Gov. Chris Gregoire opened the Washington exhibit at the Farnborough Air Show near London on Monday and said she already has received word from companies that plan to expand in the state.
Gregoire told reporters in a conference call that aerospace supplier UMBRA Cuscinetti Inc. announced it would relocate and expand its Everett offices that will add more than 100 employees. Gregoire also said that Dutch company Fokker Aerostructures has agreed to grow its Mukilteo office from 10 engineers to 70. She also met with executives at Aerojet, which employs 450 workers at its Redmond office.
The governor said the company told her it will be expanding its space rocket engine business into Europe. Gregoire said that expansion is expected to create key subcontracted work for its facility in Redmond, providing not only revenue growth but job growth for the region.
An agreement between the Washington Board for Community and Technical Colleges and Dassault Systemes was signed, making the company’s training software available to the state’s two-year colleges for a discounted price, Gregoire said. The agreement will allow many more students to train on the software required by Boeing and other aerospace companies, she said.
Gregoire is nearing the end of a weeklong trade mission in Ireland, Wales and England. She’s leading a delegation of more than 40 people from the state’s aerospace, green energy and technology industries.
