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.

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.

Washington Clean Technology Alliance Luncheon, Working with the US Military

The luncheon will feature a panel discussion featuring leaders from the U.S. military, Washington cleantech business, and economic development organizations on how clean technology companies can engage the U.S. military and the Department of Defense for business expansion. Cleantech startups and established players can learn more about the opportunities in one of the world’s largest energy markets: America’s armed services.  Expert panelist presentations will be followed by a chance to ask questions.  

The Washington Defense Partnership, the ongoing military group at PSRC, strongly supports increasing opportunities for local companies to contract with the defense department.  The military’s growing focus on clean technology offers the perfect opportunity for more of our region’s businesses to become involved in contracting opportunities.  We are excited about this event and the connections that can be made. Click here to register.

Multicultural Businesses in the Clean Economy: Growing Opportunities and Creating Sustainable Jobs

Join the Prosperity Partnership, the Urban Enterprise Center, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Business Leaders for Climate Solutions and other partners in a special forum.

Please join other business leaders for an evening of connecting and idea sharing.
Date: September 15, 2011 Time: 4:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.
Location: McKinstry Innovation Center, 210 S. Hudson Street, Seattle, WA 98134

Growing small businesses is key to our economic future. In an increasingly multicultural world, some of the most exciting innovations are coming from small businesses and entrepreneurs that reflect our diversity. And smart businesses in every sector are looking for ways to reduce waste, move away from dirty energy and seize opportunities in clean energy and sustainability. This forum will highlight key leaders and spark discussion on how we can better connect small and multicultural businesses with opportunities, funding and support to take their innovations to scale.

This is a must-attend event for business leaders who are interested in the Clean Economy. Many of the region’s innovative clean energy entrepreneurs Opportunities to learn from each other and share successful business strategies Dynamic individual business presentations in a fast moving and succinct format Structured networking with other business leaders Learn about access to capital and other financing opportunities Learn about the policies needed to drive the clean tech economy Meet senior representatives and decision makers from leading companies and government leaders.

As a special bonus, Ron Sims, Former King County Executive and outgoing Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will be providing the opening remarks!

For more information contact Chris Bast at chris@climatesolutions.org or (206) 443-9570 ext. 3

Big Ideas of (the First Half of) 2011

I promised in my last post that I would do one final entry on the Prosperity Blog before I leave the PSRC. And, since today is my last day, there’s no time like the present to make that happen. I also promised that this last post would be entirely self-indulgent and nostalgic, and I can think of no post that fits the bill more than the annual Prosperity Blog Year In Ideas feature – the yearly tradition in which I point out to you all how good my thoughts on economic development are, in Top Ten format.

Since it’s only halfway through the year (June 30 is less than two weeks away!), I’ll cut that Top Ten down to Top Five. And so, without further ado…and with no more ado ever again by me on this blog…here are the best practical proposals for improving our region’s business climate and competitiveness (and the most impractical, sky’s-the-limit ideas) I’ve had so far in 2011.

BETI in the NYT

In case you were hoping to someday read about our work on BETI in the New York Times, congratulations! Now you can.

Weekly REDEW: “Home of the Algaepreneur”

It’s been a way long time since I posted a Weekly REDEW – our “Random Economic Development Email of the Week” feature. So, to celebrate its long anticipated return, here’s a double shot: two random emails that I received today, both about events that discuss our use of energy and/or dealing with the consequences thereof. First, there’s “JOIN US – Fundamentals of Carbon Capture and Storage – June 14th in Richland, WA!” Second in number but not in importance is “OriginOil To Discuss Commercial Successes at National Algae Association Conference.”

Is it significant that I’m receiving all of these emails about energy events, or purely coincidence? What are the implications for Washington’s clean energy economic development? And what stream of consciousness ramblings will it inspire? It’s all here in the Weekly REDEW!

Weekly B-MOW: Back from the Brookings Metropolitan Business Plan Event in DC!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that the Brookings Institution was putting on an event in DC focused on our work on metropolitan business planning and BETI. What I may not have mentioned is that the event was a packed audience of 300 economic development and policy people from around the country, as well as congressional and Administration folks.

Our region was very well represented in the agenda, and our metropolitan business plan work clearly demonstrated our depth of thinking, breadth of collaboration and specificity of ideas. Another great moment for the central Puget Sound and the state of Washington.

I know that most of you weren’t there, so I wanted to give you a little taste of what you missed:

BETI in the Seattle Times

Thanks for the mention, Jon Talton!

DoD & BETI

One of the focuses of our BETI effort has been the potential intersection with the military. I mean, here we are as the Prosperity Partnership, trying to establish an international hug for the energy efficiency technology cluster here in the central Puget Sound. And here we are in the central Puget Sound with one of the largest concentrations of military presence in the country. And there the military is making bold public statements about how they see clean tech and energy efficiency as a key to their core mission. Kinda seems like there must be some mutually beneficial connection, yes?

Luckily for me, I don’t need to do a lot of research to understand how that might work, because ITIF wrote this lovely report entitled “Lean, Mean and Clean: Energy Innovation and the Department of Defense.”

Let’s read along together and see what we learn!

Ms. BETI Goes to Washington

PSRC’s Communications Director liked this post title better than “BETI Does DC”…each to their own, I guess. But the point is not which movie title to reference, but rather that BETI is getting “her” big premiere.

After many, many months of work and a soft roll-out in Chicago, it’s prime time for BETI and her peers from Cleveland and Twin Cities at the April 11 Brookings Event “Metropolitan Business Plans: A New Approach to Economic Growth.” It’s a pretty exciting opportunity to present on a national stage about the innovative work we’ve done to catalyze the building efficiency cluster in our region.

And if you’re interested, you can come.

Weekly B-MOW: Seattle Chamber Intercity Study Mission

Every year, the Seattle Chamber does an “intercity study mission,” bringing regional business, government and community leaders to a peer city for a three day exploration of similarities, differences and, most importantly, the best practices that we can take back and copy in our own region. This past week, a group of us traveled for this year’s trip to San Jose for an Intercity Study Mission to Silicon Valley.

The reason to do a study mission to Silicon Valley is obvious: as much as we fancy ourselves as a leading region for innovation, we pale in comparison to the sheer breadth and depth and magnitude of what has come out of that region – HP, Google, Adobe, Apple, Yahoo…the list goes on and on. So, what are those things that we can take from them?

Here are my top three takeaways:

Money for Metropolitan Business Planning

One thing that we’ve lost focus on during the two years of the Metropolitan Business Plan process is that it’s not just about BETI. Yes, yes, we love our idea for the Building Energy-Efficiency Testing & Integration Center and Demonstration Network, and its proposal to catalyze our local energy efficiency IT cluster through validating these technologies in real-world settings. But although we identified the idea of BETI through the Metropolitan Business Planning process, the MBP goals are much broader.

And the exciting thing is that one of the big goals – funding of regions through Metropolitan Business Plans – may be coming to fruition!

It’s Cloud-y In Seattle

I don’t know if any of you have friends and relatives that don’t live here (I assume you do), but there’s nothing more annoying than when they ask me “Hey, is it raining in Seattle?” Or, when they come to visit and it happens to be raining, they say, “I’m SOOOO surprising it’s raining!” It reminds me of all the comments I got when I was an intern in DC during the Clinton administration (“say hi to Monica Lewinsky for me!”).

So you can imagine how mixed my emotions were to write that post title. (The other option was some obscure Lando Calrissian/Cloud City reference). But sometimes, true is true. And it’s true: our region is the world leader in the cloud. Cloud computing, that is!

Weekly B-MOW: Washington Innovation Summit

I go to a lot of events. Many of them are boring. But I put my neck out a few weeks ago and said that the Washington Innovation Summit would not be. And I was right. I mean, really interesting panels, very forward thinking topics and some great keynotes. If you haven’t heard Geoffrey Moore speak on the transition in enterprise IT from “systems of record” to “systems of engagement,” then you don’t know what the next major business opportunity in the global economy will be.

Apparently, the whole day was video recorded, and will be available on the Technology Alliance website. And you can follow the audience’s questions and comments on Twitter via the hashtag #WAInnovation (including several insightful tweets from yours truly and a back and forth on how funny Bill McSherry is).

But if you want an immediate taste, I took a video of the opening panel, featuring some of the state’s economic development luminaries talking about how we continue to invest in economic development in a time of scarce public money.