---
title: 'Getting political: Meet the Portland entrepreneurs who endorse Eileen Brady for mayor'
date: '2011-12-14T09:01:54-08:00'
type: post
word_count: 403
char_count: 2793
tokens: 524
categories:
  - Events
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - 'eileen brady'
  - Entrepreneurs
  - Mayor
  - Portland
---

# Getting political: Meet the Portland entrepreneurs who endorse Eileen Brady for mayor

For an industry that has remained largely removed from the political scene, this morning’s news is as groundbreaking as some of the solutions these folks are building.

Today [Eileen Brady](http://www.eileenformayor.com/2011/12/13/brady-tech-announcement/ "Eileen Brady for Mayor") announced that four prominent Portland entrepreneurs—[Josh Friedman](https://twitter.com/#!/technojosh "Josh Friedman"), [Nitin Khanna](https://twitter.com/#!/n_khanna "Nitin Khanna"), [Scott Kveton](https://twitter.com/#!/kveton "Scott Kveton"), and [Chris Logan](https://twitter.com/#!/chrislogan "Chris Logan")—have [endorsed Brady in her bid for mayor of Portland](http://www.eileenformayor.com/2011/12/13/brady-tech-announcement/ "Brady to unveil a plan to rapidly expand Portland's tech community. Leading local tech CEOs endorse.").

The endorsement comes as Brady unveils a new plan designed to ease the business climate for Portland startups.

> Eileen Brady announced a new initiative on Wednesday that will cut away the red tape that too often slows down Portland’s entrepreneurs, promising as Mayor to streamline the city’s cumbersome permitting process, make short-term leases more available for start-ups and create educational partnerships with local colleges that promote the job skills the Tech and Bioscience communities require.

“For the first time, a candidate for city office took the time to sit down and listen to Portland’s tech leaders,” said Kveton in a press release. “We are a thriving community of growing businesses who want to help build a stronger local economy here in Portland. We believe Eileen Brady’s entrepreneurial approach and understanding of our needs is what we need in the Mayor’s office. That is why we are taking the extraordinary step of endorsing Eileen Brady for Mayor.”

Brady will be addressing the startup community this morning (Wednesday, December 14) at 10 AM at [Urban Airship’s offices](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Urban+Airship+Inc,+334+Northwest+11th+Avenue,+Portland,+OR+97209-2902&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.462243,70.400391&vpsrc=0&hq=Urban+Airship+Inc,&hnear=334+NW+11th+Ave,+Portland,+Oregon+97209&t=m&z=16 "Urban Airship"). The gathering is open to the public.

For more information, see [Eileen Brady for Mayor](http://www.eileenformayor.com/2011/12/13/brady-tech-announcement/ "Eileen Brady for Mayor"). To hear more of Brady’s views on the startup scene, see [her interview with Meet the Startup](http://siliconflorist.com/2011/12/13/meet-startup-portland-mayoral-candidate-eileen-brady/ "Meet the Startup: Eileen Brady").

*([Image courtesy Kristin Ausk](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristinausk/2245209899/). Used under Creative Commons.)*