|
| April 2011 | | Team Washington Update |  |
| Welcome from Patti Brooke, Assistant Director, Business Services | |
Happy Spring!
In the midst of the budget strain and the new world of "doing more with less" it is good to pause and reflect on results. In this newsletter you will find some tidbits about some of the great work of our division.
Always feel free to be in touch with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Patti Brooke
Follow me on Twitter: pattibrookeWA |
|
| International Trade | New Grants to Help Small Business Export
The Washington State Department of Commerce is applying for an export grant funded by the Small Business Jobs Act, signed by President Obama in late September. This grant will provide support to help Commerce market to small businesses to increase exports. The three year State Trade and Export Promotion Grant program (STEP) provides up to $90 million in competitive grants for states to assist small business owners with exporting. The grants can be awarded to individual states on a competitive basis, on the merits of individual proposals. The grants then can be used by states to support expenses for helping small businesses with export activities such as: - Participation in international trade shows and trade missions
- Individual sales visits to international markets
- Payment of web site translation fees
- Design of international marketing campaigns
- Participation in export training workshops
The grant process opened on March 1, with proposals due on May 10th and winners will be announced in late summer. Contact: Mark Calhoon
Export Initiative Promotion
The Export Working Group of state agencies convened in Olympia on February 8, 2011. The group, which is chaired by Commerce and the Washington State Department of Agriculture also included key stakeholders involved in deliverables with the Washington State Export Initiative. The meeting included an overview of the state export initiative goals, the state export data and cross-agency opportunities for promoting the export campaign. The next meeting will be held on May 11th in Olympia. Contact: Mark Calhoon
Governor's 2011 Trader of the Year Awards
Governor Chris Gregoire presented Trident Seafood Corporation with the Trader of the Year award and Swype with the Emerging Trader of the Year award at the World Trade Club's annual reception in March. Both awards recognize locally-based companies that have contributed to the expansion of Washington State's international trade through demonstrated success, industry leadership, innovation, and service to the community.
Trident Seafood Corporation is a vertically integrated harvester, processor and marketer of seafood from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and around the world. Swypes' patented technology provides a faster and more intuitive way to input text on touch-screens. Mike McSherry, CEO said, "Swype has received tremendous international assistance from the Washington State Department of Commerce. They have helped introduce us to key target customers, guided us to in-market resources for governance and taxation issues, and offered help in trip planning."
Award candidates included Commerce clients BlackRapid, Inc. (consumer products); Clarisonic (life sciences); Fatigue Technology, Inc. (aerospace); and Williams Kastner (professional services). Contact: Julie Bennion
Paris Air Show and Governor's Europe Mission, June 2011
Through its pavilion at the 49th International Paris Air Show, Commerce will provide a marketing opportunity for more than 20 aerospace businesses, organizations, and educational and training programs to gain international exposure at the leading aviation and space event in the world. Running from June 20 -26, 2011, the show will attract over 2,000 international exhibitors and 138,000 trade visitors.
While the exhibitor space is sold out, opportunities are still available for Washington companies and economic development organizations to participate in the show as mission delegates. Mission participation will include entry to the show, networking receptions and business matchmaking services from Washington's state's in-country European business development resources.
Governor Gregoire will attend the Paris Air Show on June 20 - 21, 2011 and will conduct foreign direct investment meetings with executives from some of Europe's largest aerospace supply chain companies. June 23 - 24, 2011 will be spent in Northern Germany (based out of Hamburg), where the Governor and aerospace companies will visit Airbus' largest facility as well as other aviation companies.
At the show, Commerce will distribute a statewide listing of aerospace suppliers and companies in the Washington State Aerospace Directory. The complimentary directory showcases the richness and diversity of Washington State's aerospace industry.
If you are interested in joining the Paris Air Show and Governor's Europe mission as a delegate, or would like a copy of the directory, contact Karl da Gama Campos
ZymoGenetics Retaining 275 Employees in Seattle
Commerce partnered with the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association (WBBA), City of Seattle, the Governor's office and other partners to help retain one of the area's earliest biotech companies, ZymoGenetics. The biotech company was acquired by Bristol-Meyer Squibb in October. The company decided to maintain a presence in Seattle, retaining the current 275 employees. Contact June Chino |
|
|
June 20-26, 2011
For more information on upcoming events and seminars visit our Event Calendar
|
|
Gregoire poses with Swype and Trident Seafoods at the 2011 Trader of the Year Awards. Left to right: Julie Bennion (World Trade Club/Commerce), Dan Newhouse (WSDA), Cliff Kushler (Swype), Mike McSherry (Swype), Governor Gregoire, Joe Plesha (Trident), Rogers Weed (Commerce), Jim Dickeson (World Trade Club/Lynden), Janet Leister (World Trade Club/WSDA)
|
| List of Exhibitors and Sponsors for the Washington Pavilion |
|
- Air Washington (a consortium of community colleges offering aerospace training programs)
- Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC)
- IAM Machinists Union and SPEEA
- University of Washington
- AltAir Fuels
- Avtech Corp.
- EADS Composites Atlantic
- Esterline Corporation
- Insitu
- Orion Aerospace
- Pacifica Engineering
- PNAA
- Port of Seattle
- SeaCast
- Service Steel Aerospace Corp.
- TLG Aerospace
|
|
 |
|
|
Marketing and Communications | |
ChooseWashington.com Site Metrics
ChooseWashington.com visits increased by more than 13 percent for the month of April 2011 with 5,205 visits. Visitors on average spent three minutes on the site reading content. The number of pages viewed by each visitor also increased by seven percent indicating the content held the interest of readers.
More than 55 percent of the visitors to the ChooseWashington.com site arrived from referring links on partner sites, with an increase in search engine referrals at 24.5 percent (an increase of 16 percent) and 20 percent from direct traffic. Geographically, most of the visitors came from within the United States at 95 percent (4,959), and then 70 percent of that total came from within Washington State (3,633). Internationally, the site attracted viewers from 54 countries and territories with Canada leading with 75 visits, followed by China (19), India (14), Taiwan (13), the United Kingdom (11) and France (10).
The home page remained the most viewed page with 1,406 pageviews (an increase of eight percent), the key industries page with 1061 viewers (an increase of 49 percent), the aerospace page with 387 viewers (an increase of 29 percent), followed by finance/loan programs with 354 viewers and the CERB page with 351 viewers (an increase of 43 percent). Contact: Chuck Hunter
Commerce Press Releases
|
|
Business Development | |
Meat Production Facility Will Create 50 Jobs
The Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) announced a $1.2 million public investment targeting business growth and job creation in Lincoln County. CERB approved a loan to the Odessa Public Development Authority for new infrastructure at the Odessa Industrial Park that will support construction of a new meat production facility for the Cattle Producers of Washington (CPoW).
The new facility will provide a local alternative to out-of-state mass production slaughterhouses and costly long-distance shipping for meat products. Cattle Producers of Washington will invest at least $400,000 in the project and create approximately 50 jobs in the first five years of operation at the facility.
"The CERB funding is a critical piece of this project, multiplying the time, sweat and money invested by family farmers and ranchers to bring locally raised meat to Washington consumers, said Craig Vejraska, CPoW President. "This project has been a dream of CPoW for four years, but we couldn't get it moving forward until we found the CERB program."
Since 1982, CERB has committed nearly $150 million to local jurisdictions across the state, an investment generating more than 36,000 jobs. Contact: Terry Lawhead
Profile Composites Expansion Will Create 200 jobs
Profile Composites, Inc. announced a deal to locate training, manufacturing, and an R&D facility at the Port of Bremerton.The British Columbia company's expansion to the US consists of advanced composite manufacturing of collapsible wheelchairs, sports crutches and other assistive products, and will result in 200 jobs over the next five years. Commerce partnered with the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance in the recruitment of the company. The Governor's office granted a request for $100,000 of Workforce Investment Act Funds. Contact: Lynn Longan
Angeles Composites Technologies, Inc. Expansion Creating 100 Jobs
ACTI, a maker of composite materials for the aerospace industry and supplier to Lockheed Martin announced an expansion of their Port Angeles facility, creating more than 100 new jobs in the Olympic Peninsula community. The Port of Port Angeles is issuing bonds to fund the $4 million dollar project to expand their Composite Manufacturing Campus. ACTI also explored Utah for their headquarters and selected Washington State.
Commerce partnered with the Port of Port Angeles, Clallam County EDC, and the city of PA to retain ACTI and to develop their new facility. By working together the state was able to retain over 100 manufacturing jobs and the company plans to expand this year which will result in new jobs.
ACTI was recently awarded a contract with Bombardier Aerospace. Contact: Lynn Longan
Information Technology Compnay Recruited Creating 400 Jobs
HCL America, the US subsidiary of India's 3rd largest IT services company, will open a global delivery center in Redmond, WA creating 400 high-tech jobs. HCL's state-of-the-art facility next to the Microsoft campus will open this month with 100-150 employees. The recruitment was supported by Commerce with $200,000 in Workforce Investment Act funds for job training. HCL also has operations in California and North Carolina. Contact: Karl da Gama Campos
Auto Manufacturing Expansion Retains 54 Jobs
Shelby Supercars is an internationally known automobile manufacturer, specializing in high performance vehicles. An $829,766 Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) loan to the city of West Richland was granted in January 2011. This loan provides for infrastructure development and land purchase for a new auto manufacturing facility. It will allow the company to consolidate and expand its current operations in West Richland. Shelby Supercars will invest $1.5 million in their manufacturing facility and create and retain 54 jobs as a result from this project. The CERB investment is matched by $92,000 in local funds. Contact: Terry Lawhead
Heath Tecna Retention Creates 80 Jobs
Commerce joined the Northwest Economic Council-Whatcom County (NWEC) on a business retention expansion visit to Heath Tecna. The company needed to hire 80 new employees to meet export contracts in the coming months. To streamline and accelerate the hiring process a pre-employment training program was created through the Northwest Workforce Council, Bellingham Technical College (BTC), and Impact Washington. In May 2010, Governor Gregoire approved $75,000 in workforce investment act funds to BTC to provide this training. Since June 1, 2010, there have been 449 students enrolled in the classes.
Heath Tecna has generated more than $30 million in new contracts due to their expanded capability to meet market demand with the WIA trained workforce. The training continues through June 2011. Contact: Sally Harris
Port of Anacortes Pier 1 Redevelopment Spurs Job Development
The Port of Anacortes celebrated the completion of road improvements to T Avenue, a critical component of the port's larger Pier 1 redevelopment project last month. The Pier 1 project includes replacing outdated infrastructure with a modern marine terminal and upland infrastructure on port property. The upgrades will spur job development by supporting the expansion of the port's private business tenants, including Dakota Creek Industries, a marine services business specializing in the building and repair of marine vessels.
The port was awarded a $5,610,000 Job Development Fund (JDF) grant to complete environmental mitigation and infrastructure improvements. JDF grants are administered by the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB). Contact: Sally Harris
State Energy Program Spurs Job Creation in Renewable Energy
With the help of funds awarded through the State Energy Program, three Washington manufacturers have secured approximately $15M in new contracts for energy equipment manufacturing due to the efforts of Center for Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound. CAMPS was awarded the funds to help local manufacturers realign excess capacity into renewable energy sector opportunities. Contact: James Palmer
Carpet Reprocessing Roundtable
Commerce, the City of Seattle and King County hosted a Carpet Reprocessing Roundtable last month to help business develop carpet processing facilities. The goal is for manufacturers to drive the end markets for recycled nylon and polypropylene products by increasing the amount of recycled content in their supply chains. At the roundtable, Applied Thermoplastic Resources (ATR) announced that they are in negotiations with a Kent developer for a facility and another business, Carpet Collectors, announced they are opening a facility soon as well. The impetus to this activity is the proposed legislation for carpet stewardship, Senate Bill 5110. Contact: James Palmer
WINDPOWER 2011 Delegation
Commerce is leading a delegation and providing a Washington State pavilion for the The American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) WindPower 2011 Conference and Exhibition. The exhibition will be held May 22nd through the 25th at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
The Washington booth delegation is comprised of Breedt Tool and Design, Pacific Machine and Cashmere Molding, all of which will exhibit under a banner of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound (CAMPS). Other booth participants include Vesper Wind, a global leader in wind turbine blade inspection, certification, tooling and process control. Booth participant Red Arrow Logistics provides domestic and international transportation and logistics services and is seeking to play a larger role in the movement of the equipment and materials for wind development projects across the nation. Additionally, the Southeast Washington Renewable Energy District will be represented which is comprised of the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association, the Port of Walla Walla and Walla Walla Community College.
WINDPOWER 2011 Conference & Exhibition is the focal point for wind professionals to learn about wind issues, technology, and policy.It will feature displays of the latest industry products and services from manufacturing leaders, component suppliers, and other wind energy organizations. Contact: James Palmer |
| Tourism | |
Planned Closure for the Washington State Tourism Office
Pending the final outcome of the 2011-2013 Biennial budget, all indications are that the state's Tourism Office will be defunded, and therefore closing, as of July 1, 2011. Preparations are now underway toward that end. In order to keep valuable marketing assets working, such as the state's consumer web site, www.experiencewa.com , and the state's official travel planner, Commerce's Tourism Office is working closely with the newly formed Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA), with a goal of assigning key marketing assets to the WTA for operation. The Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA) is an independent, not-for-profit 501[c]6 organization established by tourism industry stakeholders, with a mission to "advocate, promote, develop and sustain the economic well being of the Washington tourism industry." Contact: Marsha Massey
Spring Marketing Campaign
During the recent Washington Tourism Alliance Summit meeting, statewide tourism industry leaders got a sneak preview of the new "Share Your Washington" campaign. Planning for the campaign began in the fall in execution of the annual marketing plan, before the budget cuts were announced. "Share Your Washington" is due to launch the week of April 18, and is a fun, upbeat grassroots campaign, aimed at encouraging Washingtonians to invite their friends and family to come to Washington this year. It also provides messaging around the value of tourism to Washington. The Share Your Washington promotion was created as a statewide platform that supports local economies, which depend on traveler spending for local tax revenue generation and valuable job creation. The promotion is being done in conjunction with statewide destination marketing organizations, who will provide local outreach and support in their communities. The campaign will be heavily promoted through social media, and will run through June 15th of this year. Contact: Marsha Massey |
|
Washington State Department of Commerce | 2001 6th Ave Suite 2600, Seattle WA 98121
(206) 256-6100 | choosewashington.com
|
|
 |
|
|
|
