Briefing - Pacific Northwest Economic Region to Community & Economic Development Committee (2021-01-19)

Summary

A briefing by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) to a Community & Economic Development Committee, with presenters named including Matt Morrison, Laurie Trautman, Rick Glumac and Consul General Brandon Lee. It describes the COVID-19 Recovery Call Series, cybersecurity webinars and the Northwest Regional Tourism Rebound Initiative, and says tourism averages $71.4 billion per year in visitor spending. It states that bilateral trade with Canada fell by 20% or $4 billion. It lists border-restriction impacts including $185 million in taxable retail sales in Whatcom Co. and an 85% drop in land/rail/ferry crossings from B.C. to W.A.

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Full text

  PNWER Briefing to Community & Economic
In Order: Development Committee
      Matt Morrison
      CEO                           Laurie Trautman
      Pacific Northwest Economic     Executive Director
      Region (PNWER)                Border Policy Research
                                    Institute; PNWER Border
      Rick Glumac, MLA              Working Group Co-Chair
      British Columbia
      PNWER Vice President
                                    Nirav Desai
      B.C. Lead for WA State;
                                    CEO
      PNWER Energy &
                                    Moonbeam;
      Environment Co-Chair
                                    PNWER Innovation Co-Chair
      Consul General Brandon Lee
      Consul General of Canada to
      Pacific Northwest
      Consulate General of Canada


                                                                1
PNWER Overview




                 2
Safe, Healthy Recovery and Regional
Resilience in 5 states, 3 provinces and 2
territories
●   During the next 12 months, learning from our neighbors and cooperating in both public and private
    sectors will be really important
●   PNWER’s 18 Working Groups are having regular meetings in each key industry sector to share
    best practices for safe economic recovery, and best practices on vaccine distribution, testing, and
    health safety
●   Your investment in PNWER has never been more important to continue this vital collaboration in
    the region with all 10 jurisdictions
●   Our success for the next decade hinges on how well we work together and learn from each other.




                                                                                                          3
PNWER Pandemic Recovery Efforts
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, PNWER began assembling
calls of our elected officials to discuss ways we could respond to
COVID-19 as a region. We then began having bi-weekly calls with
economic recovery and health department leaders in both the U.S. and
Canada, before combining these efforts into our ongoing COVID-19
Recovery Call Series. Notes, presentations, and recordings can be found
at pnwer.org/covid19-recovery-call.

These calls explore topics including:
 ● Rapid COVID testing
 ● Contact Tracing and Exposure Notification Apps
 ● Economic Recovery Dashboards- highlighting WA State Dept. of
      Commerce
 ● Broadband Access
The next call is January 20, 2021 at 11 am PST, discussing the COVID-19 vaccine and ways
to encourage public trust in it’s safety and effectiveness.
Cybersecurity
With everyone working from home, cybersecurity is more important than ever. PNWER’s
Center for Regional Disaster Resilience (CRDR) worked with King County/Region 6 to put on a
number of cybersecurity-focused webinars addressing the specific and unique cyber
challenges presented by the pandemic. These are available online at pnwer.org/past-webinars.




Northwest Regional Tourism Rebound Initiative
Tourism is a key economic driver for the PNWER region, averaging $71.4 billion per year in visitor spending.
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the tourism industry and highlighted the value of
cross-border travel to the region. In response, PNWER has formed a Regional Tourism Task Force and
developed a Northwest Regional Tourism Rebound to address the current crisis and to facilitate industry and
government dialogue and collaboration to ensure that cross-border tourism is able to resume safely,
sustainably, and competitively. PNWER's Tourism Working Group and Task Force is committed to recovering
the vital tourism and travel industry.
Regional Economic Recovery Best Practices
British Columbia Economic Recovery and Stronger B.C.



               Rick Glumac, MLA               Constituency Address:
               British Columbia               2708 St. John Street
               PNWER Vice President           Port Moody, B.C. V3J 0H6
               B.C. Lead for WA State;        Phone: 604-936-8709
               PNWER Energy &                 Email: r.glumac@leg.bc.ca
               Environment Co-Chair

                                              Session Address:
                                              Parliamentary Building
                                              Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4
                                              Phone: 250-387-3655
                                              Email: r.glumac@leg.bc.ca

                                                                          6
Impact of U.S. - Canada Border Closures

       Consul General Brandon Lee   Contact Information:
       Canadian Consulate           1501 4th Ave, Suite 600
       General- Seattle             Seattle, WA 98101
                                    Email: Brandon.Lee@international.gc.ca




                                                                             7
Trade Relationship & Border Restrictions

       Laurie Trautman          Contact Information:
       Executive Director       516 High Street CA201 MS9110
       Border Policy Research   Bellingham, WA 98225
       Institute; PNWER         Phone: 360-650-2642
       Border Working Group     laurie.trautman@wwu.edu
       Co-Chair




                                                               8
Trade Relationship & Border Restrictions
●   Bilateral trade with Canada fell by 20% or
    $4 billion
     ○   Trade in aerospace and mineral fuels
●   Impact of border restrictions negligible
     ○   Initial supply chain disruptions
     ○   Truck traffic and trade back to
         pre-pandemic levels
●   May see a delayed impact from lack of
    businesses interaction/negotiations due
    to restrictions




                                                 9
A Few Impacts of the Border Restrictions
Vary by sector and location - greatest in area closest
to the border and in sectors popular with Canadians

 ●    $185 million in taxable retail sales in Whatcom
      Co.
 ●    60-70% of fuel tax revenue in border cities
 ●    80% of Pt. Robert’s businesses border
      dependent

85% drop in land/rail/ferry crossings from B.C. to
W.A. (loss of 10 million visits)

 ●    Cross-border tourism infrastructure
 ●    $60 million Clallam County from Coho ferry


                                                         10
Accelerating Recovery for WA Creative Sector

       Nirav Desai           Contact Information:
       CEO                   331 NE 57th Street
       Moonbeam; PNWER       Seattle, WA 98105
       Innovation Co-Chair   Phone: 202-421-8929
                             Email: nirav@moonbeam.cc




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