Tech digest


State tech jobs on the rise; Elemental Technologies reveals new investment fund, moves HQ to support growth.

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A recent study shows tech jobs continue to grow in Oregon.

Oregon tech employment grew at its fastest rate in a decade last year, according to a new state report that finds those jobs pay unusually well and have an outsized impact on the economy.

“High tech is certainly an important and growing sector in our economy,” said Josh Lehner of the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, author of the new report. “It drives a lot of growth and vitality, certainly in the Portland metropolitan area.”

Oregon had just over 95,000 tech workers in 2015, according to state jobs data, up 4 percent from the prior year. Tech jobs paid an average of nearly $104,000 a year, more than twice the state average.

(READ MORE: Oregon Live)

Elemental announced the Oregon Community Foundation will run the charitable community investment fund.

The fund will target nonprofits working in the areas of hunger, education and the environment. Three organizations will receive $10,000 from the fund each year for three years in the first grant cycle.

The fund was made possible by Elemental’s 2015 sale to Amazon Web Services. Back when Elemental raised its series A and B rounds, the founders set aside some company shares for a future charitable fund once Elemental saw an exit.

(READ MORE: Portland Business Journal)

The tech company’s headquarters will move to the former Oregonian building downtown to support business growth.

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