Rob Strongin’s work developing chemically complex dyes has led him from cancer to crime. Strongin, a professor of chemistry at Portland State University, made the transition after the Orange County Sheriff’s Department asked him to develop a dye that could make fingerprints on bloody surfaces show up more clearly.
Wendy Strgar, founder and CEO of the Eugene natural sexual health products company Good Clean Love, comes off as a pretty candid person. She talks frankly about female sexual dysfunction, personal lubricants and how all-natural “love products” saved her marriage of 24 years.
Given the beating that sales suffered at most U.S. companies during 2009, it’s no surprise our annual ranking of the state’s top private companies showed strains. Revenue fell an average of 5% but many companies reported dips exceeding 30%. This was a year when companies with 20% revenue declines could still find themselves rise in the rankings.
The door has closed — if not forever than at least for a good while — on the large resorts with hotels, golf courses and homes that dot the state and blanket Central Oregon. It’s a once-coveted business that’s in trouble with regulators, residents, environmentalists and the development industry. It’s a business under fire and in flux, and one with an uncertain future.
- Romanian immigrants dominate adult foster care niche
- Google AdWords searches for new business
- Bypass reroute helps clean up downtown
- Staycations boost business at family entertainment centers
- Low income housing goes sustainable
- Oregon Business wins awards
- Small airports struggle with economy
- Wave energy faces another delay
- Dick Sass launches innovation fund
- Statewide ban on butterfly bush forces nurseries to adapt
- TV show Leverage lifts Portland economy
- Oregon wineries target Hong Kong, mainland China