Bruce Kendall guest speaker

Bruce Kendall spoke about his job of convincing companies in Pierce County to stay in the county and also convince other companies to relocate to Pierce County. He talked about how he works with a group of about seven individuals that are all responsible for meeting several times with companies and investing time, money and effort to bring them to Pierce County.

 He also mentioned that the software industry has not grown in Pierce County like it has in other places because of higher wages and shortage of qualified workers. He said that one of the major deterrents for a lot of companies that are thinking about moving to Pierce County is the expensive labor pool that is due to the high cost of living in the area.

 He also discussed Boeing’s recent decision to base their next project in Washington State instead of North Carolina and the significance that having a company like Boeing brings to Pierce County. He said that businesses like Boeing with astronomical starting costs are invaluable because they control a near monopoly on the market because no one can afford to compete. In Boeing’s case they only have one competitor in Airbus. Location is a big decision for any entrepreneur.