JULY 2008: FROM THE EDITOR
In good company
Like the name says, we’re all about covering Oregon
business. But this month I think we might have set a
record.
Let’s start with the 150 we have in our annual ranking
of Oregon’s largest private companies. As associate
editor Ben Jacklet’s story reports, the current economy
is etched in this year’s list, which shows three
companies losing their billion-dollar-plus status from last
year — two of them timber companies. This is the 25th
year that the magazine has produced the Private 150 list, and
looking back over the previous lists provides an insightful
narrative to the story of Oregon business, where the landscape
can be seen changing from timber to technology, among other
transformations.
Then there are the 10 companies spotlighted in our cover story
on cool tech startups. It wasn’t easy getting it down
just to 10, which is why managing editor Abraham Hyatt stuffed
an additional five into the list. OK, maybe that’s
cheating. But could we really have left out Gone Raw
(you’ll have to turn to page 43 to find out what that one
is all about), or the one that calls itself a “giant
CD-eating rabbit?” I think not.
So that’s 150 plus 15. There also are about 40 companies
in the Deal Watch chart, 32 in the financial planners
Powerlist, several dozen in Around the State and a handful in
the rest of the features. You might think that with almost 300
companies getting some level of coverage, it would satisfy us.
But no. This month we are launching a new feature in Biz/Life
called “Tactics.” Each issue we’ll look
inside a company to find out how it solved a problem or found
its groove so that other business leaders can learn from those
mistakes and successes. LaCrosse Footwear is our fitting debut,
a company that climbed back to profitability by focusing on
some very specific markets. With apologies to Miss Sinatra,
these boots weren’t made just for walking.
The magazine’s efforts to encourage and celebrate better
business practices is long-standing. For 15 years, Oregon
Business has championed The 100 Best Companies to Work For in
Oregon, and written about what it takes to be a great place to
work. This September, that project moves beyond the magazine
pages to the launch of our first annual 100 Best Conference:
Building Better Workplaces. Go to Oregon100best.com
to register and to see the stellar lineup of workshops and
speakers we’ve put together. Now, if I also add in the
number of companies named on that website …
