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Home / Washington Business - Spring 2003 / Everett is Washington's "Diamond in the Rough" |
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Everett is Washington's "Diamond in the Rough" |
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Written On: Spring 2003 |
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Written By: By Alexis Nepomuceno |
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Originally named Port Gardner, Everett’s early city fathers changed its name to attract investors from the East. It worked because John D. Rockefeller himself invested millions to turn it into the "New York of the West." Even James J. Hill looked at Everett as the western terminus for his Great Northern Railroad in the 1880s. Only a national economic crisis in 1893 forced Rockefeller and other investors to pull out and Hill to continue the rail line south to Seattle.
Everett became a blue collar forest products town. Sawmills and pulp plants dominated the skyline for nearly a century. For decades a haze from teepee burners at waterfront sawmills and pulp plants hovered over Port Gardner Bay. Today, the largest remnant of that era is the Kimberly Clark pulp and paper mill, which continues to make bathroom tissue and paper towels. Since 1970, the forest-products industry invested millions to clean the water and clear the air and now secondary wood processors like Tiz’s Door, Everett, and Canyon Creek Cabinets, Monroe, are prospering in Snohomish County.
The term “diamond in the rough” might be the best way to describe the third largest county in Washington. With a plethora of industries located within its 2,098 square miles, every town and city in this county, from Index to Everett, is looking to increase economic activity.
No Gain Without Paine
Today, Paine Field, in the southern part, is the Snohomish County’s economic hub. Originally constructed in 1936, Paine Field was supposed to be a “super airport.” It was to be what Sea-Tac International is today. However, World War II and the Korean War inadvertently obstructed those plans.
The Army Air Corps took over the airfield during World War II as a base to protect the Puget Sound Naval Shipyards in Bremerton and Boeing Field in Seattle. During the Korean conflict, the newly formed U.S. Air Force called it Paine Air Force Base. After the Air Force decommissioned the base, Snohomish County saw “Paine Field” as their “economic gem” and attracted The Boeing Company to build its new 747 jumbo passenger jet in the 1970s. Since then, Boeing has expanded and now builds its 767 and 777 airliners there.
Boeing’s Everett operation is the nation’s single largest exporter. While Boeing assembles its large aircraft, BF Goodrich refurbishes commercial planes. Today, 55 businesses are tenants at Paine Field, providing more than 30,000 jobs. Recognizing Paine Field’s growth, the Federal Aviation Administration will be opening a new $8 million control tower this year.
As the largest city in the county, Everett (pop. 95,990) has been the county seat since 1897. Everett makes no bones about it—they want all stray businesses forced out of Seattle and King County. Community leaders are quick to point out their business district is far more affordable and more actively seeking solutions to problems related to infrastructure.
That commitment is evident in the city’s efforts to make Everett Station into more than a stop along your way to and from work everyday. While serving as a transportation hub, Everett Station also houses an education consortium made up of the University of Washington, Washington State and Eastern, Western and Central Washington universities. These five state universities have come together to offer bachelors and masters degrees to tri-county students that would otherwise have to commute to Seattle or Bellingham.
The AquaSox is the city’s minor league baseball franchise of the Seattle Mariners. With the completion of its new regional events center next October, Everett will be the home of a new minorleague hockey team. The arena will seat 8,000 for hockey and can hold up to 10,000 in a concert configuration. Plans are to make the facility available to trade shows and conferences as well. The streets around the facility are all being reconstructed to fit with the buildings brick facade and older look.
Planes, Trains and The U.S. Navy
Sitting at the mouth of the Snohomish River on Gardner Bay, the Port of Everett was first established in 1918. While the Port hopes to attract research and development firms, as well as manufacturing and marine-based companies, Naval Station Everett provides a steady flow of economic activity. It opened in 1994 and employs more than 6,000 sailors and civil service personnel. It serves as the home port for eight ships and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The Navy’s homeport also drives the north county with it’s commissary, base exchange and service center located north of Marysville at the Smokey Point complex.
As for the future, the Defense Department is looking at Snohomish County as a potential home of the SBX missile defense platform being developed by Boeing.
In the north county, the Tulalip Tribe is finishing a major development just north of Marysville and west of I-50. Along with Wal-Mart and Home Depot, the new Tulalip Casino will be the hub of the development which will eventually include an amusement park.
What can lawmakers do?
“From small business leaders to risktaking entrepreneurs to farmers, they make Snohomish County a vibrant community that is attractive to employers from around the country,” said Rep. Dan Kristiansen (RSnohomish). “Compared to King County, Snohomish’s more affordable land prices will help attract new business as well.”
“Like the rest of Washington, Snohomish employers struggle with the same excessive state and local regulations and heavy reliance on business for taxes. The state legislature and local government need to further improve the business climate,” said AWB Board member Ted Becker. Becker manages Achilles USA, Inc., a leading-edge manufacturer of premium vinyls for footwear, health care, and office and recreation products based in Everett. He has to compete with other Achilles operations around the world for investment capital.
Lynn Nixon, another AWB Board member and public affairs manager for Agilent Technologies, the measurement company spun off from Hewlett-Packard, points out continuing research and development (R&D) tax incentives are very important to burgeoning high tech industry. Agilent’s plant near Lake Stevens relies upon these incentives to compete. “They are invaluable to many small-to-medium-size hightech research and manufacturing firms that offer a diverse foundation from which to build the future of the state's economy.”
Diversity and Drive is Key
“Despite the current economic slowdown, in recent years Snohomish County has had a diverse and vibrant economy,” said Rep. Kristiansen. “Of course Boeing has a large presence in the county, but there are also growing high-tech and bio-tech employers contributing to the local economy, not to mention the natural resource and agriculture industries across Snohomish County.“
Many see growth and expansion inevitable. Estimates from the Puget Sound Regional Council project the population in Snohomish County to reach nearly a million by 2030 from the estimated current population of 628,000.
When asked about the economic vitality of the region, AWB Board member Ed Rubatino simply states, “It is ready for growth.” Rubatino, a life-long Everett resident, owns Rubatino Refuse Removal. With optimism prevailing in the region and the help of its “crown jewel” Paine Field, this diamond-in-the-rough may not be in the rough for much longer.
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