SNOQUALMIE – Nate Short has been all around the world handling business decisions for a multimillion-dollar company.

Now he wants to help make some sound financial decisions concerning his hometown in Snoqualmie.

Along with newcomer Jeff MacNichols, Short was sworn in as a Snoqualmie City Councilman last week and said he wants to bring the same business sense that he has traveled around the world with to the city in which he lives.

“I am here to work hard,” he said.

Short was born in Spokane but grew up in Kirkland, graduating from Juanita High School where he was class president and played on championship football and basketball teams. He attended the University of Washington and majored in business, graduating in 1990. His first job was a sales position with a company called Ormco that sold orthodontic equipment. He moved up through the company ranks, helping to set up an office in Mexico City and directing sales to 27 countries in Asia and South America.

In 1997, Short started to realize the potential of the Internet and left the company and his home in California to move back to Seattle and set up his own Web-based orthodontic equipment company, Oralis. What started with Short and three other employees in his basement in Seattle turned into a company that garnered $8 million in venture capital and 80 employees. In 2000 he sold Oralis to an East Coast company, wanting to make a move into commercial real estate.

Just before selling Oralis, Short and his wife paid visits to Snoqualmie to see friends. Short had been to Snoqualmie before but every time he came out to the Valley, he came to appreciate the area more. When he and his wife realized how much more of a house they could get in Snoqualmie than they could in Seattle, the decision to move here was made

“We came out one beautiful fall day in September and thought it was just beautiful,” he said.

Soon after moving to Snoqualmie, Short got to know some of the contenders for the 2001 City Council election, including fellow Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood residents Jay Rodne and Greg Fullington. Short himself thought of running but held off. In the meantime, he and his wife had their first child. The thought of being able to shape what kind of city his child would grow up in motivated Short to run. He ran against incumbent Marcia Korich and two other challengers, pulling out a narrow victory last November.

In a council where three of the five members are attorneys, Short said he can bring a different philosophy to the group. He has the mind of a businessman who has seen the benefit of efficiency and technology. Short wants to put an e-mail newsletter together to keep constituents up to speed on what’s going on in the city, and would like to see more information available from the city’s Web site. While he doesn’t count himself as being far to the right of any issue, Short considers himself fiscally conservative and said he can see some of the benefits to anti-tax initiatives like Initiative 747.

“I believe we need to have social services,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s bad to go to voters and ask them to approve things.”

Short said he wants to help Snoqualmie sell itself. When he dealt with the city as a commercial real estate agent, he said he was never approached with a unified sales pitch from Snoqualmie. Given all of the natural beauty, lower rents and less traffic in Snoqualmie, the city should be an easy sell to companies looking to start a retail shop in the downtown area or relocate an office to the Snoqualmie Ridge business park.

As more businesses and residents come to Snoqualmie, Short said the city will have an opportunity to shape its growth. Short sat on the steering committee for the city of Kirkland and was able to take part in its decisions on development and city parks. He said Snoqualmie should not worry about becoming another Issaquah since the small-town feel and look of the city is an integral part to its identity.

Short will also have a hand in the makeup of the council, which will change drastically during the year. Councilman Jay Rodne may leave in the near future to become a state representative, and the council will add two more members by next year. Short said he would like to make sure the council reflects more diversity than it does now, and would like to see someone from the downtown area represent the community.

“I never thought of there being much division between the Ridge [Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood] and the downtown area,” Short said. “The number-one thing I heard going door-to-door was how we could bring the community together.”

Since Short shares the same love for Snoqualmie that all residents do, finding some common ground may not be too hard.

* You can contact Nate Short at n.short@comcast.net.