West Plains has enormous potential for our economic future

In the early 1960s, I attended grade school at St. Anthony in Renton. Catholic schools attracted students from quite a large area, so a number of kids in my class were from the Kent valley. I well remember a classmate whose family owned a dairy in the Kent area telling me that his family had just sold their dairy for over a million dollars.

The amount made quite an impression on me and even then, the idea of a local farm being worth so much money was confusing.

I was too young to understand that correctly zoned land that was level and inexpensive, with existing railroad services, an airport nearby and an educated local workforce, would all combine to provide the perfect opportunity for a very large business base to develop.

Because of the past 50 years of Kent valley development including a Boeing plant, all of the attendant Boeing sub-contractors and the large number of associated service businesses; the purchase of that single dairy now seems like an amazing bargain.

Spokane’s west plains present that same economic potential today. Inexpensive and vastly underused industrial parks surrounding Spokane International Airport, existing railroad services, I-90 providing an economic corridor, local colleges producing a surplus of graduates in science, technology, engineering and math, all create that same perfect opportunity for a very large business base to develop — and employers are taking note.

Even though the Puget Sound area is known for its aerospace and technology giants, it was the Spokane region that stood out in Olympia during this past legislative cycle.

In the midst of pitching Washington state to Boeing as the best place to build the 777X, a proposal brought up Spokane as a potential site for the next assembly line. The proposal stated:

“The Spokane region can provide an affordable alternative to other areas, due to its 18 percent lower business cost than the national average, one of the best commute times in the nation and the sixth lowest natural disaster rate . . .”

Many have already recognized the value of locating a business on the West Plains. Caterpillar is hard to miss as you travel by on I-90, and it is already expanding. B.F. Goodrich Technologies is far more than a tire manufacturer. Multiple commercial aircraft maintenance and paint facilities are under construction.

Exotic Metals is building a facility. Both public and private funding is being acquired to provide railroad infrastructure projects, including a trans-loader facility. More development and business siting is on the immediate horizon.

My focus in Olympia has been the establishment of a sound business and industrial base in the Spokane region.

With so many local universities and colleges graduating students in hard science and mathematics disciplines, the largest economic loss to our region comes from the technical skill sets we produce that go elsewhere for employment.

Because of a team effort between Spokane County commissioners, state legislators, Spokane International Airport directors, local business owners and many other involved entities, our West Plains is on the edge of experiencing unprecedented growth.

As we achieve our goals, the Spokane region will become that type of place where people come to find careers, start businesses and families can expect to look locally for opportunity.

I want this to happen for your family, and for my own family too.

Jeff Holy is a Cheney resident and 6th Legislative District state representative.