OLYMPIA — Last week, Sen. Paull H. Shin, D–Edmonds, convened an aerospace roundtable in Mukilteo at the Future of Flight Museum with local elected officials and economic development leaders. This started the discussion about ways to increase the presence of Boeing suppliers locally and to encourage using Paine Field airport not only for commercial flights, but aerospace manufacturers.

In the wake of the creation of Governor Gregoire’s Washington Council on Aerospace and the Washington Aerospace Partnership, Sen. Shin took the local lead to convene leaders and start brainstorming ways to encourage local production and commerce.

“We need to come together to make sure aerospace suppliers know that Washington state is a great place to do business,” said Shin. “By working with Boeing, we can bring more family-wage jobs to our community.”

The Snohomish County Economic Development Council (EDC) is working on a gap analysis regarding what kind of aerospace suppliers the area is lacking.

The group hopes to convene again after the EDC releases the gap analysis to discuss which suppliers should be targeted.

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For more information: Alison Dempsey-Hall, 360-786-7887

For interviews: Sen. Paull Shin, 425-673-1393