As 2011 draws to a close, and 2012 arrives, I want to thank my fellow Kitsap Economic Development Alliance board members, and our many public and private investor partners, for their continued commitment to work together to grow and diversify Kitsap County’s economy.

This past year was filled with challenge, change and opportunity for our Alliance; a year in which we renewed our commitment to advance KEDA’s mission to attract investment and create jobs throughout Kitsap County. Central to our renewed engagement was recruiting John Powers to serve as our Executive Director. We responded to John’s challenge to the Board, and broader community, to step up and strengthen KEDA as it partners with businesses and government to sustain and grow our local economy.

There is a clear sense of renewed enthusiasm in our pursuit of new economic development opportunities in Kitsap. Among them are the birth of the Kitsap Aerospace and Defense Alliance to pursue opportunities associated with the Boeing 737 MAX project. In addition, we are committed to enhancing Kitsap’s participation in the Central Puget Sound’s Regional Economic Strategy — Prosperity Partnership 2.0 — a strategy with a defined focus on the military defense cluster in our region. This Strategy also focuses on other important economic clusters in found in Kitsap including marine related industries, advanced manufacturing and emerging information and clean technologies.

Our Board is committed to strengthening the level of private sector participation and investment necessary to fulfill an ambitious agenda of priorities that will guide KEDA’s work in 2012. We want to build upon KEDA’s solid track record of getting the job done. Over the past four years KEDA has assisted hundreds of businesses in attracting new investment, revenues and creating new jobs resulting in over $70M in new business transactions for Kitsap businesses.

Currently, private sector investment constitutes approximately 30 percent of KEDA’s annual resources; the balance is comprised of public sector support. Our goal for 2012 is to double the total private sector investments made by local businesses in KEDA. To achieve this goal we look to increase the number of private sector business partners investing in KEDA by 25 percent, and raise the average annual investment per business by 50 percent — targeting an overall private sector investment in KEDA for 2012 of $150,000.

I’m proud to report that our executive committee member businesses have committed to lead the way in this endeavor. I want to thank Julie Tappero President of West Sound Workforce, Jim Carmichael President and CEO of Kitsap Bank and Russell Steele CEO of Port Madison Enterprises for joining me in increasing our respective businesses’ annual investment in KEDA. We do so because we believe in the value of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance with regard to our individual company’s well being, as well as the overall economic health and prosperity of our primary market — Kitsap County. And, we do so with a sense of urgency to seize the opportunity to leverage the renewed energy and performance of the KEDA team and commitment of our board.

I invite businesses throughout Kitsap County to join your peers in investing in KEDA and the vital role it plays in our community’s economic future. As you finalize your business plans and budgets for 2102, I encourage you to invest in KEDA so that together we can take KEDA to the next level in strengthening our individual enterprises and our overall collective economic future.

To learn more about KEDA and the many economic development services it delivers to local businesses and our community log onto www.kitsapeda.org. I also invite you to attend our upcoming Annual Economic Forecast — Decision Makers — convened at the Kitsap Conference Center on January 24.

Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.