washington business
New in
Government Affairs
New in
AWB Institute
Make Your Voice Heard in Olympia!
AWB Members Take Advantage
of Job Skills and Customized
Training Programs
While the AWB Government Affairs team works diligently in Olympia on behalf of the
association’s member companies, input from members is essential to helping lawmakers understand the impact of their decisions back home. Whether it’s joining a policy
committee to provide feedback and ideas to lawmakers, helping to coordinate or sponsor events, communicating with other members about important issues, or telling your
story in legislative fact finding and special committee sessions, there is a role for you
at AWB. One of the best resources for learning how to get involved is the “take action”
section of our special website, www.washingtonbusinessvotes.com. It’s important to
participate and make your voice heard every year, but this year it is especially true as
lawmakers work to fill the holes in the state budget. Questions about the legislative
process or contacting your legislator? Contact AWB’s Gary Chandler, vice president of
government affairs, at 800.521.9325 or e-mail him at GaryC@awb.org.
Nine AWB member companies will participate in the Job Skills or Customized Training
programs during 2011-2012 according to
State Board for Community and Technical
Colleges (SBCTC) administrator Kathy Goebel. The two programs were created by the
Legislature to assist businesses in the training
of incumbent or new employees. Training is
particularly important in light of a new report
issued by the Employment Security Department that suggests that the number of job
Friday Phone Briefings During Session
Join AWB’s Government Affairs staff each Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. for a recap of the
week’s events in Olympia and a look ahead to the following week. These half-hour briefing
calls are a great way to get the lay of the land in Olympia, find out what’s happening on the
state budget and ask questions about issue-specific topics or bills. To participate in these
calls, contact Jocelyn McCabe, vice president of communications, at JocelynM@awb.org.
vacancies compared to the number of skilled
workers available to fill those vacancies may
only get worse.
Employment Security
Department Promotes Tax Breaks
for Hiring Workers
The Employment Security Department is
New in
Membership
promoting a program that provides federal tax
Membership Continues to Rise
to-place job seekers. The Work Opportunity
Despite a difficult economy, hundreds of business owner ́