Washington Resources Page
Inward Investment Guides

Regional Review: Pacific States Show Their Prowess in Advanced Technologies

Dan Calabrese (Location USA / April 2013)
While natural resources, particularly in the area of energy, serve as a lynchpin for the Pacific States, international investors are showing strong interest in the region — moving forward on projects that involve advanced technology, medicine, energy systems, and more. More

The Top-10 Cities for Life Sciences Companies in 2013

Area Development Online Research Desk (March 2013)
JLL’s second annual life sciences cluster report ranks top-10 cities for life sciences companies in 2013. More

Market Report: Life Sciences Site Selection Focused on Smaller Cities, Access to Innovation and Incentives

Richard McBlaine, International Director, Solutions Development & Chairman - Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle, Jones Lang LaSalle (Q1 / Winter 2013)
North American life sciences companies are shuffling and right-sizing their footprints to maximize ROI in R&D and other corporate functions and, increasingly looking toward smaller metropolitan areas with rising industry influence. More

Which States Lead in the “New Economy”?

Area Development Online Research Desk (December 2012)
It’s been more than three years since the Great Recession ended, and only six states have regained employment levels enjoyed prior to the recession, while 17 states are still more than 5 percent below their pre-recession employment levels. This is according to The 2012 State New Economy Index from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). More

How Corporate Taxes Impact the Business Climate

Area Development Online Research Desk (November 2012)
“Taxes are a fact of life,” the Tax Foundation states in a new background paper, but “not all tax systems are created equal.” With that in mind, the organization sets out every year to rank U.S. states in its “State Business Climate Tax Index.” More

Colliers International: Will the United States Be Ready for Intermodalism?

Area Development Online Research Desk (August 2012)
Colliers International recently released its North American Port Analysis Report highlighting the rapid growth of "intermodalism" and the need for significant investment in U.S. ports post-Panamax. More

Business Community Cheers Export-Import Bank Reauthorization

James T. Berger (August 2012)
President Barack Obama overcame Republican "Tea Party" opposition to win a big victory over congressional conservatives in a bill to not only reauthorize the Export-Import Bank but to increase its lending cap from $100 billion to $140 billion. More

The Leading Metros for "Prime Workforce" Growth

Area Development Online Research Desk (August 2012)
We ranked 365 MSAs across 23 economic and workforce growth indicators in our Leading Locations for 2012 report. Here, we rank the cities based only on the selected indicators from the overall report that measure workforce vitality. More
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WASHINGTON at a glance

POPULATION: 6,830,038 (Census 2011 estimate)

LABOR FORCE: 3,495,500 (Sept. 2012)

RIGHT TO WORK: No

KEY INDUSTRIES:Aerospace, information and communication technology, clean technology, life sciences/ global health, forest products, value-added agriculture, food processing, marine technology

EXPANDING INDUSTRIES: Advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, biotechnology, clean energy, electronics, telecommunications, software, environmental services, international trade services, marine services, scientific instruments, machinery, valueadded agriculture

COLLEGE GRADUATES: (Age 25 and over) 31%

BASIC BUSINESS TAXES:
Business and Occupation Tax: Washington imposes this tax on most businesses; it is based on gross receipts and there are few deductions available; the rate for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers is 0.484 percent; the rate for retailers is 0.471 percent; services are now subject to a uniform B&O tax rate of 1.8 percent; other B&O tax rates vary from 0.138 percent to 1.63 percent.

Sales and Use Tax: Sales tax must be collected on retail sales of tangible personal property, as well as cleaning, repairing, altering, or improving real property and tangible personal property, including labor charges; use tax is due on the value of tangible personal property used in the state on which retail sales tax has not been paid; exemptions include groceries and prescription drugs; the state sales tax is 6.5 percent; the local rate varies from 0.5 to 3.0 percent depending on the location where the customer receives the goods or the services are performed.

Property Tax: Local tax with rates based on appraised value and varying by location; the average statewide effective property tax is $11.78 per $1,000 of assessed value.

BUSINESS INCENTIVES:
Sales and use tax exemption on machinery and equipment

Business and Occupation Tax credits

Rural County Business & Occupation Tax Credit Program

High-Technology Business & Occupation Tax Credit Program

Rural county sales and use tax deferral for eligible data centers

High-Technology Sales and Use Tax Deferral/Exemption Program

Customized Job Training B&O Tax Credit

High unemployment county sales and use tax deferral

Industrial Development Revenue Bonds

Community Economic Revitalization Board funding

Development Loan Fund

Washington State Job Skills Program

Community Empowerment Zones

Enterprise communities

Foreign-trade zones

Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program

Renewable energy incentives

Principal Manufacturing industries

  • Aerospace
    31.4%
  • Food Manufacturing
    12.9%
  • Computers & Electronic Product Manufacturing
    7.6%
  • Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
    6.3%
  • Wood Product Manufacturing
    5.0%
  • Machinery
    4.6%
  • Other Transportation Equipment
    3.8%
  • Paper
    3.7%
  • Nonmetallic Mineral Products
    3.4%
  • Other Manufacturing Industries
    21.4%