washington business editorial staff
Kris Johnson, Publisher Jason Hagey, Executive Editor Brian Mittge, Staff Writer / Photo Editor Jay Hember, Senior Art Director Jacqueline Allison, Staff Writer
Peyton DeSanta, Media and Technology Coordinator
awb officers
Preston Love, Chair State Farm, Gig Harbor
Megan Hughes, Secretary / Treasurer Barnard Giffin, Richland
Jason Thackston, Immediate Past Chair Avista, Spokane
awb leadership team
Kris Johnson, President Morgan Irwin, VP, Government Affairs Jason Hagey, VP, Communications Greg Welch, Director of Finance Sean Heiner, Director of Membership
Brian Temple, Interim Director of Member Experience and Events
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washingtonbusinessmag. com
What’ s Ahead
Launching a Durable Economic Vision
Jason Hagey, Executive Editor
“ Everybody was doing their own thing. There hasn’ t been a statewide strategy.”
That was a quote from the late C. Mark Smith, a Tri-Cities community leader, printed on the front of The Tacoma News Tribune business section more than 40 years ago. Smith was describing Team Washington, the economic development program created by then-Gov. Booth Gardner in the 1980s.
But it sounds a lot like Washington in the Making 2040, the long-term economic vision launched in June in the shadow of the Space Needle. Staff writer Jacqueline Allison has the details on the initiative, which is a joint effort of AWB and the Washington Roundtable in this issue’ s cover story.
It’ s not surprising that Smith’ s comment about Gardner’ s economic development program aligns with Washington in the Making 2040. Mike Schwenk, the former two-term AWB board chair and AWB Institute board chair, got to see the former governor’ s work up close in the‘ 80s( as well as Gov. Chris Gregoire’ s economic development efforts) and he had it in mind as he was helping to create Washington in the Making 2040.
The big difference between the 1980s version and now is that Washington in the Making 2040 is intended to be durable, meaning it won’ t be placed on a shelf when the state elects a new governor.
Last year, Washington did elect a new governor for the first time in 12 years. One of Gov. Bob Ferguson’ s first appointees was Joe Nguyễn as director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. Contributing writer Debbie Ritenour has an enlightening Q & A with Nguyễn that addresses his goals for the agency, his thoughts about AI— and why Eminem is good hype music for a legislator, but easy listening playlists with artists like Alex Warren or Myles Smith is better for an agency head.
One of the success stories of the 2025 legislative session was passage of a bipartisan bill that emended the state’ s pay transparency laws to give employers a chance to correct job listings before being sued. Staff writer Jacqueline Allison has the story.
And don’ t forget to turn to the back of the magazine to read this issue’ s DBA feature about a fascinating new airline that has started daily commuter flights between Seattle and Portland. SeaPort Airlines offers free parking and the luxury of arriving just 20 minutes before flight time. Those are just a few examples of the content that awaits. Thanks for supporting Washington employers. fall 2025 5