Bremerton Port Gives Kitsap Economic Development Alliance a Quota

By Rachel Pritchett

Originally published 07:16 p.m., March 24, 2010
Updated 07:25 p.m., March 24, 2010

BREMERTON —

To see if it’s getting enough bang for its buck, the Port of Bremerton has negotiated a tough new professional-services contract with the local economic-development group it helps support.

For the first time, the port’s contract with the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance contains strict requirements for KEDA to make at least 200 contacts with defense contractors and generate at least 20 solid leads of some that might want to settle at the port.

It also requires KEDA to make at least 100 contacts with prospective businesses for port industrial and business parks, leading to 10 solid leads, plus more over the two-year life of the contract that the port supports with $35,000 annually. KEDA’s annual budget is about $370,000.

If KEDA doesn’t deliver in this rough economy, there could be a divorce.

“If it doesn’t perform, I’m going to be the first one to request or make the motion that the contract be discontinued,” said port Commissioner Larry Stokes.

“To this point in time, I have a big question, and I just don’t think it’s worthwhile,” he said.

Tim Thomson, port real-estate director, said the relationship between the port and KEDA is a “very healthy one.”

“They have access to resources that we the port don’t have, so it complements our efforts to recruit businesses to the port.”

This past year, however, port support of KEDA was yanked during port budget negotiations. It was later reinserted at the request of Commissioner Bill Mahan.

Mahan, at a port meeting Tuesday, assured Stokes that later this year the port will have enough data to quantify how KEDA is doing with its new directives, thanks to the new contract.

The Bremerton port is the only local port that lends support to KEDA. It’s KEDA’s second-biggest supporter, behind only Kitsap County.

Stokes has been concerned that the port isn’t getting enough love from KEDA.

“We’re paying these people $100 a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” he said.

He said he voted for the contract Tuesday because the port has a new marketing person on board and he wants to give Chris Case a chance to work with KEDA and get more results.

KEDA represents not just the port, but all of Kitsap to prospective new businesses. It currently is trying to attract Westbury Inc., an airport passenger systems manufacturer, to Twelve Trees Industrial Park near Poulsbo.

Port Chief Executive Officer Cary Bozeman said his organization is not trying to appropriate KEDA for use as its business-recruitment arm at the expense of others. Measuring results is “just a good business practice,” Bozeman said.

“That’s a policy we’re going to apply to everything we do now.”

Kitsap EDA Executive Director Bill Stewart seemed to be onboard with the new contract and said he actually wrote much of it.

Stewart admitted that of the group’s contracts with its 10 main supporters — mostly local governments — the port contract is the only one that has quotas.

The contract has a heavy focus on attracting military contractors to the port as part of an envisioned military campus.

“The market that is here is the military,” Bozeman said.