By Brian Evans and Ray Stephanson / Herald Forum
Snohomish County is one of the fastest-growing counties in Washington state, with a population expected to exceed one million people in coming years.
This growth is in large part because of the county’s ability to attract and retain major job hubs in the aerospace supply chain and in emerging industries including renewable energy, quantum computing, health care and biosciences.
We’re at an inflection point. This rapid growth underscores a longstanding opportunity for the region to educate and train a future-ready workforce right here in Snohomish County. WSU Everett needs to grow along with Snohomish County. We missed the opportunity for WSU Everett’s future growth when the $10 million investment our legislative delegation solidified for the Baker Heights purchase fell through. It is imperative that we find land to solidify the future growth of WSU Everett.
We must move past the counterproductive debate on the value of going to college and support more Washington students on pathways to bachelor’s degrees.
According to a recent report from Washington Roundtable, 75 percent of all future job openings in Washington state will require postsecondary credentials. Further, the Roundtable reported that the state has a projected shortfall of 600,000 credentialed workers over the next decade. We need to ensure we are prepared to grow a workforce to meet regional employers’ demands, or they will find their workforce out-of-state, causing Washingtonians to miss out on in-demand, family-wage career opportunities. Our citizens must prepare for the high skill high wage jobs being created in our region.
But there is a clear path forward; a path that has already started to be paved thanks to the forward-thinking of a collective of Everett and County leaders working with Washington State University over the last decade.
Washington State University’s Everett campus was founded to develop a homegrown talent pipeline that connects education to the industries driving our region. It is a hub for public higher education in the North Puget Sound, providing opportunities for high school graduates pursuing a four-year degree, adults returning to school to complete degrees or earn new credentials, and mid-career professionals charting a new career course. WSU Everett is here for our citizens now and when they want to come back in the future.
If we want institutions like WSU Everett to reach their full potential, we must invest in the systems that develop their future students. That means building awareness and aspiration from an early age. It means nurturing a culture that values and supports college access and attainment. It means additional focus and long-term support.
This campus is the culmination of decades of work to establish a four-year university in Snohomish County, and a long-term investment in the future of the region.
We believe more strongly in this mission than ever before. It will require determination and grit, but Snohomish County and WSU Everett will continue working together to ensure the benefits of this growth can be felt positively across the region for years to come.
Brian Evans is owner of Madrona Financial & CPAs and chair of the Everett Advisory Council. Ray Stephanson, president and CEO of Economic Alliance of Snohomish Countyand former mayor of Everett.
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