What if Kitsap County was able to attract several high technology businesses to a new advanced business park, using the Port of Bremerton’s air and rail facilities? Would we be interested? What if those companies and jobs put Kitsap on the map as a major player in one of the largest growth industries in the world? Would we be comfortable in that role? What if this collection of businesses also attracted research and development facilities, a greater call for advanced training and education, and pushed us to polish our image as an innovation leader – would we welcome that? These questions represent the goals of the Kitsap SEED project.

Many of us in Kitsap have pursued “primary economic development” for what seems like extended, if somewhat unfilled careers. The persons so engaged have found that most other counties and communities in the country compete for the same opportunities. Success is hard to find. In the competition for any business, one is tempted to forget our goals of clean, high tech and well-paying jobs. Almost by default, business retention becomes the “realistic” goal, one that is critical but less effective at changing our low jobs to commuters ratio.

I mention these things because at some point, one has to wonder what else might be done. Have we been able to distinguish ourselves from the crowd in a way that gives us any advantage? Is there another approach that might offer better chances for success?

My participation in the Kitsap SEED project came about more fortuitously than by design, imposed on me by Mark Frost, a local business consultant. Mark had for several months been soliciting support for a grand scheme to turn leadership in the community toward a more progressive approach to energy production and use. He had some pretty strong background information for his pitch.

In a nutshell, the pitch looks at current petroleum production and consumption rates in this country and elsewhere, and the likely impacts on the economy. Some claim we have already reached the time when oil can be fairly cheaply extracted, the most optimistic say we have another 15-20 years. There is a great discussion of these facts in the June, 2004 issues of National Geographic, The End of Cheap Oil. A major unknown influence on the capacity remaining is modernization underway in China and India, whose multi-billion populations are just now starting to drive cars, build computers and consume oil. How much will they consume?

The points are raised not in alarm, but to consider the economic ramifications. For one, fuel costs will surely rise dramatically. The same is likely for plastics and other petroleum-related products. Even more, at some point we will come to grips with the fact that we need to cultivate the new energy solutions, now considered “alternative,” that have been under development for over 25 years, but have been on the sideline since the late 1980’s after the last oil crisis.

So think about that for a minute. How much investment, new technology and how many new jobs will it take to move us into the next energy age? In Europe, where prices have been high for some time, this is currently an $88 billion industry, growing significantly each year. How about us, the country that now consumes a much higher percentage of the world’s oil?

Actually, some of our national leaders have begun to consider this. Our own Congressman Jay Inslee has been in the forefront. Senator Maria Cantwell, and other elected officials form an unlikely group including the National Steelworkers Union and the Sierra Club, as well as other business and labor groups in an organization named the Apollo Alliance (www.apolloalliance.org).

The alliance takes its name from the U.S. Apollo Space program in the 1960’s, to which President Kennedy committed us to putting a man on the moon within the decade. The new proposal calls for making us independent of foreign oil in ten years. As a part of this work, a study commissioned to a well-regarded University of Texas-based economist estimated that three million jobs would be created by the effort. New jobs, cleaner environment, healthier economy, less foreign uncertainty, stronger national security – makes pretty good sense.

So the question was, “How can we in Kitsap take advantage of this inevitable economic explosion?” This involves answering the related question that is always asked: “Why us?”

Taking a look at what we have to offer, the first part of the answer is forthcoming: ”Why not us?” There is no reason not, and our assets – you’ve heard them before; low cost, good workforce, attractive setting, proximity to high tech, etc. – confirm our candidacy, if not our exclusive qualification.

Here’s where the strategy begins to sharpen. Instead of the regular shotgun approach to recruitment, we at Sustainable Synergy determined to look at this specific industry cluster — those involved in new-energy-related development — and set about designing a concept specifically aimed at attracting those businesses, which exist by the hundreds around the country and world.

For one, though there are smatterings of research facilities, we found no business parks exclusively housing these types of private businesses; to create a “synergy” such as occurred in the Silicon Valley and at Redmond. We surmised that these businesses take pride in their progressive nature and are interested in a “sustainable” setting that mimics their approach to renewable, endless energy resources. We are adding an amenity that Mark calls the “sustainable business toolset,” a sophisticated collection of shared facilities and resources; like research and virtual labs, combined time to market strategies, promotion and training facilities, and perhaps venture capital pooling; that are expensive for growing companies.

As we contact potential businesses, we offer them an opportunity to comment on possible facility components, to suggest use of their own products, and to “buy into” the project.

Secondly, though maybe even more importantly, the project needed a location. The property at the Port was clearly best, with its immediate access to air, rail, highway and fiber optic. Any concerns that the Port Commissioners would be leery of the idea were quickly dispelled as they gave strong and consistent support to the concept, citing their determination to be economic development leaders in the community and the region. They designated a 40-60-acre piece of their Olympic View Industrial Park for this purpose. This has the potential to turn into several million square feet of working space, and could accommodate more than a thousand jobs.

The concept is still very young, and although the outcome will not be known for some time, initial response from businesses, industry organizations and government agencies has been very positive. In a meeting with State Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) leadership recently, we were encouraged to be even more aggressive, and to count on support at the highest state levels. At the Puget Sound regional Economic summit held in mid-November, alternative energy was identified as one of only five industry clusters on which the region should focus; and clearly the best opportunity for Kitsap. At every turn, the response has been, “This is a great idea. Your chances of success are promising because you are willing to be the first ones doing it.”

We are taking great pride in believing that we are working on a project that meets the growth goals of our community in a way that also demonstrates sustainable design. Isn’t sustainability, the concept that assures a future, at the core of good business practices? As we look at it, the real question is “Why not do it right?” So far, maybe not so surprisingly, that is a very attractive offer. We’ll stay tuned.