Association of Washington Business

11/10/2026

We’re kicking off AWB’s fifth international trade mission! With a delegation of more than 30 Washington business leaders, elected officials and agency heads, we started our trip on Monday in South Korea. Later this week we’ll head to Japan. That will be a return trip — AWB led a trade mission to Japan in 2019.

It’s great to have Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, a bipartisan group of legislators, and the heads of the Washington State Department of Commerce and Washington State Department of Agriculture with us as we further strengthen already deep trade relations with two of our state’s top five export markets.

Trade matters to Washington, and AWB is honored to help make the connections that will help Washington’s products continue to find appreciative customers across the globe.

11/09/2026

✈️This is great news for anyone commuting between Spokane and Olympia during the legislative session.

SeaPort Airlines will offer seasonal flights between Olympia and Spokane January through April, in addition to existing flights between Seattle and Portland and Seattle and Spokane.

SeaPort Airlines is a finalist for AWB's New Business of the Year Award, which will be presented during the Evening of Excellence awards gala on Nov. 19.

Flights start Jan. 8 and will run throughout the 2027 state Legislative session.

11/05/2026

Skagit Valley might be the best bulb-growing region in the world outside of Holland, and for three generations, Brent Roozen’s family has grown gorgeous flowers in Washington to sell across the world. His grandfather founded RoozenGaarde in 1955. Also known as Washington Bulb Co., the family business now employs 150 people growing tulips to produce fresh-cut flowers and bulbs in Mount Vernon.

Thank you Premera Blue Cross and Banner Bank for sponsoring this stop in Mount Vernon.

11/04/2026

Congratulations to this year's Workforce Award finalists!

A strong workforce is the foundation of every successful organization. These finalists have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to attracting, developing, and retaining talent while creating opportunities for employees to grow and succeed.

This year's finalists are:

Braun Northwest Inc.
LinkTech
Self Space Seattle

🏆AWB will announce the winners at the 2026 Evening of Excellence, Nov. 19 in Seattle.

11/04/2026

The Palouse is the heart of lentil and pulse production, and Spokane Seed Company helps process and distribute that bounty to the world! AWB toured this company and heard from Andrew Fontaine, president and the latest member of his family to operate the company founded in 1908. The fourth-generation family-owned and operated business is a leading national and global provider of lentils, split peas and chickpeas.

Its main operation is in Spokane Valley with another facility in Colfax and other facilities across the Palouse where farmers can drop off their products. Customers around the world buy its products under the Rumba brand. Nationally, it supplies many well-known consumer brands – and it has been the supplier of split peas for Campbell’s split pea soup since the brand launched the product in 1947.

Thank you Knife River Prestress for sponsoring this stop.

11/03/2026

“We like engineers who can work with their hands.” That’s part of the practical hands-on philosophy at Gonzaga University that sends their alumni out to take the manufacturing world by storm – and many of these graduates come back to hiring fairs at Gonzaga, continuing the cycle of workforce education in the heart of Spokane!

Thank you to Pearson Packaging Systems for sponsoring this stop.

11/02/2026

Congratulations to this year's Workplace Safety Award finalists!

The Workplace Safety Award honors employers that demonstrate an unwavering commitment to keeping employees safe through effective safety protocols, comprehensive training, and proactive hazard prevention. These finalists have made workplace safety a core part of their culture.

This year's finalists are:

Accra-Fab
LifePort
Vulcan Metals Corp.

🏆AWB will announce the winners at the 2026 Evening of Excellence, Nov. 19 in Seattle.

11/01/2026

Founded in 2014, WSU Everett prepares the next generation of manufacturing and aerospace professionals through workforce development, industry partnerships and engineering education.

Thank you Boeing in Washington for sponsoring this stop!

10/31/2026

See how Almond Roca is made, right here in Washington! Our visit to the Brown & Haley factory in Tacoma took us to the one and only place on the planet where they make Almond Roca, as well as Mountain Bars and other delicious Washington treats. The century-old confectioner buys its butter in 55-pound blocks directly from Darigold, its sugar from Idaho and its almonds from California for a truly delightful American confection.

Thank you Walmart for sponsoring this stop on the 2026 AWB Manufacturing Week bus tour.

10/31/2026

The story of Chukar Cherries begins with Pam Montgomery, a central Washington cherry farmer who noticed that the few cherries left on her orchard’s 8,000 trees after harvest would naturally dehydrate and turn into delicious sweet treats. She founded Chukar Cherries in the late 1980s, pioneering natural cherry dehydration before it was widely recognized that the innate sugars in tree-ripened fruit were sufficient for preservation.

Chukar, headquartered at its production facility in Prosser, also has a retail outlet at Pike Place Market in Seattle. It partners with local growers to source thousands of pounds of Northwest cherries.

Without adding sugar or sulfites, the cherries are dehydrated for 18-24 hours in circulating warm air tunnels. Six pounds of fresh cherries dry to one pound after dehydration. They dehydrated fruit are then wrapped in craft chocolate and packaged with the company’s distinctive Chukar partridge logo and their motto, “The best of nature, the best of chocolate.”

Chukar Cherries has 70 employees, a number that doubles as they gear up for Christmas and also swells during cherry harvest season.

Thank you to Banner Bank and Premera Blue Cross for sponsoring this delicious Manufacturing Week bus tour stop.