Published June 2003

Efforts to win 7E7
will help lure tech sector

Even as Snohomish County and its supporters throughout the state prepare to convince the Boeing Co. that Everett is the best place to assemble its 7E7 commercial jetliner, a new analysis of jobs and wages statewide shows how important this effort is to Snohomish County’s economic well being.

According to the Washington State Employment Security Department, manufacturing —primarily aerospace manufacturing — accounts for more than 25 percent of all the jobs in Snohomish County. Manufacturing jobs make up only half that, 12.8 percent, statewide.

Even with a reduction in our Boeing work force and despite the strides we have made in diversifying our economy, one-quarter of our jobs are in manufacturing. Even more eye-opening, almost 40 percent of Snohomish County earnings come from manufacturing jobs. Statewide, only about 16 percent of earnings come from manufacturing.

These two figures — 25 percent of our jobs in manufacturing providing 40 percent of our earned income — dramatically demonstrate the important contribution well-paid aerospace manufacturing employment still makes to our economic well being.

Clearly, it is essential that we work effectively together to present our strongest case for the 7E7. As our job figures show, at stake are thousands of family-wage jobs. Either Snohomish County remains the center of global wide-body commercial jetliner final assembly or those jobs will fade away as plane models age and are replaced by newer technologies.

The criteria Boeing says nominee sites must meet in order to be considered for assembly of the 7E7 will be an important impetus for public policy debate in the months ahead. Teams of experts — led in many areas, I’m proud to say, by Snohomish County — already are working overtime to firmly establish Washington state as a place in which businesses can compete successfully, one of Boeing’s key issues. Passage of the recent transportation package was critical to this effort. So are other initiatives on the docket in Snohomish County and Olympia.

Here’s the good news. This effort provides more than a chance to win Boeing’s 7E7 program. It offers Snohomish County an unparalleled opportunity to plan for an entire new future of technology investment. By creating the framework within which technology communities — including Boeing — can flourish, the actions we take today will benefit us for generations to come.

By simultaneously keeping our aerospace manufacturing base strong and creating the environments technology companies seek, we can help ensure Boeing will continue to site its commercial jetliner programs in Washington state, even as new technologies evolve. At the same time, we will attract additional expanding or relocating technology companies whose leaders also seek progressive, innovative communities that offer the research and business environments they require.

In the future, every region will face stronger competition — not just for new work but to retain current work, according to Daniel Malachuk, senior managing director for Global Research and Consulting, a company that specializes in finding locations for knowledge-based companies.

Even now, technology and new manufacturing methods are allowing companies to site functions globally, based on what is best for the company. Research and development clusters are springing up in areas that welcome a diversity of scientists and engineers from many cultures. Universities and specialized learning centers are playing an increasing role in attracting communities of innovators whose work is intertwined, even across industries.

According to Malachuk, the quality of life important to retaining today’s jobs and attracting tomorrow’s professions is broader than the traditional measurements of recreational and culture opportunities, clean air and low crime. Add to these other elements important to today’s mobile technology work force: opportunities for two-career households, K-12 education that prepares students for the nation’s best universities, an equilibrium between the cost of housing and available income, convenient commutes and neighborhoods that welcome the diversity that comes from global recruiting.

Establishing leadership in some of these areas will come naturally to us. Some will spur debate. Others will take statewide coordination.

As a founder of The Regional Partnership, a consortium of organizations and regional governments working to resolve some of the largest competitiveness roadblocks, the Snohomish County EDC is working hard to preserve our ability to retain and attract livable-wage employment opportunities while improving all of these measures of quality of life.

The EDC and its investor companies know that to compete with the best for tomorrow’s prosperity, we have to prepare today. Innovation, in this instance, begins at home.

To provide opportunities for two-career households, we must continue to diversify our economy. To make sure more of our children have the opportunity to flourish in the nation’s best universities, we must work within our communities and at a state level to improve our K-12 educational system. To offer reasonable commute times and a mix of housing choices, we must make wise infrastructure decisions and support public policies that encourage the development of diverse and enjoyable communities.

The results will benefit us all. Whether we’re talking about retaining aerospace manufacturing or attracting clusters of technology companies, the steps we take today will ensure economic opportunity tomorrow.

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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