Puget Sound Industrial Excellence Center

The PSIEC is a result of collaboration between business, industry and education. The Georgetown Campus of South Seattle Community College currently houses training for 22 apprenticeship programs.  Additionally, training in available for low income, minority, and English as a Second Language students.  A major goal of the PSIEC is to add services to assist local businesses with a particular focus on manufacturing, construction and transportation industries. View the PSIEC PowerPoint presentation .

PSIEC Background

In 2004 South Seattle Community College convened a diverse coalition of business, labor, and government, elected officials, economic development organizations and community groups to secure land from the Department of Natural Resources. This successful effort resulted in a land swap of the “Hat and Boots” property with DNR and expanded South Seattle’s Georgetown Campus.

After meeting the initial objective, the coalition continued to examine the economic development and workforce development needs of the industrial Duwamish corridor and surrounding low-income communities. The Puget Sound Industrial Excellence Center was born to carry out an expanded mission of the coalition. What emerged was the need to continue to support apprenticeship opportunities at the Georgetown Campus and to create and expand services to the existing businesses in the Duwamish corridor.

Both strategies are aimed at increasing economic development and family wage jobs in a high cost area with low opportunity for middle class jobs for those lacking significant education and training. In comparison to all of King County, Central South King County is poorer, has less attainment of high school diplomas and college degrees, and a higher eligibility and use of public assistance.

Business and Community Needs

An analysis of the Seattle and Duwamish corridor manufacturing and industrial businesses by the Manufacturing Industrial Council in April 2004 shows construction, manufacturing, wholesale trades, and transportation and warehousing comprise the largest percentage of the businesses in the area. Further analysis demonstrates that the highest percentages of these companies are very small:

• 32% 1 to 4 employees
• 23% 5 to 9 employees
• 20% 10 to 18 employees

Small companies are on the one hand an engine of job growth yet most at risk of failure due to changes in technology, supply chain changes, and lack of access to capital and incumbent workforce training resources. The Prosperity Partnership reports that Washington is tops in new enterprise creation yet nearly the worst at keeping them open. The new center is designed to pull expertise and resources together to assist small businesses to keep and create jobs especially within the higher wage manufacturing, transportation and construction industries.

The Northwest Area Foundation completed a study between 2001 and 2002 on how to help the communities of Central South King County combat chronic poverty and build stronger communities. One of the key conclusions was that entrepreneurship-the drive to create personal and community wealth-was a common denominator in immigrant and minority communities which comprise a majority in most South Central King County  neighborhoods.

A recent national study prepared for the Small Business Administration found that small businesses are the greatest source of new employment in inner cities-comprising more than 99 percent of establishments and 80 percent of total employment.

The Puget Sound Industrial Excellence Center (PSIEC) coalition has seized on the opportunity to build a one-stop Business and Entrepreneurial Services Center on South Seattle’s Georgetown Campus to house services for area businesses and provide entrepreneurial services and training for the surrounding low-income communities.

Services in the Business and Entrepreneurial Services Center

Although the PSIEC is convened by South Seattle Community College, each of the coalition partners brings their own unique expertise and services. The following organizations have expressed a desire to provide services in the proposed Center:

• Evergreen Community Development-Evergreen is a private non-profit organization that provides financial services and loan packaging including SBA and Washington Technology Center loans for area businesses to expand and create jobs.
• Manufacturing Industrial Council-(MIC) The MIC is private non-profit that provides outreach to industrial companies to determine their needs and solutions to operate successfully or expand in the City of Seattle.
• Washington Manufacturing Services-(WMS)-WMS is a private non-profit that provides manufacturing solutions including, technology transfer, LEAN manufacturing services and quality improvement techniques such as Six Sigma to increase the competitiveness of small and medium sized manufacturers.
• Community Capital Development-(CCD)-CCD is a private non-profit that provides financial services and education, entrepreneurial and business incubator services including women and minority business services.
• City of Seattle Office of Economic Development-The Office of Economic Development provides a range of business services including relocation and expansion assistance, permits, environmental information and referral and business licensing requirements
• Seattle Jobs Initiative-(SJI)-SJI is a private non-profit that provides analysis of business needs, low-income job services and training, and referral to community, training, and social services organizations.
• ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia-ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia makes loans to promote job creations, promotes sustainable economic development and an array of community needs.
  

A one-stop Business and Entrepreneurial Center building will need to provide for offices, a common reception area, as well as joint training rooms to provide services and training by the Center partners. In-kind donations, services, and rent from the partners including a long term lease for the land will provide for on-going operating expenses and maintenance.
 
South Seattle Community College will also make available incumbent worker training including technical training and Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) on the Georgetown Campus in addition to the apprenticeship training already offered.

South Seattle Community College is a pioneer and leader in combining technical training with English as a Second Language and literacy training. This approach, although more expensive than the traditional sequential method, has proved to both shorten the time needed for students to successfully complete programs and opened up higher wage occupations to low income communities. The college will also develop entrepreneurial education and training programs to round out the business services that the partners will offer in the Business Center.

PSIEC Member Organizations