Bruce Kendall

Bruce Kendall was one of my favorite guest speakers to listen to in class. He is president & CEO at Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County. In my opinion, I liked his talk the most because he talked from heart and with a lot of passion towards his work. His completely dedication to his work, shows when starts talking. He discussed two main points in his speech one of them was sustainable local ecosystem and other was clustering effect.

 Mr. Kendal mentioned the strong structure of local ecosystem of Tacoma-pierce County. There is a spread of different museums for people with different interests.  The setting of the hip and historic Tacoma area is designed for major restaurants. The biggest one of them all is the port of Tacoma which adds to the local ecosystem. These establishments attract resources for farther growth potentials. The Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County focuses on such establishments, which can attract and keep local sustainable ecosystem by keeping outsourcing to the minimum or not at all. Port of Tacoma is very important to the area as it provided the possibility of local and/or international business.

Next he talked about cluster effect in the Tacoma-Pierce county. Looking at the area, you can clearly point out some huge clusters of talent, resources, and opportunities. Some of the big clusters, which provide direct and multiplier economic impact in the area, are as following:

·         Joint Base Lewis-McCord

·         Amazon

·         StateFarm Headquarters

·         Topia ventures

·         Torey composites America

·         Boeing

·         Multicare health system

·         Bank of New York

·         Mellon Bradken Atlas

·         BPI medical

The area is a mix of major successful and well established companies. The combination of talent from military base and universities make Pierce County a hub of economic cluster. These are companies that give opportunity to others and themselves making the area economically sustained for many years to come. The location of the County is a major plus point. It is close to the major highway, military base, port of Tacoma.

Mr. Kendall lightheartedly spoke about some bigger picture economic concepts. He talked about the local ecosystem and how to sustain it. He talked about, how important it is to keep the developed companies. He strictly believed in having no turnover when comes to these companies. He talked about economic clusters and its effects. It was enjoyable to listen to him explain pierce county’s economic development in simple words.