On January 30, the Chairman of the Senate's Higher Education Committee Paull Shinn and others introduced SB 5731. This bill accomplishes two key pieces of the Prosperity Partnership proposal. First it would codify as state policy the need to produce 10,000 more degrees annually. This is directly responsive to the Prosperity Partnership's proposal and would be a tremendous step in the right direction.
Second, it would charge a committee with developing a plan to add sufficient capacity in our higher education system for these students, and developing a campaign to help students, parents, teachers and others understand the opportunities in high-demand fields, as well as the need to take math and science to be prepared for them. This is also directly responsive to Prosperity's proposal.
Higher Education Working Group members and staff have met with over 26 key elected leaders, including Governor Gregoire, Speaker Frank Chopp, the house appropriations subcommittee Chairwoman Helen Sommers, and Senate Republican Leader Mike Hewitt to present the Prosperity Partnership's proposal to fill existing degree capacity in high-demand fields this session.
Targeting higher education funding towards specific economic development goals is a first for Washington State. The Prosperity Partnership is thrilled to be a part of fundamental policy change that is so likely to bring about success in the region's future.
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Creating Middle Wage Jobs in Central Puget Sound
An important part of the Prosperity Partnership's work is to ensure that more middle-class jobs are created in the region and maintained over time, a key reason why the Partnership has focused its efforts on industry clusters.
A draft report from the Seattle Jobs Initiative bolsters the Regional Economic Strategy with new evidence on accessible middle wage jobs in the four county area. Accessible middle wage jobs are those that provide a family living wage for people who do not possess a bachelor's degree. These base industries are essential to the region's economy because they employ workers already living in the region.
All 15 of the industry clusters originally identified by the Prosperity Partnership employ people in accessible middle wage jobs. The five pilot clusters Aerospace, Clean Technology, Life Sciences, Information Technology and Logistics & International Trade, offer high numbers of middle wage jobs.
Although aerospace is still providing high numbers of these living wage jobs, the percentages are down from past years, indicating a trend towards higher skilled jobs and increased focus on marketing and design replacing traditional aerospace jobs.
The two clusters next slated for strategy development and implementation, military and tourism, both appear to offer significant numbers of accessible middle wage jobs. Military data was not available for STI's research, but civilians employed in the military sector are likely receiving middle wages. Middle wage tourism job numbers are particularly high in King County. Further study will show whether these are permanent or temporary and how the Partnership can support the growth of this industry.
Other industries offering middle wage jobs are construction, government, and medical technicians. Medical technician training has been identified as a high demand community college degree by the Partnership's Higher Education Working Group.
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