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CONTACT SCBJ John Wolcott, Editor jwolcott@scbj.com Dave Clark, Assistant Editor dclark@scbj.com

Economic growth groups benefit from co-location

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

At a time when stories of economic growth, new businesses and new jobs share headlines with the need for training and maintaining a skilled work force, two Snohomish County agencies prominent in those two areas have joined forces.

During the summer, the Snohomish County Workforce Development Council moved into offices adjacent to the Snohomish County Economic Development Council at its headquarters in south Everett’s Quadrant Business Park.

It’s working out even better than the two executive directors had anticipated.

“Having this closeness is so great. We’re already doing more things together,” said Deborah Knutson, EDC president and chief executive. “A lot of what we do is business retention and expansion, and Sue (Ambler, WDC’s chief executive) is helping us with those things by developing active work-force education programs.”

Ambler agrees things are going exceptionally well since the two agencies set up shop together several months ago and held an open house to show off the joint facilities.

“This is working. There are engineering and aerospace companies in Snohomish County desperate for training for their workers. We’re also partnering with the EDC to work with companies needing specialists and managers,” Ambler said.

The WDC continues to gather grants and fund programs for work-force development, including a recent one from Microsoft for $84,000 to provide basic IT training in Lynnwood, Edmonds and Everett.

Also, in October, the WDC learned the state of Washington had created an Aerospace Convergence Zone with Paine Field at its center. Excluding Boeing land, the zone includes nearly 6,000 acres targeted for further development in support of the area’s global aerospace industry.

Among the goals for the zone are expanded K-12 career and technical education programs, re-engineering the material science facility at Edmonds Community College, constructing a Paine Field Technical Center at Everett Community College’s aerospace campus, redesigning education exhibits at the Future of Flight Aviation Center and completing preliminary work for construction of a major Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Center.

“We can work with the WDC to get project grants in health sciences, electronics and aerospace fields that we can’t get as an EDC,” Knutson said. “There aren’t many models like this around the country, but for us it’s the way to go.”

WDC Board President Dale Peinecke, who also is president and chief executive officer of Giddens Aerospace in Everett, said global competitiveness boils down to work-force development and education.

“To do that, we need partnerships and communication to get it done. When you put people closer together, as we’ve done here with the WDC and EDC, you increase communication by 10 times just being in the same building.”