AWB: Agriculture Key To Washington Manufacturing Industry

The Association of Washington Business Manufacturing bus tour is rolling across the Evergreen state touting what manufacturing means to the state’s economy.  Kris Johnson, AWB CEO, said across Washington manufacturing employees over 300,000 men and women.  And while many think Boeing and other western Washington giants when they think about Washington’s manufacturing industry, Johnson notes agriculture is directly responsible for some of the largest businesses around.

“We grow soft white wheat that’s used in pasta, we have amazing apples, we’re in the middle of an apple season right now, cherries, corn, potatoes, you name the types of foods and commodities, that we eat every day, odds are it was touched, if not harvested and produced right here in the Mid-Columbia.”

Johnson noted many don’t appreciate how food grown and processed in the Northwest travels the world.

“If you’re ever in Asia, and eating a French fry, the odds are it came from right here in the Mid-Columbia.  Our cherry crops, we enjoy wonderful cherries here, because this is the cherry growing capital of our state, and yet they fill a 747 full of cherries every day during harvest season to fly them to Japan.  Think about the wine we produce, we make some of the best wine in the world, and a lot of those wines are exported to foreign markets all across the globe.”

Johnson noted that not only is the manufacturing industry alive in Washington, but it continues to grow.  AWB will wrap up their third annual Manufacturing bus tour Friday.

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