10:30am Cobalt Breakout Room Recap – International Trade & Export Promotion – Washington State Department of Commerce
Notes Provided by Student Volunteer Ethan Schwartz
On Friday, June 14th, Tammy Deets from the Washington State Department of Commerce presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about how cleantech businesses can get support for international trade and export.
- 80% of the buying power is outside the US. If you want to diversify your market potential, you need to go international!
- Offer commerce export assistance service: consulting when looking for customers or foreign partners, trade missions and trade shows, STEP Export Voucher Program.
- STEP Export voucher program: offsets the cost of small businesses conducting international business.
- Over 900 million small businesses in WA the last 10 years have resulted in $750 million export sales.
- Eligibility: ready to export, 51%+ US-based.
- $10,000 per company per grant cycle, 25% cash match, 3 applications per year.
Please refer to their website for trade show events in 2024-2025.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
11:00am Cobalt Breakout Room Recap – BUILT Cluster Untapped Thermal Energy Projects – UMC, SET Consulting, King County
Notes Provided by Student Volunteer Ethan Schwartz
Jodi Guthrie from SET Consulting, Drew Thompson from King County, and Scott Locke from UMC presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about multiple projects that fall under the umbrella of the CleanTech Alliance’s BUILT Cluster Untapped Thermal Energy working group.
- Jodi: supporting widespread adoption of district WET systems and the public/private partnerships that make them possible empower the use of untapped sewer thermal energy. Washington state is a leader in this space that will become a standard across municipalities. King County is the first district to scale implementation. 3.5 year pilot program development.
- Drew: Sewer heat recovery project manager. People can use interactive map on King County website to see the potential of thermal energy in their area. King County takes a customer-first holistic approach: gather data for application review/guidance pre-agreement and design reviews, constant communication, and info discovery post agreement.
- Scott: Waterfront Revival Project: Restore Bellingham waterfront through conversion of waste heat to usable energy: 156 MW * 120,000 homes, collaboration between UMC, Corix for infrastructure, and PSE, added benefit of decarbonizing the built environment and it came in $200,000 under budget!
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
11:30am Cobalt Breakout Room Recap – Workforce Development in the Columbia Basin – Sila Nanotechnologies
Notes Provided by Student Volunteer Ethan Schwartz
Rosendo Alvarado from Sila Nanotechnologies presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about workforce.
- Tactile challenges for high-performance silicon-based battery materials, under construction currently manufacturing based in Alameda/Bay Area, CA and Moses Lake, WA.
- Sila launched new educational programs investing $2 million in workforce development.
- Meets with school districts throughout Grant Country, purchases equipment, training from safety to hands-on manufacturing or simulation systems work.
- Collaborate with community students: team is required to do 40 hours of service work, help develop curriculum, interview training, pipeline students to Sila workers to provide scholarships.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
1:30pm Cobalt Breakout Room Recap – Clean Energy Workforce Training: How to Partner with Career Connect Washington and Washington’s Education System – Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy
Notes Provided by Student Volunteer Ava Vaughan
Monica Brummer from the Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about workforce.
- Partnering with Career Connection Washington (a statewide initiative to give students hands-on career exploration).
- 12 Centers of Excellence in WA
- Connect with 34, 2-year colleges, broadening out to K-12 and universities.
- Convene, partner, collaborate with many industries.
- Asks how can we support or build apprenticeship/workforce development plans and promote opportunities for high school students, like Avista’s Energy Program?
- Increase awareness of clean energy careers.
- Helps fund workforce analysis.
- Make career fairs/job exploration fun, applicable, and relatable and develop pipelines.
- Programs can lead to higher retention.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.
2:00pm Cobalt Breakout Room Recap – Powerize How? – Powerize NW
Notes Provided by Student Volunteer Ava Vaughan
Angela Jackson and Katherine Krajnak from Powerize NW presented at the 2024 CleanTech Innovation Showcase about their work.
- Smart Grid and Energy Storage in the PNW/I-5 Corridor
- PNWC group of public/private industry/higher education and community organizations.
- Recognized by US EDA and NSF – Necessary for an increased energy demand due to AI and data centers.
- PNW hotbed for software and manufacturing (prime spot for battery/electrification research)
- Goals: Frictionless ecosystem for startups
- Looking at some international models (German, Finnish, and Canadian)
- Discussion Q: Do you have contacts with BC? The NSF scope limits them to the US
- Q: Have legacy groups like gas been involved? They have not partnered with natural gas, but could in the future, and collaborate with tribes.
- How do we avoid reinventing the wheel and building synergy between key players? How much money in grants? Approximately $15 million and other government/private matches. Face a lot of competition from other Oregon projects.
If you would like to learn more about the companies or get connected with any of the speakers, please email info@cleantechalliance.org.