Perhaps the most prominent city in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle is situated on Elliot Bay, with a backdrop of lakes, mountains, and forest.  Indeed, the city itself is surrounded by lakes, including Lake Washington, Lake Union, and Lake Sammamish.  The Olympic Mountains are to the west and the Cascade Mountains are to the east.  Two volcanoes, Mount Rainer and Mount St. Helens, complete the picture.
With a population of ca. 3.5 million, Seattle is the center of a business-friendly region that includes the headquarters for such firms as Microsoft and …