Washington to Idaho: 'Bring it'

IDAHO Gov. Butch Otter's "love letter" to neighboring states has generated a lot of debate and hand-wringing recently over which of our two states is better for business.

Washington is home to some of the most innovative companies in the world. We have attracted and nurtured groundbreaking businesses and entrepreneurs in a healthy diversity of industries for many years.

Don't get me wrong, we can't rest on our laurels. Like all states we are continually improving.

The reality, though, is that Washington is a great state for business and getting better all the time. It shows in our business growth: The number of registered businesses in Washington has more than doubled over the last 15 years and their gross income increased 121 percent.

According to a McKinsey & Company analysis of federal data, our state has had a higher growth rate of research-and-development jobs over the past five years than any other state in the country. And, just this month, Garner Economics reported the Tri-Cities were top in the nation for job growth in the second half of 2009.

It's no wonder other states are coming after our companies — Washington has a lot of great ones. Coeur d'Alene Baking Company picked Washington. So did Agave jeans from California, CBeyond from Atlanta, ACS and Waste Management from Texas, and Swedish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and China's GCL Solar — that's just 2009.

Why? Just look at our strengths.

As Don Brunell, president of the Association of Washington Business, pointed out recently, skilled workforce, access to research and technology and an enviable quality of life lead the list.

We invest in our people because companies need great talent to innovate and grow. Washington has a more adults with at least 12 years of education (over 30 percent with bachelor's degrees) than any Western state and ranks sixth among all states.

If you're keeping score, Idaho is below the national average for college degrees. And Washington's extensive work-force training system meets employer needs through industry skill panel partnerships and more than 5,000 targeted programs.

Washington ranks high in startups, is a leader in patents and home to a venture-capital system that disburses more funding for new companies than almost any other state. The 2009 Kaufman Innovation index ranked Washington No. 2 in the U.S. for innovation capacity. (For the record, Idaho ranks 26th.)

Another reality check: Washington's tax structure is ranked fourth best in the nation by the nonprofit Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (Note to Gov. Otter: Idaho is ranked 11th worst.) The Tax Foundation ranks our business climate ninth best in the nation. Comparing our regulatory environments, Forbes places Washington fifth best for business. (Idaho is down at number 35).

And Washington is fiscally sound. Washington earns high marks from all three major bond-rating agencies. Our unemployment-insurance fund and other key programs are solvent, while many other states have had to borrow extensively and will have to substantially raise rates to repay their loans in coming years. It all adds up to predictability for business.

We're in a global economy and competitiveness is measured on a variety of levels — including many factors that aren't easily explained in catchy sound bites. The bottom line is Washington is uniquely positioned to compete and lead globally, precisely because of our high-value attributes: our knowledge-based economy, incomparable talent and culture of innovation.

It's a fact that, even with Boeing's decision to place a 787 production line in South Carolina, company leaders are loud and clear that they will keep the aerospace and defense giant working and growing here for years to come. Plenty of other great companies agree.

Continued investment in the extraordinary advantages that make Washington a great place for business is what we need to create jobs — good jobs — and ensure a strong economic future for all of our citizens.