[Editor’s Note: This commentary was adapted from Technology Alliance CEO Laura Ruderman’s remarks at the organization’s annual State of Technology Luncheon on Friday, May 3, in Seattle.]
The Technology Alliance was founded just over 25 years ago by folks like Bill Gates Sr., Tom Alberg, Ed Fritzky, Ed Lazowska, and, of course, our fearless founding CEO, Susannah Malarkey.
Those folks came together in the late ’90s, looked around, and said, ‘You know, this tech economy thing is going to be a thing and we should position Washington state to be a hub of the tech economy.’ Today, that idea may seem self-evident. But back then, the Washington state economy was built on agriculture, manufacturing airplanes, and OMG what are we going to do about the timber and fishing industries after the spotted owl listing.
We had some mid-size life sciences companies, and people knew about Microsoft, but Amazon had only just started selling books, Google wasn’t yet a company, and Mark Zuckerberg was in middle school.
Bill and Tom and Ed and Susannah and others visited places like Silicon Valley, Research Triangle, and Boston and determined that a successful tech economy requires three things: an educated workforce, research capacity, and a strong entrepreneurial climate.
They also saw that progress on these issues would require a conscious coming together of elected officials, research institutions, and the business community. Out of all of that, they created the Technology Alliance, an organization whose purpose was to broaden the constituency for technology-based economic development and to integrate the business, education, and civic sectors in a shared agenda to foster the creation of a 21st century economy that would benefit all Washingtonians.
A core element of that was to educate the larger community about the value of a technology-based economy, the constellation of requirements for that economy, and the public investments that would need to be made.
Workforce, innovation, and entrepreneurial climate
We’ve had many successes over the last 25-plus years, yet some of the issues remain the same. There are still those who question the value of an innovation-based economy and the need for public investment to support and enhance that economy. What also hasn’t changed are the requirements to support that economy: A skilled and adaptable workforce, abundant innovation capacity, and a strong entrepreneurial climate.
So that is our mission today: to cultivate a skilled and adaptable workforce, increase innovation capacity, and strengthen the entrepreneurial climate by forging vital connections among the private sector, government, and education communities.
One thing that has changed a bit is our language. Today, we don’t talk about a tech-based economy, or the tech sector, but an innovation-based economy or the innovation sector.
Why the change? Because in the last almost 30 years, tech has come to mean almost exclusively the information and computing technology sector, and our state is so much richer than that. We are the fusion capital of the world, with three fusion companies in the Puget Sound region: Helion, Zap Energy, and Avalanche, with Helion being one of the newest board members of the Tech Alliance.
We have amazing biotech research and manufacturing being done on both sides of the Cascades, electric airplane companies such as Eviation. Clean tech, life sciences, aerospace, and software — all of them innovation-based sectors that require the same elements to survive and thrive, and all of which enrich our state.
Reinventing the state’s workforce
I’d like to focus now on one of those elements — a skilled and adaptable workforce. One of my passions is the low number of Washington high schoolers who go on to get any sort of post-secondary education in the few years after they graduate. We are in the bottom five states in the nation. Yes, you heard that correctly, the bottom five states in the nation. We barely crack 50%, and that’s a statistic that hasn’t changed in more than two decades. So while it’s tempting to blame COVID or rising costs or declining trust in institutions, the problem transcends current events.
Why is that, you may be asking? Everyone has a theory. My suspicion is that everyone is a little bit correct, and so there is no silver bullet. We’re going to have to take a buckshot approach.
The Gates Foundation, Washington STEM, and the Washington Roundtable have all done great research in this area and we know a couple of things:
1. There is a significant mismatch between the percentage of kids in high school who say they have post-secondary aspirations, and the perception of educators, who believe a much smaller number of those kids want to continue their education after high school.
Eighty-eight percent of kids want to pursue post-secondary education, yet the adults in the building believe that only 48% do. Is it then a surprise that only 50% end up going? And when each counselor has 230-plus kids on their caseload, as per the state funding formula, you can bet they are triaging like crazy. Many kids who would like to go on aren’t given the time, attention, and information they need to be successful.
2. There is a fundamental misunderstanding about the cost of college and debt burden. We hear frightening national statistics about people spending decades paying off hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. The reality in our state is that only about half of undergrads have any debt at all. The average University of Washington undergraduate leaves with about $10,000, and 37% of Washington State University students pay no tuition at all.
Again, hearing about national statistics, the application process seems overwhelming, and gaining admission seems too much like winning the lottery to put in all that effort. Again, for an undergraduate degree, the local reality is different.
Here is the good news: the state Legislature and our higher-ed institutions have been working, maybe too quietly, on some solutions. But there is still work to be done. So I’d like to leave you all with a charge. My call to action to you is to spread the news about three things:
- We need more adults in schools helping kids discover their options and navigate the process. Whether that’s supporting College Success Foundation, volunteering at your local high school, or connecting with you legislators, please help our schools guide *all* of our kids to the post-secondary pathway that is right for them. In every study, it’s what the kids and their families are asking for.
- Guaranteed Admission. If you have a B average and are on track to complete graduation requirements, you have guaranteed admission to any four-year public institution in the state except UW Seattle and UW Bothell, and that is regardless of income.
- Washington College Grant. This program provides money for all types of education — including certificate programs, job training, and apprenticeships in addition to two- and four-year colleges. You don’t have to be 18 or 19 going to school for the first time, or even attending full time. Imagine a parent who wants to upskill or someone who has a more physical job whose body is giving up on them, or anyone looking to change careers for a better future.
These three programs won’t move the needle alone. Together, they can make a dent — if people know about them. Please spread the word.
