Industrial players beginning to evaluate sites in the greater Seattle region may soon feel about as welcome as ants at a picnic. Exceptions are made for the hometown, homegrown heroes, such as Boeing. In fact, Washingtonians around the state rallied to keep Boeing from assembling the 787 Dreamliner outside the state; it stayed in Everett, 25 miles (40 km.) north of Seattle. Boeing's other major assembly plant is in Renton, which is even closer to Seattle.
   Economic developers in the area will welcome expressions of interest from just about any industry. But discussions will probably be more fruitful with those in "cleaner" industries, such as the high- tech sectors, that minimize their environmental footprint and can more readily afford the cost of the land, which by any standard is high.
   "We're practical in the Northwest," says Sue Carlson, director of development at Segale Properties, in Tukwila. "At the end of the day, we all understand the realities of the situation and the economics at work in the market. I'll never say never," she notes, considering the prospects of a heavy industrial user taking space at one of the several business parks she's developing. "But I don't think we can meet a $6- or $8- per- square- foot price point if that is what a company is looking for. We're not precluding anything, but in the Northwest, because of our values and the environment and the regulatory issues, at some point the economics don't work. We can't offer big incentives packages from the state, and the landowners can't benefit from that. The quality of life, the work force and education are what we can offer in incentives."
   Still, a number of communities around the state would, in fact, welcome industrial development; the argument could be made that resistance to heavy industry grows in proportion to proximity to King County. Moses Lake in the eastern part of the state and Bremerton in the western part are just two communities where industrial development can thrive. Industrial site selectors, therefore, should not eliminate the state from consideration.
   On the contrary, parts of Washington State are thriving because of their receptivity to large industrial projects. Grant County is a good example, with several major project announcements in recent months concerning manufacturing and high- tech enterprises.
   Renewable Energy Corp., for example, is investing $600 million to build a new plant in Moses Lake to produce polysilicon used in solar technology applications. The Norwegian company's third plant will mean 90 new jobs. Completion of the plant and start of production will take place in 2008.
   Grant County also is the location of two new data centers – one each for Microsoft and Yahoo – that will play an important role in those companies' future growth plans. For more on those projects and another one in nearby Douglas County, see the Data Centers article.