The Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council recently conducted a structured series of interviews to solicit the views of defense, manufacturing and technology businesses in Kitsap County in the first quarter of 2003. The results were announced at the group’s March 27 annual meeting.

A total of 33 businesses were interviewed to gain the perspective from primary businesses. Plans for business growth were a recurring theme in the interviews, in both job increases and facility expansions. All three sectors anticipate growth, with the rate of projected growth in the manufacturing and technology companies greater than that in defense. More than three-fourths of those surveyed plan some type of expansion in the next three years.

The annual increases based on the surveys are for defense – 7 percent; manufacturing – 11 percent; technology – 32 percent.
The finding was heartening to the KREDC, since it projects private sector job growth at a higher annual rate than population growth, which helps to diversify the county’s economy over time and allow more of Kitsap’s commuting workers to stay on the peninsula.

The overall climate and prospects for business in Kitsap County were judged positively by all three sectors, in relation to managerial and leadership changes. Public services, work force quality and stability and the overall quality of life in the community were marked highly.

A full copy of the report can be found at www.kitsapedc.org.