Aerospace Futures Alliance President Emily Whitman opened the event with a quick overview of the events and timelines that were to take place . It needs to be said that while AFA invited many Industry influencers to speak and share industry details , AFA itself is an industry leader and legislative aerospace advocate , speaking on behalf of the many companies that count on their “ allyship ” to help create the positive work environment we share in Washington State .
The event began with keynote speaker Bruce Harrell , mayor of Seattle . His message was to elaborate on how important it is to be in unity and to be “ One Seattle .” Seattle is a thriving hotbed of innovation and technology with a bright future and is a leader in the world of aerospace .
Next on the packed agenda was Wendy Sowers , the director of market forecasting for Boeing . Ms . Sowers went into detail outlining the current industry status , considering the pandemic and current world politics in relation to commercial aircraft orders . It is still a volatile market , yet Boeing has great reason to be optimistic in providing the right aircraft for the market needs as we climb out of the past three years .
Washington State has unique member-based organizations that have long worked together to amplify each other ’ s strengths . This was confirmed in the Expert Panel : Innovation Clusters .
DECEMBER 2022 | JANUARY 2023 ISSUE NO . 30 37