A Kent businesswoman is throwing her hat into the local political arena.
Gwen Allen-Carston, well-known in Kent business circles, is running for a seat on the Kent City Council.
This early in the game, Allen-Carston said she isn’t sure what seat she will be running for, but she plans to determine that come June, when filing begins.
An independent broker for the Agent Alliance Group, Allen-Carston works to provide area merchants with credit-card processing, and other bill-paying services and technologies.
She’s been a Kent resident since 2004, residing on the East Hill, and a businesswoman in Washington for the past 39 years.
“I’ve loved it ever since I moved here,” Allen-Carston said. “Everywhere I go there is something happening in Kent – there is so much to learn from the different happenings here.”
Allen-Carston said her desire to serve as city councilor came gradually, as she began to connect with others in the local business scene.
“If I was investing that much time (in business networking), I thought I should invest more time into learning about the city,” she said.
She’s also doing it because she wants to help shape Kent’s future for its young people, as well as to be a role model.
“There are a lot of youths I care about,” she said. “I want to do whatever I can to present them with ‘you can do this, you can do anything your heart tells you to do.'”
Allen-Carston, who worked her way up in the business world from her early days as a grocery checker, is a fixture in the local business scene. She has been highly involved in the Kent Chamber of Commerce, currently serving on its board of directors, and also working as the chamber’s membership chair and ambassador.
She’s also been involved with volunteering for the Kent Lion’s Club and the Kent Farmers Market, as well as being present for many chamber business functions.
Allen-Carston said she’s a fan of Kent, no matter how you cut it.
“There’s always something new every time you walk out that door,” she said.
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