washington business
You saw the need and you saw the institute as a vehicle . Tell me about the process of building up the institute and creating what is now Washington in the Making .
A couple things had to happen simultaneously . ( AWB President ) Kris ( Johnson ) and I visited six states to find out what they did ; how they were engaged in economic development and using their foundations and their 501 ( c )( 3 ) organizations . So , we started that process . Among the things we learned was not just what I would call their program ( s ) of work , but their boards of directors . One of the things that we had to do was totally rebuild and redo the board of the institute . I think at the time there were three or four people on it , and they had been there for a long , long time . They were definitely interested in some sort of rejuvenation or reengineering or rebuilding .
The second thing was to come up with a game plan : ‘ What is that strategy and vision going to be and how are we going to get that put together ?’ So those two things started going along simultaneously . And it was a good thing that it did because the board really helped shape or influence or critique that plan and how we went about doing it , which has ultimately manifested itself into Washington in the Making .
Washington in the Making launched this summer during a pandemic . How is the work of the institute ideally equipped to help the state during this time ?
It was pure coincidence , and we were actually way ahead of the pandemic in terms of all of our thought processes and putting a plan together . We basically had the plan before the pandemic hit , actually right as it was hitting . We can back up a year before that , we were working on the economic vitals : the metrics and the 33 measures that we have in the plan . That had been going on before there was any hint of a pandemic . The methodology for coming up with projects — things that we ’ d actually do — that preceded the pandemic as well .
What got launched in July was the
Mike Schwenk website so we could go public with all of [ the vitals ] and people could put their hands on it . Now everyone wants to rebuild , rebound , come back better — whatever all the phrases are . But what ’ s the plan ? The benefit of having the framework of Washington in the Making is it enables that , I think , coupled with the army of people in the Grassroots Alliance .
We need economic prosperity throughout the state and everybody throughout the state needs to be involved . It was never the intention of the institute — and the Board of Directors was adamant about this : we ’ re not going to do all this work . So , what was the other magical thing that happened in parallel ? The Grassroots Alliance . Ninetyplus chambers of commerce is our army . Nobody ’ s done anything like that ever in this state . I mean , it is truly an amazing thing . And it ’ s all there . We don ’ t have to build it or anything . We ’ re ready . Put your mask on , keep your distance and let ’ s go to work .
mike schwenk at a glance
Self-employed consultant focused on strategic thinking ; formerly Vice President and Director , Technology Deployment , Battelle
Bachelor of Science , engineering ( mechanical , nuclear option ), Arizona State University ; MA Management and Personnel , Central Michigan University
Married to Sharon ; two children and four grandchildren
fall / winter 2020 17