Many images might come to mind when you hear the word “business”: your local grocery store, or the place where you go to work each day, or one of our state’s thousands of manufacturers. 

But the employers of Washington fulfill another important role: they are diverse, strong pillars supporting our civic life. 

Or to use a sports analogy, in a time when so many people and partisans are huddled near the two end zones of the football field, businesses do their work at the 50-yard line. 

In fact, in a polarized era, employers are increasingly a bastion of old-fashioned unity and respect. 

The idea of civility has gotten a closer look recently.

A 2018 poll found that 93% of Americans believe incivility is a problem in the United States.

Washington Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, concerned about what he calls “toxicity” between politicians and even families, has brought together a number of organizations to look at ways to improve civic health in Washington and across America. In several recent reports, including “Common Ground for the Common Good,” this group looks at why our social ties seem to be fraying and what we can do about it.

At the national level, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation has started a project to support and encourage the basic nuts-and-bolts knowledge of how our country works — helping rebuild the foundation of a civil society.

The AWB Institute has joined this project as its Washington sponsor, and this year we are holding the second annual National Civics Bee Washington State competition.

Over the course of the last few months, a half dozen Chamber of Commerce in communities across Washington have hosted local civics bee competitions. From Tacoma to Walla Walla, middle schoolers have shown off what they know about our Constitution and government, then have stood on stage to talk about their ideas on how they would solve problems facing their communities.

Last year when employers hosted the first Washington Civics Bee competitions in Vancouver and at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, we heard from students talking about solving homelessness, overcoming the digital divide and more.

Hundreds of students wrote essays and took part in this year’s competition. The 2024 state Civics Bee championship will be held June 29 at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia. This is a public event and all are invited to attend.

Another way employers are helping support a strong, diverse civic life is by being part of the political process as practical problem-solvers.

This is the time of year when candidates file for elected office. Some of them are business owners who make the careful decision to devote their valuable time to public service. These are people who understand how to balance the books and sign the front of a paycheck. They can bring a unique and valuable perspective to the Legislature — not just on budgeting issues, but on ways that people can work together to achieve solutions. 

When employers gather, we also bring different sides together. AWB’s Spring Meeting this year in Vancouver features a bipartisan conversation on civic health with Lt. Gov. Heck and former Secretary of State Kim Wyman. This fall we will host statewide candidate debates at our Policy Summit in Spokane. Employers are coming together and building out from the middle.

In summarizing his civic health outreach, Heck said the work ahead to build a more civil, less toxic and more collaborative future is difficult but doable — and important. 

“For all the past generations who fought and worked to sustain democracy, and for all the future generations whose legacy is in our hands,” Heck said, “this is our civic duty.”

Kris Johnson is president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s chamber of commerce and manufacturers association.