King County Executive Dow Constantine’s speech at the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce’s April luncheon centered around jobs, regional transportation and ensuring a bright future for all residents as the county’s population skyrockets.

The county executive praised Issaquah as a city that combines a “historic Olde Town” with “robust new growth” and serves as a “vibrant cultural center anchored by Village Theatre.”

“Congratulations Issaquah on being one of the economic, social and cultural centers of the county,” he said.

Constantine gave nods to local leaders, thanking Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler for his work in ensuring that Issaquah would receive a stop on regional light rail project Sound Transit 3.

“[Light rail] is critical to Issaquah’s future … You made that happen,” Constantine told Butler.

The executive also thanked the Issaquah School Board for its recent decision to sell the Winterbrook Farm property off of Southeast May Valley Road to a local couple who plan to preserve the property as farmland.

Constantine has been a strong advocate for farmland preservation; his 2014 Local Food Initiative aims to add 400 acres of local farm production every year.

“Winterbrook was really a positive outcome for everyone,” he said.

The central theme of Constantine’s message was the booming population of the county, which is about to hit 2.2 million residents. When executive noted that this number would make the county more populous than 13 states in the union, he drew more than a few “Wows” from those in attendance at the luncheon.

One of the places where residents will see the direct impact of the population expansion is on the roads during the daily commute. Regional teamwork is crucial, Constantine said, to clearing up the roads and giving commuters their lives back, and infrastructure improvements need to stretch into rural areas, not just cities.

“Traffic congestion does not stop at city boundaries,” said Constantine, who was in attendance at Butler’s regional transportation summit last November. “With one million more people expected in the next two decades, we have real challenges on our hands.”

He pointed to the expansion of light rail with the $54 billion ST3 as a big step in the direction of reducing congestion, but emphasized that the area still “needs a solution for funding a regional transportation network.”

Affordable housing also fits into this plan — Constantine is encouraging building houses for working-class families near public transit centers, since “owning a car is a big expense.”

Average housing prices in King County increased by $70,000 in the past year, with a typical family home in Issaquah costing $800,000.

Constantine and his team devoted $26 million this year toward building housing near transit “for people earning a modest wage and working and trying to put a roof over their kids’ heads.”

Through the Seattle Region Partnership, the county is bringing more and more people in the low-income bracket into middle-wage jobs that don’t require four-year degrees in fields such as radiology, web development and construction.

Additionally, the Opportunity Youth program helped to get 1,000 former school dropouts back into the education system and connected with job opportunities.

Last year, Constantine started the Best Starts for Kids initiative, which works to prevent families and youth from becoming homeless.

“We’re making sure every young person who grows up here has the opportunity to fulfill their potential,” he said.

Constantine brought up the importance of ensuring sure every group in the community, especially senior citizens and veterans, is actively engaged in issues such as housing, transportation and services.

“We owe our veterans the help they need to participate in this community,” he stated.

During the question-and-answer period with attendees, Constantine promised to “listen to local business leaders about the things you need in order to succeed.”

“I know the struggles and challenges and I know Issaquah is doing a great job,” he said.

He said ST3 will be a huge boost for bringing tourists to the region, since light rail “is how people want to visit.”

“A lot of folks don’t recognize how much money tourism brings to our economy … and [light rail] is going to change the entire equation,” he said. “It’s going to be a real asset to our tourism industry.”

The common message in all of Constantine’s plans for the future was the importance of working together to achieve goals.

“We all need to be greater Seattle … Our job is to build the entire region” regardless of county lines,” Constantine said.