Kitsap SEED Project

5/10/2005

Today the Port of Bremerton Board of Commissioners officially accepted the Kitsap SEED Project Master Business Plan from its contract consultants, Sustainable Synergy Partnership. The 92 page document is described as a “source document” that ranges in topic from economic development analysis to cutting-edge site and facility design to crux sustainability principles that underlie the project as a whole.

This is the culmination of the contract period which began in late August 2004. During this “proof of concept” phase, several key project benchmarks and findings were established. More than 400 target renewable energy industry potential partners were contacted, and several participated in a Design Summit held at the end of January. The project engineering team completed the feasibility determination of the proposed “zero import/export” water management system that will be the first of its kind. The Business Case extensively validates the huge potential in pursuing economic development in the new energy industry and with this project.

The project has been endorsed by several local and regional entities, and has been bolstered by supporting efforts of the Puget Sound Prosperity Partnership - which has ranked it atop one of its 5 job creating strategic areas - the Washington Technology Center and the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

“The project principles have been sounded out, look good, and now we have to buckle down to get it up and running,” was the comment of Port Commissioner Bill Mahan.
Commissioner MaryAnn Huntington was pleased that “the SEED project is going hand-in-hand with other local efforts at the Karcher Creek Sewer District to bring water re-use designs to the forefront.”

Port CEO Ken Attebery looked forward to more progress. “In the coming months we will see a tighter focus on the two most critical areas at this point; finding capital and finding business tenant-partners. I am very much looking forward to continuing the SEED project. It is a very unique and forward looking venture of the Port and the community.”

Tim Botkin, SEED consultant, agreed, “Now that this preliminary road map is established, we have a clear idea of the work that needs to be done, and many more tools to get it done.”

His partner in this phase, Mark Frost, stated “it’s been quite a run and its great to see the pieces coming together out of the general vision that I’ve had since hearing Jay Inslee talk about it a year and a half ago.”

The project is conceptually planned for a 72 acre site near the airport. It is planned to be developed in modular “pods” using sustainable design criteria established in the Master Plan, and expects to ultimately house 1000 or more employees. Tim Thomson, the Port COO, further explained that “if the prospects are right, we could certainly use even more of our property for this project; we have hundreds of acres when opportunity arises.”

Port Commissioner Cheryl Kincer, was able to review the report even though unable to attend today’s meeting. “This is so exciting,” she said. “The prospect of having such a forward thinking, and very real, opportunity here in Kitsap and at the Port is just terrific.”