The demand for merchandise flowing through Washington state has never been higher. According to the International Trade Administration, merchandise exports from the state reached an all time high of $75.5 billion last year, a 17% increase from 2011.

This includes merchandise made in Washington state as well as “pass through” commodities from other parts of the US that were shipped through our ports.

Sales of  Washington state merchandise grew the fastest in Mexico, Brazil, India and the UAE, growing 109%, 104%, 93% and 84% respectively. Top exports included transportation equipment, agricultural products, electronics, manufactured food items and petroleum products. For the latest data on Washington state trade visit the International Trade Administration’s site.

The Trade Alliance and the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County are taking a delegation to explore one of these markets – the UAE – next week. The group will be looking at opportunities in the UAE’s burgeoning aerospace and real estate spaces as well as conducting business development.

The UAE is a major customer of Washington state aircraft, transportation equipment, electronics – and food. The UAE – Dubai in specific – imported $1.45 million of Washington state apples between 2011-2012, making the Emirates our seventh largest apple customer.

For ultimate reliability in air travel within the US, Canada and Mexico, look to Alaska Airlines.

The Seattle-based company was ranked #1 for on-time flights in its North America Major Airlines category in 2012. This is the third year running the airlines has received this recognition. In doing so Alaska came out ahead of Airtran Airways, Delta, Jetblue and US Airways.

According to a recent study conducted by FlightStats, 87.26% of Alaska Airlines’ flights were on time in 2012. This is excellent performance, especially compared to the 79.62% average posted by other North American carriers.

With global demand for air travel on the rise, more and more passengers are requiring safe, on-time travel service. According to the International Air Transport Association, global passenger traffic grew 5.3 percent in 2012, with emerging markets accounting for the lions share of that growth.  Alaska Airlines currently serves 107 destinations in North America.

A lot of high value export cargo is flowing from the Port of Everett.

The port exported over $12.6 billion in cargo in 2011, a 29 percent increase over the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This makes Everett the second fastest growing port in terms of export value on the West Coast, second only to the Port of Seattle.

What is responsible for this uptick? Probably a variety of things. They include increased demand from Russia for machinery and equipment to support transportation and forestry industries, for one.  A lot of activity on this front took place just last year. Russia-based FESCO Transportation Group expanded its services in Everett to include roll on roll off (RoRo) vessels  – vessels that can handle cargo that cannot be lifted by a crane onto a ship, such as cars.

Shipping line Sakhalin Shipping Co. began service from Everett last year as well. The Port of Everett is ideally positioned to handle US-Russia trade – it is the closest shipping facility to the Far East of any US port.

The special capabilities of the Port of Everett are important strengths to the region’s mighty shipping and transportation capabilities. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are well known for their ability to efficiently and safely ship massive containerized volume. The ability to handle cargo that cannot fit inside containers, like aerospace and wind energy components, is another market segment that the region can accommodate.

Sea-Tac International Airport boasted a record setting year for passenger travel – again – in 2012. Over 33.2 million passengers came through the airport. This marks the second year in a row that record numbers of passengers have come through Sea-Tac’s gates.

Contributing to this is the high number of international air travelers through Sea-Tac. International passenger traffic grew 8.8 percent last year compared to 1.2 percent growth overall. Some of these travelers are tourists, students and business people from different parts of the world, on holiday or coming to visit one of our many award winning institutions.

While the US has the strongest market for domestic air travel, emerging economies are leading the way when it comes to international. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) credits carriers in Latin America, the Asia Pacific and the Middle East with the strongest growth in the past year.

The Greater Seattle region is well-positioned to handle increased activity and will be adding to its international connections in the near future. Delta recently received approval to add new non-stop service to Shanghai starting this summer.

If you need high speed internet access, check out Washington state.

Not only are we wired for higher speed internet connectivity – 98.7% of the population has access to download speeds greater than 3 Mbps* – but our average 8.5 Mbps download speed is the 9th fastest in the US, according to Akami Technologies’ third quarter “State of the Internet” report.

This is well above the global average 2.8 Mbps connection speed, placing Washington state on par with speeds found in the Netherlands. South Korea claimed the fastest connection speeds of 14.7 Mbps.

Internet connection speed matters to Washington state, where hundreds of firms rely on consistent, high speed internet access to provide services in e-commerce,  traffic information and city services that the public can access online (think applying for permits, scheduling inspections, bill payment). In addition, Greater Seattle’s growing cloud computing sector requires high speed access in order to work effectively for both technology developers and end users.

Source: National Broadband Map maintained by the National Telecommunications & Information Administration

If you want a great online education, you can’t beat Washington state’s Western Governors University (WGU).

The online university claimed the No. 1 spot for the best online college in the US, based on a ranking published by SR Education Group. WGU offers online online bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a host of subjects, including teaching, education, business, IT and health.

Western Governors University isn’t the only Washington educational institution that is getting noticed for its stellar online degree programs. Pullman-based Washington State University claimed the No.1 spot for the best online graduate business/MBA program in the US, according  U.S. News and World Report.

Online degree options offer flexibility to many students who may also be juggling work and family commitments. They also provide great options for international students in other parts of the world. According to U.S. News and World Report the number of schools offering fully online programs has roughly doubled in the past 10 years, from 34.5% in 2002 to 62.4% in 2012.

A recent report released by TechNet ranks Washington state as the best state in the US for broadband internet in the US. This means a lot, considering the importance of broadband to our economic vitality. Cities use broadband to deliver services. Local companies such as Microsoft, F5, Amazon and Big Fish Games  rely on high speed internet access to develop and maintain their products and services. It is used by doctors in telemedecine, in video and music sharing and smart building monitoring.  The ability of a state or region to offer fast, reliable internet connection is a big factor in attracting companies and individuals.

Technet considered several factors in their ranking: state broadband subscription rate, the quality or speed of internet access and economic structure, or the extent to which a state’s economy is oriented towards broadband (the percentage of jobs in the ICT industry).

The percentage of people in Washington subscribing to broadband witnessed a big increase in the three years between 2770 and 2010, growing from 58% to 77%. Washington state also has one of the highest concentration of IT professionals in the US.

Need access to the best broadband environment in the US? Welcome to Washington!

According to a recent report by the research firm Startup Genome, Seattle claimed the fourth spot in the ranking of global startup hubs.  The firm evaluated cities based on factors such as the availability of talent, startup output, funding, support infrastructure and more.

Seattle has a noteworthy history of being a hotbed for startup activity, especially in IT. It was once ranked as America’s No. 1 “smarter city” based on its government policies and green economy. Currently the latest trend towards cloud computing services led by Microsoft and Amazon has  generated considerable local activity in startups dealing with cloud related services. One example of this is Skytap, a firm that provides cloud automation services and which was named in the top 10 cloud computing startups by SearchCloudComputing.

Startup activity isn’t confirmed to Seattle though. Startup firms are located throughout the Puget Sound region. According to a ranking by Fortune Small Business, Bellevue was ranked in the top 100 Best Places to Live and Launch. GROW Washington is located in Snohomish County and is an incubator for young companies. The Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County offers services specific to startups.

Are you’re interested in becoming an entrepreneur? Come to Greater Seattle!

According to a report released by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, the Puget Sound region’s ports have been doing a great job in decreasing air pollution from cargo equipment.

The study showed an impressive 16 percent drop in diesel particulates, a harmful truck-related air pollutant. Other truck-related particulate emissions were cut by half at both the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle from 2005 to 2011.

As the major seaports in our Evergreen State, both the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma have undertaken big projects related to environmental sustainability. For example, in 2011, the Port of Seattle restored over 32 acres of fresh and saltwater habitat on seaport property. Their clean fuel incentive program which helps shipping and cruise lines burn less harmful fuel while at berth, reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 260 tons. The Port of Tacoma was recently added to Inbound Logistics Magazine’s “Green 50 Supply Chain Partners” in 2010, because of the port’s great commitment to environmental sustainability.

The Puget Sound ports have made significant progress in providing clean air standards and reducing emissions. Let’s congratulate on their excellent performance on environmental protection!

From pioneering bone marrow transplantation to developing therapeutics for diseases such as cancer, AIDS, and malaria, UW research saves lives. Several recent rankings reflect the university’s achievements. Education in Greater Seattle is indeed world class.

A ranking released by National Taiwan University places the University of Washington fourth among the world’s universities and first among American public universities in scientific research, as measured by its faculty’s productivity, research impact and research excellence. The first three universities in the rankings are Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Stanford. Behind the UW were UCLA, Michigan and Berkeley.

Another prestigious university in the Seattle area– Seattle University is also listed among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges for 2013 and continues to rank in the top 10 among 121 universities that offer undergraduate and master’s programs on the west coast. For more than a decade, SU has held a spot in the top 10.

We all know that education is a major driver for economic and social development. And in today’s world, the role of education has become even more vital to the well-being of cities and countries around the globe.

Let’s congratulate both universities on providing such distinguished education to learners from around the world.