Accelerating Innovation

Bank CEO Melanie Dressel honored as business leader of the year. Former chair of economic development commission.

Melanie Dressel, CEO of Columbia Banking System, was honored last Wednesday as business leader of the year by the University Of Washington Tacoma Milgard School Of Business. Among her many accomplishments she served as chair of the Washington Economic Development Commission (WEDC). During her tenure the 18 member Commission hired its first executive director and set in motion the policy framework for the state's economic development strategy. Current WEDC chair Bruce Kendall and executive director Egils Milbergs celebrated and participated in the ceremonies. Read more: Cool under pressure

Regional Innovation and Jobs Summit for Washington State will convene May 26

On May 26^th, 2010, the Washington Economic Development Commission is partnering with Department of Commerce, Office of the Governor, House and Senate Committees on Economic Development and the Washington Economic Development Association for a "Regional Innovation and Jobs Summit." The event is designed for the state's top economic development leadership and focused on answering a critical question, "How do we accelerate growth in the state's innovation clusters and bolster job creation?" The program will be jam-packed with practical presentations of job creation strategies and break-out sessions designed to foster productive relationships in the state's "Innovation Ecosystem." The state should be proactive in its economic development policy. It has the potential to emerge with strong employment growth and a more competitive economy--ahead of the national economic recovery-- if we share our best ideas and achieve consensus on a thoughtful strategy. "We need a new pattern of problem-solving if we are to succeed in creating jobs and thriving in the hyper-competitive global economy," says WEDC executive director Egils Milbergs. "Washington's future prosperity will depend on a bottom –up coordinated approach in supporting dynamic regional innovation ecosystems."

The Conference will be kicked off by WEDC Chair, Bruce Kendall, and Commerce Department Director, Rogers Weed. Gov. Chris Gregoire is invited to make opening remarks. Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and globally recognized thought leader will deliver the keynote address: Restoring US Innovation Leadership.  Panel presentations will highlight exciting and real-time projects in developing the state's talent, entrepreneurship and infrastructure. House and Senate legislators will reveal their latest insights on how the state's fiscal crisis is impacting economic development policy and program budgets. The WEDC will update participants with its policy research regarding the state's defense clusters, federal programs to advance regional innovation, measuring the state's innovation performance, expanding exports and revitalizing the manufacturing sector.  Washington State's "innovation hotspots" will be identified as a means of promoting the state's business attractiveness in the media globally. The afternoon segment will be an interactive workshop on building innovation ecosystems, leveraging the state's intangible capital and overcoming barriers for collaborative innovation.  These summit discussions will be integrated into the next update of the State's long term economic development strategy and action recommendations to be presented to the Governor, legislature, congressional delegation and public later this fall.

Again, we would like to extend an invitation for you to attend the Summit.  Click here to register (Trouble with the link?  Please paste: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=199862 in your browser).

Regional Innovation & Jobs Summit

Venue:  Hotel Murano, Venice Ballroom

1320 Broadway Plaza

Tacoma, WA 98402

Date:     May 26th – 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM

If you have any questions, please contact either Egils Milbergs at EgilsM@wedc.wa.gov or NoreenH@wedc.wa.gov or call 360.586.5662.

Venture capital fundraising down 31% in Q1

From Erick Schonfeld on www.techcrunch.com

Venture capital firms are having their own problems raising new money from limited partners. Capital inflows in the first quarter were down 31 percent annually to $3.6 billion in the U.S., according to the National Venture Capital Association. Venture funds were also down 11 percent from the fourth quarter.

Only 32 funds were able to raise money in the first quarter, down from 44 last quarter and 57 a year ago. Only 5 new funds were launched, with the vast majority of the money going to established funds, including Battery Ventures and Oak Investment Partners. Both raised new $750 million funds.

The average amount raised per fund was $113 million, up from $93 million the previous quarter. Until exits pick up again, investors will remain cautious on venture capital as an asset class.

It's not just that investors are waiting for IPOs to make a comeback and everything will be fine. The entire VC industry is being turned on its head right now as startups, at least Web startups, require less and less capital to get a product out the door. So what is happening is that VCs are fighting to get a tiny piece of seed rounds that are less than $1 million or pushing up valuations for hot companies like Foursquare just to get a seat at the table.

What will it take to make venture funds more attractive again?

Top 25 Innovators in Washington State

Innovation is like a flu virus. Once someone catches it, it spreads, mutates, until eventually it touches everyone. Some get the bug more seriously than others, but no one can deny its existence.

Washington State caught the bug years ago when Bill Boeing decided to build new flying machines in Seattle. But more recently, a critical mass of innovators and entrepreneurs in every industry from software and manufacturing to retailing, entertainment and consumer products has thrust Washington into the spotlight as a hotbed of innovation.

The Top 25 Innovators & Entrepreneurs are Seattle Business magazine's annual celebration of some of these new pioneers leading the rest of us forward. In a time of accelerating change in business, these innovators will lead the charge tomorrow. Can you guess who is number one on the list? Click here to find out and all the rest: Seattle Business Magazine: The Top 25 Innovators & Entrepreneurs

Carbon fiber plant to be built in Moses Lake, WA to support future lightweight vehicles. Green energy source is the critical decision factor

SGL Group and BMW Group announced in Seattle that their joint venture, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers LLC, will build a state-of-the-art carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, WA. During the initial phase, US$ 100 million will be invested and 200 construction jobs and 80 permanent jobs will be created. The new facility is an important element of both companies' strategy to commercialize viable manufacturing of ultra light weight carbon fiber reinforced plastics for use in future vehicle concepts. The decision to build the carbon fiber plant in Moses Lake was based primarily on the availability of renewable clean hydropower and competitive energy costs in the state of Washington. Favorable infrastructure conditions, existing utilities, a skilled labor force and ease of working with the local government were also contributing factors in selecting Moses Lake as the location.  

Gov. Chris Gregoire participated in the announcement and stated: "I want to thank BMW and the SGL Group for their confidence in Washington, and welcome them to our state's business community. This is a great day, and a big win for Moses Lake and our state as a whole. A new carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Moses Lake means new jobs for our people. It means growth for our state. And it means we will continue to lead in the green economy."

"This new plant in Moses Lake is a milestone in the use of carbon fibers for large scale production in the automotive industry," said Robert Koehler, CEO SGL Group. "It will be the world's most cost efficient carbon fiber plant using state-of-the-art technologies. This significant investment further underlines our commitment to the U.S., where we already operate carbon fiber and composite materials plants. The manufacture of carbon fibers is a core business for SGL Group and together with our partner BMW Group, we will ensure that carbon fibers play a revolutionary role in lightweight automotive construction."

The entire value chain is global and involves several work stages. The raw material needed to manufacture carbon fibers, a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based precursor, will be produced by a joint venture between SGL Group and the Japanese company Mitsubishi Rayon (MRC) in Otake, Japan. In the next step, the facility in Moses Lake will convert the polyacrylic fibers into the actual carbon fibers. These fibers are then processed into light weight carbon fiber fabrics at a second joint venture site in Wackersdorf, Germany. Parts and components will then be made from these fabrics at the BMW Group Plant Landshut, Germany. The assembly of the Megacity Vehicle will take place at the BMW Group plant in Leipzig, Germany where currently a range of BMW 1 Series and the BMW X1 are being made.

Egils Milbergs, executive director, Washington Economic Development Commission commented: "This is another exciting step for the Washington Innovation Economy (www.wedc.wa.gov). The project demonstrates the competitive advantage we have in renewable energy and positions the state as a global player in new forms of automotive technology and mobility. "

Western Washington University enters Progressive Automotive X-Prize Competition

Western Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) has passed through a series of rigorous pre-competition qualifying stages and is now one of only two universities in the nation – the other is Cornell University – to be officially competing in the $10 million Progressive Automotive X-Prize, a global competition to produce a 100-mpg production automobile.

The first performance stage of the competition, the Shakedown Stage, runs from April 26-May 7 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. The field of entries now stands at 41 teams from around the world including WWU's Viking 45, having been winnowed down from more than 110 teams a year ago through a series of benchmarking and production stages.

Meeting the contest's tough deadlines proved to be almost as difficult as designing a vehicle capable of winning the X-Prize.

"We are thrilled to have passed all of the entry requirements.  The past year has been the toughest with many all night sessions to meet critical deadlines in December, January and March." said Eric Leonhardt, director of the VRI.

The goal of the X-Prize competition is to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient automobiles that help break the world's addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change. To that effect, 41 teams now remain, from India's giant Tata Motors – an $8.8-billion-per-year behemoth with a nearly bottomless research budget, down to tiny teams like the VRI.

Most of these teams have been working on their project cars for almost four years, and now, in less than a month, they will all gather in Michigan and finally begin competing.

At the Shakedown Stage, Viking 45 will be tested on braking speed, lane change ability, acceleration and refueling/recharging time. Each following stage becomes more difficult, with teams being eliminated at each event. For example, X-Prize organizers anticipate that only 20-30 teams will make it through the Shakedown Stage to qualify for the Knockout Qualifying Stage at Michigan Speedway in late June; only 10-20 teams will advance to the Finals Stage in July, and from 8-15 teams making to the final Validation Stage in August. In September, three of the remaining teams will be chosen as the contest's winners, splitting $10 million in prize money between them.

"To even have gotten this far is an incredible tribute to the students who have worked tirelessly on this project," said Leonhardt. "And it's not just the Engineering Technology students who have worked on the car  – the Management students who worked on our business plan, the Journalism and Communication students who helped construct out marketing and PR team … it has really a project that has touched every corner of the university."

For more information about Viking 45 or the WWU X-Prize team, contact Eric Leonhardt at (360) 650-7266 or eric.leonhardt@wwu.edu. For more on the X-Prize competition, go to http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org.