Gov. Jay Inslee says Washington has the ability to become the global leader in life sciences innovation and healthcare delivery, but it’s going to take a unified effort from policy makers and business owners.

On Oct. 24, Inslee spoke about the state’s potential during his keynote address at the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association (WBBA) 25th annual meeting and Governor’s Life Sciences Summit held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.

Earlier this month Inslee’s father, Frank, died after a long battle with several medical conditions. But because of the advances in modern medicine, Frank was given more time to spend with his loved ones.

“He was able to have a great few last years,” the governor said. “They were so productive because somewhere, in some lab, in some boardroom, there were people who created medicines that kept him going.”

Inslee told the Reporter the life sciences sector for Washington needs to continued to be nurtured in order to grow and provide even more jobs in the state.

While Seattle is home to numerous companies dealing with health technology, Bellevue can mimic the success. However, Inslee said, it’s going to take funding and groups like the WBBA. The sector also will need the state’s research and development tax credit to be renewed if it hopes to thrive. The tax credit is set to expire next year, but Inslee has vowed to work to renew it.

“Our state revenues are growing, but at a much slower pace than in previous recoveries,” he told the crowd of roughly 1,000 business leaders, medical professionals, and lawmakers attending the event. “While our economy is recovering, it’s not keeping up with the aging population. The research and development tax credit has been enticing companies to innovations to products here locally. I’m going to work with the legislators to support the continued investment in our state.”

Chris Rivera, WBBA’s president and CEO, said the industry needs to learn to tell its story as well.Last year, that life science sector employed 92,400 jobs in Washington state, contributing $11.4 billion to the GDP, he said, adding the WBBA is on track to help 100 new startup companies this year alone.

“Life sciences is one of the largest and fastest growing job sectors in the country, but we’re in a very competitive environment,” he said.

Four other states, including Massachusetts, are pouring state funds directly into life sciences businesses to attract large pharmaceutical companies and small startups to launch their products and technology elsewhere.

One of the ways to attract attention is to get the word out of what’s being developed in Washington, and the stories behind those affected by the medical breakthroughs, Rivera said.

“This area is known for its software development, aerospace advancement, and coffee, but there’s just as much innovation coming out of life sciences as those other industries, we just have to do a better job of telling our story,” he said. “We get geeky really quick about the technical and science. We have to get past that and tell patients stories then tie that back to the research going on here locally.”

Rivera pointed to the success of Steve Gillis, co-creator of Seattle-based biotech company Immunex, and a local woman, Donna Jang, who is able to walk thanks to the medical advances from Cadence Biomedical and Kickstart.

Jang said she’s gone from being sedentary and having constant hip pain to being able to work through physical therapy three days a week and taking ballroom dance lessons with her husband.

“I used to use a Segway to get anywhere that I was going to have to walk further than a block,” she said. “And if I did any kind of walking at all, I had so much pain that I had to take naproxin. But now I can go anywhere and I can walk most anywhere.”

At the meeting, the WBBA also announced a new partnership with Cambia Health Solutions, Regence BlueShield and local medical professionals Qliance and University of Washington Medicine to build a new biomedical business incubator facility.

The Cambia Grove will offer a centralized location and meeting place for those working to develop new and better products and technologies.The space, located in downtown Seattle, is slated to open in late January.