Published: Monday, December 31, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

But in 2012, the Boeing Co. delivered the first 787 aircraft built in South Carolina. And within a few years, Alabama will join the jet-making club when Airbus workers in Mobile deliver their first A320.

Keeping Washington's aerospace industry happy is a necessity for government officials in 2013, as the state swears in a new governor.

"The challenge for the state of Washington is: How are they going to continue to grow the aerospace industry with the budget woes they've got?" said Scott Hamilton, an analyst with Issaquah-based Leeham Co.

More to the point: Can the state retain what it has?

In recent years, with the help of industry organizations, the state and local governments in Washington have gotten behind training and education efforts geared at the aerospace industry. With her term waning, Gov. Chris Gregoire earlier this month included another $26 million for aerospace training in her 2013 to 2015 budget proposal.

But it will be up to Gov.-elect Jay Inslee to set the state's aerospace strategy.

"Aerospace is one of the priority clusters in (Inslee's) jobs plan," Sterling Clifford, an Inslee spokesman, said in an interview Friday.

A looming wave of aerospace workers retiring will put pressure on the state to ensure there's a training plan in place to meet the industry's needs. Inslee is aware of that, Clifford said.

Linda Lanham, executive director of the Aerospace Futures Alliance, advocated for many of the worker training programs that are in place.

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State has work ahead to keep aerospace jobs