Why Get Involved?

For nearly three decades, the Washington state business community's involvement in state politics has been unorganized and inconsistent. At the same time, other groups have been extremely well organized and consistently active in our state's political arena. These groups have been highly effective in recruiting and electing legislators who support their ideas and champion their issues once elected.

For example, the organized labor community employs a sophisticated strategy that includes strong candidate recruitment activities based on nonpartisan research, year round voter education, and statewide electoral mapping that leads to targeted political action. This coordinated strategy has allowed organized labor to elect a strong majority of legislators who champion their issues each and every legislative session.

As a business community, we must implement our own equally sophisticated strategy to help elect lawmakers who will champion our issues and support pro-marketplace public policy.

Enterprise Washington has the strategy and programs in place to help elect business-minded legislators in Washington state, but the involvement of every member of the business community is needed. When we began our work, 22 percent of the members in the state legislature had some level of private sector experience. Today, it’s 33 percent. The debate is improving, but there is much more to do.

If you want to help us to continue to strengthen the business climate in our state, become a member today!