Washington State delegation seeks new business at Dubai Airshow
United Arab Emirates one of world’s largest markets for civil and military aircraft
OLYMPIA, WA – A 12-member delegation recruited and led by the Washington State Department of Commerce heads to Dubai, United Arab Emirates this weekend, for what has become one of the largest international airshows. Representatives of nine companies will exhibit at the Choose Washington display in the USA Pavilion, and Commerce is representing two additional companies, the Aerospace Center of Excellence and Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance, Nov. 12-16.
Participating companies and organizations are:
Adaptive Aero Technologies, LLC
Gladiator Technologies, a division of LKD Aerospace
Glasair Aviation
Hobart Machined Products
IDEA International
Net-Inspect
Structural Integrity Engineering
Windspeed
Aerospace Center of Excellence
RBC Signals
Silicon Forest
Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance
Space Angels
Washington also mounted a delegation to the 2015 show, and again has the largest presence of any U.S. state. In 2015, this event featured over 1,100 exhibitors from 63 countries seen by over 66,000 trade visitors and nearly 1,300 international and regional media in 2015, resulting in total orders exceeding $37 billion.
“Gladiator Technologies is excited to again attend the Middle East’s premier Airshow in Dubai. The biennial exhibition is a unique opportunity for us to meet with our customers and promote our advanced technology microelectromechanical (MEMS) inertial sensors and systems to the region’s leading aerospace and aviation companies,” said Mark Chamberlain, Gladiator’s chief executive officer. “Exhibiting within the Washington State booth and working with Commerce’s highly professional staff enables a smaller company like ours to share costs, but more importantly, to gain enhanced visibility and benefit from international networking that is not often afforded to smaller companies.”
The Gulf Region is one of the fastest-growing aerospace clusters, and Dubai is the hub. The UAE set the stage a decade ago for mass commercialization and deregulation, projecting some 10,000 jobs by 2030. Targeted opportunities for growth-oriented companies from Washington at the Dubai International Airshow include commercial aviation, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), unmanned aerial vehicles, space and defense.
The aerospace industry strengthens communities all over the state, with aerospace-related clusters numbering 478 companies in King County, 219 in Snohomish, 108 in Spokane, 101 in Pierce and 21 in Kitsap. From materials, machining and manufacturing to testing and calibration, air transport and MRO, aerospace-related businesses are present in 35 of Washington’s 39 counties.
“Export assistance for very small and early-stage businesses is an integral component of our economic development strategy,” said Mark Calhoon, Senior Managing Director for International Trade at the Department of Commerce. “Last year, Commerce helped 362 small businesses, with 770 requests for assistance, which generated $287 million in new export sales as a result of our support.”
Small businesses represent 90 percent of companies that export from Washington, and data shows that new and small companies that develop successful export operations are financially stronger, thanks to market diversification and increased revenue from export sales.
Businesses that export grow and create jobs that pay higher wages than non-exporters in similar industries. Explaining that his department’s Small Business Export Assistance Program helps companies be strategic and surmount export hurdles to become self-sufficient doing international business deals and transactions, Calhoon notes that these services are currently at risk due to lack of funding from the 2017 state legislature.
Download a directory of Washington’s delegation to the 2017 Dubai International Airshow delegation.
Learn more about why Washington is one of the foremost aerospace sectors in the world for over 100 years.