Defense  

Innovations spurred by defense spending cross the economy. Supporting the defense industry leads to innovation in other sectors and industries, from firefighters to outdoor gear.

 

Jump ahead to:
Industry Overview
Defense by the Numbers
Cluster Strengths
Cluster Challenges
Recent Accomplishments
Key Initiatives
Companies
Industry Associations
Cluster Top Cross-Cutting Priorities
Cluster Contact
 

Industry Overview

The Defense cluster cuts across multiple industries: Medical, armor, cars, boats, civil defense, homeland security, military, aerospace technology.   In Oregon, firms work on Composite Structures, Propulsion Design, Telemetry, Tracking and Control Systems, Software Design, Electronics Manufacturing Services, and Advanced Fabrication and Machining. Industries represented include:

• Aerospace
• Textiles
• Heavy Manufacturing
• Electronics
• Packaging
• Sustainable Technologies
  

Defense by the Numbers

The defense industry consists of contractors across a wide spectrum of industries. This makes it challenging to figure out just how big Oregon's defense industry is. There are no reliable estimates of just how many defense industry workers there are in Oregon, or how much income these workers are earning. However, the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition currently has 160 member firms from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. PNDC members employ more than 100,000 workers. Federal defense spending in Oregon nearly doubled in 2007 and came in at more than $1.4 billion in 2008.

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Cluster Strengths

• “Know-how” for implementation of defense contracts
• Low cost of doing business
• Climate of innovation -- Smart and flexible manufacturers who are willing to try new things
• Homegrown small businesses -- willingness to fight hard to compete
• Manufacturing base
• Strong National Guard presence
• Inter-cluster cooperation to attract federal defense appropriations, workforce training funding
• Intra-cluster collaboration with other clusters (OWET, TechAmerica, Manufacturing 21)

Cluster Challenges

• Most other military companies and vendors are located out of state
• Aging workforce- losing qualified staff
•  Logistics and transportation infrastructure.
• Innovation capacity-tech transfer & commercialization
• Lack of finance from venture capital and state funding
• Industry is project-driven and revenue projections are difficult
  

Recent Accomplishments

 Oregon's defense industry has historically been a small part of the state's economy, but that's starting to change. After years of hardly any growth for the industry, Department of Defense spending in Oregon nearly doubled between 2006 and 2007, and by 2008 spending topped $1.4 billion. That was triple the value of orders Oregon's defense industry received just five years earlier.

Key Initiatives

•  PNDC worked with Business Oregon to launch the NWConnectory.com, an online tool for supporting Oregon traded sector industries to find buyers and suppliers. The website contains detailed capabilities profiles of Northwest industrial and technology companies across all industries at every level of the supply chain. The goal is to link Northwest businesses to each other and to provide information about the industrial and technology base of the economy. It also contains profiles of other critical assets in addition to companies, including federal labs, university and private research centers.

Who is Involved? 

Companies

 Notable companies include FLIR, Precision Castparts, Freightliner, SAIC, Axiom, HemCon, ATI-Wahchang, Vigor Industries, Benchmade, Danner, and Oregon Iron Works. 

Industry Associations

The Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition is a member-funded industry association committed to improving the defense and security industry climate in the Pacific Northwest by encouraging regional collaboration and emphasizing economic development. PNDC provides:

• Training/Education
• Networking Opportunities
• Advocacy
• Collaboration/Matchmaking

 Cluster Top Cross-Cutting Priorities

• Extend R&D Tax Credit that expires in 2011
• Support growth businesses via “economic gardening”
• Support ETIC
• Increase funding and scope of SBIR programs

Cluster Contact

Brice Barrett
Executive Director
Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition