Growing Alongside our Community
Photo taken in 2006: Brian, Ken, Mike and Andy wait for the Sound Transit Tacoma Link at Union Station.
SiteCrafting is proud to have called Tacoma home for the past 26 years. We opened our first “official” office in the old Tacoma News Tribune building on St. Helen’s just across the street from the City Building. When we first moved into the neighborhood, options for food and beverages were very sparse. We’d walk down to Tully’s, hit Jillian’s as a place to unwind and relax and maybe even make our way up to Altezzo if we were feeling very classy. We’d move our cars every couple hours in a game of cat and mouse to dodge parking enforcement (not much has changed, though we have free parking at our current location).
It was a small space, but we had big plans. We had to start by putting together the 85 boxes of delivery from Ikea. We did forget to buy pens, so Mike once had to write a phone number on a dusty desk for me to get the callback information. We had an Arnold Palmer golf game, toxic fumes from the framing shop downstairs and a steady stream of clients looking to make their fortunes on the internet.
From there we moved to Fireman’s Park and added to our team. We continued to grow, acquired Dynamics in Design and started the SHIFT Awards (it was a short run of awards). We added team members, and new expectations as we were slowly becoming a real company. We were thrilled with Meconi’s opening across the alley from us, that meant close beer and great food. Tacoma was growing. The restaurant scene was expanding, offerings like Matador, The Hub and the Harmon tap room all around us.
Our current place, just off the 26th street on-ramp and around the corner from Brown and Haley, has been our longest stay. We moved in the space below Sprague headquarters in 2010 and have been at this end of downtown since that time. We’ve dined at Cheers, watched as the museum district expanded and grew, and done our part to participate in the Tacoma renaissance.
We are proud to be from Tacoma, but we are even more proud of the work that we are doing for the organizations that do so much good for Tacoma and Pierce County. These are groups that are dedicated to improving the lives of those they serve and are committed to making our region better for everyone that lives here.
Coming out of the pandemic, we had to make a choice as to whether we were going to renew our lease or go fully remote. It seemed impossible to be part of a community unless we had a physical place to call home. So, we doubled-down — remodeled our space, expanded it all with the hope that we could continue to contribute to this town, playing our part in the ongoing transformation of Tacoma.
Our office space has traveled 2.1 miles in Tacoma and yet, as a company we are worlds away from where we started. We’re here to stay and look forward to being part of the continued growth and success of our community.
