Washington State:
Innovation is in our
Nature
By the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development
Since Gov. Chris Gregoire unveiled her Next
Washington economic strategy in 2007, local,
regional and state governments have aligned
efforts to strengthen the state’s traditional key industry sectors such as aerospace and computer software, while helping to grow emerging industries such
as clean technology.
“Washington’s strength is in innovation,” Governor
Gregoire noted. “The state has made very strategic
investments to continue to encourage the research,
development and ingenuity that are required to fuel
our industries.”
Through initiatives such as the Innovation
Partnership Zones, green collar jobs legislation, and
Life Sciences Discovery Fund, Washington is nurturing the engines and ideas that spawn new technologies and innovative ideas.
Washington’s efforts have paid off. This summer
Forbes named Washington the third-best state for
business. The governor cites this and other telling
statistics that illustrate the state’s growth:
• Jobs are being added faster than the rest of the
nation, 225,000 in the past four years
• Washington companies are making terrific
progress in foreign markets, with exports climbing to
a record $66.26 billion last year, growing 25 percent
over 2006 and nearly doubling in size over the past
three years
• Family incomes are rising
“In Washington, we like to say ‘Innovation is in our
Nature,’” said Juli Wilkerson, director of the state’s
Department of Community, Trade and Economic
Development. “No other state has been at the forefront of so many successive waves of innovation that
change the way people live — from software to
online retail, from coffee to the discovery of medical
vaccines used around the world.”
That innovation is evidenced in the state’s key
industry sectors, which include:
• The largest aerospace economy rooted in the
tradition of innovation first established by worldwide
leader in commercial plans, The Boeing Company
• A clean technology cluster that boasts the
nation’s fourth most venture funding, and is backed
by state policy and an environmentally conscious
culture
• A life sciences center that was established by
recognized names in R&D, such as the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and is growing
