Gov. Gregoire opens Washington pavilion at Paris Air Show

For Immediate Release: June 20, 2011

Gov. Chris Gregoire today, joined by leaders in the state�s aerospace industry, opened the Washington Pavilion at the Paris Air Show, the largest worldwide event dedicated to the aviation and space industry. Gregoire is using her time at the event to promote job growth by expanding the state�s aerospace industry, which already includes 650 companies and nearly 84,000 aerospace employees.

�We know there is no greater or larger audience for Washington�s aerospace industry than at the Paris Air Show,� Gregoire said. �This show provides invaluable opportunities to meet face-to-face with international aerospace companies and sell Washington state as the premier location for aerospace.�

Gregoire�s first day at the Paris Air Show included meetings with key aerospace leaders including Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, as well as Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh, who led the governor on a tour of Boeing�s new 747-8 airplane. The 747-8 undergoes final assembly in Everett. Gregoire also met with executives from the Goodrich Corporation and Premium Aerotech about possible expansion in Washington state.

Additionally, Gregoire today met with executives at COMAC, urging the Chinese plane manufacture to hire Washington companies to build parts and other components of airplanes as China expands its fleet of airplanes. China is the world�s second largest aviation market, after the United States.

Also today, the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee, which develops Washington state registered aerospace and advanced manufacturing apprenticeship programs, announced that it is expanding its apprenticeship and training programs to European Original Equipment Manufacturers who operate in Washington state.

�This announcement by AJAC makes Washington state that much more attractive to those companies wishing to locate or expand here,� Gregoire said. �Our highly-skilled aerospace workforce is one of our state�s strongest selling points. By expanding these training programs, we�re telling potential new companies that you�ll have the skilled labor needed to succeed � and ensuring those companies that are already located here have the workforce to expand. And that means more employment opportunities in Washington state.�

�AJAC is excited to share Washington�s wealth of training and education resources that has produced some of the most highly skilled and best trained aerospace and advanced manufacturing experts in the world,� said Laura Hopkins, Executive Director of AJAC. �I am looking forward to working side by side with Europe�s aerospace and manufacturing companies in order to advance industry training, creating a world-wide standard of cutting-edge training programs.�

With some 2,000 exhibitors, 138,000 trade visitors, 3,000 journalists and 200 official delegations, the Paris Air Show indisputably remains a key point in the industry's economic cycle. It is the essential event for meeting aviation and space industry professionals, discovering the latest innovations and touting our local aerospace companies and suppliers.

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