Washington Business Spring 2018 | Washington Business | Page 18

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Of Note
U.S. Senate Panel Rejects Garrett’s Nomination to Head
U.S. Export-Import Bank Boeing 777X Production Begins, Milestones
Marked for 737, Modified KC-46 Tanker
Late last year, the U.S. Senate
Banking Committee rejected the
nomination of former Rep. Scott
Garrett (R-N.J.) to head the
Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank.
The move was viewed as an
important step toward restoring
t h e b a n k t o f u l l s t re n g t h ,
something that is vital to the future of manufacturing in Washington
state and the nation.
In a column penned for The Seattle Times in August 2017, AWB
President Kris Johnson explained how Garrett would be a “giant
step backward” on the work AWB and its members have done to
reauthorize the bank’s charter and get it up to full speed since 2014.
Johnson also pointed out that Garrett was an outspoken opponent
of the bank’s work that supports American companies’ access to
overseas markets.
Congress is currently looking at several other candidates to fill the
role of chairman and president of the Ex-Im Bank.
“In the meantime, as the nomination process moves forward, we
have confidence that just as Washington’s congressional delegation
played a crucial role in ensuring the bank’s reauthorization, they will
also ensure that the next head of the Ex-Im Bank understands and
appreciates the role it plays in growing jobs and the economy here
and across the country,” Johnson said.
For more information on the Ex-Im Bank and federal issues, contact
AWB Government Affairs Director Amy Anderson at 360.943.1600. Boeing celebrated the start of production for the 777X
wide-body jet last fall with a ceremony in Everett that
included a laser-guided robotic arm drilling a hole in a
carbon fiber layer and attaching a fastener.
Production is the result of a $1 billion investment
by Boeing to make the carbon fiber wing in-house in
Everett that dramatically changes the way airplanes
are made.
“This is a change in the history of how we
manufacture, how we assemble and how we fly our
aircraft,” said Jason Clark, vice president of 777 and
777X operations, to a crowd of 200 Boeing workers,
the press and local officials.
The company also celebrated two milestones. In
March, it rolled out its 10,000th 737 jet, which is the best-
selling commercial passenger jet of all time. And last fall
marked a major milestone for the KC-46 aerial refueling
tanker, a specially modified 767-200, which successfully
transferred fuel in the air.
The two test tankers refueled each other at the
maximum fuel offload rate of 1,200 gallons per minute
and transferred 38,100 pounds of fuel during the four-
hour test flight out of Boeing Field.
The test flights help pave the way for the next
phases of certification and specification compliance
testing for the tanker, said Chick Ramey, Boeing
Defense, Space and Security spokesman.
Lew Moore Steps Down as President and CEO of Washington Research Council
After three years as head of the Washington Research Council
(WRC), Lew Moore stepped down this year to pursue business
and policy interests in Utah.
“It has been a great privilege to work with the members and
staff of the Washington Research Council in producing important
studies on the critical policy issues faced by Washingtonians,” Moore said.
The WRC has provided nonpartisan and nonideological research and analysis of issues affecting governance and economic
growth in Washington state for over 85 years, producing detailed, fact-based reports, based on authoritative sources, that are
frequently used by legislators and cited in the media.
AWB has relied on analysis and research provided by the WRC for many years to help guide policy directives and better
understand and explain complex issues to its membership and lawmakers.
“We’re grateful for Lew’s leadership during a time when issues requiring credible, fact-based analysis — such as school funding
and tax policy — have been front and center,” said AWB President Kris Johnson.
“We thank Lew for his leadership and for ensuring that the Research Council’s mission of providing quality research for
policymakers, regulators, media and many regional private and public organizations was always his first priority,” said Scott
Edwards, chair of the council’s board of directors.
18 association of washington business