Pacific Northwest Economic Region Foundation

Pacific Northwest Economic Region Foundation, doing business as Pnwer, is a Seattle-based tax-exempt nonprofit that delivers regional economic development, trade promotion, and transportation infrastructure planning services to federal agencies as a grant recipient. The organization operates exclusively as a prime recipient — all seven federal awards in the source are direct grants with no subcontract involvement — and serves four distinct federal customer agencies, primarily the Department of Transportation.

Pnwer's capability portfolio centers on regional infrastructure acceleration, cross-border trade coordination, and transportation project financing strategy. Representative work includes a $1 million Cooperative Agreement from the Department of Transportation Immediate Office of the Secretary (awarded September 1, 2026, running through August 31, 2029) to execute the Build Northwest Export Accelerator under a congressional earmark, with deliverables including work plans, quarterly reports, and 2 CFR 200 compliance documentation. The organization also holds a Cooperative Agreement from the Federal Highway Administration (awarded April 17, 2024, running through April 16, 2027) to operate the Build Northwest Center of Excellence, which delivers events, courses, tribal engagement, and webinars alongside zero-emission commercial corridor infrastructure (fast-charging EV infrastructure), critical connections (bus rapid transit and bridge replacement initiatives), and high-performance rail corridor service improvements. A third FHA award (awarded February 4, 2022, completed February 3, 2024) was a $1.235 million Cooperative Agreement under the Border Enforcement Grants program (CFDA 20.233) supporting the Regional Infrastructure Accelerator to enhance cross-border infrastructure coordination and motor-carrier safety compliance along the Washington-Canada border.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted to the Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (three awards) and the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (two awards), with a single award to the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Coast Guard ($150 thousand potential value) and the DOT Immediate Office of the Secretary. Activity has been episodic — one award in 2012, two in 2021, two in 2022, one in 2024, and one in 2026 — with one award completing within the next twenty-four months and therefore facing recompete. Combined obligated dollars ($7 million) substantially exceed combined potential value ($150 thousand), indicating that these cooperative agreements have drawn significantly more funding across their performance periods than their initial awards reflected. Pnwer maintains a subsidiary, Pacific Northwest Economic Region Fund, also a nonprofit organization. The foundation has been registered to receive federal awards since 2006 and focuses on technical assistance, planning services, and infrastructure development across the Pacific Northwest region, with particular emphasis on U.S.–Canada provincial coordination.