To anyone who has contacted us from the www.keepivars.com website we want to respond to you personally, but your messages are coming through with a generic email address info@keepivars.com. If you’d like to contact us directly, please reach us at Commission@Portseattle.org
We also would like to clarify a few things.
- Competition was fierce and we appreciate that some firms are disappointed by their results. At the same time, we had many terrific local businesses that submitted proposals. We are proud to help small businesses grow and we know that the Seattle community and all of our travelers can support growing businesses as well as established favorites.
- The best financial proposal does not always win. There are seven criteria, including company profile/experience/financial capability; concept development; unit design/materials/capital investment; financial projections/rent proposal; management/staffing and environmental sustainability; job quality/workforce training/employment and service continuity; and small business participation. The criteria that receive the most weight are concept development and unit design/materials/capital investment. All other criteria receive the same weight.
- We do everything we can to provide employment support for staff working at the airport. In 2014 we set up an Employment Continuity Pool that helps employers find new hires and helps employees find new opportunities. We ask companies bidding for space at Sea-Tac to prioritize hires from our Employment Continuity Pool.
- Sea-Tac Airport is a big place – there’s room for lots of great businesses! We will issue another round of spaces for lease soon. We urge Ivar’s and any other company that is interested in being at Sea-Tac to submit a proposal.
- Our competitive process is open and fair to businesses that are already at the airport and those that are looking to have a space at the airport. We also have a process for handling complaints from firms that competed for leases here at the airport. We will do our due diligence in reviewing those complaints.
Statement from Kathy Casey and Stacy House, Operators of Lucky Louie Alaska Fish Shack:
“We are proud of our proposal and our concept Lucky Louie Alaska Fish Shack™. As a local, women-owned, small business we were thrilled to have the opportunity to bid for a space at Sea-Tac and win. Without the open bidding process, we would never have had this opportunity to grow our business. We love the northwest and are so excited to serve local customers and travelers from all around the world!”
Seattle-native chef Kathy Casey’s Dish D’Lish® located next to Ivar’s also opened over 11 years ago. “That lease has expired too and will be filled by a new tenant. While I was disappointed that it will be closing soon, I understand that’s the term of the lease. Stacy and I are so excited to have won the new space and also plan to bid again on more opportunities as they come up.”
Stacy House also added “Last year I bid for a space in a previous lease group and was not successful. The Port offered all the unsuccessful bidders a debriefing and training. That helped us prepare a better proposal, strengthen our concept and business plan - and be successful today.”
Statement from Pat Murray, Executive Vice President for SSP and Nate Miles, VP of HyFlyers and operators of multiple dining facilities:
Pat Murray, Executive Vice President for SSP said, “By prioritizing dining concepts that are fresh and responsive to consumer demands, and ensuring participation by small and disadvantaged businesses, SeaTac is known throughout the industry as being ahead of the curve with their airport retail and dining program. The Port’s focus on these goals was well defined throughout the process, and we are pleased that we were able to assemble packages that the port found responsive to their priorities.”
Nate Miles, HyFlyers’ Vice President added, “We’re excited to be part of bringing new, innovative dining concepts to SeaTac. We found the process to be open and clear in outlining the port’s priorities, and we were happy to participate in it. We are especially encouraged that the port is allowing small companies like ours to take part in developing new business at the airport.”
Murray went on to say, “While the competitive bid process the port ran was standard industry practice, they are steps ahead in being industry leaders by emphasizing the customer experience and providing an economic ladder for small business. We’re very happy to be a new partner with Sea-Tac and we look forward to serving the airport and its customers.”
Jaimi Chappelle, Poppa Woody’s, (Sub Pop Records and Li’l Woody’s)
"We are sure that all of our worthy competitors had incredible proposals, and the Port’s scoring process couldn’t have been easy. We had submitted an unsuccessful proposal for last year’s lease group and what we learned from that experience must have helped to make our latest proposal a success."
Anne Ewing, Potbelly
"I have never been part of an airport solicitation process that was so transparent. The Port provided regular updates on the status of the evaluation process. Most airports don’t. The Port called all respondents with the outcomes before releasing the results publicly. The Port is providing debriefing sessions to all respondents who are interested."
Hunter Brooks, Evergreen Co-founder
"Evergreens is absolutely thrilled to be part of the next phase of food and beverage development at Sea-Tac Airport. We feel as though the need for healthy, quick yet delicious food has been missing from the local travel experience.Evergreens is absolutely thrilled to be part of the next phase of food and beverage development at Sea-Tac Airport. We feel as though the need for healthy, quick yet delicious food has been missing from the local travel experience.
"We look forward to providing an offering that we think will resonate with travelers from all over the world. This is a huge opportunity, not just for the business to expand, but for us to further our goal of bringing satisfying, healthy food to the masses – we are very grateful and excited."
