As
a more or less critic of the current trade group universe available to
school improvement providers – especially here in the nation’s capital (start here or here),
your editor wishes he’d learned about the Northwest Education Cluster sooner than the New York Times. After all, the group was formed in 2003, and several members are clients of K-12Leads.
Perhaps there is
less here than meets the eye, but the idea is intruiging. The Cluster
is really the first trade group formed exclusively around k-12, by
firms with the new (i.e. school improvement) vision of the education industry.
With over 35 members, it has the critical mass required to start having
political influence on the region’s legislatures and Congressional
delegations. It can begin sharing some cost savings and developing
umbrella branding and advertising. As your editor has argued for years,
the cluster also take advantage of for-profit/nonprofit synergies.
The Cluster's web site is
primitive, but form is less important than function. It is not entirely
clear just how functional the cluster is, so expect more here on this
group.
And if you know of similar organizations, please bring them to the attention of edbizbuzz readers.
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The Northwest Education Cluster: A Promising Sign in the Trade Group Space
Keywords:
tradegroups
Comments
Re: The Northwest Education Cluster: A Promising Sign in the Trade Group Space
Thanks for the feedback on the cluster. We are working on some issues here in Oregon around technology in the classrooms. Also we should be updating our website soon so it is not as primitive!
Jim Re: The Northwest Education Cluster: A Promising Sign in the Trade Group Space
by
Bill Kelly
on Thu 28 Jun 2007 08:03 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Dean,
Thanks for picking up on this one, and sorry we haven't been more visible to you. Your read on the cluster is pretty accurate. While we do have 35 members, I think the dynamics of this industry do not lend themselves to industry group formation as rapidly as other industries (the semiconductor, display technology, wood products and sports apparel industries here in the Portland area are all much larger, faster moving industries). However, I have believed from 2003 that there is some reason a disproportionate number of education-related firms locate in Portland, and that a cluster structure would help these companies both clarify their identity and gain strength through shared resources. My prediction is that the cluster will find significant opportunities over the next couple of years to influence local policy issues, to generate economies of scale not available to the individual companies, and to generally improve the likelihood that our member companies will succeed at their objectives. When it comes down to it, Portland has two key reputations that I think contribute to the likelihood of such a cluster forming in the area -- a plentitude of talented labor that is in Portland by choice (i.e. more likely than most to stay in place, even if their company needs longer to gain traction), and an overall sense of public service. This latter lends itself to enterprise formation that might not take hold elsewhere -- outdoor-oriented sports apparel, green technologies and education companies are prime examples. Thanks again for the mention, and please let's do stay in touch as things progress. Bill Kelly CEO, Learning.com Trackbacks
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