Read what others have done to develop clusters and promote networks between businesses.

STORIES FROM OREGON CLUSTERS

• Tourism & Hospitality Industry Alliance
• Food Industry Leadership Center
• Metals Industry Consortium
• RV Consortium Best Practices

STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

• Networks and Clusters: The Yin and Yang of Rural Development
• Best Practices in the Implementation of Cluster-Focused Strategy

STORIES FROM OREGON CLUSTERS

Lane County RV Consortium Best Practices Manual

The Lane County RV Consortium has created a best practices manual which highlights valuable insights and tools of the RV industry cluster. Please click on the link below to access the manual.

RV Consortium Best Practices Manual

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Since that first meeting, the alliance has accomplished a lot. Davidson explains that coming together has “improved communication within the industry about the opportunities presented by HB 2267 and helped reconfigure the tourism industry to be more market-driven and market- responsive. By talking about their individual programs and policy needs as a group, the alliance has been able to channel everyone’s output into one vision. Improved communication has changed tourism and hospitality organizations’ way of thinking about their own newsletters, educational opportunities, and marketing campaigns.

At the most recent meeting on March 22, 2005 new partners joined, including AAA, the Oregon Travel Information Council, Oregon State Parks, and representatives from the Tribes.  At the next meeting on May 11, Travel Oregon plans to hire facilitators once again to help the group think about strategies and tactics for achieving the industry’s vision, discuss policy and product development, and determine a clearer concept of the branded Oregon experience.

For more information on joining the tourism and hospitality alliance or to hear details on how to convene a similar alliance within your industry, please contact Scott West at 503-378-8892.
 

Food Industry Leadership Center
Higher Ed with an Industry Focus

About 10 years ago, a group of business leaders asked Portland State University to put together executive education seminars for the food industry.  Starting with a million dollar challenge grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust and a matched amount from industry, PSU created it’s one of a kind Food Industry Leadership Center. The FILC which is now 100% financed by industry, is a leading university-affiliated resource designed by and tailored to the food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry. Through its executive education seminars and academic program for students, the FILC works to promote education, leadership and research critical to the food industry cluster.

The FILC works closely with over 3 dozen local and national trade associations to develop the curriculum for its academic courses and its on-site training programs are custom-made to fit companies’ needs.  About 40 students per year are enrolled in the week-long executive education program, “Today’s Managers, Tomorrow’s Leaders,” and approximately 80 students are enrolled annually in the academic program, which so far has seen 100% placement into jobs in the food industry.  Executive Director Tom Gillpatrick explains how the program looks for partnerships across sectors and provides a forum for solving common industry problems at all parts of the value chain, from grower to grocer.  With more than 400 executive alumni, Gillpatrick believes the FILC “provides a network for its graduates,” many of whom are now CEOs or high level executives at national food retail, manufacturing, or distribution chains.  Among the graduates of this program are the heads of Tillamook Cheese and Fred Meyer.

The FILC continues to provide an excellent example of a strategic partnership between our state’s strong food industry cluster and higher ed.  The group is gearing up for its annual Executive Forum in October where 400-500 key industry leaders will gather to showcase successful business models and best-practices.

For more information about the FILC or how to establish your own industry specific educational program, please contact Tom Gillpatrick at 503-725-3775.

Metals Industry Consortium
Working Together to Build a Workforce

The Portland Development Commission’s breakfast about workforce needs first gave Worksystems’ Michele Hicks the idea that a needs assessment of local metals companies was in order.  After conducting the assessments, she found that the single most important issue facing the industry was recruitment of qualified employees, with training a close second. She realized that companies in the metals industry were dealing with similar workforce issues, but they weren’t talking to each other to find a common solution.   With the goal of improving the image of the metals industry and recruiting younger, qualified employees, PCC Structurals’ Vice President of Administration and Legal Affairs, Eileen Drake, and Gunderson, Inc.’s Vice President of Human Resources, Scott Eave, stepped up to the plate to co-chair the Metals Industry Consortium.

They began by sending out invitations to eight companies as well as representatives from the PDC, the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, Worksystems, Inc., WorkSource Oregon , and the local community colleges.  Since March 2004, the membership of the Metals Industry Consortium has grown to almost 50 organizations, 30 of which regularly attend the MIC’s bimonthly meetings.  Michele recently began working at Madden Industrial Craftsmen, where she continues to staff the MIC.  When Michele was asked how she drew such a large membership so quickly, she told us that the interest all came from the companies: “I’ve done very little recruiting. Metals companies are all facing workforce issues. When they talk to each other, they end up with our contact info.

The Metals Industry Consortium has been working on establishing relationships with public schools and community colleges to expose students to careers in the metals industry and teach younger students the skills required for the jobs that have been difficult to fill. Smaller groups work within the MIC on the Marketing and Education Subcommittees and the group is gearing up for its first Metals Career Expo in May. In fact, the MIC has been so successful targeting workforce issues that in the near future, the Pacific Northwest Steel Fabricators Association may expand their steel-only focus and join the Metals Industry Consortium, which the incoming president of PNSFA, Drew Park, is all for.

For more information about joining the Metals Industry Consortium or to hear details on how to address workforce recruitment within your industry, please contact Michele Hicks at 971-246-3464.
 

In "Networks and Clusters: The Yin and Yang of Rural Development", Stuart A. Rosenfeld describes how the Danish approach to inter-firm cooperation has been transformed into an international standard for cluster development.  Borrowing elements of the European Network Program has helped US companies in rural areas to realize gains ranging from improved product quality to cost savings to increased sales.  Learn more...

Moving the focus from cluster analysis to cluster implementation, "Best Practices in the Implementation of Cluster-Focused Strategy" was prepared for the Research Triangle Regional Partnership Future Clusters Competitiveness Initiative to document best practices in cluster implementation globally.  Drawing on reports by the US Economic Development Administration and Regional Technology Strategies, inc. of Chapel Hill, this report discusses the five most important elements of a cluster development effort and the specific policies and strategies that have worked to propel clusters elsewhere. Read more...

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