Last Friday, May 29th, the County Council hosted an economic development workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to identify ways the county could promote economic growth.
 
"The focus of the workshop was two-fold," said Councilmember Dave Gossett. "Identify any immediate steps we could take to create jobs and to discuss longer range plans to promote economic growth."
 
Representatives of workforce training, aerospace, chambers, unions, the housing industry, tribes, agriculture, tourism, economic development agencies, and local government were all invited. The meeting was facilitated by former State Representative Chris Strow who currently works for the Puget Sound Regional Council as Principal Economic Policy Analyst. The discussion focused on six economic development topics:
 
·         Aerospace
·         Workforce
·         Agriculture
·         Growth/Transportation
·         Clean Tech/Green Jobs
·         Tourism
 
"We know that all these topics are interrelated," said Gossett. "For example, if you're talking about ways to promote aerospace jobs you also have to talk about workforce training and transportation."
 
The group began by discussing the aerospace industry. A variety of suggestions were made including establishing a county Aerospace Task Force, land use actions to increase the ability of aerospace firms to locate here in the future, improved transportation, and increased training opportunities.
 
"When we discussed workforce training we learned that the county has a wide variety of good programs from a wide variety of schools," said Gossett, "but there is no easy way to see what all is available. The county may be able to provide a central contact point."
 
Council staff will summarize the results and bring an action plan to the Council. Several potential working groups were identified to deal with areas such as marketing, tax increment financing, and "value added" agricultural products.
 
"I really appreciate the fact that people were willing to take time from their busy schedules on a beautiful Friday afternoon to talk about economic development," said Gossett. "It shows how important this subject is to Snohomish County's future."