Governor’s three-part, $9.8 million proposal to woo the 737 MAX

Gov. Christine Gregoire on Wednesday delivered a three-part proposal for $9.8 million in state spending in support of the aerospace industry. The proposal is meant to encourage Boeing to build its 737 MAX in Washington state. Accenture, a management consulting firm with offices worldwide, released a study comparing different contender states aerospace manufacturing strength.

The state of Washington and members of the Washington Aerospace Partnership commissioned Accentures analysis, which found Washington, Kansas and Texas to be strong contenders in the fight for the 737 MAX. The Washington Aerospace Partnership is a coalition of civic and business organizations that support and sustain the growth of the local aerospace industry.

The strength of Gregoires proposal is that it includes measures to bolster the states already strong aerospace sector in the long term. Aerospace manufacturing has added more than 8,500 jobs in the past year and it continues to be among the sectors experiencing growth each month.

EDUCATION

While the aerospace industry is burgeoning, Washingtonians have become increasingly worried about reports that Boeing is losing hundreds of valuable manufacturing workers to retirement in the next five years, with little hope of having enough skilled labor to replace them.

The governor proposes addressing this issue by enhancing the states education system and focusing on job preparedness both at the high school and college levels, with funds going to increase engineering enrollment capacity at the University of Washington and Washington State University and to create special aerospace technology centers at these schools in collaboration with local corporations. In addition, funds would go to expand the Governors Launch Year program in area high schools, providing curriculum in science, engineering and mathematics.

GOVERNMENT TASK FORCE

In addition to allocating funds to develop Washingtons aerospace workforce, the governor proposed creating a new Governors Aerospace Office to oversee the development of the states aerospace sector. This office would in theory build on the work of the Washington Aerospace Partnership.

TAX REALIGNMENT

The governor announced plans to ask the Legislature to extend an existing aerospace tax incentive to create a fiscal climate conducive to the 737 MAX’s production schedule.