Snohomish County has become a center for green energy companies.
Among the big names are fusion nuclear power companies Zap Energy and Helion, electric aircraft maker Eviation, hydrogen-electric powered aircraft maker ZeroAvia, Swedish marine battery maker Echandia, and Bill Gates-backed, small-scale nuclear reactor company TerraPower.
They have all opened corporate headquarters or research centers here in the last several years.
It largely has to do with Boeing, according to economic development advocates and some of the green energy companies themselves.
The fact that Everett is home to Boeing’s gigantic manufacturing plant, with its more than 30,000 workers, has created an ecosystem of skilled workers, including engineers, machinists and other skilled workers in the county, said Ray Stephanson, executive director and CEO of Economic Alliance Snohomish County.
“Boeing is king in this part of the world,” said Stephanson, a former mayor of Everett. “It put us on the map.”
Stephanson said the skilled workers are able to cross green industries, having skills that are in demand not just for aviation, but also in the green tech world.
“The skilled workforce can be multi-generational,” said Daniel Tappana, business retention and expansion director at the business alliance.
“If both of your parents are engineers, then you’re probably going to be an engineer,” he said.
The alliance aims to attract companies to the county and also serves as a Chamber of Commerce.
For Zap Energy officials, the skilled workforce in Everett was a plus.
But it was also about.finding Zap’s new headquarters, a large industrial building with high ceilings that could house a crane and has an electrical system that could handle a large load, said Ryan Umstattd, Zap’s vice-president of product and partnership.
The Boeing ecosystem spurred an aviation connection. Aerospace contractors had occupied the building before the fusion energy company.
Zap, a spin-off from the University of Washington, started occupying the 100,000-square-foot building near Paine Field in 2023.
“It met our need for expansion,” Umstattd said.
Indeed, Zap Energy unveiled its multi-story, liquid-metal-cooled fusion test platform inside the industrial building in Oct. 2024 in its quest toward a commercial fusion power plant.
Zap’s Everett competitor in the race to commercialize fusion power, Helion, was also attracted to Everett’s highly skilled workforce. It moved from Redmond in 2022 to a 150,000-square-foot warehouse near Paine Field, for a four-fold increase in space.
The company has been able to hire engineers, technicians and workers with skills in advanced electronics and large-scale machining, Kirtley said.
“We have found a large pool of talented employees,” he said.
He credits Boeing with creating the talent pool.
Stephanson said Everett Community College’s Advanced Manufacturing degree program and the Washington State Everett campus also help create a growing supply of skilled workers with technical expertise.
Washington State offers programs in electrical engineering at the Everett campus.
Snohomish County’s green energy boom comes as the Trump administration has taken office.
“There could be a slowdown,” Stephanson worries, but he cautions it is too early to know.
While oil won’t be running out anytime soon, he said that embracing green power is ultimately the right thing for the environment and will be positive for the county in continuing to bring jobs.
Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com.
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