Board of Directors
Michael Jones, President of The Maritime Alliance
dr Bruce Appelgate, Associate Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego
Bryan Bjorndal, President & CEO, Assure Controls
Joel Valenzuela, Director of Maritime Operations, Port of San Diego
us-maritime-tech-export-program-2016-2019-flyer-rev-4-nov-2016
The Maritime Alliance is the cluster organizer of the largest ocean and water technology (BlueTech) cluster in the U.S. The San Diego Maritime Industry Report 2012 identified over 1,400 companies with 46,000 direct jobs and $14 billion in direct revenue in our regional (San Diego county) Blue Economy (including the last major shipbuilding on the U.S. West Coast). Of those totals, 19,000 were working in BlueTech with $6+ billion in revenue. We include both fresh and salt water tech in our cluster – most clusters focus on one or the other. We find it valuable because our member companies are selling across the whole water chain domestically and internationally, but we are best known for our ocean tech work.
The mission of The Maritime Alliance is “Promoting Blue Tech & Blue Jobs”. The non-profit The Maritime Alliance is the cluster organizer for the San Diego maritime technology community and fosters maritime business and technology innovation through collaboration around the U.S. and the world.
The Maritime Alliance (TMA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit industry association, whose mission is Promoting BlueTech and Blue Jobs®. TMA is the cluster organizer of the San Diego maritime technology community and fosters maritime business and technology innovation through collaboration around the U.S. and the world.
We believe in creating BlueTech and Blue Jobs by promoting sustainable, science-based ocean industries. To accomplish this, we create an important Blue Voice via unique events, information sharing, national & international outreach, networking, research, and workforce development.
Fulfilling our mission includes the following:
Events:
With sponsors and partners, TMA hosts periodic events where developers and providers of technology can come together with end-users to understand each other’s capabilities, collaborate, foster innovation, and advance the industry.
Our Tag Line is “Promoting BlueTech & Blue Jobs” and our Mission Statement is “Promoting Sustainable, Science-Based Ocean & Water Industries”. We are pleased to be a multi-year Strategic Partner for maritime technology with the ITA (International Trade Administration) in the U.S. Department of Commerce. We are proud to have been chosen to co-author the 1st ever study for NOAA / U.S. IOOS on the economic value of ocean observation for the U.S. We are bringing Oceanology International – the world’s leading ocean science & tech trade show and conference, which takes place in London every even number year – to San Diego, CA as Oceanology International North America (OINA) every odd number year beginning Feb. 14-16, 2017 (see the Save-the-Date attachment – we are expecting a number of national pavilions including Canada, France, Germany, and the UK). And we are a leading voice for the Blue Economy and BlueTech internationally including helping create a BlueTech Cluster Alliance to engender active cross-cluster / multilateral collaboration for business and academia with initial ocean tech cluster partners in Canada, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, the UK and US.
Trade Missions:
By hosting periodic missions in search of technology or partnerships, TMA provides its members additional sales and marketing opportunities. In 2011, eleven local companies were invited to present in front of USTDA-sponsored reverse trade missions from Morocco, Jordan and Colombia looking for port and maritime security and vessel tracking management system technologies.
We were recently chosen by the U.S. Department of Commerce for the 1st ever U.S. Maritime Technology Export Initiative (flyer attached). With this three-year funding program, we will help defray costs for innovative, BlueTech SMEs from across the U.S. to participate in identified trade shows with – when appropriate – follow-on missions. While the proposal was focused on France, Ireland and the UK where we have strong regional cluster partnerships, we will use the program to develop additional BlueTech cluster partners. TMA will be assisting 10 U.S. BlueTech SMEs to exhibit at the Ocean Business trade show in Southampton April 4-6, 2017. We will follow that with a mission the following week April 10-14, 2017 of probably 12-16 US BlueTech companies to Rotterdam/Netherlands, Hamburg/Kiel, and Denmark. The companies that will be supported by the grant will be selected by an Advisory Committee in January 2017.
Outreach
Since its inception, TMA has sought to raise awareness and educate the community about the importance and value of the maritime technology industry. We have targeted legislators and officials at every level. In 2010, the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) added Marine Technology to the list of 23 export industries it specifically supports. In 2011, the SD Regional Economic Development Corp. included maritime as one of the five industries key to the region’s economic growth.
Funding
As a nonprofit, TMA can access resources and apply for grants and other funding opportunities on behalf of the industry. In February 2012, TMA in cooperation with the Center for International Trade Development submitted a proposal for a Market Development Cooperator Program through the ITA. This program would directly benefit maritime technology companies by providing funding and other resources to help them export into markets in Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Turkey.
Research
Through relationships with a variety of economic development, government, academic, military, and international organizations, TMA has access to vast resources, libraries and catalogs of information, research and studies. Our goal is to facilitate delivery of or access to that information which is of value to our members. We also have the ability with some partners to influence how and where government resources might get allocated in terms of industry analysis and workforce development.
Mailing Address: The Maritime Alliance
Contact: Michael Jones, President, Phone: (619) 450-4600 ext. 141, Fax: (619) 450-4504
c/o The Maritime Alliance, 2877 Historic Decatur Rd., Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92106
WWW: http://themaritimealliance.org/
