EVERETT – Aerospace companies pose one question to community leaders when looking at relocating in their areas: Do you have a work force to support us?
A few years ago, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon could answer that with a resounding “yes.”
When he travels to the great gathering of all things aerospace next week in Paris, Reardon believes he still can deliver the same answer: He can deliver the work force.
“We have a framework in place,” Reardon said during the Aerospace Industry Summit held in Everett last week.
Reardon will be representing Snohomish County in its efforts to live up to its title of “center of the aerospace world.” He’ll join a Washington delegation of aerospace manufacturing companies and educators at the 47th International Paris Air Show held Monday through June 24. Representatives from Snohomish County Economic Development Council and Edmonds Community College also will attend the trade show.
State Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, will serve as Gov. Chris Gregoire’s designee at the show. The delegation already has booked appointments with 14 companies at the show.
Gregoire led a similar delegation to the 2005 Paris Air Show, meeting with representatives of 11 companies. Six of those companies opened or expanded facilities in the state.
“With the largest concentration of aerospace workers in the world, Washington is open for business and ready to meet the needs of new and expanding businesses,” Gregoire said. “Our higher-education system and worker training programs are working together to provide skills that match the needs of aeronautics programs around the globe.”
The state’s aerospace industry generates more than $36 billion in business activity. Washington is home to 78,000 aerospace employees, said Bob Chase, a regional economist who also spoke at the summit in Everett. By this time next year, Chase estimates 85,000 Washingtonians will work in aerospace. That’s up from 54,096 at the end of 2003, when Boeing announced it would assemble its 787 in Everett.
Locally, the number of aerospace employees in Snohomish County has grown from 22,400 in late 2003 to roughly 30,000 at the end of May.
“We have transcended the mill town,” Reardon said. “We are in the 21st century economy. In some ways, we are leading the 21st century economy.”
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.
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