15 Years Green

Jason Lear is principal and co-owner (along with his wife, Holly Batt) of Batt + Lear, a 15-year-old Seattle construction firm, employing a diverse group of 25 employees. Batt + Lear builds and remodels structures to be highly energy efficient, simple, and functional and has won numerous green building awards over the years.

Joined MBA for the Health Insurance Trust

Batt + Lear joined the MBA in 2005, specifically for the MBA Health Trust. "Right from the beginning, it had been our dream to be the kind of company that people wanted to work for," says Jason. "Early on, we offered 20 days of paid time off plus health insurance. The MBA Health Trust was the only plan that would let us insure a minimum of just five employees. We also appreciated the ability to pick our own practitioners."

Staying Insured Through Downturns

Jason's company has made it a priority to maintain health insurance benefits, even through difficult financial periods. "Making it through 2008 was tough. We had to cut our 20-employee team by half. But we did have the good fortune to be vested in remodeling. After the financial crash, people couldn't sell or invest in new buildings, but there were a lot of remodel projects. So we got through. Now we're up to 25 employees and doing well."

Temporarily Lured Away

Jason tried another health insurance program for three years before coming back to the MBA Health Trust. "We were lured away by another insurance trust, which seemed less expensive. And it was cheaper initially because we had a group of young employees who never made claims. But when our employees actually started using the insurance, we were penalized, and our costs were hiked drastically by 45 percent. So we found our way back to the MBA Health Trust."

Modest Increases Are Easier to Plan For

All businesses have seen escalation of health insurance premiums the past couple of years, but Jason says the Trust is keeping them reasonable. "You assume rates are going to go up," he says. "We can handle single-digit increases. They are easier to plan for versus what you see outside of the Trust."

Regence BlueShield Is Very Versatile

Regence BlueShield, the Trust's insurer, provides Batt + Lear many care and provider options. "There is a lot of flexibility. Our staff can select the HSA plan or the preferred provider plan," says Jason. "Personally, for my family, I appreciate that Regence supports alternative care, things like massage, chiropractor, naturopathic doctors, etc." Jason says the plan is also well managed. "The administrators are great; they show us owners different plan options for getting the best coverage for the lowest price. And they present well-explained options to our employees and are always available for consultation."

Built Green

Batt + Lear are highly engaged with Built Green, the MBA's program for setting certification standards of excellence for construction that makes a significant impact on housing, health, and the environment. The program provides consumers with an easy-to-understand rating system that quantifies environmentally friendly building practices and gives builders the resources and support to build high-quality, desirable homes. "We were green builders right from the start," says Jason. "We wanted to be more public about it. So we started to certify projects as green. And now I'm on the executive committee of Built Green."

MBA GRIP Program Delivers L&I Refunds

Jason's firm also takes advantage of GRIP, the local safety incentive program for members of the MBA. GRIP provides Batt + Lear with a team of professionals dedicated to helping them reduce on-the-job injuries, manage workers' comp claims, lower L&I premiums, and maximize refunds. "It's a great, overlooked program that I wish we had known about earlier. We left a lot of money on the table. This is the third year we are getting refunds," Jason says.

The MBA Means Advocacy

The MBA has long been known for lobbying and government relations on behalf of its members and Jason is seeing the benefits directly in Seattle. "There's definitely a new focus from the MBA toward Seattle businesses like mine," he says. "The MBA advocacy groups are partnering with other influential groups to provide the Seattle City Council with a voice representing builders and green builders—which we very urgently need."

How Well Does Seattle Recover From Disaster?

Turns out, pretty well.

80.5 percent* is the percentage of Seattle metro area homes that have recovered to peak pre-recession value, according to a recent Trulia article.

What does this mean, exactly?

It means that the Seattle area has recovered quite well compared to a large amount of the United States. The region ranks #22 nationally in recovery percentage (a bit surprising we're that low), currently sitting behind Colorado smoking buddies Denver (#1, with an impressive 98.7 percent recovery rate) and Colorado Springs (#7, 93.4 percent), San Francisco (#2, 98 percent), and Oklahoma City (#3, 94.3 percent—and give us back the Sonics, please).

Other cities beating us at the moment include Dallas (#9, 92.5 percent), Honolulu (#11, 91.5 percent), and Portland (#13, 90.3 percent—grrrr).

Find the full list here.

Among the areas with the lowest recovery rates, including the bottom tier of Las Vegas—#101, with just 0.6 percent of homes back to pre-recession value), Tucson (100, 2.4 percent), and Fresno (99, 2.5 percent), it's no surprise to find that these cities have seen the worst income growth in the years spanning December 2009 to January 2017.

And guess what?

The cities with the strongest recovery rates, including our beloved Seattle, also have the strongest income growth. With the median Seattle proper home price currently clocking in at $638,000 (and $426,000 in the Seattle metro area), that's no big surprise, really. It takes a heavy wallet (or a lot of big wallets) to help dig us out of such a monumental disaster, especially considering that just 34.2 percent of all homes nationally have fully recovered to their pre-recession peak value.

The three big factors that set the tone for quicker recovery include, alongside income growth, job growth and population growth, as well as post-recession vacancy rate.

It's a bit humbling to see just how far into the hole the housing market was just eight years ago, spurred by the foreclosure crisis that was so big it now has its own major motion picture. The good news is that, according to Trulia, U.S. home recoveries have been steadily—albeit slowly—climbing since the stuff that hit the fan began to get cleaned up, to the tune of 5 to 6 percentage points per year. While Trulia's data suggests we won't see 100 percent of homes fully recovered until September 2025, the fact that we can again use terms like "thriving" and "booming" when it comes to the housing market and our economy feels good. Let's hope we can keep wearing these buzzwords out.

Now, if we can only figure out where to house all these home-hungry folks…

*All data courtesy of Trulia.com

On November 19, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Langbehn issued a final decision in a lawsuit challenging Initiative 24-03. The lawsuit was brought by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, together with several of its homebuilder members and other businesses operating in Everett and Snohomish County. The initiative, sponsored by Standing for Nature, was approved by Everett voters in the November 2024 general election. Consequently, the City of Everett was the named defendant in the lawsuit. However, the city agreed with MBAKS that Initiative 24-03 exceeded local initiative powers and “undermines all of the efforts of the City to protect the environment without shutting down all development and industry within the City.”

Judge Langbehn, in her ruling on MBAKS’s motion to declare Initiative 24-03 invalid, agreed with MBAKS and the city. She confirmed that under state law “[t]his initiative’s provisions are directly contrary to the water rights system established by the State and is outside the scope of the City’s authority.” Judge Langbehn therefore concluded that “Plaintiffs are entitled to a declaratory judgment that Initiative 24-03 exceeds the scope of the local initiative power and is therefore invalid.”

This is an important win for housing, the environment, and the community. “As a trade association with members proudly building homes in the City of Everett, we are grateful that the Judge Langbehn affirmed the position we fought for with city officials and local businesses that Initiative 24-03 is invalid,” said Jerry Hall, executive director of MBAKS. “Homebuilding must already adhere to strict local and state regulations that protect our water, air, and land. We know that environmental protection and housing are not competing goals, they depend on each other. The invalidation of Initiative 24-03 allows this existing framework to continue working as intended. We filed suit because it was necessary to protect the public’s best interest and ensure that our shared values of environmental stewardship are upheld as new homes are built and existing homes are remodeled for current residents, newcomers, and future generations.”

Under the laws governing local initiatives, City of Everett officials acted consistently with their obligation to put Initiative 24.03 before voters once the required number of signatures was verified. State law does not permit the city to consider whether the content of Initiative 24-03 complies with local initiative powers when determining ballot eligibility. As a result, the initiative appeared on the November 2024 ballot in Everett. Following the election, MBAKS asked the Snohomish County Superior Court to invalidate the unlawful initiative.