Letter from Directors - NSF Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing

May 29, 2015
Participants and Sponsors of the Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing for Smart Goods
RE: Pacific Northwest Regional Consortium Development
Thank you for attending the Smart Goods conference in Portland on May 14 and 15. We’re
writing to ask you to join us in taking the next steps to make the Northwest a regional hub for the
advanced manufacturing of smart goods.
The industry leaders who spoke from Amazon, Boeing, Google, HP, Intel and Mentor Graphics,
reinforced the opportunities we have in the emerging Internet of Things marketplace. We heard
about new technologies for Northwest-grown industries from aviation to logistics to medical. By
2030, this industry will be worth $6 trillion. The sales, jobs and tax revenue for this industry will
be significant for our region.
Now, we must do the hard work to build a focused, collaborative Northwest strategy to capitalize
on this growth.
We’re looking to our industry leaders and our university researchers to help guide our public
policies and investments over the coming months and years. This will require a sustained focus
from our staff and yours. We hope we can count on your support.
We’ll be in touch soon.
Sean Robbins, Director
Business Oregon
Brian Bonlender, Director
Washington Department of Commerce
pnwsmartgoodsmfg.com