greater philadelphia metro export plan priority clusters...

Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan

Priority Clusters Working Group

Monday, November 2, 2015, 10:00 to 11:30 am

Economy League of Greater Philadelphia

230 South Broad Street, Suite 403, Philadelphia

Strategy: Catalyze export growth for priority clusters

Meeting Agenda

o Welcome & Introductions

o Working Group Charge

o Prioritizing Clusters

Review and Discussion of Proposed Clusters

Tactics, Actions, Roles, Resources

Priority Clusters Working Group

November 2, 2015, 10:00-11:30am Economy League of Greater Philadelphia 230 South Broad Street, Suite 403, Philadelphia

Meeting Materials

Priority Clusters Working Group Meeting Agenda Page 1

Priority Clusters Working Group Memo Page 3

Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Elements Page 10

Health and Wellness Cluster Excerpt from Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Export Plan Page 11

Priority Clusters Excerpt from Portland Global Trade and Investment Plan Page 13

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MEMORANDUM DATE: November 1, 2015

TO: Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Priority Clusters Working Group

FROM: Josh Sevin, Managing Director for Regional Engagement, Economy League

RE: Catalyzing export growth for priority clusters

Catalyzing export growth for priority clusters has been identified as one of three priority strategies that

Greater Philadelphia will focus on to accelerate regional growth via a dynamic export economy. This

memorandum lays out the charge of the Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Priority Clusters

Working Group and presents background information and criteria to assist with selection of 1-2 clusters

to focus on in the plan and subsequent implementation. After selecting these priority clusters, the

working group will spend the remainder of its meeting time on Monday and November 24 discussing

specific action items, roles, resources, and metrics to drive successful cluster export growth efforts.

Through these contributions, the working group will develop critical pieces of the export growth plan for

review by the Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Steering Committee at its December meeting.

METRO EXPORT PLAN ELEMENTS AND STRATEGIES

The Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan will be a 16-to-24 page document that makes a compelling

case for exports as a driver of our region’s long-run economic success and provides a guide for how to

achieve stated export growth goals and objectives. It will be a vehicle for educating a wide range of

audiences about the exports opportunity and how our region plans to take advantage of it.

Our plan will present an explanation of why exporting is critical to the region’s competitiveness, key

findings from the market assessment, goal and objectives, strategies and tactics, performance metrics to

gauge progress, and an implementation plan summary. (Background on preparing a metro export plan

and examples of other regions’ plans are available at the Global Cities Initiative’s website at

http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/global-cities/exchange.)

Drawing upon the market assessment results and metro export initiative efforts to date, the Greater

Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Core Team has drafted several plan elements, including key findings and

plan goal and objectives. A summary of current draft plan elements is included in the meeting materials

on page 10.

The metro export plan should be viewed as similar to an effective business plan for an organization. It

will not aim to address every opportunity or cite every possible strategy that could be employed to

achieve regional export objectives, but instead will present three or four priority strategies with clear

action steps and commitment toward implementation.

At the Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Steering Committee’s October meeting, the group

reviewed three proposed strategies for refinement and inclusion in the plan:

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http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/global-cities/exchange

Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan – Priority Clusters Working Group Memo (November 2015)

1) Building Export Awareness and Capacity among the Region’s SMEs;

2) Catalyzing Export Growth for Priority Clusters; and

3) Strengthening and Enhancing Coordination within Greater Philadelphia’s Export Support

Ecosystem

These strategies represent approaches that the Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Core Team

thinks will best drive the region towards achievement of the plan’s overarching objectives of boosting

the region’s export intensity, increasing the number of new exporting firms, and elevating exports as a

top-of-mind economic development priority. They focus on core opportunities and needs that emerged

from the market assessment findings: limited awareness of export opportunities or services among

small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, the existence of regional export industry

cluster strengths, and the potential for greater collaboration and coordination among export service

providers and economic development leaders. It is likely that the priority clusters strategy will be revised

to name the specific clusters chosen.

These three strategies will be accompanied in the metro export plan by a set of tactics that lay out what

specific actions the region will undertake to execute each strategy. Specific quantitative and qualitative

outcome and output indicators will be tracked in conjunction with plan strategies and tactics. Working

groups have been established to identify priority tactics and implementation items for each strategy.

While the SMEs and export support ecosystem working groups are expected to deliver detailed

recommendations around tactics, actions, roles, and resources, this working group will help select

priority clusters and begin discussion of promising approaches to spur export growth within each

cluster. Additional market intelligence will be required to understand needs and opportunities within

the selected clusters and to develop buy-in among key stakeholders for implementation. The working

group will help in this process by identifying potential actions and hypotheses to test about driving

export growth in priority clusters.

CATALYZING EXPORT GROWTH FOR PRIORITY CLUSTERS

The Greater Philadelphia export market assessment identifies a diverse set of goods- and services-

producing industry clusters that appear well-positioned for increased export activity. These promising

industry opportunities emerged from extensive data analysis by Drexel University and Economy League

researchers, as well as market intelligence gathered from interviews.

Among manufacturing industries, those poised for export growth in our region include precision

instruments (analytical instruments, medical devices, environmental controls, navigational and

measuring instruments); aircraft products and parts; communications and electrical equipment; plastics;

cleaning products; and medical equipment and supplies. Services sectors with strong potential for

continued export growth include R&D, education, health care, telecommunications, legal, management

and consulting, software/IT, computer, advertising, and architectural and engineering services.

Increasing goods exports historically has been the primary focus for Greater Philadelphia’s export

assistance providers, but the strong and sustained growth of service sectors in the region point toward

an opportunity to develop creative new approaches to support services exports.

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Focusing regional export growth efforts on priority clusters provides an opportunity to more deeply

understand and meet the particular needs of firms within a given industry. It can allow export service

providers and economic development organizations to identify and target outreach to a more narrow

set of threshold SMEs that currently do not export but are in a position to do so. A priority cluster

strategy can also help broaden communications efforts by providing examples of exporting firm success

stories that paint a picture of our region’s export economy and potential.

There are a broad range of potential tactics that Greater Philadelphia could undertake to boost

exporting within a given cluster. Some options include:

Identifying and doing proactive outreach to threshold firms that currently do not export but

could become export-ready with assistance;

Engaging high-potential under-exporters around expanding to new markets;

Minimizing barriers to entry via one-on-one counseling, market research support, micro-grants,

or mentoring programs;

Boosting the global profile of priority clusters via international marketing efforts; and

Establishing new cluster-focused web resources about export opportunities and services

A tailored combination of these or other tactics can be brought together in a pilot initiative that tracks

export success over multiple years, setting the stage for potential follow-on investment in the same or

other priority clusters.

Most regions that have completed metro export plans in conjunction with the Global Cities Initiative

have identified a sector growth strategy that builds on existing strengths. Some have chosen broad

clusters for this work (e.g., health and wellness in Minneapolis St.-Paul, services in several) while others

have chosen a more narrow industry focus (e.g., sustainable design in Portland, wireless

communications in San Diego, aerospace in Wichita). See Table 1 below for cluster strategy targets in

several other GCI regions.

Table 1 – Priority Clusters for Other Global Cities Initiative Metros

Atlanta – health care; services Portland – clean tech and sustainability; software; computers and electronics

Charleston – automotive; professional services; tourism

San Diego – life sciences; wireless communications

Minneapolis-St. Paul – health and wellness Seattle – clean technology; maritime; aerospace

Phoenix – services; advanced manufacturing Syracuse – education and medical tourism; digital

electronics

Regions that have successfully implemented export cluster strategies have taken similar steps. They

have gathered market intelligence to deepen understanding of specific export growth needs and

opportunities within their chosen cluster(s), tailored programs and investments to address these

opportunities, and dedicated resources and staff with clear roles and responsibilities to drive

measurable outcomes. Some metrics used to measure progress with export cluster growth efforts

include number of new-to-exporting and new-to-market firms in a specified cluster, number of new

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firms entering the export service pipeline; number of companies and participants in cluster-focused

trade missions; and media coverage and success stories on exporting firms in target clusters.

The Core Team suggests that the following criteria help guide selection of one or two priority export

growth clusters for immediate implementation efforts:

They should highlight both manufacturing and service sector strengths in our region.

The cluster(s) should represent industries where we can influence key export growth measures,

in particular a significant number of SMEs with potential to start exporting or expand to new

markets.

The cluster(s) should have partners and engaged business leadership organizations that can

help drive implementation.

The cluster(s) should have the potential for increased export activity to drive employment

growth.

They should have the potential to deepen understanding of our region’s export economy and

to engage a broad range of business, economic development, and government leaders.

Drawing upon the Greater Philadelphia market assessment and taking these criteria into consideration,

the Core Team is proposing three cluster groups for consideration by the working group – life sciences,

professional services, and sustainable design. While each of these as well as other promising clusters can

all be cited in the final export plan for their potential, no more than two should be singled out for initial

implementation focus. A summary of preliminary considerations and key data associated with each of

these clusters is included below to help inform the working group’s discussion.

Life Sciences

Arguably the region’s leading advanced industry cluster, Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences and health

care cluster already has a well-developed global footprint with room for export growth. Major

pharmaceutical firms with manufacturing and research functions in the region contribute to an

estimated $2 billion in annual exports. And while medical care is usually considered a locally-serving

industry, Greater Philadelphia’s high concentration of health care employment has helped to drive

medical services exports outside of the region with assistance from Philadelphia International Medicine.

In addition to pharmaceutical companies, concentrations of medical device and equipment and supplies

firms point to export growth opportunities. These medical manufacturing industries combined have 335

SMEs with under 50 employees and another 38 firms with between 50 and 250 employees. The region’s

R&D services strength focused on life sciences represents additional potential for export growth, with

458 scientific research SMEs in the region. The region is also home to a concentration of professional

service firms serving the health care sector, in particular advertising and architecture firms, that also

could be well-positioned for international growth. In addition to these SME export growth opportunities,

there is the potential to explore export growth opportunities for area firms along the supply chain for

major medical manufacturing and services exporters in the region.

An added benefit of focusing on life sciences as an export growth cluster would be to further marketing

and branding of a core regional strength globally.

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Table 2 – Life Sciences Cluster Export Data

Industry Employment Location Quotient

# of SMEs (<250 employees)

2014 Export Value (in millions)

Annualized Export Growth

(2003-2014)

Pharmaceutical 10,209 2.96 58 $2,012 -5.0%

R&D Services 22,726 2.54 458 $1,305 11.0%

Precision Instruments 11,275 1.94 150 $823 4.2%

Medical Equipment/Supplies 4,983 1.17 223 $413 2.4%

Health Care Services 84,462 1.16 13,389 $87 3.0%

Professional Services

Estimates from the Brookings Institution indicate that the greatest export growth over the last decade in

our region has occurred in the services sector. Many of the most competitive and fastest growing export

industries are within our professional services cluster. These industries are dominated by SMEs, many of

which have export potential but have yet to explore global markets. Each professional services industry

listed in Table 3 below aside from R&D services is made up of at least 95 percent of firms having 50 or

fewer employees. While IT services and software are not traditionally counted among professional

services, a significant portion of our region’s IT employment supports health care and financial services

firms and could be targeted to expand their client base globally.

Greater Philadelphia has joined many other large US metros in having more than half of its total export

value now come from services exports. Other GCI metros are trying to figure out how best to spur

services export growth via new initiatives and export support ecosystem investments. Initial promising

approaches in other regions have focused on coordinated marketing, such as Portland’s We Build Green

Cities initiative for sustainable design industries, and relationship-development and missions in strategic

target markets (e.g., Asia and South America for We Build Green Cities). This is a clear challenge and

opportunity for Greater Philadelphia, with the potential to attract funding if we can devise an innovative

approach to spur professional services exports.

Table 3 – Professional Services Cluster Export Data

Industry Employment Location Quotient

# of SMEs (<250 employees)

2014 Export Value (in millions)

Annualized Export Growth

(2003-2014)

Financial 171,574 1.33 9,200 $3,914 11.7%

R&D Services 22,726 2.54 458 $1,305 11.0%

Management & Consulting 29,319 1.48 3,398 $911 4.5%

Computer Services 37,324 1.61 3,308 $326 7.4%

Legal 38,444 1.24 4,029 $322 5.5%

Architectural & Engineering 25,156 0.94 2,000 $248 22.0%

Advertising 10,070 1.16 778 $183 21.5%

Accounting 26,319 N/A 2,209 $28 11.4%

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Sustainable Design

With a concentration of innovative firms in our region focused on clean energy, clean water, and

sustainable building design, there is an opportunity to advance export growth around a sustainable

design cluster. While data on number and size of businesses and their export activity is not available for

firms in these green industries, anecdotal evidence and activity around the Consortium for Building

Energy Innovation and the International Design and Engineering Consortium (IDEC) point toward

opportunities in this cluster.

Other industries identified in the Greater Philadelphia export market assessment for their growth

potential include aircraft products and parts; communications and electrical equipment; plastics;

cleaning products; education; and telecommunications services. Some of these industries, such as

higher education and aircraft products, are dominated by large businesses that have managed to

develop and expand global sales without significant external economic development investments. While

their continued international growth could help boost our economy’s export intensity, a cluster strategy

focused on either would yield relatively few new exporting firms.

As we narrow down to one or two clusters for inclusion in Greater Philadelphia’s export plan, it is

important to note that this will not be at the expense firms across all industries seeking export

assistance. The region’s export service providers will continue to support activity across our diverse

economy. The proposed approach will provide additional focused attention and the opportunity to learn

from deeper engagement within a targeted cluster. Pilot cluster strategy success can then open the

possibility for future investments in other promising clusters. (For strong framing on how a cluster

strategy can fit within a region’s export plan, see page 11 in the meeting materials from Minneapolis-St.

Paul.)

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Per Brookings’ suggestion and the efforts of other GCI metros, we will highlight export growth priorities

that require change at the federal or state level in a policy memo that accompanies our metro export

plan. This approach will help bring together a shared policy agenda to foster an environment that

enables the Greater Philadelphia export plan to succeed and facilitate engagement of public and private

sector leaders around policy priorities.

Increasing airport capacity and direct international flights is one potential policy priority to support

export growth for services firms that rely more heavily upon face-to-face client contact earlier in the

development process than many goods manufacturers. Investing in Greater Philadelphia as an energy

hub is another possible advocacy focus to yield future growth around natural gas and related

manufacturing exports.

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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

For our discussion at Monday’s meeting, please consider the following questions:

What sector-focused export growth efforts already exist in our region? Which have

been successful and why?

Are there other clusters that we should be considering besides the three listed above?

Which one or two clusters would you recommend for inclusion in plan – and why?

Is there revised framing/language that we should use to describe our priority cluster(s)?

Are there opportunities in more specialized manufacturing or services industries that

you think merit consideration?

What innovative approach can we take around services exports? How can we modify

and expand current export assistance resources to meet the needs of services firms?

What business, economic development, and industry experts should we speak with to

better understand opportunities and develop a plan-of-attack for our priority

cluster(s)?

After selecting up to two priority clusters following working group discussion, we will consider

the following questions over the remainder of the group’s two meetings:

What are high-impact, feasible tactics and actions that we can pursue to spur export

growth within a given cluster?

What are promising markets to target within a given cluster?

Who will take leadership roles and responsibilities to implement priority tactics for a

given cluster?

What kind of additional resources will be required for implementation? How/where can

we raise them?

What are the best metrics to gauge progress?

What policy recommendations related to catalyzing export growth for priority clusters

should be included in our policy memo?

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Greater Philadelphia Metro Export Plan Elements

RATIONALE (Why are we doing a metro export plan?)

Persistently slow job growth has prompted Greater Philadelphia to focus on global business and export

strategies to expand its economy.

KEY FINDINGS (What did the market assessment tell us?)

1) Greater Philadelphia’s export economy is large and diverse, but its growth has been slow relative to

other metros.

2) Despite an overall decline in manufacturing, the region has maintained a competitive advantage in

several specialized goods-producing industries, including precision instruments, aircraft products and

parts, and medical equipment and supplies.

3) Greater Philadelphia has experienced recent export growth in leading service sectors, including research

and development, higher education, and software/IT, with potential for further expansion.

4) Many small- and mid-sized companies have limited awareness of their global growth potential or of

existing export services.

5) Greater Philadelphia has a comprehensive export support ecosystem, but some gaps and weak links

exist.

GOAL (What do we hope to ultimately accomplish?)

Accelerate regional job and revenue growth via a dynamic export economy

OBJECTIVES (What measurable outcomes will we achieve?)

Increase Greater Philadelphia’s export intensity to match or exceed the average for the top 100 US metros

within five years

Increase the number of identified new exporting firms in the region by 10 percent within five years

Elevate exports as a top-of-mind economic development priority among regional leaders within three

years

STRATEGIES (What will we do to achieve these objectives?)

Catalyze export growth for priority clusters

Build export awareness and capacity among the region’s SMEs

Strengthen and enhance coordination within Greater Philadelphia’s export support ecosystem

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M e t r o e x p o r t I n I t I a t I v e

M I n n e a p o l I s -s a I n t pa u l e x p o r t p l a n

11

BrookIngs

MetropolItan

polIcY

prograM

1 2

S T r aT e gy 3 : p r o M o t e g l o B a l a d va n ta g e s ,

s ta r t I n g w I t h h e a lt h a n d

w e l l n e s s

strategy 3 seeks to engage much more deeply with

identified local industry clusters through more inten-

sive export marketing, starting in year one with health

and wellness. this “deep dive” will focus attention

on a core cluster to build from our greatest areas

of strength, meaningfully engage company leaders,

and learn what approaches are effective in achieving

regional and company export objectives. it will also

allow us to learn the dynamics, opportunities, chal-

lenges, and key players for a specific cluster.

More in-depth research and knowledge will foster

improved understanding of barriers to increasing

exports for this cluster, particularly policy barriers

like patent protection and FDa approval processes

for devices and visas for medical tourists. the lessons

learned will be applied to additional clusters in

the future.

this strategy calls for the region to claim and

reinforce its earned reputation as a global health and

wellness center—homegrown Medtronic, 3M, st. Jude

Medical, and the Mayo clinic all have world promi-

nence in the health care arena—opening doors for the

hundreds of small to mid-sized firms active in this

sector. the health and wellness cluster packaged for

global promotion will include medical technologies,

life sciences, medical tourism (health care), and the

region’s high rankings for health and wellness, encom-

passing not only the medical products that extend

lives throughout the world but a regional “living well

knowledge base.”

early focused work on the health and wellness clus-

ter will allow us to immediately engage the corporate

leaders of one of our strongest export sectors in the

export initiative work. Many of these leaders have

already played a role in the national export initiative

and in reaching out to smaller firms in their supply

chain. With these business leaders, we can pilot con-

cepts like the export business bridge and facilitated

mentoring (strategy 1). this strategy will also better

ensure the Minneapolis-saint paul region’s health and

wellness cluster is more intentionally represented

and connected globally through trade fairs, missions,

marketing, and public relations.

Health and life sciences is one of five target clusters

identified by gReateR Msp (the regional economic

development partnership) for the Minneapolis-saint

paul region based on both existing strategic advan-

tages and growth potential. these relate strongly to

the top exporting industries and would be candidates

for subsequent global advantage deep dives. the four

other clusters identified by gReateR Msp are cor-

porate headquarters and business services, food and

agribusiness, innovation and technology, and financial

services.

the cluster focus defined as strategy 3 will not be

at the expense of assistance to companies in all fields

seeking export guidance, or a detriment to the work

to target opportunities (strategy 2) where contacts,

products, and market opportunity intersect. We will

charge ahead with both. Moreover, health and wellness

is not the export brand, simply one strategy for early

focused attention to build from strength and learn

from a deeper engagement within a targeted cluster.

S T r aT e gy 4 : s e l l M s p t o t h e w o r l d

this strategy focuses on marketing the Minneapolis-

saint paul region both internally and externally and

tapping all members of our export team to sell to the

world our region, sectors, workforce, and quality of

life. it stresses generating awareness of the impor-

tance of global trade to long-term vitality and eco-

nomic growth for our region. it also promotes broad

efforts to create a more globally-oriented metro area.

➊ define and promote the Msp Brand:

➤ an internal and external marketing effort will

be established to create a recognizable ‘brand’

for the Minneapolis-saint paul region in the

global market, building on the brand identity

recently established by gReateR Msp. the

brand will build on what we are known for and

what we should be known for, based on our

assets. gReateR Msp will lead a sustained

public relations, communications and market-

ing effort that opens doors for the region and

its companies in targeted overseas markets.

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GREATERPORTLANDGLOBAL

G L O B A L T R A D E A N D I N V E S T M E N T P L A N

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20 GLOBAL CITIES INITIATIVE | A JOINT PROJECT OF BROOKINGS AND JPMORGAN CHASE

S T R AT E G I E S & TA C T I C S

G R E AT E R P O R T L A N D ’ S E X P E R I E N C E S

I M P L E M E N T I N G T H E G R E AT E R P O R T L A N D

E X P O R T I N I T I AT I V E and conducting the FDI

market assessment have shaped how and where

the region focuses its interventions. Hence Greater

Portland’s strategies and tactics are blended to serve

both export and FDI objectives. The region seeks to

investigate where sectors are in the continuum of

excellence and develop strategies to nurture newly

formed sectors, further the international aspirations of

emerging sectors, and secure the future of key firms that

anchor the region’s most mature sectors.

The four stages in that continuum—nascent, emerging,

established, and legacy—each call for differing levels of

intervention, focus and support. In addition to stage-

specific interventions, strategies around BR&E, M&A

and market prioritization will be applied across the

continuum.

NASCENT EMERGING ESTABLISHED LEGACY

SECTORS

APPROACHES /INTERVENTIONS

Health Sciences & Technology (Knight); Internet of Things

Branding

Incubator, innovation and VC focus

Software; We Build Green Cities, A&O (Maker / Artisan)

Computer & Electron-ics (Intel); A&O (Nike, Adidas, Columbia); Food Processing

Metals Manufacturing; Wood Products; Family-owned Companies

Translation of web & marketing content

Peer to peer mentoring

Coordinated invest-ment missions

Recruitment

Coordinated investment missions in Germany & Japan

Industrial lands readiness

Recruitment

MARKET PRIORITIZATION

BUSINESS RETENTION & EXPANSION (BR&E)

MERGERS & ACQUISITION (M&A)

CROSS- CUTTING

STRATEGIES

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GREATER PORTLAND GLOBAL | GLOBAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT PLAN 21

STAGE-SPECIFIC STRATEGIES

NASCENT

Whether as spillover from established sectors, off-

shoots from state-funded incubators, or brainstorms

from talented entrepreneurs, the region is full of

companies trying to create the next great idea. The job

of economic development professionals is not to pick

which idea or technology may succeed, but to create a

fertile ground where innovation will thrive locally and

become a pipeline to the region’s next emerging sector.

Knitting the story of innovation into Greater

Portland’s evolving global brand will not only tell the

region’s economic story more fully, it will also serve to

attract investors who are not currently knowledgeable

about Greater Portland’s assets and opportunities.

This strategy aims to:

1. Include nascent innovative sectors in the region’s

brand, focusing on the Knight Cancer Institute

opportunity at Oregon Health & Science Univer-

sity and the bioscience/medical products sector.

2. Support and work with Oregon Innovation Coun-

cil initiatives and Signature Research Centers

and the Washington Innovation Partnership

Zone in Vancouver to accelerate technologies in

nascent innovative sectors.

3. Facilitate introductions between early-stage

firms and foreign companies for investment,

commercialization and deployment opportunities

at events such as Oregon BestFest.

4. Connect local venture capital firms to interna-

tional sources of capital.

5. Leverage the role of universities in attracting

foreign students and investment and cultivating

foreign alumni to grow international business

connections. For example, the strong student/

alumni ties that Portland State University has

with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States present a

particular opportunity.

6. Diversify participation in the region’s startup

ecosystem to create an environment where new

products and services are applicable to broad

global needs and tastes.

Orox Leather Co.

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22 GLOBAL CITIES INITIATIVE | A JOINT PROJECT OF BROOKINGS AND JPMORGAN CHASE

EMERGING

The Greater Portland Export Initiative focused

attention on the We Build Green Cities program, which

started as a marketing brand and transformed into a

business development platform that has had initial suc-

cess in securing work in target markets for local firms.

The export market assessment further revealed that

the software industry, known domestically and emerg-

ing internationally, would also benefit from an interna-

tional marketing and business development program.

To address the finding that firms struggle with

the “where and how” of exports—questions that also

confront economic development professionals who

often receive requests or host visitors from around the

world—Greater Portland will develop a quantitative and

qualitative model to prioritize outbound markets for

the two emerging regional sectors of clean tech and

software. A tool that can quantify which markets rep-

resent the most priority—based on Opportunity, Ease

of Doing Business, Size of Market and Connections—will

be useful to firms and economic development profes-

sionals alike.


1. Translate/globalize web and marketing content

for We Build Green Cities clean tech/sustainabil-

ity and Techtown software brands.

2. Offer local export and investment case manage-

ment services to companies, building on the

work of the Export Initiative in partnership with

state and federal partners:

• Align regional clean tech and architectural and

engineering firms with the We Build Green Cit-

ies program and its recent partnership with the

U.S. Department of Commerce Market Develop-

ment Cooperator Program

• Partner with Business Oregon, Washington

Department of Commerce and SelectUSA for

inbound and outbound investment missions

3. Expand pilot of peer-to-peer (P2P) mentoring

program, which matches experienced exporters

with new-to-export or new-to-market export-

ers, starting with the Technology Association of

Oregon.

4. Create a quantitative and qualitative index that

prioritizes export markets for software and clean

tech/sustainability sectors.

5. Coordinate trade and investment missions to

prioritized markets, working with local, regional,

state and federal partners.

The Poler flagship store in Portland

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GREATER PORTLAND GLOBAL | GLOBAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT PLAN 23

ESTABLISHED

The global excellence of the region is largely the

result of its two biggest companies, Nike and Intel, and

the industry clusters that orbit around them: athletic

and outdoor, and computers and electronics. While nei-

ther firm needs direct assistance with exporting, their

success has created a rich vein of ancillary opportuni-

ties to build on the Greater Portland Export Initiative

work with secondary and tertiary suppliers and export-

ers in these industries.

Similar to the twin impacts of Nike and Intel in the

region, Germany and Japan also tower over other mar-

kets’ investment in the region. Local economic devel-

opment professionals have spent considerable time

and attention on German and Japanese markets, but

their importance and value must be overtly acknowl-

edged by the region and its leaders. Even as Greater

Portland begins to look at other markets, the region’s

30 years of history with Germany and Japan call for a

renewed commitment through visits and closer ties to

local firms and cultural institutions.


1. Support established industry clusters with a

focus on maintaining and protecting the region’s

location advantages.

2. Develop and prepare market-ready industrial

sites in Greater Portland that will meet target

cluster needs.

3. Connect existing businesses in the region to

supply chain opportunities as part of business

retention and expansion efforts (BR&E).

4. Implement the recommendations of the Region-

al Large Site Industrial Recruitment Strategy,

including specific FDI-related aspects.

5. Coordinate investment missions between city,

regional, state and federal partners to the key

markets of Germany and Japan to recruit identi-

fied foreign supply chain targets and further

strengthen cultural ties.

LEGACY

The region is rich with firms in legacy industries

such as metals manufacturing and wood processing

that use advanced processes and possess a highly

skilled labor pool. Though they are not growing

apace with other sectors, they represent an impor-

tant and integral part of Greater Portland’s economy.

The region has a shining example of how foreign

ownership can transform legacy firms into 21st

century companies: Germany’s Daimler-Benz’s 1981

acquisition of Portland’s Freightliner Trucks.

Daimler’s recent innovations, investment in a

new headquarters facility, and creation of hundreds

of new jobs all demonstrate the capacity of FDI to

shift legacy companies to an upward trajectory. In

addition, while the FDI market assessment demon-

strated that greenfield investment is the marginally

preferred method of entry by foreign firms and that

large-scale investment capital has not yet entered

the market, it is time for the region to prepare the

ground for such interest.

The region’s intervention for legacy industries will

be limited to the cross-cutting strategies described in

the next section.

The Freightliner Cascadia

17

greater philadelphia metro export plan priority clusters...

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