Well. This is interesting timing. Business Oregon just put out an RFP seeking a consultant to evaluate and update Oregon’s 10-Year Innovation Plan, a plan originally produced by a consultancy out of Ohio — a nearly 100-page document from that was supposed to serve as the statewide roadmap for strengthening innovation-based industries, growing high-wage jobs, and attracting investment.
Five years in, Oregon is curious to hear how it’s going.
Oh not from you, gentle startup founder. Don’t be silly. They want to hear from more consultants. Naturally. And the selected consultant will be tasked with assessing the relevance of the plan’s goals and strategies, comparing Oregon’s approach to peer states, and identifying conditions necessary for long‑term success.
Easy peasy.
Let’s give the company awarded the contract a head start. Because I have some guesses about what that assessment might find…
- Like the fact that SB 1507 — passed while nobody in the startup community was consulted — effectively eliminated QSBS tax exclusions for Oregon residents. You know, the single most compelling incentive for innovation pursued by founders, early employees, and investors as they take risks on an early-stage company…? The very thing this Innovation Plan was designed to encourage…?
- Then there’s the Oregon Governor’s Prosperity Council, which was recently created to help guide the state on — wait for it — prosperity. Or the potential for prosperity. (I’m sure there’s a good reason this consultant recruitment effort isn’t coordinated with this council effort. No worries. I’m sure they know what they’re doing. What’s the worst that could happen…?)
But wait. There’s more to this web…
Well wait. It’s not really a web. A web is connected. This is more of a hodge podge. A hodge podge of related but completely disconnected efforts going on at the state level. (You know, the good old “the right hand doesn’t know what the multiple left hands are doing”…? Honestly, it’s kinda like one of those early AI images. With a bunch of fingers and arms bolted onto something, resulting in a collection of unnatural appendages that are completely eerie and disconcerting. (I honestly can’t think of a better analogy for this whole thing.))
- Remember the 10 year Oregon Innovation Plan…? One of the key strategies in this very Innovation Plan was investing roughly $8 million in Regional Innovation Hubs — 9 hubs covering all 36 counties — specifically designed to give the state visibility into and engagement with local innovation communities. That infrastructure exists. It’s funded. It’s in the plan. And it also appears to be completely untapped as part of this RFP effort.
So yeah. I have some thoughts about what this consultant might find.
But I digress.
If you’re interested in digging into all of this, there’s money to be made. The budget is $100,000 to $125,000 for a six-month engagement, with an option to extend another six months. Proposals are due April 10, 2026, and questions must be submitted to Nengi Diriyai at Business Oregon by today, March 30, 2026.
So if you’re a consultant who does this kind of work — or if you know someone who should be in the room for the stakeholder engagement piece — the full RFP is available on OregonBuys.
For more information, visit Business Oregon.
