Washington Business Spring 2017 | Washington Business | Page 34

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heart , so I went to college with my two oldest kids and we graduated together from Green River . I received a degree in business management .
Since then , I ’ ve gotten a certificate from Foster Business School and I developed a class for young women at Edmonds Community College that I teach once a year . They have what ’ s called Expanding Your Horizons , a one-day seminar program . Mine is all about how I transitioned home economics to aerospace and precision machining . And how I was able to take the two and link them together and how things are similar . I mean , a dress pattern is no different than a blueprint . Making an assembly is no different than making a cake . You have to have all the ingredients , right ? shiloh schauer : I think there are two things . One is being in a job that allows me to improve myself and those around me . I ’ m highly motivated by growth opportunities , whether that ’ s in my leadership or technical skills . And , being able to use those skills to better my community . Second , I love jobs where I ’ m able to help people meet their needs , whatever they may be . Money is great . I like to be able to have a good quality of life . But , at the end of the day , I want to be sure I ’ m making a difference . austin neilson : For me , the big thing is to contribute something to my organization or to the community . I want to feel like I ’ m part of something — a greater good or cause in whatever I do . It ’ s one thing just to come to work every day and just punch in and out of the time clock , it ’ s another to come to work every day and have meaning behind it . Currently , I have a job and a career that I ’ m lucky and fortunate to be passionate about — where it doesn ’ t feel like work . It feels like you ’ re having a lot of fun on a path to accomplishing something that is much more than just helping myself or my co-workers . barry hullett : One of the things that really motivates me , to be honest , is to do everything I can to preserve the precious manufacturing jobs that are still remaining in this great country we live in . Manufacturing jobs are what fuels the economy .
I think , from memory , in 1960 about a quarter of the workforce was in manufacturing jobs . Last I heard , we ’ re at about 8 percent manufacturing now . That ’ s a huge decline and it ’ s continuing to decline .
Employees here enjoy family wage jobs and they create three other jobs in the economy . We still have to provide family-wage jobs for youth who are entering the workforce and who are not pursuing a college degree .
I really strive to see what we can do to preserve the U . S . manufacturing base . brian forth : My first professional job out of college was as an elementary school teacher , so I ’ ve always approached things from the mentoring , educating and helping people solve a problem or
Shiloh Schauer , executive director of the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce , at a 2015 meeting of the AWB Grassroots Alliance .
I ’ m second generation in the aluminum business . My dad was in the purchasing area at a smelter . When I graduated from high school , I went to work directly in the smelter a week later . I needed to do that to get funds for college .
— Barry Hullett , baby boomer
improve themselves . I ’ ve never been super motivated by money . I am the first born , and I am not sure if that has to do with this side of me , but I never want to let anyone down . It ’ s very important to me to keep people around me — my customers as well as my staff — very happy and make sure they know what ’ s expected of them and that I emulate the values I ’ m asking them to share . jack lamb : Happy people — that ’ s number one . If I go through a week and it ’ s all smiles , no one is bickering at each other and the issues aren ’ t there then that to me is when it ’ s being done right . We do everything that we can to keep our employees smiling . And that transitions to our customers as well . Everything that I do , it ’ s really for Bellingham . I was , and still am so obsessed with this town . I fell in love with the connection to the outdoors and who the community is at its core . It motivated me to create something cool for this town . wayne j . martin : The bottom line for me is the challenge . What I really liked about science in particular — that ’ s been the basis of what I ’ ve focused on or liked through school and my job as a scientist — is the unknown , being challenged with the unknowns . So , I don ’ t really like jobs where everything is right in front of you and there ’ s no striving . When I look at what motivates me at work it ’ s having
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