WASHINGTON STATE

An alluring billboard beckoned to motorists on a busy industrial corridor here this spring. It displayed just one image, a panoramic view of a valley and mountains and sunshine, and one word, "Montana."

Local health care industry leaders say TIP Strategies’ focus on the intersection of health care and information technology might just be behind the times.

By the end of this week, Washington will close its official tourism agency and become the only state to cease all state funding for self-promotion.

The story is very different for young adults.

Many engineers make the pilgrimage to Silicon Valley to work for hot Web companies. Increasingly, though, top tech workers in the Seattle area are seeing Bay Area Web companies come to them.

The group hopes to bring together businesses in all sectors of Washington’s economy to promote social good in those areas "based on data and best practices, not ideology,"

In 1992 online sales were about 2 percent of all sales excluding food and vehicles, and in 2010 they were 9 percent. And in 2010 they grew at a considerably faster rate than sales at bricks-and-mortar stores, accounting for 20 percent of total sales.