Governor Jay
Inslee’s official kick off of the Washington
Military Alliance (WMA) marks an important victory for Washington’s
military service members and families. While the WMA has existed for several
years, today’s signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by the Governor and key stakeholders across
the state formalizes the WMA’s role.
The WMA is
an alliance of business and community leaders, state legislators and agencies,
and local elected officials formed to protect military and defense
infrastructure and industry vitality and build and maintain military and
defense partnerships statewide. It’s being convened by the Governor and
the entire Washington State Congressional Delegation.
Gov. Jay
Inslee was joined by more than 20 military and economic develop- ment leaders for
the launch of the Washington Military Alliance, a diverse group of military and
defense stakeholders representing industry, infrastructure, veteran, workforce
and economic development interests across the state. The governor is asking WMA
to help the state prepare for the impacts of U.S. Department
of Defense reductions in military assets.
“The
military and defense sector is an economic backbone for many Washington
communities and a priority industry sector for economic development statewide,”
Gov. Inslee said. “As the DOD reduces military assets around the country, we want to
make sure our communities and our military personnel are prepared and ready. By
planning ahead, we can make sure Washington remains in a strong position to
support our military and defense infrastructure, its diverse industry supply
chain and the tens of thousands of jobs associated with this industry.”
The WMA will
provide a forum for collaboration in the state among local governments,
military installations, state agencies and federal agencies. It
will serve as a policy adviser to the governor, other state agencies, the
Legislature and others. “We welcome (Gov. Inslee’s)
personal commitment to represent Washington at the gubernatorial level to engage
on how issues of national defense play out within the fifty states. For example, we sincerely appreciate your administration’s
response to the recent Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment for
Army 2020 Force Structure Realignment,” said John Caulfield, Chair, Executive
Leadership Team, South Sound Military & Communities Partnership.
The group was
originally convened to collaborate on production of the Washington Military
Alliance Report, which identified impacts to Washington’s military and
defense infrastructure and develop initial recommendations in response to a
possible Base Realignment and Closure Commission action. Gov. Inslee reconvened the
group to ensure the state’s ongoing response and preparation during DOD
deliberations.
“With
10 military-related installations, thousands of military and defense works, and
over 1,500 companies supporting defense work in our communities across the
state, it is now more important than ever that the state come together to
develop a strong strategy to protect the infrastructure, promote the industry
and support workforce development that keeps our economy strong and shows
Washington as the strong partner to DOD it is,” said John Powers, executive
director of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance.
“One core
tenet of our statewide economic development and competitiveness strategy focuses
on developing opportunities in key industry sectors. Standing up the WMA
replicates an approach to industry collaboration that has been extremely
successful in aerospace, with the Washington Aerospace Partnership. These
effective public-private partnerships are necessary to ensure that Washington
is highly competitive for the jobs today and well into the future,” said state
Commerce Director Brian Bonlender.
“With such
diverse military industry, missions, needs and opportunities, and a different
stakeholder group for every aspect of an issue related to the military and
defense community, it was important to the governor and the federal
congressional delegation to convene a group of diverse military community stakeholders to
come together with one voice in response to potential cuts to defense
spending,” said Rich Hadley, president emeritus of Greater Spokane
Incorporated.
The
WMA will provide a forum for collaboration in the state among local governments,
military installations, state agencies and federal agencies. It will serve as a policy adviser to
the governor, other state agencies, the Legislature and others. “Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) is the
major economic impact in Pierce County and the largest single-employer worksite
in Washington State. Our community recognizes the necessity of state leadership
in sustaining the installation’s military mission,” said Tom Pierson,
Pres./CEO, Tacoma-Pierce Co. Chamber. “The state can help local efforts to
chart a course through the challenges ahead and to take advantage of the
inevitable opportunities that occur with anticipated changes,” he concluded.
In
2012, Washington’s military industry accounted for 136,000 jobs and $15.7
billion in economic activity. Washington is the sixth-most military populous in
the nation, with personnel at bases and assets throughout the state. The
industry supports military personnel as well as civilian jobs in cybersecurity,
aerospace, advanced manufacturing, clean technology, and information and
communications technology.
Links:
Website: www.WAMilitaryAlliance.org
Facebook: WAMilitaryAlliance
Twitter: @WAMilAffairs
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The Downtown on the Go (DOTG)'s popular themed pedestrian excursions in downtown Tacoma will begin again April 1.
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