OLYMPIA — A new statewide training and education center for the aerospace industry cleared a legislative hurdle Thursday though signs of political turbulence lie ahead.
The Washington Institute of Aerospace Technology and Advanced Manufacturing would be established in Snohomish County under the bill passed by the House Higher Education Committee.
The institute is envisioned as a place where researchers develop new technologies and workers are trained in them. Community colleges in Everett and Edmonds would have a leading hand in the research and development and instruction.
The institute is also viewed as a neutral ground where leaders of the sometimes competing forces of business and labor can hash out differences.
This proposed campus fits into the state’s efforts to ensure the Boeing Co. remains the mainstay of Washington’s aerospace industry.
A study released Thursday found Washington is losing ground to other states in the competitive battle for Boeing’s business.
One of the reasons given in the report is that while Washington has the highest number and most skilled aerospace employees, other states are doing a better job of planning for future generations of workers with more centralized control of training efforts.
For instance, West Virginia is building two advanced technology training centers with $30 million in state funds. And North Carolina, one of the states examined in the study, funneled $11 million into aerospace education and training and $7 million into its Advanced Machining Center that helped land a new Spirit AeroSystems plant. Spirit is a Boeing supplier.
The proposed Washington institute could remedy that, said Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, author of the legislation.
“Whether we like it or not we are in a heavily competitive environment,” he said in Thursday’s hearing. “This is about more than one company. It is about those 600 companies all around the state.”
Sells’ bill appeared to face opposition from Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday.
With the competitiveness study in hand, she announced formation of the Washington Council on Aerospace to coordinate training as well as research and development efforts throughout the state. She offered legislation spelling out the council’s duties.
“I think a different direction is best for us right now,” she said when asked if she thought the institute should still go forward.
Moments later, Sells said his idea wasn’t dead. He described his bill as a work in progress to be massaged to best fit the state’s needs.
The governor’s council will increase communication among stakeholders but do nothing immediate to carry out the study’s recommendations on training, he said.
“My bill is moving in that direction. I think it is the direction she is talking about,” he said.
Discussion of a centralized aerospace training center has been under way for months in Snohomish County. Officials of Edmonds Community College and the Aerospace Futures Alliance are among those involved. A 26-acre site adjacent next to Edmonds Community College has even been eyed as a home.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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