15^th Annual Globe Award Dinner
Lt. Governor Brad Owen
Hotel Murano Bicentennial Pavilion
Tacoma, Washington
February 7, 2008

Watch or listen on TVW

Thank you Lyle.  It is always a pleasure to be introduced by a man who has done so much for the community that he serves, especially in the areas of coordinating neighborhood efforts to reduce crime and substance abuse.

And it is truly an honor to welcome all of you to these 15^th Annual Globe Awards.   Thank you for coming this evening. This has become the signature event for all good things global as they relate to Washington State and particularly to Pierce County.  

We are all here tonight because we all have a tremendous stake in world trade. The World Trade Center of Tacoma is the organization that brings it all together here.   This is the 15^th anniversary of the Globe awards, but this organization can trace its roots back to 1971 to an alliance between the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and the Port of Tacoma. This alliance was formally founded in the national network of World Trade Centers in 1979.   

The World Trade Center of Tacoma is truly an organization whose time has come to lead us into the 21^st century. WTCT’s efforts in setting up partnerships, identifying great new opportunities, serving as a local resource and bringing key players together is having a cumulative and positive impact on your local economy. The organization has a rich and important history, hand in hand with the Port of Tacoma, that is part of the fabric of the county and part of its incredible growth.  

Tonight’s headline speaker, Scott Carson, will have much to say about trade as it relates to Boeing’s commercial airplane division.  It is interesting to see how Washington exports to some of our top trading partners overseas will vary by many millions of dollars each year just based on the number of airplanes they purchase from Boeing. Their sales are a barometer of the state’s economy. 

Lyle mentioned that this is the Chinese New Year, but what he did not say is that this is the Year of the Rat. Now it is not for me to neither judge nor even ask why the humble rat has achieved this high place in Chinese culture and tradition.

The rat is honored as the first of 12 animals in Chinese zodiacs.

They say people born in the Year of the Rat are industrious, adaptable and ambitious. People born this year are leaders, pioneers and conquerors.

In this respect maybe we can all aspire to be a little rat-like. Many of you have achieved your positions in life by following your ambitions and making the most of your time and resources. World commerce turns on the desire of people with these qualities.

A little world commerce has now come to our Capitol Building in Olympia in the form of a gift shop. A year or so ago some of our legislators thought there should be a place where the thousands of visitors who come each year could actually buy Washington products.

After the whole Legislature agreed this was a good idea, a few walls were moved, displays were put up and the shop opened with the start of this session in January.

If you go there and introduce yourself to Lexi Sandifer, the shop’s proprietress, she will be happy to tell you some good stories about the variety of fine products they stock there, the people who produce them and the places in which these products are sold.

For instance one of the products is Brown and Haley chocolates, the Tacoma candy company founded 94 years ago that’s tasty products have been eaten in at least 63 countries around the world.

The gift shop also sells SeaBear smoke products. SeaBear is a company founded in the back yard of an Anacortes fisherman in 1957 that started selling smoked salmon to local taverns and now ships its seafood products to all 50 states.

The shop doesn’t sell Washington wine, but it does sell items related to wine, like bottle openers, as well as several varieties of Capitol Blend coffee and of course a Washington favorite export, Applets and Cotlets from Liberty Orchards in Cashmere and so forth.

I like this little gift shop because it is a microcosm of our great state and its connections to the world. We continue to be very trade dependent in our state.

The two organizations we are honoring tonight are examples of companies that have placed their stake in Washington and the future production and prosperity from engaging in commerce around the world: Babylegs and Sunstream.

Congratulations to  you all for making Washington the state that we are. May the Chinese Year of the Rat bode you well and keep the economic engine that is behind our leadership role in world trade racing along toward industriousness and prosperity.

Thank you.