Leaders at summit press for better workforce training, education and stable policy to keep jobs in Washington

Former Governor Gary Locke, Marty Brown and business leaders used the summit to press for education and workforce strategies alongside fiscal reforms.

Locke said education was “always the number 1 priority” and warned that student achievement has slipped. He urged community colleges and employers to meet working adults where they are, offering instruction on evenings and weekends and bringing programs into workplaces so incumbents can retrain without leaving jobs. “The colleges need to go out to them instead of expecting them to come to us,” Locke said.

Panelists and the lieutenant governor also pointed to longer‑term risks: energy capacity, water scarcity and constrained airport infrastructure. Denny Heck warned that “it’s not if, it’s when” lines of consumption meet generation and that drought and low snowpack have consequences for agriculture and the broader economy.

Business leaders said companies must invest in internal training and in one‑on‑one relationships with policymakers to build support for long‑term public investments. Steve Mullen and Joe Fain both urged active public‑private collaboration to sustain the state’s inherited advantages and to ensure that public policy supports workforce and infrastructure needs.

The summit emphasized combining near‑term fiscal discipline with mid‑ and long‑term investments in skills and public systems to keep Washington’s economy competitive.