The Association of Washington Business (AWB) kicked off its annual tour of Washington manufacturers from Olympia on October 4 as part of its 7th annual AWB Manufacturing Week. The expansive six-day tour across the state will make 25 stops in 15 cities, featuring manufacturing facilities of various sizes in a wide range of industries.
Naturally, with an ambitious condensed tour like this, the 12-person team from AWB needed to start off with energy and enthusiasm. What better place to get a JOLT for the adventure than Dancing Goats Coffee’s manufacturing facility on Market Street in downtown Olympia.
The first stop on the state-wide tour was a coffee roasting tutorial and tasting with Nate Ireland, Dancing Goats’ outreach coordinator. Dancing Goats has been an Olympia business staple since 1988, when Larry and Cherie Challain opened their first coffee bar on 4th Avenue. The business grew rapidly through vertical integration as the couple purchased Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters in 1990. Riding the wave of the coffee boom, the company now has multiple locations in Georgia and Washington.
The AWB bus tour kicked off at the the company’s corporate headquarters. The manufacturing facility and headquarters building is located near the Olympia Farmers Market. The multi-purpose facility acts as the main roasting and production facility for West Coast distribution and as a training center for corporate retail stores and wholesale coffee partners. The manufacturing facility employs around 30 people.
Andrew Barkis, Republican state representative for the 2nd Legislative District, was at the caffeinated kick-off for the AWB bus tour. He told The JOLT, “I consider them a partner. Having a resource like AWB and their staff with their breadth of knowledge helps in the policy process.”
The Association of Washington Business is a nonprofit entity with a not-for-profit political action committee attached to it. The association bills itself as “Washington’s oldest and largest statewide business association.” It claims nearly 7,000 members representing 700,000 employees. AWB serves as both the state’s chamber of commerce and the manufacturing and technology association.
The group says that its week-long AWB Manufacturing Week event “brings attention to the important role manufacturing plays in our state’s economy and supports the goal to double the number of manufacturing jobs in Washington by 2031.”
Kris Johnson, AWB President, stated about the bus tour, “The story of Washington manufacturing is an optimistic one, despite the challenges we have all been through the last few years. We make amazing products in Washington, and we send them all over the world. This tour is a great opportunity to highlight and celebrate Washington’s makers, highlight the great career opportunities that exist in manufacturing and call attention to ways we can help grow manufacturing here.”
You can learn more about AWB, and catch up with them on tour at AWB.org. The final day of the bus tour lands in the Seattle area next Wednesday, October 11 with a tour at Boeing Additive Manufacturing.
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