By GIL BAILEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska is the city's largest employer, with 1,500 employees.

The health insurer moved from its North Seattle headquarters in 1981 to a 33-acre campus in Mountlake Terrace. "We sought out a suburban area with good parking, easy access and a nice setting," says Jeff Roe, spokesman for the 750,000-subscriber health care insurer.

While many Blue Cross employees live in the immediate area, Roe says some commute from as far as Arlington to the north and Kent to the south.

The next biggest employer is the Edmonds School District, with a staff of 350 in Mountlake Terrace.

Further economic development is a long-term proposition, according to Fessler, and will require the city to concentrate on essential services, including public safety.