Laserfiche WebLink
Old Heat CERB Feasibility Study | 57 <br />(“retentive enterprises”), inducing demand that <br />facilitates higher wage capabilities of local businesses. <br />WASHINGTON STATE SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION <br />Old Heat is also designed to position Kittitas County as a connector within <br />Washington’s broader high-value supply chains. The facility creates a link <br />between Yakima County’s agriculture industry, King County’s aerospace <br />sector, and Wenatchee’s emergent clean energy and technology industries. <br />For Yakima County, Old Heat provides a commercialization site for agricultural <br />equipment and smart technology firms that can pilot and scale innovations <br />tested in the area’s farms and processors. For King County’s aerospace sector, <br />Old Heat offers an affordable launch pad for smaller aerospace and precision <br />component suppliers that must remain within proximity of Puget Sound but <br />cannot absorb Seattle’s escalating costs. For Wenatchee, Old Heat functions as <br />a complementary node, supporting applied research ventures and technology <br />firms whose products are an integration of energy, computing, and agricultural <br />markets. <br />The IMPLAN results demonstrate how these supply chain linkages translate <br />into measurable impact. The projected aerospace and precision component <br />manufacturing activity associated with Old Heat generates some of the highest <br />employment multipliers in the analysis, indicating strong downstream effects <br />across professional, technical, and support services. Similarly, the agricultural <br />technology sector modeled in IMPLAN produces a significant output per worker, <br />showing the potential to raise productivity and wages in one of the region’s <br />historically lower-wage industries. Clean technology and advanced materials <br />exhibit robust indirect and induced impacts, reinforcing Old Heat’s role as a <br />platform for industries with broad spillover effects. <br />LONG-TERM OUTCOMES <br />By 2030, the expected impacts of Old Heat’s diversification role include: <br />• Expanded industry mixes with measurable growth in advanced technology <br />sectors. <br />• Retention of local graduates and reduction in talent out-migration. <br />• A more resilient wage base, with an increasing share of jobs above county <br />median income. <br />• Reduced economic concentration, as shown by shifts in the Shannon- <br />Weaver and HHI indexes toward a more balanced, higher-value <br />distribution. <br />• Integration into statewide innovation clusters, positioning Ellensburg as a <br />key node in aerospace, ag-tech, and clean-technology supply chains. <br />Given the urgent needs of the Kittitas County Region to address low wage <br />stagnation, the Old Heat project is strongly focused on ensuring the area has <br />flexibility and resiliency to readily absorb new technology and economic sectors <br />into the local economy’s historic foundational elements. By serving as an on- <br />ramp for legacy firms and a launch pad for new enterprises, Old Heat directly <br />addresses the region’s historic over-reliance on low-wage service industries. <br />Its role as an “accelerator of accelerators” ensures that diversification is deeply <br />embedded in the capabilities of the region, its workforce, and its institutions. <br />The outcome is a more diverse, resilient, and competitive economy that is able <br />to sustain growth, retain talent, and drive innovation for the larger regional and <br />State economies. <br />Image Credit: CWU Website