Oregon Economic Development

Portlanders want to preserve the city’s progressive spirit and its caring, healthy, laid-back, environmentally conscious uniqueness. They also want to make sure all residents can share its prosperity.

Portland is trying to align its economic development strategies around sustainability. So, not surprisiingly, a privately-led recruitment effort is focused on a handful of clusters: renewable energy, green-building technology, recycling technology and environmental practices sectors.

"It puts us on the right track, and it gives the campus hope that higher education may become more of a priority in this state."

The fact that so many of the firms investing Oregon’s money are based outside the state is inconsistent with the original mission, said David Garten, CEO of Eugene’s SeQuential Biofuels LLC. "Prudent investment of pension funds and targeted, local economic development don’t mix." Harold Bradley, chief investment officer at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo.

Oregon lawmakers have agreed to fund nearly all of Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s innovation proposals, including investments in seven new industry initiatives and the creation of two new signature research centers.

Throughout the course of human history, people
have found new ways to meet their needs by
inventing, applying and trading new technologies.
But recent advances in telecommunication
technologies—including the internet—along
with the global shift toward open, market-based
economies have made innovation “the single most
important ingredient in any modern economy.”

The company cited Oregon’s efforts to nurture renewable sources of energy.

For the first time in the three decades since Intel came to Oregon, significant numbers of the chip maker’s alumni seem similarly inclined. Some, like Muray, are starting their own companies. Others are taking skills learned at Intel to established Oregon tech businesses, refreshing a high-tech economy that has been stagnant since the dot-com bust.

The report, according to a release from the Governor’s Office, shows Oregon is making strong progress in terms of economic growth, public safety and livable communities, while challenges remain in other areas, including education, civic engagement, social support and the environment based on established state goals.

The fountain of new companies, jobs and tax revenue that was supposed to flow from taxpayers’ investment has not materialized as rapidly as envisioned. And OHSU’s new president, Joseph Robertson, acknowledges that the university’s projections were "optimistic" and "exuberant."