS of Lynnwood and the Washington West Africa Center. It raised $12,351 for the Boys & Girls Club, collected 93 coats in one day for Clothes for Kids, and brought in $6,700 for the Lynnwood Parks and Recreation Department.
Membership grew steadily. In 2025 the chamber added 87 businesses and nonprofits, representing 2,262 new individual members. As of May, the organization had 351 member businesses representing 3,139 individual members. Most chamber revenue comes from events such as the annual Awards Gala. Sponsors and partners account for 21%, membership dues 23% and grants 11%.
Keynote Speaker Senator Liias, joined at the podium by fellow Senator, Curtis King of Yakmina, to hammer in a point about the importance of bipartisan cooperation, shared a message of bridging the partisan divide.
“We’re living in a moment in our country where when you turn on the news, you just feel depressed,” Liias said. “You watch what’s happening in Washington, D.C., and no matter what side of the issue you’re on, I feel like you’ll leave ashamed of the discussion, even if you agreed with how it turned out.”
Liias noted that he and King, who represent different parties and districts, often have dinner together after Senate sessions to discuss issues amicably.
“In the Washington State Legislature, we are working hard to make decisions that move our state forward in a way that tries to bring everybody together,” he said. “In the state Senate, 95% of bills that passed passed with both Democrat and Republican votes. Bipartisanship doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything. It’s OK to look at the same problem and have different solutions. The power of bipartisanship is to lean into that disagreement and figure out how you get through it anyway.”
King, a Republican, said Liias called him in 2025 to begin work on the 2025-27 transportation budget.
“We had plenty of discussions about a variety of things,” King said. “Did we really need to have ferries that were electric? Why can’t we get along for a few more years with the new diesel engines on all of them? … These are the things we talked about because I would support diesel engines because they’re new and like 90% better than the engines we have today. But it’s not about you’re wrong and I’m right. It’s about how can we work together and make this whole state function.”
King added that the differing needs of their districts make constructive communication even more important.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
