PORT TOWNSEND — The state is doing what it can to help small businesses survive in the wake of the worst economic times since the Great Depression, Gov. Chris Gregoire told about 90 Jefferson County business and government leaders Thursday.

“The fact of the matter is, it wasn’t easy,” Gregoire said of balancing the state budget while speaking to the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce at the Northwest Maritime Center conference room.

“We had to make our choices. We had to pick our poison.”

Lawmakers had to make difficult decisions to make up a recession-time $2.8 billion-dollar budget gap, the governor said.

The budget passed will not significantly affect Washington state families or penalize local businesses, she added.

The Democratic governor praised the Olympic Peninsula’s 24th District legislative delegation of Democratic Reps. Lynn Kessler of Hoquiam and Kevin Van De Wege of Sequim as well as Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam. The district covers Jefferson, Clallam and part of Gray’s Harbor counties.

‘Top-notch legislators’

“I want you to know your legislators are top-notch,” Gregoire said. “I wouldn’t say that about every legislator.”

She praised Kessler, who recently announced she would not seek another term in office, calling the state House majority leader “one of the most regarded legislators from both sides of the aisle.”

Gregoire lauded the Legislature for passing the Jobs Act of 2010, which if approved by the voters this fall, would create 30,000 jobs across the state — while also making school buildings more energy-efficient — the first year and 75,000 jobs in the next five years.

“It will kick-start the economy,” she said.

She said that three new 64-car ferries, one now under construction — and two of which will serve the Port Townsend-Keystone route — are evidence of action taken in the wake of her promise for fast-track replacement of the three 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries abruptly pulled from the Port Townsend-Keystone route as unsafe in November 2007.

“They are getting done on time, ahead of schedule and under budget,” Gregoire said of the new ferries.

Gregoire said that inspiration and enterprise among business people will benefit troubled Washington states in the long term.

Carbon fiber components

The state is on the cutting edge of producing carbon fiber components for future electric cars in Moses Lake, which is expected to generate thousands of jobs statewide, she said.

“Washington state is the home of carbon fiber,” she said. “This is what we need to do.”

Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval introduced representatives of several local businesses in the audience, including Atlas Technologies based in the Glen Cove Industrial Park south of the city.

Atlas Vice President Jed Bothell told the governor that the company has perfected a revolutionary system — called “Advanced Low-Pressure Storage System, or ALPS — that will extend the shelf life of vegetables, fruits, meats and flowers, freshly storing them up to 10 times longer than conventional refrigeration.

“That’s tomorrow for us,” Gregoire said to Bothell. “That’s what has to be done.”

Others who briefly addressed the governor included Will O’Donnell of Port Townsend Farmer’s Market, which he said generated nearly $1 million in sales last season.

Jim Pivarnik, who owns Christina James Winery at Kala Point with his wife, Christina, thanked the governor for supporting the wine industry across the state.

If anyone were to ask her where she spent Earth Day, Gregoire said she would tell them: “I was in a world-class LEED building celebrating Earth Day with you.”

The Northwest Maritime Center is one of the first buildings in the city to be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, an special accreditation of professionals.

Buildings that meet the standards are designated green, and placed on the U.S. Green Building Council accreditation registration.

Before Gregoire’s talk, she joined representatives of the American Society of Civil Engineers in unveiling a plaque to recognize Capt. George Vancouver’s mapping of the West Coast of North America as an American Society of Civil Engineers International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.