News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 11, 1999
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke visits rural technology training center

OLYMPIA — Gov. Gary Locke traveled to Aberdeen today to attend the grand opening of the Community Enhancement and Lifelong Learning (CELL) Center.

The CELL Center is a learning consortium created to establish a model using technology to overcome economic and geographic constraints in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties. Built with a combination of public funding, grants and private support, the CELL Center provides training in technology skills to residents and offers public access to computers and the Internet.

"Working together, the CELL Center and Grays Harbor County can be a model for the rest of the state in how to embrace new technologies and provide new opportunities for the whole community," Locke said.

Technology-based development is a key element of Locke's economic vitality initiative for rural areas. Technology companies will succeed in rural areas if they have access to a trained workforce, a robust telecommunications network, and a favorable tax environment. The governor is proposing legislation offering $1.5 million in tax advantages over the next two years to high-technology firms that locate or expand computer software manufacturing, programming or technical-support operations in economically distressed counties.

Locke also visited Wishkah Valley School while in Aberdeen to discuss the Washington Reading Corps with tutors, volunteer staff and teachers. The Reading Corps is showing outstanding success at Wishkah and other schools in Grays Harbor County.

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