RENTON - When Gov. Chris Gregoire made her pitch to have Boeing's 737 MAX built in Washington, Moses Lake was there.

She provided her strategy inside a classroom at Renton Technical College Wednesday.

The project could create up to 20,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to her office.

Among the attendees included Pat Jones, of the Port of Moses Lake, Sen. Janéa Holmquist Newbry, R-Moses Lake, and Kim Foster, of the ASPI Group, a major Moses Lake-area landowner.

No decisions about the project's location were announced.

Company officials announced they are considering Renton and sites throughout the state and country, according to a aerospace competitiveness study released this week.

Gregoire's talk focused on spending additional money on the state's education system to provide enough trained aerospace workers.

She wants to create a new Governor's Aerospace Office "to provide focus, direction, oversight and coordination to grow Washington state's aerospace industry," according to her office.

"The 737 MAX is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our state - and we have to go after it with all we've got," Gregoire stated. "It's likely the largest manufacturing contract in the world for at least a decade. Generations of Washingtonians - engineers, machinists and managers - have built 737s and all the other world-class Boeing planes. They are the foundation of our middle class and the backbone of our economy."

Gregoire plans to ask the state Legislature to extend the current aerospace tax incentive for pre-production expenses by 10 years. The incentive would end in 2034 instead of 2024.

Jones, representing the Port of Moses Lake, said he is hopeful that the governor's recommendations are adopted by the Legislature.

The recommendations are focused on improving the state's education system, which generates the trained workers to support Boeing, from aeronautical engineering programs to manufacturing plant floor workers, he said.

"If we can continue to build those programs, it's going to provide for a better-trained workforce and Boeing needs trained workers because of their current demographics with their workforce," Jones commented.

At this point, the state's study isn't focused on any particular sites, he said.

In Moses Lake there is a "broad-based" community group continuing to build a proposal to meet Boeing's needs.

"We believe we have the best site in the state, really in the country, for them to expand," Jones said of Moses Lake.

Foster, of the ASPI Group, said he appreciated the fact that Holmquist Newbry and Jones attended the briefing.

Foster thought it was "great" Gregoire wants to increase the number of engineering slots at Washington State University, with priority given to Washington students.

At the briefing, Gregoire was asked how she would balance portions of the project between constituency groups.

Foster said Gregoire told the group she was the state's governor and her job was to ensure the project stays in Washington.

She will support efforts across the state and not favor one group over the other, Foster said, sharing her comments.

The purpose of the meeting was to publish the aerospace report by Accenture.

The report named Washington a "leader on many qualitative measures," measuring its workforce, education, training and social institutions, supply chain network, political climate, economic factors and physical infrastructure.

The report also named possible locations in Snohomish County (excluding Everett), Everett, Bremerton, Moses Lake and Spokane, and outside the state in Idaho, Texas, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, New Mexico, South Carolina, Kansas and California.

Foster mentioned how Walla Walla Community College changed its carpentry curriculum into an aerospace curriculum.

"Let's face it, she went out of her way to do this announcement at Renton Technical College in a classroom of students with rivet guns and air chisels," he said.

"I think we emerge as a front-runner," Foster said. "We have a fantastic facility at Big Bend Community College."