Published July 2003

Boeing proposal
will serve region well

Now we wait.

Working groups from throughout Washington state have compiled a strong and convincing case for building the new Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner in our state. Washington state’s proposal has been polished and ceremoniously presented to the Boeing Co. for consideration. We may hear in the next few weeks if we make the final cut, or we may not hear anything at all until Boeing makes its final site decision later this year.

It has been an intense few weeks. State government and local cities, labor and business development groups, as well as the entire state Legislature, worked day and night to compile the information and the arguments required to convince Boeing that Washington state remains the best place from which to do business.

Boeing said from the beginning that Washington state would receive no home-field advantage, and we didn’t ask for any. Our state is determined to win a ticket to the final round of this competition on the merits of our proposal, and we believe there is a good chance that Boeing ultimately will decide, as we have, that Washington state is the best place to assemble its next commercial jetliner.

This competition is good for Boeing. While we may not have always liked it, the company said from the beginning that its request for proposals would give its Commercial Airplane Division the clear information it needs to develop next-generation passenger jets that can compete with arch rival Airbus.

Cost projections for the 7E7 final assembly complex will be a big part of keeping the 7E7 as cost-effective as possible. Asking anyone interested in hosting the assembly plant to submit a proposal — and then measuring those proposals against one another to ensure the best business case possible — is a prudent business practice.

The competition, however, also has been good for us.

The Governor’s Competitiveness Council in 2001 outlined specific steps necessary to make sure Washington state remained a place from which global companies could compete successfully.

The council’s findings were clear-cut and urgent. Washington state needed to improve its transportation quagmire, reform its tax and fee policies, encourage technology research and provide predictability and stability in all its business requirements. It was the deadline imposed by this 7E7 proposal and the growing recognition of what is at stake that spurred the debate, introspection and decisions that addressed many of the issues presented in the council’s recommendations. Those decisions will serve us well no matter where the 7E7 ultimately is built.

Because this competition is about more than Boeing.

“A lot of people think this is about someone writing us a big check,” said Boeing Vice President Mike Bair, who leads the 7E7 program, when he addressed the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County on June 4. “It’s not. It’s about us looking for an environment where we can be successful 25 to 30 years from now.”

The same can be said of the other global companies that call Snohomish County and Washington state home. By working together, tackling difficult subjects, using targeted incentives and changing state business practices that many agree have hampered our ability to be competitive, we have addressed core issues that had put our state at a disadvantage when it came to competing for tomorrow’s jobs.

It wasn’t easy. Few critical business decisions are. State legislators, working into their second special session, had to weigh what was best for the state as a whole. Labor leaders had to protect future generations of jobs while defending the needs of today’s jobless. But we did it.

The EDC of Snohomish County talks every week with companies considering moving to or expanding to Snohomish County. While many of the business incentives passed by the state Legislature are targeted, rightfully so, at Boeing, the message to prospective global companies is clear: We want you here.

That’s the message we will continue to take to Boeing. That’s the message we at the EDC relay to the other companies we work with. Now, that’s what we, as a state, are telling the world. Thanks to Boeing and to the hard work of the citizens and leaders from one end of our state to the other, the message is clear: Washington state is back in the game.

We at the EDC take this responsibility seriously. Whether it is working with Travis Industries, which recently decided to move its headquarters to Snohomish County, or briefing national site selectors on what we have to offer, the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County is committed to creating the type of economic opportunity that allows us to compete fairly and assertively for jobs. Today’s and tomorrow’s.

Deborah Knutson is president of the Snohomish County Economic Development Council. She can be reached at 425-743-4567 or by e-mail to dknutson@snoedc.org.

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