Economy of Washington (state)

Key businesses within the state include the design and manufacture of jet aircraft (Boeing), computer software development (Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Valve), online retailers (Amazon, Expedia, Inc.), electronics, biotechnology, aluminum production, lumber and wood products (Weyerhaeuser), mining, and tourism.

A Fortune magazine survey of the top 20 most admired companies in the US included four Washington-based companies: Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco and Nordstrom.[8]

Washington was one of eighteen states which had a government monopoly on sales of alcoholic beverages, although beer and wine with less than 20% alcohol by volume could be purchased in convenience stores and supermarkets. Liqueurs (even if under 20% alcohol by volume) and spirits could only be purchased in state-run or privately owned-state-contracted liquor stores.[9] This however was overturned by 2011's Initiative 1183 which ceased state-run liquor stores as of June 1, 2012.[10]

Dryland farming caused a large dust storm in parts of Eastern Washington on October 4, 2009.

Washington is a leading agricultural state. (The following figures are from the Washington State Office of Financial Management and the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Washington Field Office). For 2003, the total value of Washington's agricultural products was $5.79 billion, the 11th highest in the country. The total value of its crops was $3.8 billion, the 7th highest. The total value of its livestock and specialty products was $1.5 billion, the 26th highest. In 2010, the total value of the crops was $7.93 billion.[11]

Azwell, Washington, a small community of pickers' cabins and apple orchards. Wells Dam visible in background.

In 2004, Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red raspberries (90.0% of total U.S. production), wrinkled seed peas (80.6%), hops (75.0%), spearmint oil (73.6%), apples (58.1%), sweet cherries (47.3%), pears (42.6%), peppermint oil (40.3%), Concord grapes (39.3%), carrots for processing (36.8%), and Niagara grapes (31.6%). Washington also ranked second in the nation in production of lentils, fall potatoes, dry edible peas, apricots, grapes (all varieties taken together), asparagus (over a third of the nation's production), sweet corn for processing, and green peas for processing; third in tart cherries, prunes and plums, and dry summer onions; fourth in barley and trout; and fifth in wheat, cranberries, and strawberries.

The apple industry is of particular importance to Washington. Because of the favorable climate of dry, warm summers and cold winters of central Washington, the state has led the U.S. in apple production since the 1920s.[12] Two areas account for the vast majority of the state's apple crop: the Wenatchee–Okanogan region (comprising Chelan, Okanogan, Douglas, and Grant counties), and the Yakima region (Yakima, Benton and Kittitas counties).[13] The industry was developed by the railroads with the Northern Pacific Railway controlling the Yakima valley and the Great Northern Railway (U.S.) controlling the Wenatchee valley. Commercial apple farming was made possible by district irrigation projects.[14]

Significant early pests were the codling moth and San Jose scale.[14]

The apple industry in the Pacific Northwest distinguished itself from traditional apple growing regions in the east of the country by focusing on the quality of apples delivered to the market rather than the quantity. As a result of this growers in Washington delivered their apples to market packing in boxes as opposed to the barrels used by most established growers.[14]

The Great Depression hurt the industry greatly as widespread economic disruption caused consumers in market cities to decrease consumption. World War II saw most of the Washington apple industry's apples diverted to the war effort with only apples of secondary quality and culls left for the domestic market. This significantly hurt the reputation Washington's apple industry as apples of secondary quality and culls had not been sold on the domestic fresh fruit market before. Improvements and innovation in packaging technology during the war allowed apples to last longer in transit. The rise in commercial trucking after the war radically altered the industry as growers and packers were no longer dependent on the railroads to reach distant markets. Since World War II there has been a trend of consideration in the industry.[14]

Botrytis cinerea is a major apple disease in Washington.[15] SDHIs are commonly used, especially boscalid, which has produced a resistance problem.[15] Yin et al., 2011 provides a molecular diagnostic for a particularly common succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) mutation.[15] Using their own test they also noticed that SDH alone did not entirely determine SDHI resistance, indicating that other factors than the exact nucleotide sequence of this one enzyme are involved in the resistance problem here.[15]

Apple maggots are such a problem here that the state has erected the Apple Maggot Quarantine Area between the west and the east.

The Washington Apple Commission regulates the industry.

Washington is the leading producer of hydroelectric power in the U.S. Hydroelectricity makes up over half of electricity state's electric generation and nearly 35% of its total energy consumption.[16]