Maritime Industry Cluster Tour – June 20

The Prosperity Partnership Maritime Industry Cluster Tour is an opportunity to learn more about this varied and important industry in the region. We will take to the road and the water to hear from and see regional fishing companies, ship operators, vessel builders, and ports. The cost to attend this all day tour is $65, and includes lunch. Click here to register.

Washington State Wine Industry

A study commissioned by the Washington State Wine Commission highlights the effect that the state’s wine industry has on the economy. Washington’s wine industry is the second largest in the county behind California. According to the study, the industry contributes $8.6 billion and nearly 30,000 jobs to the local economy. This is nearly three times the amount that was revealed in a similar study in 2007. Read articles discussing this in the Seattle Times and at KOMO news.

Bering Sea Fisheries Conference: Building the Next Generation of Bering Sea Vessels

Recent amendments to the American Fisheries Act and other federal, state and regional policies are providing new opportunities for Bering Sea commercial fishing vessel owners to rebuild or replace aging vessels. Actions taken or under consideration by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council should also facilitate replacement of vessels in the Amendment 80 and Freezer Longline fleets. 

Already several new longliners have been announced, and more new vessels are in the pipeline in a variety of sectors. 

In April Fishermen’s News will again produce our Bering Sea Fisheries Conference to provide a forum for vessel owners to hear from naval architects, shipyards, lenders and attorneys about new technologies available to the Commercial Fishing Fleets: design and construction, funding, enabling legislation and federal regulations 

The following fisheries and gear types will benefit from attendance at the conference:

• Bering Sea Pollock Fisheries
• H & G Trawl Fisheries (Amendment 80)
• Pacific Cod Freezer Longline Fishery

The conference will also be of interest to the following:

• Naval Architects
• Shipyard Operators
• Processing and Equipment Suppliers
• Commercial Lenders
• Shoreside Processors

Register today to take advantage of early bird discounted rates.

Technology Alliance 2012 State of Technology Luncheon

Held each spring since 1998, the State of Technology Luncheon is the Technology Alliance’s largest annual event. Business, research and government leaders from across the state come together at the luncheon each year to celebrate Washington’s progress in building a vibrant technology-based economy and to gain insights from visionary leaders of innovative, globally recognized companies and institutions.

Featuring:
John McAdam
President, CEO & Director
F5 Networks, Inc.

Tuesday, May 22nd
Sheraton Seattle Hotel
Registration & Networking: 11:00 am
Luncheon: 11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Click here for more information and to register.

Opportunity Scholarship Progam Taking Applications

Applications are now being accepted for the newly created Washington State Opportunity Scholarshop program. This public-private partnership was created by the Washington State Legislature in 2011 to provide assistance to students of families earning up to 125% of the median family income and who are pursuing a degree in certain high demand fields. These fields include science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and in health care. Funding for this program was initially seeded with $5 million from the state of Washington, with Boeing and Microsoft commiting to a combined $50 million. Click here for more information or to apply.

Event: Doing Business with Joint Base Lewis McChord

On June 12, 2012 Washington PTAC is hosting a forum covering how to do businesses with Joing Base Lewis McChord. This forum will bring together local experts to provide insights and tips to sucessfully secure federal contracts at the joint military base. Click here to register. Presenters and topics include:

• Dan Penrose, City of Lakewood Project Manager, will provide a briefing of the size and scope of JBLM.
• Tiffany Scroggs, a certified procurement assistance specialist with PTAC who manages the program for southwest Washington, will present a “Government Contracting 101″ session.
• Victoria Ghent, the Assistant Director from the Office of Small Business Programs at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, will lead a course on “Doing Business with JBLM” along with her team of contracting officers.
• Veronica Kammler, Deputy for Small Business for the Army Corps of Engineers, will present a course on regional contracting awareness.
• Ellie Chambers-Grady, City of Lakewood Economic Development Manager, and Denise Dyer, Pierce County Economic Development Manager, will jointly review the regional resources available to businesses including workforce training, financing tools, and a variety of state-level resources.

This forum is made possible through a partnership between the Thurston EDC, South Sound Military & Communities Partnership, and the City of Lakewood.

For more information contact: Tiffany Scroggs
tscroggs@thurstonedc.com (360) 754-6320

Location:
Clover Park Technical College, McGavick Center
4500 Steilacoom Blvd SW
Lakewood WA 98499 US

Event: Winning at the Business of Clean Technology

The British American Business Council of the Pacific Northwest is hosting an event on May 1, 2012 from 4:00 pm to 7:30 pm. This event is co-presented by the Puget Sound Regional Council. Join the British American Business Council at Dorsey & Whitney’s office in the Columbia Tower, Seattle for a transatlantic blend of speakers, highly experienced in Clean Technology innovation and investment.

Click here to register. Registration is $30 for members and affiliates, $50 for others and $70 after April 27 and at the door. Refreshments provided.

Economic Highlight – Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Over the next couple of months, we will be releasing economic highlights from our work on the Regional Economic Strategy Update. These highlights will cover information from both industry clusters and foundations of the local economy.

One way to measure the level of innovation in a region is to examine the level of utility patents that are issued to companies and organizations. Of the peers we measured, the Puget Sound region is second only to the Bay Area in terms of these patents issued between 2006-2010. Utility patents protect the function and abilities of an invention (think cotton gin), versus design patents which protect the ornamental design of a functional item (think the iconic Coke bottle design).

The Bay Area has more than twice the population (7.15 million) than the Puget Sound area (3.5 million) and produced more than three times the utility patents in the period from 2006-2010 (16,364 versus 4,660). Over that period of time, however, the volume of patents in the Bay Area increased by 26%, while the number of patents in the Puget Sound area increased by 79% – more than double the rate of any of the peers that we reviewed.

Locally, the bulk of the patents issued are from activities in King County. In 2010, 78% of the regions utility patents were from King County companies, while Kitsap County came in second with 13%.

Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition – Clean Technology Defense Symposium

The Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition is hosting a Clean Technology Defense Symposium on April 26, 2012 at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma, WA.

Featured keynot speaker: VADM Dennis V. McGinn (USN, Retired) President, ACORE.

The Clean Technology Defense Symposium is an opportunity for leaders in the Clean Tech Industry to meet and engage on their important efforts. Attendees will:

• Hear from the staffs of – Navy Region Northwest, Joint Base Lewis McCord, Army Corps of Engineers Seattle Division, and Coast Guard District 13, on their current efforts to become more sustainable in the areas of energy, waste and water.    
• Learn how to do businesses with the military
• Hear from industry experts on clean technology initiatives.  

WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS EVENT?
Small Businesses, Government entities, and clean technology firms looking to partner with the Department of Defense to make our local installations more sustainable. 

THIS EVENT IS SPONSORED BY
Co-hosting this symposium is Clean Technology West Sound, Climate Solutions, Washington Clean Technology Alliance, American Council on Clean Energy, and the Washington state Procurement Technical Assistance Center.

Click here for more information or to register.

The Changing Focus of Community Colleges

This article from the New York Times highlights the changes taking place in community colleges. According the the Bureau of Labor and Statistics there are nearly 13 million Americans still out of work, but there are nearly 3.5 million job openings in the U.S. Many employers report that while there are a lot of people looking for work, they are having a difficult time finding potential employees with the right skills. Across the country, community colleges are trying to address this skills gap by becoming more focused on the needs of employers by developing certificate programs for in-demand skills. The process to create a certificate program is much less onerous than that of creating a degree program or developing credit classes and colleges can put them together and train workers relatively quickly.

2012 EDD Public Works Prioritization Process Underway

On March 1, the Puget Sound Regional Council published the application materials and instructions for the FY 2012 EDD Public Works Prioritization Process.

Each year, PSRC ranks local public works projects based on their economic development impact, and then sends those non-binding recommendations to the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The goal of this Public Works Prioritization Process is to help the most deserving local projects pursue federal funding.

To participate in this process, local jurisdictions and eligible non-profit agencies are invited to submit projects for prioritization. Projects should be related to the construction or rehabilitation of essential public infrastructure and development facilities necessary to generate private investments that result in higher-skill, higher-wage jobs. Please feel free to forward this information on to any eligible organization.

For more information including application materials and instructions, visit: http://psrc.org/econdev/publicworks

Applications should be completed and returned to the Puget Sound Regional Council by 5:00 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012.

If you have questions, please contact Jason Thibedeau, 206-389-2879

Aerospace Industry Cluster Tour Recap

On Friday, February 10 the Prosperity Partnership led a sold out group on the Aerospace Industry Cluster Tour. Aerospace is an industry that employs more than 80,000 people in Washington State at more than 150 different companies. In the cluster there are also another 650 companies that support the industry – including machine shops, tooling firms, advanced materials companies, engineers and designers. The state aerospace industry has been receiving a lot of positive press lately, and the tour was an opportunity to highlight some of our regional strengths. More than 50 people were in attendance and visited Electroimpact, a company that supplies automation equipment to  aerospace companies around the world. The tour also  stopped at the Washington Aerospace Training & Research Center to see and hear about training opportunities that are developing the next generation of workers. Washington State is also a leader in the development of technologies that support the industry, and Marcia Garrett and Alexis Holzer of WSU gave a presentation on developments in biofuels and fuel cells. The tour wrapped up with a trip to Boeing where attendees heard about the company’s outlook and strategy before touring the plant in Renton. Check out a few photos from the tour below and stay tuned for news about upcoming Industry Cluster Tours.

Seattle OED February City Business Casual

This month’s City Business Casual is this Thursday, February 9, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m at O’Asian Kitchen, located at:

800 5th Avenue, Suite Plaza 1 (located on the P level)
Seattle, WA  98104

Special guests for this month’s theme, Major Institutions (educational and healthcare), include:
Tim Burgess, Councilmember, City of Seattle
Dan Dixon, Vice President, External Relations, Swedish
Theresa Doherty, Director, Regional and Community Relations, UW
Beth Hester, Communications Director, Office of the Mayor, City of Seattle
Paul Killpatrick, President, Seattle Central Community College
Bernie Matsuno, Director, Dept. of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle
Edna Shim, Director, Regional Gov’t Affairs & Community Relations, Children’s
Diane Sugimura, Director, Dept. of Planning & Development, City of Seattle
Jill Wakefield, Chancellor, Seattle Community Colleges

Innovation Forum at UW Bothell

UW Bothell is hosting an Innovation Forum, February 13-16 and it’s free and open to the public.  It features 20 different panels/programs talking about innovation in research, higher education and the arts.  There are two panels that you and/or your colleagues might be interested in.  The first is Fostering Scientific Innovation in the age of Globalization, Thursday, February 16 from 9:30 to 11 a.m.  This panel event will feature UW Provost Ana Mari Cauce, Lee Huntsman, E.D, Life Science Discovery Fund, J. Rogers Hollingsworth and Tom Clement.  These industry and academic leaders will discuss the rise of the US’s role in life sciences and how are role as the international leader in this field is changing.  This should be a very compelling conversation and all are welcome.  A light breakfast will be provided.

As an alum, this second event might be of interest the Closing Summit– Creating a New University.  This event will also be held on February 16 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.  Convened by University of Washington President, Michael K. Young this panel will delve into the question of what would you do to create a new university with the technology, science and innovation we have today.  The panel is made up of distinguished scholar J. Rogers Hollingsworth, Dr. Fariba Alamdari, VP, Boeing Company, and Dr. Anoop Gupta, Distinguished Scientist, Microsoft.  This should be an interesting and lively discussion.  RSVP is required for this event innovationforum@uwb.edu.

All Six State University Presidents Speak at Town Hall

All six of Washington state’s public university presidents spoke at Town Hall in Seattle on the current state of higher education funding. Read the coverage from the Seattle Times.