In Our View: Boeing Flying High at 100

For 100 years now, Boeing has been a Seattle story, a Washington story, a tale of innovation and technology and forward thinking. So, as the company celebrates its 100th anniversary — it officially incorporated on July 15, 1916 — it seems appropriate to acknowledge the immeasurable impact it has had upon the world.

Part of that impact has been a culture of creativity that permeates the psyche of the Puget Sound area and, therefore, the entire state. It is not a coincidence that over the decades the Seattle area became the incubator for high-tech endeavors such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Expedia; it is not a coincidence that the region also gave birth to innovative retailers such as Starbucks and REI. By way of comparison, Washington had 10 companies on the Fortune 500 list in 2015, while Oregon had three.

The entrepreneurial spirit that provided the foundation for those Washington companies can largely be traced to William E. Boeing, a lumberman who triggered the growth of Pacific Aero Products into the world’s preeminent aerospace firm. The company started with a single floatplane operating on Seattle’s Lake Union and went on to help the United States become an economic and military power. As The Seattle Times wrote editorially: “Boeing flying machines have gone on to connect continents, modernize travel and reach space. They’ve helped America defeat tyrants, win world wars and maintain its strength and security.”

Today, Boeing has about 80,000 employees in Washington, making it the state’s largest private employer. Yes, some have rightly questioned Boeing’s connection to the region in recent years: In 2001, the company moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago; and in 2013, the Legislature approved the extension of tax breaks worth an estimated $8.7 billion in exchange for promises to build the new 777X in the state — and Boeing responded by moving thousands of other jobs out of state.

But there is no question that over the past 10 decades the relationship between Boeing and Washington has been mutually beneficial. And there is no question that Boeing has served as a model that has influenced corporations throughout the world.

Writing for Forbes.com, Loren Thompson recently detailed some reasons Boeing has survived and thrived for a century. Among them: Boeing “fashioned a culture of excellence that transcended its founder”; that culture “was dominated by engineers who were willing to spend whatever it took to stay ahead of the technology their competitors were offering”; and Boeing “adapted as the market changed rather than specializing in a few signature products.” Finally, the company “used focused diversification to increase its resilience and cope with the ups and downs of demand cycles.”

Along the way, Boeing has been the rising tide that has lifted the Seattle economy. The company was one of the largest customers of a burgeoning computer industry when the newfangled devices came into widespread use during the 1960s and 1970s; and it long has provided jobs that built and provided security for Seattle’s middle class. Boeing also marked the Northwest as a center for high-tech employment and creative thinking, a status that has provided immeasurable benefits for generations.

It has been a remarkable success story for a century now, inexorably linking Seattle’s fate with that of the company. Because of that, happy birthday wishes are in order for a company that grew from the waters of a small lake in the heart of the city. Here’s to many more.