The race for Olympic opportunities begins
Local businesses hope to capitalize on the close proximity of the Winter Games

Winter Games ambassador Peter Legge spoke to the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce at an After Hours event held at Sound Cedar in February.

By Rachel Robertson

"What is your Olympic dream?” Peter Legge asked of the crowd gathered for the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce After Hours event in February. Now that the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, B.C., are just two years off, it is a question that is rumbling around the Puget Sound business community.
As CEO and president of Canada Wide Magazines and Communication Ltd., Legge is a successful entrepreneur and professional speaker. He is also an Olympic ambassador, and confessed to Olympic dreams of his own.
Legge described his efforts to pursue the position of emcee for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. He said, in response to an e-mail querying if he was bi-lingual (which he is not) he decided to recruit his daughter (who is), and responded that they could be the first father and daughter team to co-host the Olympics. But, he wanted to take it another step to show the committee what they could do, and thus filmed a mock opening of the Winter Olympics using old footage.
“It cost me 15 grand for a job that doesn’t pay anything,” he joked. His point was that to be successful one should always pursue excellence.
“I might not get the opening ceremonies, but you know what, I’m going to get something. I don’t know what it is, but if I don’t get anything, there are a host of people who will say, ‘You know what, that Peter Legge really does a good job at whatever he tackles.’”
The message was general, but much of the advice for businesses looking to profit from the Winter Games is just that. Opportunities abound for those who seek them and think creatively about what their niche can be. The close proximity of the Olympic Games is such a unique event that if there was ever a time to put your best foot forward, then this is it.

tour company on the move
Brett Ginther and Terica Taylor of Deception Pass Tours in Anacortes are working on a plan to capitalize on the Olympics. April through October Ginther gives tours of Deception Pass on a 36-seat catamaran. So, winter is a great time to seek out other opportunities.
“From our standpoint, we don’t necessarily think that it’s going to be a big boom of tourism down here, but we’re going to take our boat – that we would normally just have in dry dock – and we’re just going to take it up there and make it available for a pretty sizable amount of money,” Taylor said, explaining that the additional charge is due to the inconvenience of bringing their boat to Canada.
Taylor is fairly confident that corporate sponsors of the Olympic Games, who will be hosting VIPs such as major shareholders and corporate officers, will hire a water taxi service even at a premium price. “They are willing to pay for the convenience, nobody wants to wait for the ferry,” she said.
Already they have contacts with party planners in Canada and are working on getting all the international licenses and permits in place.

Where is the money?
The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), is in charge of the construction and staging for the Winter Games and projects that they will spend $2 billion directly on goods and services. They also report that government agencies will spend more than $4 billion on upgrades to infrastructure. Additionally, they predict another $2 billion will be spent by groups such as suppliers, sponsors, athletic teams and visiting tourists.
Although winning a contract with VANOC is one obvious way to get Olympic business, Taylor and Ginther’s water taxi service is an example of the other unique ways that people could make money. Taylor believes the private events hosted at the Olympics are a great opportunity for Washington businesses, predicting a demand for catering items such as tables, tents and heaters, even items like decorations, silverware and plates.
“All of these little things that are more convenient for people in Washington to supply than, say, over in Toronto,” she said.
Taylor sees the tourist-swamped restaurants in Vancouver as yet another opportunity for local businesses.“Wouldn’t it be great if some of our restaurants could subcontract some of their employees, or they could bid out as a subcontractor for some of these parties,” she said.
Whatever the idea, Taylor said that businesses need to get started. “It’s not really on people’s minds yet, but it should be, because they need to be getting the approvals they need to do business in Canada right now, they can’t wait until six months before the Games to get their permits.”
Indeed, “Get involved as early as you can” is Lesson No. 1 in the 2010 Business Opportunities Guide put out by B.C. Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat, available on the 2010 Commerce Centre Web site.

Getting some guidance
Some local organizations have been bringing in speakers and providing resources for their members as the interest in Olympic opportunities grows.
Kristen Whitener, president of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber is helping their members by attending meetings and presentations and filtering the information down in their quarterly newsletters and weekly e-mails.
Business development coordinator for the Economic Development Association of Skagit County, Diane McLeod, said its Procurement Technical Assistance Center Program is an information resource for people who want to do business with government, so under that purview she has brought in speakers on topics related to the Olympics. In October, 150 people attended a seminar about Olympic business opportunities. Given the obvious interest in the topic, McLeod said that future presentations will likely have an Olympic component.
McLeod said that pointing members to the resources available on the Web is another way they are providing guidance. “This is the one piece of information I’ve heard repeated many times – visit the [2010 Commerce Centre] Web site and sign up to receive bid information on it,” she said of their procurement notification service.
The Web site (www.2010commerce centre.com) also offers specific information about how to make a bid for an Olympic contract as well as a wealth of advice on other opportunities. Included on the Web site is the 2010 Business Network, a free service that allows businesses to post information about their company. The network is used as a resource for Olympic-related buyers. VANOC’s Web site (www.vancouver2010.com) also has information for businesses.
The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development provides information on Olympic opportunities, which is accessible from their Web site (www.cted.wa.gov) under the “Business” heading. Gov. Christine Gregoire set up a 2010 Task Force to assess what the impact will be for Washington, and the site offers information and suggestions, including a Task Force Status Report.
Evergreen Team Concepts (ETC) in Bellingham has put together a program targeted at preparing businesses for the Winter Games. One of the benefits of participation in the initiative is four professional and business workshops each year. Businesses can choose from a variety of workshops – about four or five options per month. Some of the workshops are exclusive to the service initiative and include topics relevant to doing business during the Olympics, such as a workshop on cultural diversity and practices.
The service initiative will promote participating businesses through e-newsletter ads, local press releases and international multimedia press releases through Ferndale-based PRWeb. Web forums and audio conferences with national business experts are also part of the program. And to keep participating businesses current on Olympic-related topics, an e-newsletter subscription is part of the initiative.
“It can be a good thing for your business, whether you are looking to capitalize on the visitors coming to the region for the Olympics or whether you are just interested in getting the most out of your dollars for training or marketing, either one,” said Henry Beeland, ETC president and CEO. Corporate sponsorships for the initiative help to offset the cost, so the services are offered at a discounted rate.

A few issues
I-5 is predicted to get heavy traffic from Seattle to Vancouver from domestic travelers as well as air travelers who come through SeaTac. The issue there, Whitener said, is “how can we capture that and get people off the roads.”
Whitener said the impact for our area is uncertain and cautions businesses to be realistic. One unknown factor is how the international border crossing will affect travelers. Some believe the border crossing could discourage people from coming to visit the United States. Beeland, on the other hand, thinks differently.
“If you are in Great Britain and you knew you could travel for 30 minutes and be in France, would you go? Why would you not?” he said, drawing the parallel to world visitors to Vancouver visiting the U.S. “Just as exotic and romantic as those places are to us, that’s what we are to them.”
Given the uncertain impact, McLeod advised, “Look for opportunities, but look for opportunities that could be in the future, period.” The Olympics will not be the only event to happen in Vancouver and so establishing contacts there may be a good move for some local businesses.
Area business organizations say there is still more work to be done. Whitener said that Skagit County chambers have been putting money away for a marketing campaign, but a leader for that drive has not yet been selected.
But talks have begun, she said, between Skagit and Whatcom organizations, and she is hoping that a collaborative effort will be established. “People are going to be coming from all over the world and they’re not going to see county lines, and we need to get as much exposure as we can for this entire area,” she said.