For the longest time, Portland was a one (swooshy) shoe town. Which largely tied the ups and downs of that one company to the performance of the local economy. But with an increasing number of footwear and apparel companies now dotting the ecosystem, those fluctuations — while still felt — are not as singularly focused as they once were. Unfortunately, that diversity of businesses has never really been achieved in the Portland tech sector. Intel is the bellwether of the region, like it or not.
Oh sure. There was Tektronix for a time. And the promise of the dotcom days. And that halcyon decade where companies of the cloud were coagulating in the city core.
But none of that really created any significant assailment to the dominance of Intel in the tech community writ large. And so, when Intel does well, the region does well. And when Intel suffers…
That’s why I try to keep an eye on what’s happening out there. Be that the potential impact of the CHIPS Act or the State of Oregon throwing money their way even as they continue to lay people off.
But even amidst this current downturn, there may be a bright spot. A push to act. Maybe, just maybe. Which is why this Stratechery post jumped out at me, specifically:
It is also, one might say, a bit humiliating: mighty Intel, which bestrode the tech industry for 50 years, the keepers of Moore’s Law, is making a deal with a Taiwanese also-ran, because it needs the help. That, though, is no insult: Intel needed some humbling, and this deal, more than any 18A design win or lofty promise about the AI PC, gives me hope that the company is in fact turning things around.
Maybe…? I know that tech in the region could certainly use some good news.
For more, read “Intel’s humbling.”
