Jefferson: – Summit examines Jefferson County’s economy: Better-trained workforce, more industrial land needed

Published 12:01 am Sunday, November 13, 2005

PORT TOWNSEND — Annual average wages and salaries at 57.1 percent of the state average.

A workforce that manufacturers say lacks the skills and training needed to qualify for available family-wage jobs.

Median Jefferson County home prices at $265,000, now ahead of Kitsap County’s $248,000 median, and only trailing King, San Juan and Snohomish counties, Washington State University research reveals.

Confronting statistics like these, Jefferson Economic Development Council’s first “Economic Summit” on Thursday delivered a recurring message:

Work together and speak in one voice to reverse such dismal trends.