Washington State
Reason to Choose Washington
Washington State (WA) is not usually well-known by French people but is worth discovering! Washington State is unique for its quality of life as well as for its ecosystem, being among the most dynamic and diverse in the United States.
With more than 7.4 million people, Washington State’s GDP is about 21% of France’s GDP (2019) with a low unemployment, high rate of education, and Fortune 500 companies alongside highly innovative startups.
10 Reasons to Choose WA | GDP by State | Experience WA
Washington’s Economy
A Wide Range of Industries
Washington State has a large and diversified economy representing industries such as: Aeronautics, Space, Robotics, Mechanics, Retail, Textiles, Video Games, Life Sciences (especially Bio-tech), High-Tech (including AI, software, virtual and augmented reality), Maritime and Agriculture. Washington State is the number one apple producer and number two wine producer in the United States.
Prominent Companies & Clusters
Washington State hosts several worldwide companies and headquartered in the Greater Seattle Area, including: Boeing (90% of the production of airliners), Microsoft, Amazon, Tableau Software (Sales Force), PACCAR (DAF, Peterbilt, Kenworth), Starbucks, Expedia, Nordstrom, Costco, Zillow, Valve, Blue Origin, Space X, And F5.
More and more companies from California and other countries have also opened campuses and offices in the Seattle area: Google, Apple, Facebook, Booking.com, Nintendo, T-Mobile, and Mercedes-Benz (MBRDNA) to name a few.
Startup Environment
Washington State offers a strong startup ecosystem in High Tech but also Life Science, the space industry and Blue Maritime. With a wide large of industries, high education level and a qualified workforce, you can develop a business easily and have the benefit of dozens of accelerators, incubators and angel investors to help with raising funds.
Seattle Startup Ecosystem l Starting a Small Business: Guide
Education
Seattle is the most-educated big U.S. city
Seattle has long been counted among the best-educated U.S. cities: As of 2017, 63 percent of Seattle residents age 25 and older had a four-year college degree. Among the 50 largest cities in the country, Seattle is the only one to hit that 60 percent mark since 2015 (source and link: Seattle Times 2019). The rise in the number of college graduates is still remarkable. Also 8 in 10 newcomers have a college degree.
Washington State offers many higher education opportunities:
See all the schools, colleges, institutions from the
Washington Student Achievement Council
The University of Washington (UW) is one of the nation’s premier research universities. They offer a large range of academic departments spanning: Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Business, Management, Marketing and related support services, Computer and Information Sciences, Engineering, and more.
The University of Washington places fifth overall on Reuters' 2019 ranking (link here) of the World's Most Innovative Universities but is the highest-ranked public university on the list.
University of Washington UW’s collaborative innovation hub
French bilingual program and schools:
There are many opportunities to learn French and, or, for children to have French / English bilingual programs and French school curriculum. To help you, see the list of schools and organizations, programs, locations:
French bilingual program and schools
French Investments in Washington State
France is #5 in Washington for jobs created by foreign companies with 9800 jobs created. Many of these jobs are through Boeing’s suppliers such as SAFRAN, DAHER, LATECOERE,... and DASSAULT SYSTEMES. The other sectors are High Tech, Biotechnology, services, restaurants, retail...