Don C. Brunell: Avoiding Bad Trips Down Memory Lane

In 2001, Boeing shocked state and local leaders announcing it was relocating its headquarters to Chicago. Suddenly, the company with its deep roots in our Puget Sound region was housed on the shores of Lake Michigan.

That move coupled with Boeing’s world-wide search for sites to build its next generation of commercial airplanes prompted then Gov. Gary Locke (D) to form a competitiveness council. Its mission was to recommend ways to improve our state’s competitiveness primarily so Boeing’s production and jobs would remain here.

Some legislative and regulatory changes prompted by council landed...