The Washington Clean Technology Alliance (WCTA), a business network founded in 2007 to serve as an advocacy organization for Washington’s clean, green and environmental tech industries, has hired J. Thomas Ranken as its first full time president and CEO. The pick should help strengthen the local cleantech sector, and help the organization garner more support.
“The sustainability of Washington’s clean tech economy will be dependent on the successful engagement and growth of innovative companies serving the sector in Washington State,” WCTA Policy Chair Marc Cummings, the director of public affairs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, said in a statement. “Tom is a recognized leader in growing industries that will drive our state’s future.”
Rankenhas been involved in many innovative companies in the Northwest throughout his career, mostly in life sciences. He was the co-founder and CEO of VizX Labs, former president and CEO of Axio Research, and was the first full-time president and CEO of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association (WBBA), back in the mid-90s. Under Ranken, that organization morphed from a small startup into the state’s leading trade association for the life sciences industry, handling activities like group purchasing discounts for small companies, networking events, and public policy advocacy.
Ranken’s role will be to look at the cleantech organization’s previous policy and business successes and identify ways to build up from this foundation with more variety and depth of service for members, according to the WCTA statement.
“There is no more exciting growth opportunity for Washington than the clean tech industry. WCTA members are leaders in research, green building and design, smart grid, the reduction and positive use of waste, and innovative generation and delivery of power,” Ranken said in a statement. “We hope to build on this fine foundation.”
