Now that we have won the Boeing 7E7 competition, we must focus on a long list of action items that our region must accomplish to stay competitive in aerospace and in other arenas of the global marketplace.
The Regional Partnership — a bipartisan coalition of business, local government and labor organizations in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties — has developed an agenda for 2004 that will help our region thrive. It will also help Snohomish County diversify its economy. Here’s what The Regional Partnership is focusing on accomplishing:
Help Boeing compete. We have won the 7E7, but Boeing has not won the competition against Airbus. One of our top priorities must be to continue to help Boeing compete. We can start by permitting and building as soon as possible the proposed rail-barge facility in Mukilteo that is so important to helping Boeing cost-effectively ship parts to its Everett plant.
The Legislature can help as well by fulfilling our state’s long-standing promise to build the Cross-Base Highway in Pierce County. The Cross-Base Highway will ensure transportation access to Frederickson and the critical facilities of Boeing and other manufacturers there.
We also must help Sen. Maria Cantwell and the rest of the congressional delegation ensure funding for a federal composite research center at the University of Washington. Composite materials will provide the 7E7 a competitive edge.
World center for health and computer science. We must seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the world’s foremost region for health and computer sciences. Our region has all the essential ingredients to create 25,000 new high-wage jobs in biotechnology alone.
We enjoy great scientists, great research universities and massive private and philanthropic investment in the health and computer sciences, particularly by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Snohomish County could benefit from greater economic diversity as health and computer science companies expand or locate in the Bothell technology corridors and other cities in Snohomish County, including Everett. But to reach our full potential, we must:
Give ports special attention. Our ports are centerpieces of some of our most important industries, including trade, travel, tourism, fishing and maritime. In the near-term, completing the third runway at Sea-Tac Airport must be one of the region’s top priorities, but there is a laundry list of other actions we must take to ensure the continued competitiveness of the Port of Everett and our region’s other ports.
That list includes guarding against incompatible development near our sea ports and airports and imposing unreasonable mitigation costs for port development; increasing freight mobility; securing federal funding for security mandates; and ensuring state compatibility with federal and international regulation.
Improve education and worker training programs. Even as our region suffers from one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, companies are desperate for highly trained workers such as nurses and engineers. We can do a better job of focusing training programs on filling these needs.
Given limited resources, we should adopt a policy that gives funding priority to educational institutions and programs that most directly increase job opportunities. This prioritization would help increase the tax base without raising taxes so that other vital government services can be funded.
Improve regional transportation, streamline regulations. We must keep moving forward on transportation and on regulatory reform. Developing a regional transportation plan as soon as possible that the public can support is, of course, high on the list of economic development priorities.
It is not an easy task, but regional leaders are working on the problem as hard as they can. We all know that time lost to traffic congestion threatens virtually every business in the region with increased costs and that the result is fewer job opportunities.
We can only resolve these differences if we work together as a region. That’s why supporting the bipartisan, cross-county efforts of The Regional Partnership is so important. Thousands of new high-wage jobs are in our future if we act now.
Deborah Knutson is president of the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County. Louise Stanton-Masten is president and CEO of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce. They are founding supporters of The Regional Partnership (www.regionaljpartnership.org).
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