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What’s Ahead
The Forgotten Legacy Industry
Jason Hagey, Executive Editor
UniWest, Pasco
Wendy Sancewich, Vice Chair
RSM, Seattle
Tom Pucci, Secretary/Treasurer
Expedia, Bellevue
Mel Russell, Immediate Past Chair
Vancouver
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Aerospace. High-tech. Agriculture. Any list of Washington’s major industry
sectors is bound to include those heavy hitters.
But Washington’s vital maritime industry, which belongs right up there with
them, is sometimes overlooked, despite the prominent reminder we see each
time Seattle’s baseball team takes the field.
“We feel often like it’s the forgotten legacy industry,” Joshua Berger,
maritime lead at the state Department of Commerce, told contributing writer
Richard Davis for this edition’s cover story.
It may come as a surprise, but Washington’s maritime industry employs
more people than aerospace by the time you add up all of the employer
groups, which include everything from cargo handling and logistics to boat
building, fishing and seafood pro X