Editorial
Savor the moment of Boeing's decision

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Savor the moment.

So said Alan Mulally, Boeing's division head here, to the Boeing workers who have now been told they will be assembling 2,000 to 3,000 7E7s over the next 20 years.

The people of Washington may also savor this moment. Our state was pitted against North Carolina, Alabama, Texas and other lower-wage states for the most high-profile job of industrial manufacturing in the United States. Costs were measured, risks assessed, intangibles considered — and we won.

Let no one say manufacturing is dead in Washington.

The losing states will say we had an advantage. We do. We have built airplanes for almost half a century.

We had another advantage. Our political leaders did not listen to the great gabble of sour-faces who said Boeing's exit was a foregone conclusion. Gov. Gary Locke pushed for and signed an unprecedented package of tax breaks to the company. He also approved a rollback in the state's rich unemployment benefits, which did not endear him to some in his own party.

Let no one say our governor takes no risks. He took one, and will be remembered for it.

The Aerospace Machinists deserve special credit. They could have been cynical; lots of people were. Instead, they proclaimed, "We Can Do It." It was corny but real. Activists who had picketed Boeing in the past now pulled for Boeing's interest.

Later, the Machinists and their brother union, SPEEA, will be across the table, making demands. It is how our system works. Now they can celebrate Puget Sound remaining at the center of the jet-transport industry.

The new Snohomish County executive, Aaron Reardon, credits another group that may be overlooked: the people inside Boeing who pulled for their home state. Thank you to them.

Boeing's decision is a sigh of relief. But there is more to do. There always is.

Transportation is not done. Improvements to our highways are hardly begun.

Education is not done. The state has set goals, but we have not achieved them.

Regulatory reform is not done. Some progress has been made in Olympia and more at the Boeing hometowns of Renton and Everett.

Beyond these things is a more general thing: a respect for the people who make things. Most of us pay no more attention to the needs of industry than to the source of the power when we turn on the lights. Industry is just there.

Aerospace is one of many industries that are here because they choose to be here. Industry can leave and take prosperity with it. It stays because we want it to stay, and believing in ourselves, we make things happen.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company