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| September 2010 | | Team Washington Update |  |
| Welcome from Patti Brooke, Assistant Director, Business Services |
Welcome to this month's edition of Team Washington, the Commerce Business Services monthly update.
August proved to be another extremely active and engaging month for Business Services. Many of you likely attended one of the Commerce Connections meetings conducted by Rogers Weed in Longview, Tacoma, Spokane, Walla Walla and Port Angeles. I was able to get to Longview and Spokane and I know these, and the others, were well attended and discussions were lively. It was great to see the mix of business, government, tourism, and economic development professionals convene to learn more about the state of the economy and Commerce initiatives. Thanks for your engagement on these important topics. The slide deck from the meetings is posted here.
Business Services International Trade group, led by Mark Calhoon, was extremely busy in August preparing for the Governor's trade mission to China and Vietnam. The mission, facilitated in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce, started on Monday, September 13th. There are over 80 delegates on this mission and there is a fantastic line-up of business meetings for both the Governor and Director Weed to cultivate business opportunities for the state. The meetings are concentrated on aerospace and clean energy sectors. In addition to the Governor's schedule it is great to see that there are two other tracts on the mission: tourism and biotech. We look forward to reporting out great results from the mission! Check out the blog of the mission here.
The other great achievement last month was the publication of the "advertorial" in the September 6th issue of FORTUNE magazine. Michele Morgan, manager of the BSD Marketing team, led a monumental effort to partner with FORTUNE to create a spectacular 12-page insert that showcases Washington as a great place to do business and visit. Many of you around the state were involved in this effort and we truly appreciate the commitment by the organizations and businesses that advertised in the insert since the advertising volume dictated the number of pages written about Washington. This effort is a great example of the work that our division can do to promote the state for the benefit of all of us. There is a link to the insert at our Choose Washington site. If you would like to order copies of the insert please contact Michele Morgan.
Organizationally the Business Services Division is now more aligned to the sector targeted strategy that Commerce has mapped out in our strategic plan. Our International Trade and Business Development teams have joined to create sector teams that incorporate trade and recruitment into each team. The newly formed teams are as follows:
Life Sciences and Global Health Susan St. Germain and June Chino
We will still continue to actively work other business development opportunities outside of these target sectors.
Of course you are likely aware that the state faces a budget shortfall. We at Commerce are faced with some extremely difficult decisions, both in the short term with immediate reductions asked of us as well as longer term, what is a sustainable funding model for economic development, trade and tourism for the state. I welcome any of your ideas along these lines.
Thank you for your time and support. I enjoyed meeting people in Wenatchee, Longview, Spokane, Raymond, Bremerton and Everett this past month. I'm looking forward to a productive autumn and hope to hear of progress on the projects around that state that will help improve the economic conditions here in Washington.
Sincerely,
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| Commerce News |
Public Works Board Recommends 84 Projects for State Financing
The Washington State Public Works Board completed a review of 136 proposed water, sewer, storm water, and road system improvement projects from across the state and is recommending 84 projects for state financing. The Board will recommend these projects to the Governor and the Legislature for funding during the 2011 legislative session, with contracts and work potentially beginning as soon as late summer 2011, subject to approval.
If approved, $396 million in low-interest loans will be offered to the 74 sponsoring local governments. Funding will be matched with an additional $1.2 billion in local and federal funds, bringing the total local infrastructure investment to more than $1.6 billion. An estimated 36,000 construction jobs will be generated over the ensuing five years. The board has loaned more than $2.3 billion to local governments across Washington State over the past 26 years. Over 1,800 loans have been made and no jurisdiction has defaulted on a Public Works Trust Fund loan.
Budget Cuts Expected
Governor Chris Gregoire is scheduled to announce across-the-board budget reductions this week. Across the board reductions of four to seven percent in General Fund-State are anticipated for possible allotment reductions for October 2010.
Olympia Office Relocating
The two Olympia offices of the Department of Commerce are consolidating into one new location, saving over 20,000 square feet of space. The "zero-cost" move occurs through September to a remodeled LEED Silver Certified Building. Please update our mailing address to: 1011 Plum Street SE, Olympia, Washington, 98504-2525. Mailstop 42525. |
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Washington Future Energy Conference
Nov. 9-10, Seattle
Spokane August 22-26, 2011 |
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| Marketing |
"Best of the Northwest" Featured in FORTUNE Magazine
Check your local newsstands to read about Washington's competitive business environment in the "Fastest Growing Companies" issue of FORTUNE magazine. Reaching over four million business leaders nationwide, the center section advertorial profiles our thriving export and trade sector in our key industry sectors across the state.
The feature article on Washington was also extensively covered in local media including TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal.
ChooseWashington.com August 2010 Site MetricsAlthough ChooseWashington.com traffic declined slightly over the summer months, the FORTUNE feature and ensuing media coverage generated a 12-percent spike in visits for that week. For the entire month of August, the site atttacted about eight percent more visits than in previous months, with 4,982 visits overall. Additionally, the time viewers spent reading content on the site increased by four percent, for an average of nearly three minutes spent per visit.
More than 62 percent of visitors to the site were referred to ChooseWashington via links from other web sites. Direct traffic accounted for 21 percent of all visitors and the remaining 17 percent were sent from search engines, mainly Google. Geographically, most of the visitors came from the U.S. at 92% (4,587) and from Washington state (3,355). Internationally, the site attracted viewers as well with Canada leading with 103 visits, followed by Taiwan with 46 visits and Japan with 30 visits for the month of August. Likely due to the FORTUNE promotion, the home page remained the most popular page on the site, with an 18 percent increase in visits and a 20 percent increase in the time spent on this page by each viewer. Visitors also heavily viewed the "Key Industries" landing page, "Incentives for Business", "Financing", and "County Profiles." For more information contact Logan.Blazian@Commerce.WA.Gov New marketing toolkit available from Commerce Look for your new marketing toolkit coming in the mail to your office this month. Commerce created marketing toolkits for our partners to use for business recruitment for Washington State. The toolkits contain branded collateral, banners, signs, and a tradeshow display ready for printing at your local shop. To request a toolkit, contact Michele.Morgan@Commerce.WA.Gov |
| Business Development | Activity Update
While the summer months usually experience a slowing of business recruitment activity, interest related to coal-blending and the export of coal to Asia has increased. The business development team fielded inquiries from global entities interested in providing China and other Asian counties with a cleaner source of coal. This coal is generally from mines in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana containing a low sulfur grade coal. Export for this coal via Washington ports could potentially add jobs and export dollars.
Regional Manager Reports
Terry Lawhead, a program manager in regional services reports that an entpreneurial company is thriving in Eastern Washington. Ecowell is a Pullman company started in an entrepreneurial program at Washington State University under the guidance of Don Tilton, Director of the Pullman Innovation Partnership Zone at the Port of Whitman. This quickly growing company provides healthy on-the-go refreshments at waste-free vending kiosks with a user-friendly touch screen interface and is currently seeking funding to manufacture more kiosks. Demand far exceeds the company's ability to produce machines at this point, and private investors and the state's revolving loan fund is being examined for potential opportunities. Ecowell is operational at Avista, Itron, Gonzaga Prep, Spokane City Hall and the Bank of America in Spokane as well as in schools in Pullman, Moscow, Idaho and Intuit in Reno, Nevada. The company is receiving requests from high tech campuses around the country.
Supporting Manufacturing in Washington
Governor Gregoire's Regional Representative Schuyler Hoss, Commerce Manager Mary Trimarco and Regional Representative Lynn Longan visited manufacturing companies in Clallamand Jefferson County to show support for this vital industry sector. The group visited five companies thanks to the support and effort of the Clallam County and the Jefferson County Economic Development Councils. The five manufacturing companies jointly provide employment for nearly 500 workers on the Olympic Peninsula. This joint effort provided an opportunity to demonstrate how the Department of Commerce is working closely with Governor Gregoire's staff and the support for our manufacturing industry. International Trade News
CERB to Award $3 Million for Export Initiative
The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) will select projects to receive a total of nearly $3 million from the new Export Assistance Program this month. Responding to the export assistance needs of Washington businesses, CERB is targeting innovative projects leveraging other funding that will increase state exports both short term and over the next five years. By encouraging collaboration among applicants, as well as creative solutions to the export problems facing businesses, CERB aims to fund projects which will achieve substantial, profitable results. This program is a key part of the state's commitment to the National Export Initiative announced in June by Governor Gregoire.
The Export Assistance Program was created to support the growth of Washington exports by funding infrastructure and technical assistance projects. Eligible recipients of the funds are local governments and public institutions of higher education.
Tianjin Delegation Visits Seattle
Eighteen government and business leaders from Tianjin, China visited Seattle the first week of September. The International Trade staff at Commerce met with Tianjin trade officials, and arranged meetings for the group with a EnterpriseSeattle, Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association (WBBA), the Washington Technology Industry Association and local engineering companies.
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Tourism
Northwest Backroads Features Washington's Culinary/Agritourism
Washington State Tourism is marketing a culinary/agritourism program in partnership with the Washington State Department of Agriculture. As a result of this joint initiative, a series of culinary/agritourism segments were inspired and are currently playing on the Northwest Backroads television program. Tourism developed and pitched 10 segments for the weekly, half-hour travel show, which broadly covers the state. This partnership is helping rural areas of Washington gain television exposure and spur economic development by showcasing local farms, chefs, restaurants and accommodations - compelling culinary/agritourism experiences.
To see upcoming segments, tune in Saturdays at 7:00 pm on KING-5 and Sundays at 7:00 pm on KONG.
Chinese Journalists Visit Washington state
Visiting Washington State will likely become more popular for Chinese tourists as travel writers may be publishing stories on our tourism opportunities over the next six months. Washington State Tourism, in partnership with the Port of Seattle and Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau hosted a group of seven Chinese journalists this month from a variety of publications. Monthly circulation from the seven publications will reach approximately 1.6 million Chinese readers.
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| Upcoming Opportunities & Resources | Bringing Broadband to Washington
Commerce is partnering with the Department of Information Service's Broadband program to share opportunities for funding for tele-health, distance learning and small businesses.
Register to participate in an upcoming interactive discussion about the type of broadband applications needed for your organization and community. DIS is in the process of collecting information about the type of broadband applications many kinds of industry sectors and consumers use or need, especially for businesses and community services. The information collected will be included in a preliminary report on the broadband capability and needs of our state.
The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is now accepting applications fromeconomic development projects seeking to be ranked for regional priority.
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. Contact Eric Schinfeld, (206) 971-3053 for more information. |
| Washington Wire Highlights |
The Washington Wire provides news updates on leading Washington companies and business-related information to our subscribers. To keep the Washington Wire RSS feed up-to-date, we continue to look for your input and submissions. The stories included in the Wire are a mix of news stories, press releases and links that highlight economic development successes in Washington. All submitted materials should be sent to chuck.hunter@commerce.wa.gov. If you have any questions, e-mail or call Chuck Hunter at 360.725.2674 To receive instant updates, subscribe to the Washington Wire RSS feed on ChooseWashington.com. Sample of August Washington Wire posts: Smart Grid Project to create 500 Washington jobs8/23/2010 9:00:00 AM
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Washington State Department of Commerce | 2001 6th Ave Suite 2600, Seattle WA 98121
(206) 256-6100 | choosewashington.com
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