Sep 15, 2023 By Jeff Kotula 3 min read

The Washington County Chamber of Commerce recently released “Washington Forward: A Strategic Policy Roadmap for Economic & Community Development” to offer a new direction for business growth and economic development in our county.

The initiative is a collaborative policy document designed to underscore the ongoing significance of economic, workforce, and community development priorities in Washington County. The chamber, as the leading business advocacy organization in the county, believes that providing a direction for these areas is in the best interests of our businesses and community, and it builds on the 25-year foundation of public and private partnerships that have made our county a model for stability, opportunity, and cooperation.

The Washington Forward agenda builds on four key areas that have traditionally provided our county with competitive advantages. The four areas are:

• Maintaining a diverse economy.
• Sufficient industrial and commercial sites.
• Growing the population.
• Effective governance and collaboration.

Through our efforts to define these items and promote measures to advance them, the chamber aims to ensure that Washington County maintains its leadership position in the region and state.

The first item – maintaining a diverse economy – is perhaps the most important. Its overarching philosophy allows for the remaining areas to be viable. The chamber, in cooperation with county government and our economic development partners, has taken a long-term approach in promoting and cultivating a diverse and resilient economy. Since the collapse of the steel industry, we have recognized the vulnerability of relying solely on one single sector. As our economy recovered, we have purposefully attempted to develop a more sustainable and robust economy that has many facets, supported by industries like manufacturing, tourism, education, health care, financial services, and agriculture. For instance, one industry – natural gas – makes our county a globally significant location, and provides a competitive advantage by leveraging the low-cost, abundant energy beneath our feet.

We also have advantages with our comparatively low property- and wage-tax structure and our stable business environment. Continuing to maintain those strategic advantages and expand our existing business base is key to growing our economy.

In addition, we must focus on the future and ensure that our significant natural resources are utilized for emerging energy technologies like blue hydrogen production and carbon capture and sequestration. Equally important is assisting our manufacturers and other businesses with integrating advanced technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence into existing processes to remain competitive in the global economy.

With the chamber’s long-standing partnership with county government and our history of business advocacy, we also believe Washington Forward can provide our elected leaders with a concise plan of action that highlights areas of continued importance to the business community and a direction for policies that will affect the businesses of Washington County.

We will continue to unveil and explore the remaining three tenets of the Washington Forward policy agenda and how together these proactive steps can ensure abundant opportunities for the businesses and residents of Washington County.

Jeff Kotula is the president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Promotion Agency.