The growth of the life sciences industry was good news for the state of Washington as it became an important part of the overall economy. The Washington Research Council – Regional Economic Models, Inc. model was utilized in this study to discover that, in employment, the industry had passed many of the traditional resource based industries on which the state’s economy was founded and was in the same range of importance as some of the new, technology-based industries in the state. However, it was difficult to recognize the importance of the life sciences industry because it was comprised of a diffuse array of organizations and firms, its “product” consisted of everything from scientific papers to surgical instruments, and its “revenue” came from all manner of public and private sources. The future of Washington’s life sciences industry will continue to be tied to the quality of talent in the state.
Washington Research Council – Washington Life Sciences Economic Impact Study [full PDF]
