Washington State has built strong trade relationships across the globe. Nearly $90 billion in total goods traveled out of the state last year. Commerce is committed to keeping trade relationships growing to keep the economy moving forward. The department does that in several different ways. In March, Commerce hosted an educational session for technology companies wishing to grow their businesses by exporting to the United Kingdom, a $3 billion per year trading partner with the state. The agency also recently co-hosted a three-day event that presented an opportunity for Japanese companies to connect with Washington businesses developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, intended to give them a better sense of what top Japanese companies’ top AI interests are.
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Commerce is involved in the exciting news about new opportunities that may be in store for our state’s timber industry. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) can use trees that otherwise would have gone to waste to create a new material that is as strong and fire-resistant as steel or concrete. Washington is funding a pilot project to construct much-needed classroom additions out of cross-laminated timber. If widely adopted, CLT has the potential to breathe life back into struggling rural communities by creating new timber jobs.