On the first day of the Association of Washington Business’ annual bus tour celebrating manufacturers, we visited a family-owned company in the Vancouver area called TigerStop that’s been making precision cutting equipment since 1994.

Later the same day, on the other side of the mountains, we saw TigerStop’s equipment being used on the shop floor at Adventurer Manufacturing, a family-owned company in Union Gap that makes slide-in truck campers and motor homes.

It was great example of the ways in which Washington manufacturers are all connected, and a reminder of why AWB staff hits the road every October to help tell the story of Washington’s makers.

This year’s tour visited more than two dozen manufacturers of all sizes, from potato processing and clean energy startups to aerospace and truck makers. Local high school and college students joined at many of the tour stops to learn about careers in modern manufacturing.

Manufacturing in Washington is innovative and resilient, employing more than 271,000 women and men with an average wage of $93,000. Companies like TigerStop and Adventurer Manufacturing have lifted our standard of living and strengthened communities. 

At the same time, the sector is fragile, and we cannot afford to take its future success for granted. When asked to list the top challenges facing their businesses today, manufacturers consistently point to Washington’s tax and regulatory burden as a challenge.

That’s why AWB is calling on lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session to adopt a research and development tax credit that can reach down and lift up our smallest manufacturers.

R&D tax credits encourage innovation, boost economic competitiveness and promote the creation of high-skilled jobs. We know they work – we used to have one in here in Washington, but it expired in 2014, making Washington one of the few states without an R&D tax credit. 

And manufacturers need lawmakers to adopt commonsense regulations that provide appropriate safeguards, without layering rules on top of rules and burying employers in costly red tape.

It’s also becoming clear that we need leadership at the state level that will invest in energy production, rather than trying to eliminate energy sources like natural gas and hydroelectric dams.

There has been no greater economic development benefit to the Washington economy than low-cost, reliable hydro power. It has transformed the state of Washington. We must do everything we can to protect and preserve this core competitive advantage, while simultaneously pursuing new opportunities for power generation. 

Finally, we need to continue to invest in job skills programs to ensure the next generation is equipped for the jobs of today and tomorrow. 

Cadence Haskins, a student from Spokane Community College, spoke with a group of East Valley High School students about her decision to pursue a degree in robotics and mechatronics. 

“I wanted to work right away,” Haskins said. “Every single quarter, we get at least one employer begging us to come work for them. The skills you get in this program are in high demand.”

And the demand is only going to grow. 

“I’m trying to educate these young kids,” said Dan Phelps, a 54-year-old who has been teaching welding to 18-year-old Jaxson Baxter at Lampson International in Pasco. “It’ll definitely be in high demand, especially when these kids get to be my age. There’s a big future in this kind of industry.”

As he enters his manufacturing career Baxter, gets it. 

“It’s pretty cool, I’m not gonna lie,” he said as he perfected his welding technique. “Building America.”

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