Clarity is key: Port responds to questions about Mitsubishi project

MOSES LAKE — It takes a village to create fruitful and sustainable economic development success in a community.

That’s Port of Moses Lake Executive Director Jeff Bishop’s philosophy — that economic development may start with concerted efforts from a few, but they are propelled by a community of people doing their part. Bishop says that anybody who wants to help bring economic prosperity to the Moses Lake community can do so, regardless of whether it is their full-time job.

So after a flurry of questions and concerns surfaced on an online news outlet’s social media account this week regarding Mitsubishi’s flight testing project, Bishop and his staff determined that some clarity was needed on exactly what the project is, what the employment structure looks like, and what kind of economic impact it will have.

The project, which will bring a few hundred workers to the area, will be stationed at Grant County International Airport until its completion. The project will take at least a few years, but Bishop said the nature of the project makes it unpredictable as to exactly how many years.

Concerns that arose earlier this week were in regards to the estimated 200 (or more) Japanese flight engineers and technicians that Mitsubishi will send to Moses Lake to work on the flight testing project. Some community members wondered why those jobs will be occupied by Japanese workers, rather than locals.

To answer these questions, a better understanding of the project and its employment structure is necessary, Bishop said.

Mitsubishi’s flight test project is “the mother of all flight tests,” Bishop said. The essence of the project involves Mitsubishi bringing its new aircraft, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), to Moses Lake for testing in order to receive its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight certification.

The depth of the project goes beyond that though, which explains why Mitsubishi is bringing some of its current employees into Moses Lake. Since the aircraft is brand new, and because Mitsubishi is a brand new company in the eyes of the aviation world, the flight testing will be an “extremely rigorous” process, Bishop said.

On top of that, since the company is behind in its schedule with the aircraft, it will also be bringing representatives of the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) — which is basically Japan’s FAA — so that the company can get its flight certifications from the Japanese government, too.

“That’s why there are so many more Japanese coming than we had originally expected — because they are doing both of these tests,” Bishop said. “So the group that was doing it in Japan is coming here to do it here, too.”

Earlier this week, Mitsubishi officials told the Puget Sound Business Journal that about 400 workers from Japan would transfer to Moses Lake for the MRJ project. Bishop said the Port of Moses Lake has not received specific numbers and likely won’t, since the project is dynamic and the workforce will be fluid as a result.

That report sparked concern from some in the Moses Lake community as to why those jobs would be filled by Japanese workers. In reality, though, Bishop said those jobs weren’t “filled” — they already existed in Japan, and the workers in those positions are simply transferring to Moses Lake to work on the new project.

“No American would have been eligible for those jobs in any scenario at any point because it’s Mitsubishi’s plane and it’s their employees they are bringing with their plane to do a service by an American company,” Bishop said.

In other words, the flight engineers and technicians that will come to Moses Lake with Mitsubishi are not filling new jobs; rather, they are doing their same jobs here, rather than in Japan.

“These are their employees they are bringing here to do their certification,” Bishop said. “They could have done this in Nagoya, and Nagoya, Japan, would have gotten all the economic benefit. They could have taken the FAA to Nagoya, but they came here to do it.”

Mitsubishi has also contracted with AeroTec, which has invested millions into bolstering infrastructure (hangar construction and warehouse improvements) at the port for the MRJ project. AeroTec will do the FAA certification for the MRJ as part of its contract with Mitsubishi, Bishop said.

For its part in the project, Bishop said AeroTec is hiring “every qualified engineer and technician they can find.” However, it is important to note that these jobs are not manufacturing jobs. There are no assembly jobs. Instead, the predominant employment opportunity with this project is for flight test engineers, Bishop said, which requires very specific education and experience for qualification — not something that someone can be trained to do overnight. Bishop said flight technicians and engineers are not large in number in Moses Lake, which is why some of those positions have been recruited for out of the area by AeroTec.

Bishop said nobody, not even Mitsubishi, can be sure how long the MRJ flight test project will last. He said the port is signing three-year agreements with the company, but the project will be here until it is finished, however long that may take. AeroTec is a permanent addition and will not leave once the project is completed.

With all these workers coming to the area, Bishop advised community members from overlooking the economic benefit that the local community will experience.

“They are coming in and they are bringing huge economic impact to our community,” he said.

That impact will take many forms and benefit many industries. From renting living spaces to leasing vehicles, to purchasing fuel for those vehicles, and grocery shopping, and retail shopping, and entertainment, and so on, the workers who come to Moses Lake and their families will undoubtedly have a bolstering effect for local businesses and industries.

The workers, permanent or not, are not exempt from local taxes.

And those are just the direct, measurable benefits, Bishop said. As with any economic development project, the indirect and induced impacts can prove to be just as beneficial for the community. Suppliers in the community — like fuel, housing, lodging, and other suppliers — might see an uptick in employment in order to meet the demand.

In all, Bishop said the MRJ project will prove to be very beneficial to Moses Lake’s community and economy. A possible downside, he said, is a shift in price and demand for certain commodities. For example, some of Mitsubishi’s engineers will work in Moses Lake for shorter periods of time, so they may be renting local hotel rooms at a higher rate. This can affect the supply and demand and in turn, the price structure for those commodities. But that is a fairly standard byproduct of major economic development projects, Bishop said.

Outside of that, Bishop said it is hard to fathom how this project will be anything other than beneficial for Moses Lake. Jobs are not being outsourced to Japan — rather, Japanese workers are coming to Moses Lake to do their jobs, which creates opportunity for economic influx locally.

And for decades, Moses Lake has been a huge beneficiary of the global economy, Bishop said. The city’s relationship with Japanese industry is storied and continues to prosper with other companies in the area, both on and off port property.

Other concerns voiced by the public included that Japanese workers bringing families would exasperate the overcrowding situation in Moses Lake schools. Bishop said the port has been informed that a maximum of 50 children may relocate to the area. He said Mitsubishi employees will be rotating in and out, so those who will not be here for the entire duration of the MRJ flight test have been encouraged not to relocate their families. The port has worked closely with the Moses Lake School District in preparation for new students.

With the MRJ project drawing closer to its launch date in Moses Lake, Bishop said it is vital that the members of general public understand the influence they can have on economic development. He said the hope is that Moses Lake’s community will welcome Mitsubishi and its employees with open arms. That type of embrace could contribute to the conglomerate one day deciding to build a permanent operation in Moses Lake.

“Every single one of us — man, woman and child — is an economic developer. Everything we say and do impacts our ability to be competitive when we are recruiting this industries,” Bishop said. “Comments we say, whether we are nice to people when we greet them on the street — I think the general public forgets how important they are to economic development. We need to take a lot of pride in our community because we have a very unique community here.”

Ryan Minnerly can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.