Speech to Chehalis Rotary Club (As Written)

April 20, 2006

Governor Gregoire: Last month, I had the distinction (like the Governors before me) of becoming an honorary Rotarian in the Olympia Rotary. I respect how Rotarians in Chehalis and around the world take seriously the public-service ideal�that we are bound by a common creed, by forces greater than ourselves, and by a belief that we are here to serve others.

Every week�every day in fact�I�m reminded that Washington is racing headlong into a new, global era. It�s something I never imagined when I was growing up in rural Auburn in the 1950s and 60s. Back then we all spoke about a national economy�and our competitors were other states like California and Michigan. Today we�re in a global economy competing with nations around the world.

That�s why I�m committed to doing everything in my power to ensure that Washington remains the most globally competitive state in the country, with the best-trained and best-educated workforce anywhere.

A case in point: Earlier this morning, I had the opportunity to tour the new Center of Excellence for Energy and Technology at Centralia College. I was there with Dr. Jim Walton, the President of Centralia, Barbara Hins-Turner, the Center�s Director, and several trustees and faculty members. The center is a magnificent facility in the heart of Lewis County that coordinates energy-technology training across the Northwest�and the energy industry is coming together to support the program.

Because it�s the only program of its kind in the Northwest with an exclusive focus on industry training in Power Plant technology, the Center will ensure that we have the best-trained energy workforce anywhere in the country. It will keep us globally competitive.

This week, I also welcomed President Hu to Washington. President Hu chose Washington as his first stop on his first-ever American visit. Hard to imagine for folks of my parents� generation!

I told the President that he needed to know from the start that we�re the �real� Washington. The �other� Washington, three-thousand miles east of here, is an important and beautiful city. But we�re the ones with the Boeing aircraft, the apples, the Microsoft software, and the Starbucks coffee!

I often say, we�re like a small nation, rather than a state, and President Hu�s historic visit to Washington simply reaffirms that.

This afternoon, I want to highlight a handful of issues that are very much in the spirit of Centralia College�s Energy Center and President Hu�s visit�including my Global Competitiveness Council report and the extraordinary progress of �Washington Learns.�

It was a historic 2006 legislative session. It was a spirit that makes whole the promise of moving Washington forward. Everything we achieved this session�from transportation, to agriculture, to economic development�reinforces the ties that bind our communities and our state together. How wonderful to report that �One Washington� was the defining theme of 2006!

This 2006 session was historic for a number of reasons�including our unprecedented savings for the citizens of Washington�$941 million. We got off the boom-to-bust roller coaster, determined that we would set aside serious money for our future.

It was historic thanks to our targeted investments in education, the economy, healthcare, energy, and transportation.

It was historic because of our landmark agreement on civil rights, with our breakthrough medical-liability agreement, with reform of our unemployment insurance system, with major investments in transportation, and with finally cracking the generation-long stalemate over Columbia River water.

We invested in our future, in efforts to support the youth of Washington and Lewis County: $28.5 million, for example, to benefit students who have been unsuccessful in meeting standards.

And I signed legislation to rev-up programs such as �Navigation 101,� offering adult guidance, mentoring, and other activities to help students plan and prepare for what they will do after high school.

I�m also very proud of the potential created by our Columbia River legislation.

For 25 years, it has been water for fish or water for farmers. We changed �or� to �and.�

Our agreement benefits our economy and our environment. It is a plan that supports our agricultural industry and growing cities and towns. It will implement solutions for the declining Odessa aquifer and those who rely on it for their livelihoods. It brings renewed hope to our salmon restoration efforts.

It�s a collective fight�we budgeted $75,000 to assist the Chehalis Watershed Council with planning, for example.

And this agreement looks to the future. New storage and conservation measures will provide a water supply that sustains our economy: For farming, for growing communities, and for our endangered salmon.

Our work together on managing the Columbia and moving Washington forward is consistent with the recommendations of my Global Competitiveness Council. The Council was born from a pretty fundamental idea�that we can�t continue to compare ourselves simply to other states and regions. We live and work in a global economy, and we need to step up to the realities of that global marketplace.

In addition to President Hu�s visit this week, I�ve invited President Fox of Mexico, who we believe will accept the invitation and visit soon as well.

And last week at the University of Washington, I signed a memorandum of understanding with the Deputy Premier of Queensland, Australia, Anna Bligh. Together with our Queensland partners, we will develop collaborative projects in the areas of biotechnology and the life sciences�cutting edge fields that will define our health and our economies well into this new century.

Simply put, Washington is a major player on the world stage.

The Global Competitiveness report reminds us of our strengths�that Washington is uniquely positioned to succeed in the new economy. With leadership in computer software, entrepreneurial activity, and strong use of digital technologies across sectors, Washington is starting from a solid base. Washington exports more per capita than any other state in the nation, and we�re also the most trade dependent. Still, the global market is increasingly interdependent and the marketplace is transforming at a dizzying pace.

Our aim is to ensure that the State of Washington is recognized throughout the world as a place for businesses to thrive and that we are positioned as the most progressive, globally competitive state in the US, committed to a world-class educated and trained workforce.

That�s a big charge, but we�re up to it. And let me give you an example of why we should be confident�that we can move Washington forward:

When I entered office, I said that we needed a comprehensive study of our entire education system, from top to bottom. We need a seamless education system from early learning to K-12, and through higher ed.

Companies, without exception, want to know that we have a well-trained, educated, modern workforce. And they also want good schools for their children and their employees� children.

So I created �Washington Learns,� an 18-month assessment of what needs to be done now.

We�re getting a lot done�from new career pathways that lead to apprenticeships after graduation to adult mentorship programs. We�re also helping students meet standards to compete.

I believe that when we assess our education system, we shouldn�t compare ourselves to other states. When we do, we�re comparing ourselves to a very mediocre system. We need to be able to go head-to head with countries like Japan, Singapore, Germany, and Ireland and that requires re-assessing where and how we compare in a �flat� world.

We need to develop skills for the next generation of construction workers, through initiatives like Running Start for the trades. And we need to be strategic about our higher education investments to create the workforce we will need for 21st century industries like biofuels, life sciences, nano-technology, and composite materials.

Bio-fuels represent the future, especially when low-energy costs are no longer a given for us in the Northwest. We need to reduce our dependence upon foreign oil while contributing to the solution by investing in the new, bio-fuel economy. And because of our unique mix of resources, we are built to lead the world in bio-fuels.

This effort will again make whole the promise of �One Washington.� It will unite our state in a way few other things can:

For example, we can grow biofuel crops in eastern Washington, crush the seeds in places like Moses Lake, and ship them across the Cascades for use in buses in Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia (where my local transit service uses 40% biodiesel blends).

If we do, we begin to keep some of that $25 million a day we spend on fuel in our communities, while diminishing our reliance�the stranglehold, really�of foreign oil.

We�ve also taken steps to lead in the quickly growing life sciences, which depend on our agriculture and our schools.

With the legislature�s help, we created the Life Sciences Discovery Fund, which could be worth as much as $1 billion over the next 10-15 years. This fund will keep Washington at the forefront of the highly competitive world of life sciences research.

We will work together to find cures to dreaded diseases such as Parkinson�s and cancer.

We have a worldwide niche, one that I�m very proud of: When I�m overseas in countries such as China, they know that �Washington� means Washington State, and they know that we�re all about quality. Quality agriculture, quality coffee, quality planes, and quality software. �Quality� is as promising a �niche� as anything we could ask for.

There�s more good news:

In aerospace, in the past year, Washington has become home to Messier-Bugatti and Smith Aerospace. And we've had some significant victories in other competitions in the world economy. When Amazon could have expanded anywhere in the world, we convinced them to expand in Richland. When HouseValues could have expanded out of state, we worked with them to grow in Yakima. And when German construction giant Bilfiger-Berger moved their US headquarters out of Denver, we lured them to Vancouver, Washington.

We�ve made progress, but there�s much more to do. Government�s role is threefold: Building our economy by creating a world class education system, by investing in infrastructure such as transportation, water, energy, and broadband to accommodate new growth, and by insuring that we are competitive so our business and industries thrive.

In my State-of-the-State address in January, I said that each of us, irrespective of our political party, owes it to the families of our great state not to lose our way.

Each of us must see ourselves through history�s lens, and create a legacy by building on our success.

The only way we can ensure that our vision translates into meaningful action is to stay the course and to think fifty years out. By doing so, history�s lens will reflect kindly on the courage and vision of all of us working together for the greater good, moving Washington forward.

Thank you.


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