Digital recordings of meeting proceedings and meeting materials are available online – www.portseattle.org.

APPROVED MINUTES

COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING AUGUST 7, 2018

The Port of Seattle Commission held a special meeting, Tuesday, August 7, 2018, to hold a study

session on economic development topics with stakeholders from Eastern Washington. The

meeting was held at the Student Academic Center of the Washington State University (WSU)

Spokane campus, 412 East Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, Washington. Commissioners

Bowman, Calkins, Felleman, Gregoire, and Steinbrueck were present.

Commission President Courtney Gregoire called the meeting to order at 1:40 p.m.

In addition to port commissioners, participants included Daryll B. DeWald, Chancellor, Washington

State University, Spokane; Meg Lindsay, Director, Education and Workforce, Greater Spokane

Incorporated; Cassidy Peterson, Career Connected Learning Manager, Greater Spokane

Incorporated; Jodi Strote, Education Attainment Navigator, Greater Spokane Incorporated; Kris

Johnson, President and CEO, Association of Washington Business; Kelly Fukai, Regional Affairs

Director, Schweitzer Energy Labs; Dr. Ryan Bradetich, CISSP, Vice President Automation and

Communication, Schweitzer Energy Labs; and Joe Poire, Executive Director, Port of Whitman

County.

Topics of discussion during the study session included the following:

 WSU’s Health Sciences program is focused on nursing, pharmacy, and physician

education.

 Research expenditure in the health sciences program is approximately $30 million

annually and growing and represents about twice that amount in regional economic

impact.

 Pharmaceutical licensing results in about 3.7 percent of the university’s research

revenue. Although patenting is costly, it is an aim of the university to increase licensing

revenue to 10 percent and to create an environment conducive to applied

pharmaceutical research.

 Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) serves as a regional economic development

organization and chamber of commerce.

 Key community initiatives of GSI include growing a healthy life sciences industry,

expanding aerospace and advanced manufacturing, and increasing educational

attainment in the workforce development pipeline.

 Career Connected Learning aims to bridge industry and education communities to create

career opportunities for youth in a variety of industry sectors.

 GSI’s programs related to Career Connected Learning include access2experience™,

which uses an online matching platform to connect educators with business

professionals to create career development opportunities for students, and Greater

P.O. Box 1209

Seattle, Washington 98111

www.portseattle.org

206.787.3000

PORT COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Page 2 of 2

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2018

Minutes of August 7, 2018, submitted for review September 20, 2018, and proposed for approval September 25, 2018.

Minds, which provides career development opportunities for working adults returning to

school.

 There are numerous STEM-related industry, education, investment, and community

organization collaborators in the Spokane area.

 Rural economic development efforts and strategic approach of the Association of

Washington Business (AWB) was discussed.

 Employment and job growth remain sluggish in rural areas of Washington, despite rural

areas accounting for 25 percent of Washington jobs and several leading U.S. exports.

 Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille Counties have suffered from federal and state

regulatory changes that have affected timber harvesting and gold mining with a

disproportionate economic impact due to the rural nature of those areas.

 Issues affecting the rural economy identified in summits convened by AWB include lack

of rural broadband service, workforce deficiencies, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of

affordable workforce housing.

 Adams County and much of southeast Washington are limited by lack of rural broadband

service.

 AWB’s recommendations for infrastructure investment to yield job production and

increased economic activity focus on provision of water, energy transmission, rural

communications, and roads, bridges, and ports.

 Commissioners opined on the attractiveness of Washington’s rural areas to visitors.

 Cyber security considerations for power delivery systems were illustrated using the case

of a Russian cyber-attack launched in 2015 on utility control rooms in Ukraine.

 Models of cyber security based on principles of least privilege and defense in depth were

described and security models for inclusive, large networks versus multiple, smaller

networks were illustrated.

 The condition of the communications network in Whitman County and the precursors to

efforts to obtain authority for ports to invest in rural broadband infrastructure were

described.

 There was a discussion of the advantages for ports engaging in provision of broadband

infrastructure rather than other entities, such as utility districts or municipalities, based on

the business model of a port authority and its capacity to work with the private sector on

a long-term return on investment.

 Benefits of the Port of Seattle pursuing installation of broadband infrastructure were

noted, including the opportunity to ensure equitable provision of services to rural,

economically disadvantaged areas, economic development opportunities, net neutrality,

and the potential to reduce or control the port’s own operating costs over time.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 4:15 p.m.

Prepared: Attest:

Paul J. White, Commission Clerk Ryan Calkins, Commission Secretary

Minutes approved: September 25, 2018.