Can you come up with the correct question to the following “Jeopardy” answer?

The answer: it's a major city located exactly halfway between London and Tokyo.

In 2001 the CEO of The Boeing Co. (who has since departed) said he wanted to move Boeing headquarters to a location that would be more centralized in what was becoming a world market. He chose Chicago.

According to http://www.findlocalweather.com/how_far_is_it/wa/seattle.html, there were many better choices available, including one city exactly halfway between London and Tokyo (4,782 miles to London and 4785 miles to Tokyo.

This city is also equidistant from Stuttgart, Germany; Seoul, South Korea; and Moscow, Russia. And this city is equidistant from NE China and Eastern Europe.

But Boeing didn’t choose it.

Instead it chose Chicago. Chicago is only 3,940 miles from London, but it is 6,304 miles from Tokyo.

Chicago is only 5,000 miles from Odessa, Ukraine, but more than 7,000 miles from Shanghai.

This was a choice of the Old World over the new, a clear indication by management that it is both unaware of the changing world and mathematically challenged. This could be considered a frightening situation for a leading-edge technology company that thousands of people depend on for their livelihood – and millions more depend on for their safety.

If you don’t know the correct question to the “Jeopardy” answer, the correct question is: “What is Seattle?” It could just as easily apply to Everett or even Vancouver, B.C.

We in the Seattle/Vancouver area are in the center of the industrialized world. It is an advantage, and we should capitalize on it.

Don’t believe my numbers. Check for yourself.

But also don’t believe everything you hear from companies like Boeing when that company is trying to get something from the taxpayer’s pocket.

Our thinking should be to specific to the region, but as a United States President said in speech in Seattle 50 years ago, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

We are about to have a change in the leadership in the Snohomish County Economic Development Council.

It is my hope that the new leadership will seek to promote and benefit the entire region. If it happens, Snohomish County (in the center of the overall region) would benefit nicely.