Matt Nees named new Software Association of Oregon (SAO) president

There’s nothing like good news to start the week. So how about this: the SAO has found a new president. And that’s triply good news.

Why? First, it’s good news for the organization, itself, which has been hard at work to become more relevant for the changing Oregon tech industry. Second, it’s good news for Scott Kveton, who just received confirmation that his interim SAO presidency would indeed be as brief as promised. Third, I think it’s good news because this new president gets this whole Portland tech startup scene—and Twitter to boot.

Meet Matt Nees, the new SAO president.

I’ve had the pleasure to chat with Matt. And I’m excited to see what he can do for this organization. Especially because he brings a decidedly balanced background—with both startup and corporate experience—to his new gig.

Scott shares a similar take on Matt, as he told the Portland Business Journal:

Scott Kveton, the interim SAO president and a board member, said Nees’s background working for both established tech companies as well as start-ups will prove invaluable in working with Oregon’s tech community, which includes a balance of start-ups and corporate behemoths.

Matt seems to understand what’s going on around here and how the SAO needs to participate if it wants to continue to remain a relevant component of the burgeoning Oregon Web and mobile industry. Not only that. I’ll think he’ll be invaluable in getting some productive efforts underway with the equally well-balanced SAO board.

As Matt told Mike Rogoway at The Oregonian.

“The scope of the environment has definitely changed,” he told me, noting more active startup and software communities in the region.[HTML2]

“The SAO is really going to start to play a major role in this space,” he said.

Good luck to Matt in his new role. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish.

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Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy View all posts by Rick Turoczy