Puyallup boss gives Seahawks fans day off for parade

There’ll likely be plenty of people calling in sick Wednesday to catch the Seahawks Super Bowl parade. But the two dozen or so employees at one Puyallup-based company won’t have to fake an illness, because they have the blessings of the boss.

“A lot of our guys have been rooting for the Seahawks ever since they were kids, including myself,” says Erik Hodson, GM of Whitworth Pest Solutions. “It’s such a great opportunity we can’t pass it up, and and I wasn’t going to force anybody to work on this day.”

Hodson realizes he might lose a little business Wednesday. But as a lifelong Seattle sports fan, he knows there might not be another championship celebration in our city any time soon. And he does have a few employees who didn’t want to attend the parade who’ll be on call.

“One guy is a Steelers fan and the other is an Arizona fan. So I said ‘fine, you can stay here and work for us,'” he laughs.

When the Sonics won the 1979 NBA Championship, 300,000 people lined the streets of downtown Seattle for a parade, but officials expect far more on Wednesday. Some people have already begun staking out spots on the parade route, which runs from Fourth Avenue near Denny Way to CenturyLink Field.

Hodson says he decided even before the game was over that he would give his employees the day off. And his employees are grateful.

@BrockESPN can you please call my boss & say thank you? He called my coworkers & gave everyone wed off. He's a huge hawks fan. 253represent

— colin swayze (@ccswayze) February 4, 2014

“I wouldn’t say I’m the best boss ever, but it is just such a great opportunity, you can’t pass it up,” Hodson says.