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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jubilant promises about 100 Spokane jobs

India-based Jubilant expects to add about 100 jobs at its Spokane facility in the next few years.

Marcelo Morales, chief executive officer of the parent company of the former Hollister Stier operation in Spokane, said Jubilant is actively looking to expand at its current facility and has a growth plan that includes the extra jobs.

“We’re growing very well,” Morales said. “Continuing our growth plan is important.”

Morales is traveling with Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is on a trade mission to India. On Friday morning, he joined the governor’s news conference focusing on economic and trade connections between Washington and India.

The new jobs will be in manufacturing, laboratory work and the supply chain, and as many as possible will be filled from Spokane and the surrounding area.

That gave Gregoire a chance to plug the need for better training in science, technology, engineering and math, from the universities on down, which has been one of her big pushes as governor.

Washington expects to develop educational ties as part of its new sister state relationship with Andhra Pradesh, a state in southeast India, Gregoire said. The state also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Confederation of Indian Industries to help develop business connections and signed another agreement to help develop connections in life sciences.

India, the world’s second most populous nation at 1.6 billion people, could be a good market for the state’s agriculture products if it weren’t for a system of tariffs that add from 30 to 300 percent to the cost of imported food, Washington Agriculture Director Dan Newhouse said. The U.S. is working with Chile and New Zealand to try to break down those trade barriers.