Professional

Uncommon Thinkers Welcome

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Anyone who has gone through the process of developing a brand position that encapsulates the unique values and spirit of a company or themselves knows it’s not easy, especially in a crowded and competitive marketplace. Even more so for a region that does not like to be defined or put in a box. That is why I like to think of Uncommon Thinkers Welcome, my latest brand development project, as more of an invitation than a label.

It has definitely been a journey moving through the various phases of stakeholder engagement – regional, domestic and international research – brand development and trademark – and final production. GeekWire does a great job of laying it out in this article, and I really appreciate their partnership in helping me launch the brand out in the world.

There are a lot of  fun but smart elements to the campaign.

I worked with each of these partners to provide social guidance and assets to amplify the launch. Of course, there were multiple channels involved to launch the campaign:

It has been an honor to work with so many amazing companies and partners to breathe life into this. I worked with more than 22 companies and partners to pull this off, including a 4-day video and photo shoot across Snohomish, King and Pierce County.

Paid media and much more to come!

Musings

Guerrero

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Most days were spent surfing the river mouth or point break, but there was plenty of local color to be had where “the ocean has no memory.”

Musings

Harrison Hot Springs

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A nice little jaunt from Seattle across the border to Canada and up through the Fraser Valley to Harrison Hot Springs. Feels a little bit like a throw back to the 1920s, but the pools are varied in temperature and relaxing, and there are plenty of lodging and food options.

The Village of Harrison Hot Springs has been a small resort community since 1886 when the opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought the lakeside springs within a short carriage ride of the transcontinental mainline. In its first promotion as a resort it was known as St. Alice’s Well, although Europeans had discovered it (not new to indigenous communities) decades earlier when a party of goldfield-bound travelers on Harrison Lake capsized into what they thought was their doom, only to discover the lake at that spot was not freezing, but warm.

Starting in November, over 35,000 eagles will pass through the lower Fraser Valley until February, with thousands of the birds accumulating on Harrison River daily to feast on spawning salmon. White Trumpeter Swans also winter in the valley.

Musings

Oyster Dome

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The Chuckanut Mountains, or Chuckanuts, are located on the northern Washington state coast of the Salish Sea, just south of Bellingham, Washington. Being a part of the Cascade Range, they are the only place where the Cascades come west down to meet the sea.

About this same time, the ice would have been 3x the height of the Space Needle in downtown Seattle.

Musings

Emmons Glacier

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I love returning to the Glacier Basin Trail because it offers incredible views of Emmons Glacier, the largest sheet of ice on Mount Rainier, and a milky blue-green glacial lake below. It is also a powerful example of global warming, and the dramatic retreat of ice. As you hike along the White River, you can observe the scale of the erosive powers of the mountain. The stark line between the trees and the raw river bank towers above you, and illustrates how destructive the raging mud and water once was as it swept through the canyon.

Professional

Farnborough Airshow

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This year’s Farnborough International Airshow was a huge success for Greater Seattle and Washington-based aerospace companies. As our research illustrates, the UK is an invaluable trade and investment partner for our region, and to be there for the return of Farnborough after a 4-year hiatus marked the revival of the aerospace industry after the prolonged negative impacts of Covid-19.

Boeing inked a number of high profile deals, including Delta Air Lines’ purchase of 100 of its 737 MAX 10 jetliners, a $13.5B deal that is in addition to another $12B for the 737 Max 8, 737 Max 10 and 777x.

“We saw a little bit of that trickle of optimism in Dubai and it’s just so strong here in Farnborough,” Robert Payne, vice president of marketing and communications for economic development group Greater Seattle Partners, told the Business Journal in a call from the event, referencing the Dubai Airshow in November.

The activity, Payne said, is “proof that we’re getting back to pre-Covid times with better planes, better technology and better processes in place to ensure that the aerospace industry is safe and innovative.”

While Boeing’s 777x delighted spectators with incredible aerial displays and informative on-the-ground tours if its new, more fuel efficient technologies out on the tarmac, a host of Washington aerospace companies were inside the tradeshow showcasing their products and solutions from cybersecurity and artificial intelligence to advanced manufacturing and new forms of electric and hydrogen propulsion.

In another article detailing Boeing’s plans to expand its supply of sustainable aviation fuel, we gave readers a sense of what other local companies were there to evolve the aerospace industry.

The event has also provided a platform for Washington state to showcase its role in the development of sustainable technologies, said Robert Payne, marketing and communications lead for economic development group Greater Seattle Partners. He pointed to exhibits by companies like Everett-based electric propulsion startup MagniX and ZeroAvia, which has a research division for its hydrogen retrofit technology at Snohomish County’s Paine Field airport.

In addition to connecting with our friends in commercial aircraft and defense, we met with a number of companies in the eVTOL and space sectors, as well as other local hometown brands such as Blue Origin and Microsoft.

Boeing Site Tour in Sheffield

Towards the latter end of the show, a number of us took a side trip to Sheffield where we had a very interesting visit to Boeing’s advanced manufacturing facility to see how rock star engineers are achieving greater efficiency in production through new technologies and innovative processes for producing wing flap actuators. They’ve also reimagined their supply chain to be more resilient and sustainable.

We also toured the adjacent Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) to learn how it is supporting talent development with novel approaches for workforce training. The place is filled with robots, researchers and methods for capturing and analyzing data that will blow your mind. They’re really setting the bar for empowering top talent to produce the next innovation in aerospace.

Professional

Washington, D.C.

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I was recently in the other Washington to promote the Greater Seattle region at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, which is the highest-profile event dedicated to promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States. The Investment Summit plays a vital role in attracting and facilitating business investment and job creation by raising awareness about the wide range of investment opportunities in the United States and enabling necessary direct connections between investors and U.S. economic development organizations (EDOs).

The United States is still the largest recipient of FDI in the world. 

FDI activity into and out of Greater Seattle and Washington State is as follows:

Greater SeattleWA State
InboundOutboundInboundOutbound
CapEx$2.88B$71.21B$4.17B$71.98B
Jobs8,011289,4449,654295,361
Projects1129801321,003

The unique aspect of Washington State is that we are home to leading brands such as Amazon, Boeing, Costco, Microsoft, Paccar and Starbucks, which generate significant international economic activity in terms of capex, jobs, and total projects. Over the past 5 years, in fact, Amazon leads the nation in outbound FDI by capex, jobs, and projects created with Microsoft coming in at the #5 spot for total number of projects. The number of outbound jobs Amazon has generated globally is double the size of the #2 spot. For this five-year period, Washington State ranks #2 in the nation for total capex, and #3 for total jobs and projects created with Greater Seattle generating 98% of the state’s outbound projects.

I provide more detail here.

It was an honor to meet the Ambassador of Japan at his residence, Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, Executive Director of SelectUSA, Jasjit Singh, and many other businesses and colleagues in the economic development community.

Professional

Scotland

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It was a rich and moving experience returning to the U.K. for the World Economic Forum for Foreign Direct Investment hosted by Conway Data and Scottish Development International. I’ve worked with Conway and their editorial and advertising staff at Site Selection for more than 10 years, so it was fantastic to see several old friends in person.

Scotland has shaped the global economy with innovations such as the refrigerator, flushing toilets, tires, telephone and penicillin just to name a few. More recently, Scotland has given us the world’s first floating wind farm and the tidal energy array. Home to legendary authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who’s books I read from cover to cover as a child from my father’s hardback collection, followed me through the old stone alleyways. I didn’t don a kilt, but there is even a Payne tartan.

Shortly after arrival, I participated in the Energy Tour that departed from Edinburgh and visited Dundee, St. Andrews and the Michelin Innovation Parc where we learned more about Scotland’s commitment to a clean and diversified energy portfolio. Between conference sessions, a welcome reception aboard the Royal Brittania, and the Gala Reception at the National Museum of Scotland, I engaged site selectors, companies, international investment promotion agencies, and others influencing the global conversation.

Seattle’s economic ties with Scotland and the U.K. run deep. Of the top 10 foreign-owned firms in Greater Seattle, the U.K. ranks #3 with 320+ privately owned companies; and 530 across Washington State. The U.K ranks #1 in total FDI projects across the state in the past 5 years with 15 new locates representing more than $450M in CapEx. It is also a strong trading partner ranking #6 with $1.82B worth of exports of Washington commodities, the majority of which come from Greater Seattle.

I look forward to welcoming old and new friends to Seattle soon!

Musings

Back to Baja

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It has been a while since I was in Baja. The last time consisted of a long drive starting from Lake Tahoe and winding all the way down the 800-mile peninsula. That trip ended badly. So it was finally time for a refresh.

An easy flight from Seattle to Cabo San Lucas, and then a 1.5 hour drive north to Cerrito, put me right on a south, southwest swell that pumped all week. It was a good jumping off point to visit Todos Santos, La Paz, and the numerous surf breaks radiating out in all directions.

Because Baja and the Pacific Plate continues to separate from the Mexican mainland like a zipper, this geologic phenomenon will only continue to widen the Sea of Cortez by about 2 inches per year, leaving plenty of room for whales and waves – and you – to travel up and down both sides of its tip.

The intersection of work and lifestyle: Seattle, Washington