Early in the morning of Oct. 1, a staff team from the Association of Washington Business climbed into a big vinyl-wrapped bus with graphics promoting Washington’s manufacturing sector and set off on our ninth-annual bus tour.

The yearly road trip not only lets us shine a spotlight on Washington’s rich legacy of manufacturing, but it also lets us connect directly with the 271,000-plus women and men who get up every morning and go to work for a manufacturer.

Right away, I was reminded how valuable it is to get out on the road and meet face-to-face with Washington’s makers — people like Jerry and Nick Cloud, two brothers who are the fifth generation from their family to lead Eckstrom Industries, a company founded in Everett in the 1890s.

And Dirk Rozema, the third-generation leader of Roze

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