For more than 30 years, Oregon Business has ranked the state’s top 150 private companies by revenue. This year’s results are in, and they are not encouraging. 2009 was one of the worst years ever for the state’s most important private sector employers — if not the worst.
Nike is hiring again in Beaverton after a turbulent recessionary run punctuated by a 5% downsizing last May. The company has posted openings in information technology, operations, human resources, communications and the House of Hoops, has just hired a new Chief Learning Officer and is sprinting into a new fiscal year with momentum and focus.
Metro regional government leaders have operated for years on the belief that economic development and jobs are not part of their mission. Should they be? Tom Hughes believes they should be. Could his approach to creating jobs as mayor of Hillsboro work on a regional level?
Allow me to introduce our new web reporter, Jessica Hoch. Her first news story for Oregon Business looks at a fresh piece of federal legislation with unusually strong bipartisan support, the Green Railcar Enhancement Act. This bill could be just what Portland-based railcar manufacturer Gunderson needs after more than two years of cutbacks.
Congressman David Wu has been working behind the scenes for more than a year with utility executives, green building experts and university leaders to boost federal support for green building innovations in Oregon. The $129 million proposal that has emerged from that work could build a sustainable foundation for an industry that stands out as one of the state’s few bright spots.
Between the endless Oregon drizzle, the unpredictable financial markets and the seemingly unstoppable flood of crude oil gushing forth from the ocean floor, it’s been a rough month for morale — and for the planet. So it’s refreshing to step back from the headlines and pay respect to some forward-thinking businesses and nonprofits that are doing things right.
Google made a rare and very un-Google-like public appearance yesterday in Southeast Portland. It was interesting to see a company that has brilliantly reinvented so many things over the past decade playing the role of a typical business, hobnobbing with economic development officials, handing out free pens and notebooks and boasting about economic impact. Then again, $512 million worth of economic impact in Oregon is a phenomenon worth boasting about.
Ever since I was a kid calculating my batting average in between pitches, I’ve always loved numbers. I relish a fresh stack of statistics, and that’s exactly what we have between the new jobs figures and the election results. Are there lessons to be learned from these numbers? I believe there are.