New Member presentation
Joe Jarzembowski was introduced as the Club’s newest red badge member, as proposed by Mark Knittel and DC Morse under the classification, “Corporate Law”. According to Mark, this classification is too simple as Joe is not only a lawyer but a business leader and entrepreneur, having built and sold two successful companies earlier in this career. All this was after starting his career at Bell Labs as a degreed engineer. Joe and his wife, Amy, enjoy the company of their two grown kids in Seattle and upon retirement have been traveling internationally and giving to his community. Mark noted that Joe is active in the Bellingham Angel investment group and has a reputation for helping young tech entrepreneurs as a guide and mentor. Joe’s passion is startup companies and he remains active in that community and interested and involved in developing an incubator space in Bellingham. Finally, Joe and Amy are active in the Whatcom Community Foundation, including sponsoring a named donative community fund.
Past President Bob Morse gave the charge of membership, with a wise focus on: a) attending meetings; b) mingling among all club members; c) getting involved in Club activities, and; d) help find and sponsor fellow new members.
Featured Speaker – Neil Stege, Washington Roundtable
Neil Stege, a Vice President of the Washington Roundtable, was our featured speaker. Prior to joining the Washington Roundtable, Neil was a senior staffer in the Washington State Legislature and for a member of congress. The Washington Roundtable (WR) is a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy group made up of most of the largest private employers in Washington, working for positive change with a statewide public policy focus.
The WR has taken on two major public policy initiatives: Preparing Washington’s Kids for Washington Jobs and Improving Washington’s Transportation infrastructure.
Because of a lack of qualified in-state candidates, Washington’s growing industries must look outside for human resources. The WR estimates that 70% of today’s positions require a post-secondary degree or credential. From a 2006 baseline test, only 31% of the State’s high school students achieved such a degree by the time they turned 26. The WR has a policy goal and agenda designed to improve that percentage to 70% by 2023. As of the high school class of 2015, there was improvement but only to 40%. The rate of increase must double over the next 5 years in order to meet the WR’s goal.
Improving high school graduation rates, improving college and tech school enrollment, and encouraging discouraged post-secondary students to return to school are key to future success.
The Washington Roundtable’s transportation research and policy agenda is designed to keep Washington competitive in the nationwide and global economies, and improve the welfare of state citizens. In advising on the Legislature’s 2014 State Transportation Plan, the WR focused on 7 major projects, which are:
- Highway Maintenance and Repair
- SR520 Westside improvements
- I-405 Renton to Bellevue
- I-5 JBLM
- The Puget Sound Gateway
- I-90 Snoqualmie Pass
- US395 North-South in Spokane
Total cost of these projects comes to $7 Billion. WR engaged the Boston Consulting Group to review the benefit to be gained and it totaled $46 Billion in increased human productivity, improved business activity and resources saved.
The Roundtable estimates that our stressed state transportation system costs each Washington resident $1,550 each year on average. They estimate that by 2040, with no improvement in infrastructure, this same cost will be $2,600 per person per year (PPPY). The Roundtable’s goal is to reduce the cost to $1,000 PPPY. Neil acknowledged that increased capital spending on highways, regional rapid transit, and ferries will not be sufficient. Innovation in transportation technology will be required, and the Roundtable is also working to foster a tech and business community in our state to that end. They would like to see Washington State be considered a leader in transportation innovation.
