Washington Business Winter 2019 | Washington Business | Page 39

washington business
and other maritime businesses still flourishing in
Seattle.
powered by trade
At stop after stop, manufacturers showed products
made in Washington and sold to customers across
the globe.
Anderson Hay and Grain in Ellensburg sends 25
truck loads of timothy hay and alfalfa every day to ships
docked at the Port of Seattle. Its customers include
small dairy farmers in Japan and Korea. Some of them
will fly to central Washington every summer to pick out
the exact stack of hay they want shipped over for them
to hand-feed their animals over the coming year.
Down the highway at Central Bean Co., which
processes 20 varieties of beans grown in the Columbia
Basin, exports are a growing part of the business. Last
year, the Quincy company experimented with sending
a few containers of pure garbanzo beans to Australia.
“This year they wanted more,” so the company is
shipping out about a dozen containers of their beans,
said Samuel Gonzalez III (who has worked alongside
both his father and his son at Central Bean over his five
years at the company).
“I’m thrilled that we’re throwing a
spotlight on manufacturing. This is
where the good-paying jobs are.”
— U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, D-10
“Rural manufacturing is important because it provides
income for these areas and creates jobs for hardwork-
ing people in these communities. This tour is important
because it highlights the businesses we have in the areas
and the jobs they provide.”
— Tony Waldo, plant manager, Columbia Pulp
training the next generation
Throughout the tour, manufacturers spoke about the need for continued
innovation and investment in workforce development, with public training and
private industry working together to equip people for the jobs of the future.
At Genie in Moses Lake, training is crucial as the company adds employees —
including expanding its staff by 300 people since January. Genie now employs
about 1,200 people in Moses Lake to make aerial lifts. As the AWB group visited
the company, a class of students were busy using electronic calipers in a class
called “Understanding engineering drawing and basic measurements.”
Workforce development is a growing concern for employers as the labor
market tightens, and it’s an increasing focus at high schools and post-secondary
institutions.
On Oct. 5, national Manufacturing Day, a group from AWB visited the Advanced
Manufacturing Training and Education Center at Everett Community College,
where school officials have combined the college’s many trades and technical
skills courses under one program. This allows students to earn certificates and
degrees, network for jobs and internships, gain exposure to various industries
and more.
And the bus tour stopped at the Tri-Tech Skills Center, a dynamic work-
based learning high school in Kennewick. Students can take classes in drone
manufacturing, the culinary arts, firefighting, and more. Construction students
there build and auction off a “tiny house” each year, and also donate their
services to build local Habitat for Humanity homes.
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