Washington state got a big boost around North America this month, after Fortune Magazine featured the state, with an emphasis on trade and high technology, in a 12-page advertorial feature at the beginning of the September 6 issue. Read the article in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced she will be leading a delegation of nearly 80 business, agriculture and education leaders to China and Vietnam to help expand our state’s export markets, encourage investment in Washington state and promote Washington’s higher education system. Read the full press release.

Check out the list in the Seattle Times.

Three Washington businesses, Amazon.com, Coinstar and F5 Networks, made FORTUNE magazine’s annual 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list.

Seattle’s Amazon.com ranked highest of the Washington companies, moving up on the list to No. 30 from its previous rank of No. 52. Bellevue’s Coinstar ranked No. 61, followed by F5 Networks, a Seattle-based application networking company, at No. 64.

“These companies exemplify what Washington stands for – ingenuity in creating game-changing products that compete on a global basis,” said Rogers Weed, director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. “We’re proud to call these businesses an integral part of Washington’s economy.”

The rankings were released in the Sept. 6, 2010, issue of FORTUNE, which hit the newsstands today. The issue also features a special section on Washington, profiling the state as a center for world-class innovation and featuring its new export initiative, designed to complement President Obama’s National Export Initiative. Read the Washington feature at ChooseWashingon.com.

“It’s an honor to be named one of the country’s fastest-growing companies and to be featured in FORTUNE as a key part of Washington’s innovation-based business culture,” said Dan Matte, senior vice president of marketing and business development at F5 Networks. “Washington’s profile in FORTUNE will help spread the word about some of the reasons we chose to call Washington home – its superior quality of life, supportive entrepreneurial and creative environment, and the fact that we are a global leader in the technology sector.”

Commerce is the lead state agency charged with enhancing and promoting sustainable community and economic vitality in Washington. For more information, visit www.commerce.wa.gov.

Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) announced today it has received a second federal grant to extend high-speed broadband service to nearly every unserved area of the state. Read the full article in PR Newswire.

With the approach of the school year, a new website is providing access to over 5,000 education and training programs, and offering users information about the career they're seeking and where to get the training to prepare for it.

Increasingly, adults are heading back to school to improve their career prospects and earning power, and are turning to CareerBridge.Wa.Gov (www.CareerBridge.Wa.Gov) for answers from the state's first education "consumer reports" website.

In many cases, Career Bridge details how many students completed an educational program, whether they got a job, and how much they earned-providing a new level of accountability and transparency for those considering where to go to school, and what to study.

Ultimately, Career Bridge enables potential students to sort through dozens, if not hundreds of training programs, and enroll in one that matches their interests and is likely to lead to a living-wage job.

The website also connects to employment data from the state's Employment Security Department so users can learn whether an occupation is in demand, what it pays on average and its projected growth rate.

"Education can be costly in both time and money. This online database makes it easier to find the training that will make you competitive for the job you seek" said Eleni Papadakis, executive director of the website's sponsoring agency, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board. "The consumer report side of Career Bridge means you can find the training that best suits your needs and budget."

High school students involved in career planning are also using Career Bridge to chart their next educational step. The site includes an Explore Careers area that allows students to view their interests and abilities and how they align with a potential career. The site also shows students ways to pay for their education through federal and state grants, scholarships, tax credits and work study.

Combined with the award-winning Self-Sufficiency Calculator, Washington residents now have well-designed tools that provide specific information about what it costs to live anywhere in Washington, what job it will take to support them and the education and training necessary to get the job.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has funded 17,530 jobs in Washington state so far, according to statistics compiled by Onvia Inc. Read the full article in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

In some of the magazine’s other rankings, Seattle ranked No. 6 in the list of top 10 metro “greenest” cities (Portland ranked No. 1); No. 5 on the list of “renewable energy availability leaders” (Austin, Texas ranked No. 1); No. 6 on the list of “quality of life” (Austin was No. 1); and No. 2 on the “wired cities” list (Atlanta was No. 1). Read more in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today a new loan guarantee solicitation for renewable energy manufacturing projects. The Commercial Technology Manufacturing Systems and Components solicitation is supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through Section 1705 of the Loan Guarantee Program. The solicitation will support the deployment of renewable energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help increase employment in the nation’s green manufacturing sector, which is part of the Administration’s long-term plan to create new green energy jobs. Read the full press release.

Intercollegiate rivalry is a long and hallowed tradition. That was the operating premise behind this fourth annual Coolest Schools survey. Sierra Club sent out 11-page questionnaires to 900 colleges and universities across the United States, asking them to detail their sustainability efforts. Read more at the Sierra Club.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Monday that the U.S. Energy Department has approved $178 million in funding for a Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project for improving electricity grid systems across five states. The project will create an estimated 500 jobs in Washington state and a total of 1,500 in the Pacific Northwest region, she said. Read more in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) released its quarterly report on venture capital in the state Monday, saying that the venture capitalists surveyed by the group are "cautiously optimistic" in their outlook for the industry. According to the group's Q3 2010 Venture Capital Outlook Survey, the economy continues to be the number one concern of Washington's venture capital community, with a majority of Vcs predicting quality of new deal flow, the quality of deals expected to close, their confidence in the quantity of deal flow, and valuations for new early-stage deals will remain the same as Q2. Read more.

The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) selected 10 projects to receive a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) to compete for $3 million in loans and grants from the new Export Assistance Program. The Export Assistance Program is an integral component of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s state export initiative. A review panel consisting of CERB members and experts in state export promotion evaluated 31 proposed projects supporting growth of Washington state product and service exports. The 10 finalist projects, totaling $5.5 million, are now invited to submit a full proposal for further consideration. Read the full press release.

“A new report from Fiserv and Moody's Economy.com says Washington will have the strongest housing market in the nation by 2014. Leading the way will be the Bremerton-Silverdale area, with a projected home-value increase of 44.7 percent.” Read the full article in the Seattlepi.com.

Researchers look at the pay levels for three types of jobs - high-skill, high-pay, creative class jobs; traditional, blue-collar, working class jobs; and lower-skill, lower-pay service jobs. Four maps give a comprehensive look at regional pay. Seattle area data is rated among other regions. Read Full Article.

Rural areas in Chelan, Okanogan and Mason counties in Washington will get $39.8 million in federal grants to build high-speed internet lines. Read Full Article.

Description: Squeezing into the top 10, Seattle makes its mark on the list. Seattle has always been driven by old industrial companies but more recently newer technology and internet companies have begun to call it home. Companies like Amazon and Starbucks call Seattle home with Microsoft, Boeing and Nintendo in nearby communities. Read Full Article.

The Greater Seattle area is one of five regions that will receive the first Leafs. In October, even before the cars arrive, public and private electric charging stations will be installed around the area; about 1,000 stations are being funded by a federal Department of Energy grant. About 1,000 additional charging stations will be installed for free in the garages and homes of drivers who agree to be part of a two-year DOE study on charging habits. See story.

Insitu, a Bingen based Boeing subsidiary, was awarded a $43.7 million contract to develop a Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System for the Navy and Marine Corps. Gov. Chris Gregoire issued a statement congratulating Insitu on “winning a contract that will create local jobs and help protect our military.” Read the articles in The Columbian and the Seattlepi.com.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center named Dr. Lawrence Corey its new president. According to an article in the Seattle Times, Corey is an internationally known expert on AIDS and vaccine development. He plans to focus on moving medical advances more quickly from the lab to the doctor’s office and on fighting cancer in the developing world.

Seattle has added 9,400 private-sector jobs in the past five years, which is eighth-best in the country for that time span, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read the PSBJ article.

Seattle ranked ninth overall on a list of U.S. cities that offer the most to working moms, which was published by ForbesWoman magazine. Read the article in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Washingtonians pay a lower percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do residents of 29 other states, according to a report issued today by the Washington State Department of Revenue. Read the full article at the Washington State Department of Revenue's website.

After years of watching its traditional log exporting activity dwindle, the Port of Grays Harbor says its efforts to diversify its business are paying off. Read the full article in the Olympian.

According to a new report from the Brookings Institution, Seattle ranked No. 10 among the 100 largest metropolitan areas, with more than $24 billion in exports in 2008 and representing 2.3 percent of all metro exports. The competition above us includes New York, LA, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco. Read the full article in the Seattle Times.

Three reports gave Washington high marks in venture capital this month. The state was named fifth in access to capital by CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business report. In addition, according to the Seattle Times, a Dow Jones VentureSource report ranked Washington third “out of all states in terms of money raised.” And, TechFlash reported Washington fifth in venture capital investments based off a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers/NVCA MoneyTree.

The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) announced more than $2 million in public investments targeting business growth and job creation across the state. The funds will support economic development in Grays Harbor and Klickitat counties, including a rail expansion and infrastructure development. Read the press release.

Alaska Airlines was named the top performing airline in the world by industry magazine Aviation Week. According to the News Tribune, “Alaska bumped Singapore Airlines, which has held the top spot in the survey for five consecutive years.” Read the article in the News Tribune or see the full report at Aviation Week.

CNBC today released its America’s Top States for Business 2010 ranking. Washington made the list at No. 15. The annual report scores states on different measures of competitiveness and categories including cost of doing business, workforce, economy, quality of life and innovation. Washington ranked fifth in technology and innovation, fifth in access to capital, eighth in quality of life and 18th in the strength of its economy. Read the report at CNBC.

Money Magazine ranked Bellevue, Wash., 4th in its Best Places to Live 2010 list. The magazine cites the city’s recent increase in tech jobs, diverse population, quality of education, mountainous views, parks and entertainment scene. Shoreline, Wash., also made the list at No. 64. See the full rankings at Money Magazine.

Northwest aviation industry leaders — including airport and aircraft operators and airplane builders — have launched a project to free flight from petroleum. Read the article in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Ground was broken Wednesday on a $100 million carbon fiber production plant in Moses Lake, Wash., that’s being built by BMW Group and SGL Group. Read the article in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Site Selection Online has announced Washington State ranks #2 in the nation for sustainability. Read the report here.

A delegation of nearly 200 Chinese business and government leaders, organized by the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and led by Yu Ping, Vice Chairman of CCPIT, visited Seattle on June 30, 2010. The Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the Washington State China Relations Council put on a 4-hour seminar, in Mandarin Chinese, on investment opportunities in Washington State for the group.

Rogers Weed, Director of Commerce, welcomed the delegation to Bell Harbor International Conference Center, followed by Eric Hsu from the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center in Seattle. Program topics included Doing Business in Washington State, Renewable Energy Opportunities, Investment in Life Science Industries, the Washington State Tax Environment, Investor Programs, and a presentation on logistics and foreign trade zones from the Port of Seattle.
 
Secretary of State Sam Reed presided over a VIP luncheon welcoming the group to Washington state, and Port of Seattle Commissioner Rob Holland was in attendance.
 
The group came to Seattle after visiting the Canada China Business Forum in Ottawa, and attending the G-20 Business Summit in Toronto.

Julie Bennion (206) 256-6132

The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) announced that $3 million in loans and grants are now available to local governments and public higher education institutions through a new Export Assistance Program. Read the full news release.

This central Washington city known for its agricultural production is fast becoming a high-tech hub, and local officials hope the trend continues with a new tax break intended to lure more technology companies to the area. Read the full article in the Examiner.