Silicon Forest is a Washington County cluster of high-tech companies located in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. The term most frequently refers to the industrial corridor between Beaverton and Hillsboro in northwest Oregon. The high-technology industry accounted for 19 percent of Oregon's economy in 2005, and the Silicon Forest name has been applied to the industry throughout the state in such places as Corvallis, Bend, and White City. Nevertheless, the name refers primarily to the Portland metropolitan area, where about 1,500 high-tech firms were located as of 2006.
Metro is the regional government for the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area, covering portions of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties. It is the only directly elected regional government and metropolitan planning organization in the United States. Metro is responsible for overseeing the Portland region's solid waste system, general planning of land use and transportation, maintaining certain regional parks and natural areas, and operating the Oregon Zoo, Oregon Convention Center, Portland's Centers for the Arts, and the Portland Expo Center. It also distributes money from two voter-approved tax measures: one for homeless services and one for affordable housing.
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation is an American semiconductor company specializing in the design and manufacturing of low power field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Headquartered in the Silicon Forest area of Hillsboro, Oregon, the company also has operations in San Jose, Calif., Shanghai, Manila, Penang, and Singapore. Lattice Semiconductor has more than 1000 employees and an annual revenue of more than $660 million as of 2022. The company was founded in 1983 and went public in 1989. It is traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol LSCC.
Radisys Corporation is an American technology company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States that makes technology used by telecommunications companies in mobile networks. Founded in 1987 in Oregon by former employees of Intel, the company went public in 1995. The company's products are used in mobile network applications such as small cell radio access networks, wireless core network elements, deep packet inspection and policy management equipment; conferencing, and media services including voice, video and data. In 2015, the first-quarter revenues of Radisys totaled $48.7 million, and approximately employed 700 people. Arun Bhikshesvaran is the company's chief executive officer.
Tripwire, Inc. is a software company based in Portland, Oregon, that focuses on security and compliance automation. It is a subsidiary of technology company Fortra.
Merix Corporation was an American printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer based in Beaverton, Oregon. Prior to a merger in 2010 with Viasystems, the company had been the 31st largest public company in Oregon based on market capitalization as of 2006. The company is now part of TTM Technologies.
Sho Dozono is a Japanese-American businessman and former political candidate from Portland, Oregon. He was a candidate in the 2008 Portland mayoral race. Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams was the front runner throughout the race. Dozono, who would have faced Adams again in November if neither candidate had cleared 50%, lost to him in the primary when Adams won 58% of the vote.
Elemental was an American software company based in Portland, Oregon, and active from 2006 to 2015. It was founded by three engineers formerly of the semiconductor company Pixel works: Sam Blackman (CEO), Jesse Rosenzweig (CTO), and Brian Lewis. In 2015, it was acquired by Amazon.
The economy of the U.S. state of Oregon is made up of a number of sectors. During the 1990s and 2000s, Oregon has attempted to transition its economy from one based on natural resources to one based on a mix of manufacturing, services, and high technology.
Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI) is an American high technology company headquartered in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, specifically in Beaverton, Oregon, since 2021, but from 1963–2021, it was based in the unincorporated Cedar Mill area just north of Beaverton. ESI is a developer and supplier of photonic and laser systems for microelectronics manufacturers. Founded in 1944, it is the oldest high-tech company in Oregon. Along with Tektronix, and later Intel, it has spawned numerous technology-based companies in the Portland area, an area known as the Silicon Forest. From 1983 to 2019, shares in the company were publicly traded on NASDAQ, under the ticker symbol ESIO.
Cascade Microtech is a semiconductor test equipment manufacturer based in Beaverton in the Portland metropolitan area of the United States. Founded in 1983, the Oregon-based company employs nearly 400 people. Formerly publicly traded company as CSCD on the NASDAQ, the company is now fully merged with FormFactor, Inc.
Enli Health Intelligence was a privately held software company based in Beaverton, Oregon, and previously in Hillsboro, Oregon. Founded in 2001 as Kryptiq Corporation, the company specialized in electronic medical records and secure communications between physicians and patients. The 125-employee company was purchased by Surescripts in 2012, which was a previous investor in the company. Annual revenues at the time of the sale were approximately $25 million. In January 2015, the company announced that it was splitting from Surescripts and becoming independent again. Later in 2015, it was renamed Enli Health Intelligence. In 2021, it was acquired by Cedar Gate Technologies, which discontinued use of the Enli name.
Omega Morgan is a privately held company headquartered in Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1991, the 350-employee company specializes in heavy lifting, specialized transportation, machinery moving, crane and rigging services, plant relocations, equipment installations, millwrighting, and applied and industrial metrology.
The Portland Incubator Experiment, often abbreviated as PIE or PIE PDX or stylized as Pie, is a business incubator based in Portland, Oregon that provides mentorship and resources to select startup companies. Co-founded by Renny Gleeson and Rick Turoczy, PIE is run by the Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy (W+K). The program was informally launched in 2009 before converting to a formal structure in 2011. PIE participants are chosen by a selection committee, following an application process. Startups receive seed money and spend three months developing their businesses with support from W+K and participating mentors. Companies that have provided financial assistance and mentorship include The Coca-Cola Company, Google, Intel, Nike, Inc. and Target Corporation.
400 SW Sixth Avenue is an eleven-story office building in Downtown Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Originally known as the First National Bank Building, it opened in 1960 as a six-story bank building. The 139-foot (42 m) tall mid-rise contains 216,108 square feet (20,077.1 m2) of space, with retail on the ground floor. From 1995 to 2016 the primary retail tenant was Camera World.
Oregon Venture Fund makes venture investments in the Portland, Oregon area and throughout Oregon and SW Washington. The fund consists of 180 institutional and angel investors, of whom 85% have run or founded a business. The fund evaluates up to 300 business plans per year, selecting five to seven to invest in annually. In 2018, the fund changed its name from Oregon Angel Fund to Oregon Venture Fund and launched a new $30M fund. Since its inception, Oregon Venture Fund has generated an average annual rate of return of 34% and a return on investment exceeding $3.50 for each dollar invested.
On Tuesday, May 17, 2016, an election was held in Portland, Oregon, to elect the mayor. Ted Wheeler was elected after garnering 54% of the primary vote. Incumbent mayor Charlie Hales did not seek a second term.
A large natural gas explosion occurred in the Northwest District of Portland, Oregon, USA, at NW 23rd Avenue and NW Glisan Street on October 19, 2016. Nearby excavation caused a natural gas leak that triggered the explosion, which injured eight people and caused $17.2 million in property damages. The PUC determined the cause to be inadequate notification by the contractor, Loy Clark Pipeline. Thirteen buildings were damaged, including total destruction of the Alfred C.F. Burkhardt House, built in 1906 and listed on the NRHP.
In 2016, a report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revealed that the U.S. state of Oregon had an estimated homeless population of 13,238 with about 60.5% of these people still unsheltered. In 2017, these numbers were even higher. As of January 2017, Oregon has an estimated 13,953 individuals experiencing homelessness. Of this homeless population, 1,083 are family households, 1,251 are veterans, 1,462 are unaccompanied young adults, and 3,387 are individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. As of 2022, 17,959 people total experienced homelessness in Oregon, with 2,157 individuals being youth under 18, 6,671 being female, 10,931 being male, and 131 being transgender. Also among the 17,959 total homeless in 2022, 15,876 were Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino, 2,083 were Hispanic/Latino, 13,960 were white, 1,172 were Black, African American, or African, 101 were Asian or Asian American, 880 were Native American, and those of multiple race were 1,619. Oregon has seen an increase in its total homeless population consistently every year since 2010. In last three years specifically Oregon has seen a 98.5% increase 2021-2022, 22.5% increase 2020-2021, and a 13.1% increase 2019-2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon on February 28, 2020.
