For years, Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring has been touting the city as a place to live, work and play.
He’s been right about living and playing. Now he’s right about working, too.
Thanks to an official designation made Thursday, the Cascade Industrial Center, formerly known as the Arlington Marysville Manufacturing and Industrial Center, is ripe to take off, providing family wage jobs for up to 25,000 people by 2040. There are already 8,000 people working there with many more to come soon.
The Puget Sound Regional Council made the CIC the region’s 10th designated regional manufacturing industrial center. MICs receive priority for federal transportation dollars, as they are expected to contribute significantly to regional economic and employment growth.
The CIC comprises over 4,000 acres, including more than 1,700 acres of developable, partially used and vacant sites in Arlington and Marysville.
Streamlined permitting and business-friendly incentives help recruit, retain and expand businesses in the CIC, including a 10-year city and county property tax exemption, no city business and occupation tax, a reduced state B&O tax for aerospace, general industrial, food processing and timber, customized worker training grants and Opportunity Zones that get federal support.
The mayors of Marysville and Arlington celebrated the PSRC designation, which capped an intense four-year process.
“Businesses will find affordability and an enviable quality of life for their employees,” Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring said. “Residents will gain the opportunity to trade their commutes for working closer to home.”
The cost of doing business here instead of to the south is also a factor, he said.
“North Snohomish County offers businesses and workers a naturally beautiful and enviable quality of life at a bargain price compared to Seattle and Bellevue,” Nehring said, adding the median home value in Marysville and Arlington is half the price than in Seattle.
He said investments made by his city and Arlington in stormwater detention and road work have been key to attracting businesses already to the CIC. Other infrastructure site benefits include high-speed fiber, rail lines, excellent freeway and highway access, Arlington Airport and nearby Port of Everett, he said.
The state has funded a new Interstate 5 freeway exit at 156th Street NE that will go straight to the center, starting in 2025. The state is also widening Highway 531, the east-west highway that runs through the business center starting in 2021.
“And newly opened passenger air service at nearby Paine Field is the icing on the transportation cake, making it easy to fly in and out within minutes instead of hours,” he said.
Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert also is excited.
“Our goal to benefit our residents with access to good employment opportunities close to home is now well on the way to being achieved.”
