Washington Business Summer 2018 | Washington Business | Page 17

from the institute chair
‘Refreshed’ AWB Institute Approaching
the Launch of Bold, New Agenda
Mike Schwenk
The AWB Institute has mostly completed refreshing its board
of directors, has convened an inaugural board meeting with
the new team, and has reached consensus on the general
direction, value proposition and principles under which it
will operate. Chief among those is to be solutions oriented,
to have a long-term perspective working on really big,
challenging problems, and to be inclusive of any who want to
partake in finding solutions.
To guide us, Job 1 is to craft a vision for the state of Washington.
We will do this in a very unique way. We will not start with a blank
sheet of paper. Rather, we will collect visions and long-range
strategic plans which already exist, or are under construction,
by many local, regional and state organizations throughout
Washington, and aggregate those into a comprehensive picture
of a preferred future. The process will have on it the fingerprints
of many, not just a few, allowing us to take advantage of so much
analysis, subject matter expertise, and passion from across all of
Washington. It will also inform all of us about how our collective
aspirations complement, which may conflict, and where we may
have none, but should.
This is no small undertaking. But not to have tried is to have
failed. We need this. Our state, as is true in any state, is a complex
system of interdependent parts. Whether we realize it or not
— whether we like it or not — we all matter to one another. So,
sharing our aspirations is important, understanding them even
more important, and trying to get them to fit and mesh together
most important of all.
But this is where the slope becomes slippery. The
complexity of today’s modern world will take us, the business
community, way out of our comfort zone. The Institute board
is already wrestling with how to lift and bound the vision in a
way that allows compelling new ideas to emerge yet
avoids drowning in a sea of detail — death by a thousand
pinpricks.
Recent examples illustrate why business leaders
might scratch their heads pondering the scope of a state
vision, which at its root follows the AWB prime mission
of “economic prosperity throughout Washington.” We
might simply focus on job retention and creation. But
consider:
• the social issue of homelessness is a business issue
with a head tax discussion in Seattle;
• the social issue of early childhood learning is a
business issue with respect to day care, preschool,
flextime, and paid family and medical leave;
• the social issue of income equality is a business
issue with minimum wage and pay equity;
• the social issues of bullying and harassment are
business issues in terms of hostile workplace; and,
• the (arguably) number one social issue of our time
— education — is a business issue as we all deal
with workforce quality and availability, student
debt, and the like.
These trends have been building for decades. They are not
going away. They will only grow, become more complex and
divert attention and resources. Even the economic development
profession has moved away from categorizing “business climate”
and “quality of life” to the newer term as adopted by AWB —
“quality of place.” There is no bright line separating these things.
But they all matter. They all impact the ability to realize
“economic prosperity.” So, as the Institute begins its journey, we
know tackling these issues represents a huge challenge. But we
all face these at work — every day. And solving them is what we
do — every day. So, we choose to look at this as a great adventure.
And the first step has been taken.
summer 2018
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