As sustainability becomes a more important consideration in national security facilities, operations, and procurement, the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition (PNDC) is making sure its members are ready to meet this new requirement.
The cluster’s efforts are not only about connecting member companies to the specific procurement requests of the government, but also connecting the government to cluster products and services. Clean technology is a perfect example of this mutual relationship.
PNDC recently hosted the first of what it intends to be an annual Pacific Northwest Clean Technology Defense Symposium to keep cluster members up to date on sustainability in military procurement. The event was hosted on April 26th in Tacoma, Washington. Small business from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington were invited to attend.
The event was designed to expose cluster products and services to representatives of regional military installations. All of the military installations and services were represented. One cluster member remarked that he had not been to an event “with such a good ratio of military services to attendees.”
Attendees were given the opportunity to follow up after the event by filing out brief forms documenting their products and services. These company overviews were given to each of the military services that participated so they can be used in procurement follow-up.
PNDC member companies have a range of products and services to offer the Department of Defense besides clean technology. These include cyber security, unmanned aerial systems, tactical gear, aerospace systems, and medical supplies.