Clean tech forum draws local input

Southwest Washington businesses and economic development organizations will play a key role in a Portland workshop set for Friday, April 27, and aimed at connecting buyers and sellers of clean technology services and supplies.

The Clean Energy Industry Buyers and Sellers Forum at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland will feature clean energy market leaders who will discuss trends and opportunities in the industry and offer advice to businesses on how to participate in this sector’s growth. Jason Hopkins, global business development manager for wind energy at Underwriters Laboratories in Camas, will offer an overview of the clean energy industry in the session’s keynote speech.

The event is co-sponsored by the Columbia River Economic Development Council, the Cowlitz Economic Development Council, and the Portland Development Commission. It will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Hall E of the Oregon Convention Center, 777 N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Portland.

The event is funded through a federal grant awarded last October to the Portland Regional Clean Tech Advance Initiative, aimed at expanding the region’s clean tech supply chain.

General registration is $55, but the Columbia River Economic Development Council and Cowlitz Economic Development Council are offering complimentary attendance for companies in Cowlitz or Clark counties. Interested companies must register by emailing all attendee names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails for the organization to Bonnie Moore at bmoore@credc.org.

General registration information and the forum agenda are posted at http://bit.ly/JIYPcO. The forum will follow the Future Energy Conference on April 25-26, also at the Oregon Convention Center.

Heading to Hannover

In a separate effort to broaden the Northwest clean technology sector, five companies based in Washington will attend the world’s largest industrial technology show next week in Hannover, Germany, as part of a Washington Department of Commerce delegation.

Companies participating include B&G Machine, Inc., a Seattle company that rebuilds industrial diesel engines for mining and for the oil and gas sectors; Greenwood Clean Energy, of Bellevue, which makes energy-efficient wood burning stoves; Enertechnix, of Maple Valley, which provides technology to improve large scale energy conversion precesses; Demand Energy Networks, of Liberty Lake, developer of Web-based energy storage systems; and Hydrovolts, of Seattle, which has developed technology to generate hydropower from low-volume waterways including irrigation canals.

The Hannover show covers 1,300 acres and attracts some 16,500 vendors and 300,000 attendees.