#46 Washington
From the Governor
“Washington state consistently ranks as both the best economy in the nation and the best place for workers. This is an exceptional place to live, work, raise a family and open a business. And we are working hard to make sure all Washingtonians have an opportunity to benefit from our growth and success.” —Gov. Jay Inslee
Going Green
While the Evergreen State remains a thriving hub for tech and Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon and Microsoft, new opportunities may be arising in maritime and clean energy. Initiatives such as the Washington Maritime Blue 2050 and the Clean Energy Fund aim to drive new economic growth in sustainability and the shift towards decarbonization.
Key Contacts
Dept. of Commerce
Lisa Brown, Director
360-725-4000
1011 Plum Street SE
P.O. Box 42525
Olympia, WA 98504-2525
lisa.brown@commerce.wa.gov
http://www.commerce.wa.gov/
Key Incentives
B&O Credits: Offers tax credits of up to $4,000 per position for jobs in manufacturing, R&D laboratories and commercial testing facilities in rural counties that pay wages of $40,000.
Committed Private Partner Program (CERB): Offers grants of up to $150,000 and loans of up to $2 million for the construction of public infrastructure to support business expansion.
Reduced B&O Rate for Aerospace Business: Offers a reduction in B&O tax liability for manufacturers and processors for hire in the aerospace sector.
B&O Tax Credit for Washington Customized Training Program: Offers a tax credit of up to 50% of the full cost of a training program with up to $500,000 in training allowances per year.
EDCs
Washington State Department of Commerce: commerce.wa.gov/growing-the-economy
Choose Washington State: choosewashingtonstate.com
Seattle Office of Economic Development: seattle.ecdev.org
Greater Spokane Incorporated: advantagespokane.com
Make it Tacoma: makeittacoma.com
Highlighted Program or Initiative
The Washington Maritime Blue 2050 Initiative aims to bolster innovations in the maritime sector that create living-wage jobs, protect the environment and enhance sustainability in the industry.
Big Deals
- Microsoft announced in January 2019 it will partner with nonprofit groups and invest $500 million to ad- dress the affordable housing crisis. The initiative is partly to address the area around its Redmond headquarters, where it is adding 8,000 new jobs in the coming years.
- McCain Foods USA announced in May 2019 a $300 million investment in its potato processing facility in Othello.
- Katerra announced in September 2019 the grand opening of a $35 million cross-laminated timber factory in Spokane Valley and the creation of 200 new jobs.
Big Companies
11 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in state:
Amazon.com
Costco
Microsoft
Starbucks
Paccar
Nordstrom
Expedia
Alaska Air Group
Expeditors Intl. of Washington
Weyerhaeuser
Fortive
C-Suite Testimonials
“Relocating our headquarters to Clark County, Washington from the Silicon Valley was one of the best decisions we have made at Realwear. As a startup, we are hyper-focused on keeping costs down and we have seen nearly a 2-to-1 increase in our spending power per dollar across the board. The local talent has been abundant and highly impressive.” —Andy Lowery, CEO, RealWear
“Building and growing a great business requires equally great relationships. We are very pleased with the relationship we have with the State of Washington, Adams County and the City of Othello. The grant funding provided facilitates our expansion and confirms the business friendly and supportive role of government to our international leadership.” —David E. Stewart, President, SVZ-USA Washington
“We will be doubling our presence in Tacoma to take advantage of the ongoing innovation in the area and the cybersecurity and analytics leadership coming from local universities such as University of Washington Tacoma.” —Ashish Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Inflobox
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