MOSES LAKE — Representatives from Grant County joined the “Choose Washington” delegation on the world stage at the Japan International Aerospace Exhibition, which featured an estimated 700 exhibitors from over 35 countries at the event organized by the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies.

Port of Moses Lake Executive Director Jeffrey Bishop and Grant County Economic Development Council Executive Director Linda Martin, who also represented interests of the ASPI Group, were able to present economic benefits of Grant County and the Grant County International Airport during the event that occurs just once every four years.

“It was an opportunity to educate (business leaders) about Washington as a whole and how for our population size, that we have so many advantages and diversity of industry type,” Martin said. “As far as trade shows go, it was more of a captured audience. We were lucky because our booth was located closely to the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. exhibit where they had a replica of the inside of the MRJ. We drew a lot of traffic to people on their way to the Mitsubishi booth, which was well visited.”

The Mitsubishi MRJ Moses Lake Flight Test Center is drawing attention worldwide and Grant County and its airport are right at the center of discussion. The MRJ is expected to begin flight testing next month.

“There was a lot of activity on the MRJ and a lot of questions.” Bishop said. “We had something new this time. We had two colleges approach us to discuss the possibility of reaching out with Big Bend Community College and opportunities to send Japanese aviation students to Moses Lake.

“We’ve been trying to capitalize on the huge amount of press we’ve been getting in Japan. The MRJ is a so much bigger deal than it is (in the United States). We’ve been taking advantage of the new image that it creates for us.”

The Big Bend Community College Aviation Program is drawing global recognition and opens the door to new possibilities in developing the workforce. The Big Bend Aviation Program is an FAA authorized community college commercial pilot training program, which started in 1965 with 23 students and three airplanes.

Currently, there are up to 120 students, 25 aircraft, and 14 full-time instructors. During the course of the two-year program, an average student will fly 240 hours to gain a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating. Aviation training at Big Bend is taken in conjunction with academic or vocational courses to fulfill the requirements of the Associate in Arts and Science Transfer Option or the Associate in Applied Science Occupational Program.

Big Bend’s Commercial Pilot Program prepares students for a career as a professional pilot. Graduates are pilots for many corporations, charter operators, major airlines throughout the world. Students are in the air with wide-body commercial jets, military aircraft, helicopters, and often Boeing’s latest aircraft.

“To be able to present ourselves as a community that has diversity. We do have an international presence from other countries,” Martin said. “We have 10 ports in this county and that was something I emphasized. We have 10 ports, we have data centers, we have advanced manufacturing, we have agribusiness and aerospace as well.”

Washington state has 1,350 aerospace-related companies providing every major manufacturer and airline in the world with machinery, parts, avionics, components, structures, interiors and services. Washington workers produce 1,400 new planes and unmanned aerial system vehicles annually. With that, Martin said, there is a certain appeal for the Columbia Basin with its aerospace and technological development.

“The No. 1 thing was to showcase ourselves. We don’t have a large population, but we have a lot of industry types that is supported by the infrastructure we do have,” Martin said. “Whenever you can prove that you are able to handle that type of business, then it opens their eyes to the fact this would be a viable location to conduct business operations.”

Grant County Economic Development Council/ASPI Group and Port of Moses Lake joined an impressive group, which also included Pierce County Economic Development, Air Informatics LLC, AMGI Inc, IDEA International Inc, LKD Aerospace, Net-Inspect, Nova-Tech Engineering and TMD Technical Solutions.