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Don Brunell new job as VP Gordon Thoms Honeywell Government Affairs of Washington State by Staff Profile Association of Washington Business, October 8, 2014

Don C. Brunell joined Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs as vice president in January 2014. Don specializes in strategic positioning, coalition building, messaging and strategies on a variety of issues from energy, transportation, education and worker training, environment, health care, tax and regulatory policy and human resources such as workers compensation and unemployment insurance. He brings and extensive background in working with business community leaders, Washington State Legislature and our state's Congressional delegation.

Previously, Don was president and CEO of the Association of Washington Business, commonly referred to as AWB, from 1988-2014. AWB is Washington's oldest and largest statewide business organization. It has 8,200 members and employs more than 700,000 workers in our state's private sector. Those members include Boeing, Microsoft, Puget Sound Energy and FedEx.

Don is a Montana native and a graduate of the University of Montana, Missoula (1968), with a BA in education. He started his career as a writer and copy editor for two Montana daily newspapers (The Montana Standard and Missoulian) before going to Washington, D.C., in 1973 as a press aide to Western Montana Congressman Richard Shoup.

In 1975, he joined The Inland Forest Resource Council, an association of intermountain forest products companies, to coordinate federal timber supply and forest manage issues at the federal level. In 1978, he became Washington's issues and communications director for Crown Zellerbach Corp. and moved to Olympia. He was elected to the board of directors and executive committees of the Association of Washington Business, the Washington Forest Protection Association and the Northwest Pulp and Paper Association.

In 1986, Don became vice president of Governmental Affairs for AWB and was named president in 1988. In 1992, Don retired from the Washington Army National Guard as a major.

Nationally, Don is currently chairman of Conference of State Manufacturers Associations (2011-13). He has chaired the National Industrial Council of National Association of Manufacturers (2000-2002) and Council of State Chambers of Commerce (2006-2008). Don is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100 and served on the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Board of Directors (1999-2003).

In Washington, Don helped form the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a partnership between the Washington Research Council, Washington Roundtable and AWB. He served as secretary-treasurer for Kids' Chance of Washington and is a member of the executive committees of Business Week and the Washington Research Council and serves on the advisory board for WGU-Washington.

His appointments include: the Competitiveness Council and Transforming the State Budget for Gov. Gregoire; Early Learning Commission and Blue Ribbon Workers Comp Committee under Gov. Locke; and, the Accountability Task Force for the Commission on Student Learning under Gov. Lowry. In his personal life, he has coached youth basketball and baseball and was a scout leader in the Boy Scouts of America.

Don retired as a Major in the Washington Army National Guard. Don and his wife, Jeri, live in Vancouver, USA. They have six adult children and 14 grandchildren.

Related Pages:
AWB Names Kris Johnson as New President by Press Release, Association of Washington Business, 10/8/14
Lonesome Larry has Lots of Friends by Don Brunell, Bonney Lake Courier-Herald,10/18/13
A Hydropower Renaissance by Don Brunell, Port Orchard Independent, 2/25/13
Grand Coulee is No Dam Business of Removal Activists by Don Brunell, Courier-Herald, 5/11/12
Some Dams Should Come Down, But Not Snake River Dams by Don Brunell, Kitsap Peninsula Business, 5/7/12
Science, Not Politics, Should Dictate Energy Solutions by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 7/19/11
Flood Busting Dams Save the Northwest by Don Brunell, Tukwila Reporter, 5/29/11
Return of the Sockeye and the Legacy of Lonesome Larry by Don Brunell, Covington Reporter, 11/16/10
Hydropower the Key to Washington's Future by Don Brunell, Covington Reporter, 4/11/10
Things Going Swimmingly for Fish by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 9/21/9
Washingtonians Send Mixed Signals on Clean Energy by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 6/1/9
Legal Wrangling Doesn't Help Fish, or Utility Ratepayers by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 5/4/9
Dams Play Vital Role by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 12/11/7
Good Water Policy Addresses Needs of All Users by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 10/23/7
Last Week, We Were Glad to Have the Dams by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 11/14/6
Breaching Snake Dams Will Hurt Economy by Don Brunell, The Columbian, 5/30/6
Judge Walked Away from Electric Ratepayers by Don C. Brunell, Columbia Basin Herald, 8/5/4
Yes: Summer Spill Costly, Ineffective by Brunell & Scott, Seattle Times, 4/15/4