Strawberries and low-cost energy, two abundant Oregon resources, prompted Oregon Freeze Dry to set up shop in Albany in 1963.
Rudy Crew takes on education reform.
He runs a successful business growing and selling exotic coral from around the world. He gets fabric from China and has it sewn into cloth flowerpots at a factory in the Philippines, which he then imports and sells nationwide. And yet 26-year-old Ian McMenamin failed his international distribution class at the University of Oregon three times.
Ron Gandy and his son, Justin, were well into the development of their ladder-safety device, Ladder-Tite, in 2011 when Justin unexpectedly passed away at age 21. The loss nearly derailed the entire endeavor.
During the dangerous days of World War II, U.S. Navy ships in need of a resupply would motor up to a supply depot at the Port of Seattle, likely dumping spent rounds and unneeded munitions overboard to expedite the process.
Over the past 20 years, Pete Newport has worked as a kayak instructor, marketing manager for Pepsi-Cola and owner of Bend-based Breedlove Guitar Company, which he grew to $10 million in sales before selling the company in 2010. Now Newport is embarking on yet another venture, as president of Talent-based Sawyer Paddles & Oars.
A recent Pew Center on the States report found that most states are struggling to meet the long-term costs of their public-employee pensions and retiree health care benefits, largely due to the lingering effects of investments made before the financial crisis.