October 11, 2011
Bill Stafford on Global Competition and Seattle
(A high tech company in New Delhi, India)
Roughly twice per month, Nyhus organizes a professional development training for employees. Known around here as the “Breakfast Brainfood” series, the sessions feature internal and external speakers sharing their expertise as it relates to our business and vertical industry expertise areas. A recent highlight for the team was our senior counselor Bill Stafford’s presentation titled “The Challenge to American Cities from Global Competition,” which he has presented to groups throughout the United States and abroad due to popular demand.
Here are some of the highlights:
- In Bill’s opinion, export and trade has not been a priority in the United States since the Boston Tea Party. He recommended the book The Betrayal of American Prosperity: Free Market Delusions, America’s Decline, and How We Must Compete in the Post-Dollar Era by Clyde Prestowitz.
- Bill views international students and tourists from outside the U.S. as an element of trade. According to him, international students contribute $300 million to the Washington state economy every year.
- One in three jobs in Washington state depends on international trade. As Bill put it, the reason a hairdresser in the University District should care about internationalism is that one-third of his or her customers has an international job.
- Bill thinks we should treat research as a sector as opposed to a job description within other sectors, such as aviation, pharmaceuticals and others. He believes Seattle thrives in the research sector.
- In the future, companies will go to the talent’s geography instead of the traditional other way around. In my opinion, you can already see this trend developing in Seattle’s technology sector; Silicon Valley companies are expanding in Seattle due to engineering talent supply here. See the June 2 Wall Street Journal story: Bay Area Technology Firms Put Down Roots in Seattle.
What are your thoughts on global competition, especially as it relates to Seattle and Washington state? Do you agree or disagree with Bill’s stance?