For as large as the Intel employee base in the Portland area is — the largest collection of Intel employees anywhere — it doesn’t have much of a presence in the startup community. But the health of the organization has a significant impact on the overall economics of the region. Not to mention the US as a whole.
Read MoreCategory: Economy
Good job on your home work, Oregon
If you’re like me, you know a lot of folks who work from home. They might be working for a company that favors remote workers, like Automattic. Or maybe they’re working solo on their own business. Or it could be that they’re part of a startup team that is saving capital by avoiding rent.
Portland Development Commission (PDC) releases initial results from Software cluster survey
Remember a few weeks back, when I asked you—well, actually, implored you, begged you—to respond to a survey about the current state of software development? You remember, the one sponsored by the Portland Development Commission (PDC) (@pdxdevelopment)?
Well a whole bunch of you took the time to respond. (Thank you!) And now the PDC has released the results of the survey. Read More
Portland Mayor Sam Adams talks open source, mobile, coworking, and the startup environment
Last Sunday, a group of folks representing the Portland open source, mobile, and coworking community got the chance to sit down and chat with Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Among those in attendance were Rubyist and Calagator lead Audrey Eschright, CubeSpace’s David Komisky, Software Association of Oregon Interim President Scott Kveton, the Mayor’s Economic Development Policy Advisor Skip Newberry, CubeSpace’s Eva Schweber, General Counsel at Extreme Arts & Sciences J-P Voilleque, and Small Society’s Raven Zachary.
Eva has a great recap of how the meeting played out, including insight on the topics we covered from telecommuting to open source to mobile. [UPDATE] And Skip Newberry from the Mayor’s Office has posted his recap, as well. So I wanted to take a different tact. I wanted to find out how the attendees perceived the meeting and the Mayor’s willingness to engage this group in conversation.
Here’s what they had to say. Read More
WSJ: Portland continues to attract talent, despite stumbling economy
As if we needed another sign of the opportunity and potential we have within our grasp here in the Silicon Forest, the Wall Street Journal has just published a piece on Portland and its ability to attract young educated people—even though they might not have jobs waiting for them.
What will come as little shock to any of us—but seems to be confounding the WSJ—is that any number of people are attracted to Portland for way of life, first and foremost. Even though joining the ranks of those in Portland may also mean joining the ranks of the under-employed or completely unemployed. Read More