The race for trade

Competing to keep Washington competitive

As countries across the globe scramble to rev up slack economies with new technologies, the race for international trade and economic development is heating up – and Democrats are determined to make sure Washington wins it.

Last year, Gov. Chris Gregoire and a host of lawmakers came back from a trade mission to China sobered by the massive country’s progress and future ambitions. Democrats took those lessons to heart – and followed up in this year’s legislative session with a host of bills to put Washington businesses in a more competitive position.

In October, lawmakers will travel with Gregoire to South Korea to boost tourism, attract international students to Washington’s colleges and technical schools, and woo new companies while persuading companies with existing investments to expand. Past efforts have resulted in companies like Evergreen Marine, a Port of Tacoma shipping line that began small but has grown steadily, and WaferTech, a solar-grade silicon panel manufacturer that employs 1,000 at a $1.2 billion plant in Camas built by the Taiwan Semiconductor Corp.

Ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement between America and South Korea make this is a key time for business relations. South Korea is already the sixth largest export market for Washington, according to 2005 statistics, and Washington ranks third among the 50 states in exports – from apples and potatoes to wine and aircraft – to South Korea. Moreover, legislators will participate in the 2006 Korea-US Economic Council Pacific U.S. States’ annual conference in Seoul, providing even more opportunities for networking with high-level business contacts.

This comes on the heels of an exceptionally productive session in which Democrats pushed through a number of visionary bills to boost the competitiveness of Washington businesses.

One of the more high-profile measures, the Washington Customized Employment Workforce Training program, has taken shape so quickly that officials expect to begin taking applications in August. This groundbreaking program pairs businesses with community colleges to develop custom work-force training programs at little or no up-front cost to the business; upon completion of the training, the business reimburses the state. The result: Businesses will have a waiting supply of highly trained employees to fill new jobs. To qualify, businesses must increase their employment in the state by at least 75 percent of the trainees in the training program. A similar program in Iowa has created more than 3,000 jobs since 1983; the Washington plan has the capacity to train up to 1,000 workers a year.

Other benefits to Washington businesses, if less innovative, are no less valuable. In the 2006 session, the Democrat-controlled Legislature also:

• extended aerospace tax credits to include not only aerospace manufacturers but suppliers and innovators, including commercial aircraft preproduction development expenditures, aircraft manufacturing property and certified equipment repair stations.
• funneled more private and federal dollars into grants for state agencies, local governments and other community organizations involved in economic development.
• extended tax relief to the metal manufacturing industry to preserve Washington’s status as the largest producer of aluminum since World War II.
• invested in our state’s emerging biotechnology industry by providing tax incentives for investments in biotechnology.
• provided a package of tax and bond mechanisms to help local governments finance public improvements to parks and recreational areas, street and road upgrades, sidewalks and streetlights.
• created Washington Manufacturing Services to coordinate and stimulate the competitiveness of small and midsize manufacturers by helping small businesses modernize their practices and providing technical support to improve productivity.
• created a business and occupation tax exemption that lets nonprofit tourism organizations dedicate their full resources to tourism promotion instead of paying taxes on funds from federally recognized Indian tribes, public corporations, and state and local governments.

Last, Democrats voted earlier this year to study funding mechanisms for a fellowship program that would put gifted students with appropriate backgrounds to work in overseas offices. The Washington Trade Corps Fellowship program would place students for up to a year in one of our trade offices to learn the language, culture, and marketing potential of their host country. The student would help Washington companies do business overseas while gaining experience in a valuable career field. Democrats hope to make this program a reality in the 2007 legislative session.

It all adds up to a more competitive Washington – stronger support for Washington businesses, more opportunities for Washington students, better jobs for Washington residents, and greater prosperity for the Washington economy.