Tag: competitive economy

WCTA Breakfast: Keystone Pipeline Debate, May 3, 2012 Ross MacFarlane of Climate Solutions vs. Scott Farris of TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. “The Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada’s pipeline proposal – at least for now – represents an historic win for the environmental movement.” –Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith of Grist “I will build that pipeline […]

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Thirty-six teams representing colleges and universities across the state competed in the UW Business Plan Competition Investment Round.   The sixteen semifinalists included several cleantech business plans: GroBox, UW: Aims to make it super easy to grow your own fruits and vegetables in a small amount of space. LumiSands, UW: Develops revolutionary nano-particle color enhancer […]

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Source:  Wells Fargo Press Release, April 23, 2012. WCTA Member Wells Fargo is expanding its cleantech commitment with targets to be achieved by 2020.  The company intends to deploy $30 billion in cleantech loans and investments, $100 million for community environmental grants, and a 40% increase in the  energy efficiency at Wells Fargo.

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A WCTA White Paper: J. Thomas Ranken, Washington Clean Technology Alliance, April 2012.   Is natural gas the new next big thing?  It is being called a revolution in energy and a” game-changer.”  Pulitzer-Prize winning energy researcher Dr. Daniel Yergin claims that “By the beginning of this decade, the rapidity and sheer scale of the […]

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King County Executive Dow Constantine will host the second annual King County Executive’s Small Business Awards to recognize and celebrate the significance of small businesses to the King County economy.   To be eligible businesses must: Be located in King County Have 50 or fewer employees Have been in business for at least 3 years Be […]

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Source:  Washington State Department of Commerce Press Release, April 19, 2012. Featuring Washington-based cleantech companies Hydrovolts, B&G Machine, Greenwood Clean Energy, Enertechnix, and Demand Energy, the state Department of Commerce is leading a group to the “colossal” Hannover Messe–a 1,300 acre business fair featuring 300,000 attendees and 16,500 exhibits.  The fair takes place from April […]

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According to Mark Muro of the Brooking Institute and colleagues at the Breakthrough Institute and the World Resources Institute, “In the absence of significant and timely energy policy reform, the recent boom in US clean tech sectors could falter.”  The authors of a new report entitled Beyond Boom and Bust: Putting Clean Tech On a […]

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Source:  John Cook, Geekwire, April 17, 2012. Washington state has one of the best tax systems in the US for supporting entrepreneurship and small businesses, according to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.  Washington state, which has no income tax system, ranked fifth behind South Dakota, Texas, Nevada, and Wyoming.  The bottom states included California, […]

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Source:  Richard Florida, Atlantic Cities, March 26, 2012. A new report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that in 2010, 2.4 percent of US workers were employed in green goods and services.  That translates into 3.1 million total jobs of which three quarters are in the private sector (2.3 million). Washington state ranks […]

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University of Washington President Michael Young has announced a three-part initiative focused on “Ideas to Impact,” or “i2i.” The key components from President Young’s communication are: Drive our economic future.  Our first area of focus is on accelerating our research commercialization efforts. Overall, more than 260 companies have been founded based on UW research. But […]

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