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will be over time, and the more likely it is to continue.

How will the results of this study tangibly impact NOAA?

As a descriptive study, this is valuable to NOAA in- formationally. IOOS and NOOA can now see the extent and value of private sector ocean enterprise in the blue economy, and with that information are better able to ? nd ways to engage with it and forge stronger, mutually bene? cial partnerships. It extends beyond NOAA to the Department of Commerce, not only in providing them with valuable domestic industry data, but also by including ? gures for export data generated by the study.

Obviously there is much information within to digest. In your opinion, were there any ‘show stoppers’? Any results that completely surprised you or your colleagues?

The study didn’t yield any show-stoppers, but it is great that we now know that private-sector ocean enterprise work brings in $7 billion annually, about the same as the NFL.

It’s a real number we can look at now and back to in the fu- ture, and quanti? es that industry cluster for the ? rst time. I am excited to see how enthusiastic the companies were about participating and seeing the study come out. The ocean enter- prise is spread around so many more generalized industries, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive from participants

The Ocean Enterprise: A Study of U.S. Business Ac- as we went through the process.

tivity in Ocean Measurement, Observation and Forecasting

This study, prepared by ERISS Corporation and The Maritime

There were numerous reference within that this study

Alliance, sought to lend insight on the size, shape and im- was a ‘? rst shot.’ What’s next, speci? cally what is the plan pact of the collective ‘ocean enterprise’ in the United States. moving forward for future reports?

The full report is a fascinating read, packed with data and statistics that will be of use to any company serving the sub- sea market. Some highlights: If resources allow, we would like to conduct this study again within 2 years. There’s value in keeping the survey • A Big Industry instrument the same so that we begin to build comparable data $7B: This is the estimated annual revenue generated by the sets, however we may revisit and re? ne some of the revenue

U.S. Ocean Enterprise.

questions to tease out more detailed revenue information.

• Exporting Prowess $1.4B: This is the estimated annual exports generated by the U.S. Ocean Enterprise.

• A Growing Business 54%: The percentage of respondents that expect their Ocean

Enterprise business to grow in the coming year.

• A Diverse Market

The top four market niches served by respondents, start- ing with the largest, include: Environmental Monitoring; Aca- demic Research; Oil & Gas; and Ports and Harbors.

• Strong Regional Hubs

While the Ocean Enterprise touches many states, there is a predictable pattern of major hubs: the Northeast U.S.;

Southern Florida; the Houston area; Southern California and the Paci? c Northwest.

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