Jim Kastama

Jim Kastama is a Washington State Senator and has been for the last 16 years. Jim talked to us about his work with the IPZ’s in Washington State. IPZ stands for Innovation Partnership Zone. Jim stated that 2/3’s of GDP is directly due to innovation. Innovation is different than invention. Invention seeks to create something where there is a perceived need. Innovation on the other hand seeks to improve upon what is already there. The Boeing Corporation has an assembly plant in Everett where they assemble 737’s. It took approximately 23 days to assemble a plane.  Boeing got the engineers and the guys on the floor together and had them discuss ways that they could improve the assembly process. One thing that stood out was the installation of seats. One worker suggested that they use a hay elevator to lift the seats into the plane rather than carry them one by one up the stairs. This and other innovations cut the assembly time down to 11 days and they are working on getting it down to 9.

 Jim has been working with IPZ’s in Washington and he gave us some insight. The IPZ’s bring the business sector, a research university, and local government together to see how they can help each other. Business has the labor, the university has the research and government has the capital. This model has been very successful in our state. In Walla Walla there is a huge wine industry and the local community college is leading the way in developing young talent to work in this industry.  One thing that stood out to me was the need to work on growing our own innovators and not look to steal them from somewhere else. If we can grow our own talent then they are more likely to stay here and have a much bigger impact.  Another program that he is working on is the Stars program. This program brings in known innovators and builds them a lab or surrounds them with what they need to get their ideas to work. This has been hugely successful with the IPZ’s.