Maud Daudon named co-chair of the Washington Aerospace Partnership

For Immediate Release: July 25, 2012

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced that Maud Daudon, president and chief executive officer of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, will co-chair the Washington Aerospace Partnership in its efforts to support and grow the aerospace industry in Washington state. Daudon joins Bob Drewel, executive director of the Puget Sound Regional Council, and Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council as co-chairs of the WAP.

�Washington state�s aerospace sector is second to none,� Gregoire said. �We have the largest, most robust aerospace supply chain and the deepest, most skilled aerospace workforce in the world. But we must work hard to maintain that position. I am pleased that Maud has agreed to lend her business acumen and statewide familiarity to help take the Washington Aerospace Partnership to the next level coordinating support for this essential industry across the state.�

Gregoire established WAP in 2009 with the goal of helping The Boeing Company secure the U.S. Air Force�s aerial refueling tanker contract. Boeing secured the work in 2011, which supports 11,000 jobs for Washington state. The WAP quickly turned to ensuring that Boeing selected Washington to build the successor the 737. With financial support from organized labor, local governments and private businesses around the state, the WAP hired the international accounting firm, Accenture, to analyze Washington�s competitive position to win what Boeing later dubbed the 737 MAX. Boeing ultimately chose Washington for the new airplane�s final assembly.

The Accenture Report included a number of recommendations championed by Gregoire and adopted by Washington�s Legislature. Accomplishments included the creation of 850 additional engineering slots at the University of Washington and Washington State University combined, the establishment of the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation at the two universities, additional funding for training equipment and better coordination between the state�s community and technical colleges to ensure the workforce needs of the industry are being met, and several programs to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and aerospace manufacturing skills training at the high school level.

�We�re in an incredibly exciting time for the aerospace industry in Washington state,� said Daudon. �With the Tanker and 737 MAX wins under our belt, we can now turn our attention to growing the aerospace industry more broadly and by sharing the depth and power of our industry cluster with the rest of the world. I am eager to join the team in positioning Washington for even greater success in aerospace.�

�We know that more companies around the world are interested in doing business with and being a part of Washington�s aerospace cluster,� said Drewel. �By establishing the WAP as a convening aerospace organization, we are working together across the state to coordinate support for the industry, whether encouraging the adoption of policies that will enable the industry to thrive, recruiting new aerospace companies to locate facilities here, encouraging expansion of those already here, or helping our existing firms find work with Boeing and other airplane manufacturers around the world.�

�The Boeing Company estimates a worldwide demand for more than 34,000 new airplanes in the next 20 years valued at $4.5 trillion. Yet half of the company�s employees will be eligible for retirement in the next five,� added Johnson. �If we want to be the place where the majority of these planes are designed and built, then we need to significantly step up to the plate and train the aerospace engineers and machinists it will take to do the job.�