2008 greater portland prosperityjohnlscottsherwood.weebly.com/uploads/8/9/6/9/... · economy no. 6...
TRANSCRIPT
greater portlandprosperity
a regional outlook
2008
The Pacific mega-region
Greater Portland People
EconomyIndustry projectionsInnovation and green business
StrengthsDesignSoftware Environmental services Renewable energy
Place LifestyleTransit
Global transport Cost of business
4
6
8
14
18
2426
PhoTo of PoRTLanD by bRucE ELy, ThE oREgonIan / ILLuSTRaTIonS by jaSon waLTon
W a S h i n G T o n
o r E G o n
•
prosperity index�
Along the western edge of the U.S., greater Portland-Van-couver stands in a lineup of heavy hitters — Seattle to the north, the Bay Area and Los Angeles to the south.
Affordable and accessible relative to its bigger metro counterparts, and anointed with attributes urban and natural, greater Portland is proving a spirited rival, having grown into one of the most desirable places on the planet to live.
Now, the region’s trajectory of 8% population growth over the next five years makes it clear that greater Port-land’s secret is out, surely helped by its regular showing on “best of” lists of all types — best place to live, to launch a business, to bicycle, to have a baby, to retire.
What people find here is vitality and livability: great neighborhoods, schools and efficient means of getting around; a creative work environment; a backyard of mountains, rivers and forests.
This isn’t lost on business leaders, well aware that where there’s urban vitality there’s talent. The region’s
skilled workforce is drawing companies to Portland-Van-couver, where they’re adding new expertise and innova-tion to a diverse economic base.
Greater Portland is leading the way in green industry — solar and wind energy, environmental services, green building. Creative thinking has given rise to a vibrant de-sign cluster. Software is hot, too, with the region’s hive of open-source activity inspiring scrappy young companies to make their home here.
This book takes stock of these and other regional strengths, comparing them with those of nine competitive western metropolitan areas: Seattle, Denver, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Albu-querque and Austin.
With the book’s title, the Portland-Vancouver region is captured in a single word: “prosperity.” With a wealth of industry, opportunity and quality of life, greater Portland stands among the most prosperous of regions anywhere.
the greater portland
The Pacific mega-region | Paralleling the Pacific coastline from British Columbia
to the Bay area, against a spectacular backdrop, lies a corridor of talent, ideas and industry.
The mega-region of nearly 20 million people is dotted by five major metropolitan areas of
more than 1 million residents and nearly two dozen smaller ones that feed talent into the flow.
Greater Portland — affordable, accessible, rich with amenities — sits in its center.
This thousand-mile stretch of innovation has inspired some of the world’s most visionary
companies, among them, Microsoft, Google and amazon. apple, oracle, intel, eBay, Yahoo,
Starbucks, Costco and nordstrom grew up here, too, and a passion for the rugged outdoors and
a thousand miles of innovationextreme fitness planted seeds that became giants rEi, Columbia Sportswear and nike.
Thirty-nine Fortune 500 companies feed the Pacific mega-region’s economy.
The workforce of nearly 9 million is a highly educated crowd, with
nearly 205,000 workers holding doctoral degrees — a concentration
that’s 43% higher than the national average. More than a third of
the population hold at least a bachelor’s degree.
in this tech-savvy region, the workforce includes
more than 360,000 electronics services, software and iT
workers, a concentration that’s 25% greater than the
national average.
The Pacific mega-region is geared for trade. as the
U.S. economic sightlines have shifted westward, the
region hosts some of asia’s primary trading partners,
providing 12 ports and 10 international airports, linking
west and east and moving people and goods around the globe.
�a thousand miles of innovation
Westward, hoThe mega-region’s popula-tion is projected to grow 5.9% by 2013. The workforce is projected to grow at an even faster clip, 6.9%.
Diverse metrosThe mega-region is home to 1.8 million foreign-born residents.
Economy on the riseThe 2008 GrP of $1 trillion increased by 33% — more than six times the rate of population growth — since 2003. it’s projected to grow another 27% by 2013.
WealthDisposable personal income is $40,080, compared to the national average of $37,047.
Drawing talentFastest-growing talent pools are in professional services and financial services, with projected growth of 16% and 10.4%, respectively, by 2013.
Thought leadersSix of Business Week’s 25 Most innovative Companies in the World are headquartered in the Pacific mega-region.
San Francisco 4.2 Million
Sacramento 2.1 Million
San Jose 1.8 Million
Greater Portland 2.2 Million
Seattle 3.4 Million
los angeles 12.9 Million
San Diego 2.9 Million
Vancouver, B.C. 2.2 Million
No. 3 Best Place to Live in America / SPERLIng, May 2007
A culture of openness to people and ideasJust over 2.2 million residents live in greater Portland-Vancou-ver, the nation’s 23rd-largest metropolitan area. Continuing a trajectory of growth — projected 8% in the next five years — the region is being discovered by people of all stripes — “young creatives,” families, baby boom-ers and retirees.
More than 550,000 fami-lies live in Portland-Vancouver, with 50,000 more slated to come in the next five years, attracted by great neighbor-hoods, good schools and excep-tional recreation opportunities. Fit Pregnancy magazine in 2008 ranked Portland the Best City to Have a Baby.
Greater Portland’s sizable gay and lesbian population (among benchmark metros, it’s second only to San Fran-cisco’s) and community of artists underscore the region’s reputation for openness and acceptance of differences. And the region is becoming more diverse. The 5.4% increase in foreign-born residents last year was more than double that of the overall population.
Citing the region’s prolif-eration of tech startups, CNN Money ranked greater Portland the fourth Hottest Spot for Knowledge Workers in 2007. A third of metro-area residents — significantly more than
the national average — have at least a bachelor’s degree; 18,000 hold doctorates.
A network of higher ed institutions feeds the region’s workforce. Within a 110-mile radius, 175,000 students are enrolled at the top 25 colleges and universities, including Portland State University and Washington State-Vancouver, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.
Among private institutions are nationally ranked Reed and Lewis & Clark colleges and Willamette University. Com-munity colleges and technical schools offer a dozen campuses in the region.
Projecting growthby 2013, greater Portland’s population is projected to reach 2.4 million.
Changing facesfrom 2000-2008, the minority population grew by 33.8%, to more than 101,000 residents. african-americans increased by 17.4%, and asians by 35.2%.The number of foreign-born residents more than tripled between 1990 and 2006, now totaling 265,000.
Gays, artists, entertainerswith 8,900 same-sex couples, the gay and lesbian population is nearly 60% greater than the national average. The artist population of 27,000 is 34% greater.
Great place to retireaaRP ranked Portland fifth in the u.S. in 2007. cnn Money rated Portland’s Pearl District as the no. 9 best neighborhood for Retirees.
Top-rated schools
greater Portland ranked third among large metros by Expansion Management for overall Quality of Public Schools, with 60 gold-rated schools in the region.
Six high schools offer international baccalaureate programs, more than San fran-cisco and San jose combined.
“this is the kind of lifestyle i want.” — Jill Bruhn, web developer at e-marketing firm eroi
greater
portlandBrain gainaTTRacTIon anD RETEnTIon of 18- To 34-yEaR-oLD TaLEnT
% ovER u.S. avERagE
Denver 78%
Seattle 47%
San Francisco 41%
Greater Portland 39%
San Jose 37%
austin 28%
San Diego 16%
albuquerque 3%
Sacramento 2%
l.a. 0%
SouRcE: u.S. cEnSuS, aMERIcan coMMunITy SuRvEy 2006
artists, entertainers PER 100K RESIDEnTS
San Francisco 1,630
l.a. 1,598
austin 1,423
Greater Portland 1,254
Seattle 1,240
Denver 1,058
San Diego 1,040
albuquerque 972
San Jose 954
Sacramento 764
SouRcE: u.S. cEnSuS, aMERIcan coMMunITy SuRvEy 2006
Gays and lesbians SaME-SEx couPLE DEnSITy InDEx
naTIonaL avERagE = 1.0
San Francisco 2.10
Greater Portland 1.56
austin 1.41
Seattle 1.36
San Diego 1.36
Denver 1.25
albuquerque 1.21
Sacramento 1.19
l.a. 1.19
San Jose 1.01
SouRcE: u.S. cEnSuS, aMERIcan coMMunITy SuRvEy 2006
B.a. or higher% of RESIDEnTS 25 oR oLDER
San Jose 43.4%
San Francisco 42.4%
austin 38.8%
Seattle 36.1%
Denver 35.6%
San Diego 33.3%
Greater Portland 31.9%
Sacramento 29.6%
albuquerque 29.3%
l.a. 29.3%
SouRcE: u.S. cEnSuS, aMERIcan coMMunITy SuRvEy 2006
Population2008 In MILLIonS
l.a. 12.9
San Francisco 4.2
Seattle 3.4
San Diego 2.9
Denver 2.5
Greater Portland 2.2
Sacramento 2.1
San Jose 1.8
austin 1.6
albuquerque 0.8
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
Minority population growth 2000-2008
austin 37.8%
Sacramento 35.9%
Greater Portland 33.8%
Denver 28.1%
Seattle 27.8%
albuquerque 24%
San Jose 19.3%
San Diego 17.7%
l.a. 13.1%
San Francisco 11.8%
SouRcE: cLaRITaS 2008
first-graders at The International School, an immersion school where classes are taught in Spanish, chinese and japanese.
Gold-rated schools PEr Million rESiDEnTS, 2007
austin
Seattle
Greater Portland
San Francisco
San Jose
l.a.
albuquerque
Denver
Sacramento
San Diego
SoUrCE: ExPanSion ManaGEMEnT 2007
36
30
28
18
12
10
0
0
0
0
�
economy
No. 6 Best Place to Live and Launch / MonEy 2008
A nicely distributed sector pieWhere timber once was king, greater Portland-Vancouver has had a successful three decades of diversifying its economy.
A specialized manufactur-ing sector has been joined by, among others, a vibrant high-tech community and a growing athletic wear cluster. The region is attracting renew-able energy — solar and wind — companies, and the Oregon Health & Science University is gaining prominence nationally as the region’s hub of biosci-ences activity.
As the demand of Asia’s markets grows, greater Port-land-Vancouver is capitalizing on opportunities for trade; top export markets include China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. And the global emphasis on the
environment is tapping into the region’s longtime leader-ship in sustainable business products and practices.
In manufacturing, Port-land-Vancouver is defying the national trend. While manu-facturing jobs are projected to continue a decline nationwide, Portland-Vancouver’s metals, machinery and transporta-tion equipment companies are projecting stable 2% growth through 2013.
This will be helped by regional initiatives to protect those family-wage jobs. Indus-try and government leaders launched the Manufacturing 21 Coalition in 2005, to increase the trained labor pool and support the sector.
trade, transportation & utilities20%
government
professional & Business services
educational & health services
leisure & hospitality
financial activities
construction & mining
other services
information
13.7%
13.2%
manufacturing12.3%
12.2%
9.3%
6.8%
6.6%
3.5%2.4%
Greater Portland employment by industry, 2007
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
�
GrP to reach $144 billion gRP grew 36.6% from 2003 to 2008, and is projected to grow by another 29% in the next five years — the second-highest growth rate of the benchmark metros. austin’s gRP is expected to grow faster.
adding jobs The region added 88,000 jobs from 2002 to 2007 — more than in San francisco, San jose and Denver combined — and is projected to add another 100,000, in the next five.
of the jobs added since 2002…
17% were in professional services
17% in education and health services
17% in construction and natural resources
4% in manufacturing
adidas america
Bank of america
Boeing
Bonneville power administration
columBia sportswear
con-way
esco
freightliner llc
the greenBrier cos.
hewlett-packard
iBm
intel
merix
nautilus group
nike
northwest pipe
oregon health & science university
oregon steel mills
oregonian puBlishing
portland general electric
portland state university
precision castparts
reser’s fine foods
seh america
stancorp financial
tektronix (danaher)
ups
us Bank
wafertech
wells fargo
xerox
Majoremployers
Gross regional product forecast 2008-2013
austin 35.0%
Greater Portland 29.1%
San Jose 28.6%
Sacramento 28.1%
San Diego 27.7%
albuquerque 27.5%
Denver 27.2%
Seattle 27.1%
San Francisco 26.6%
los angeles 25.2%
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
greater portland’s grp has grown �6.6% since 200�
GrPIn bILLIonS, 2008
los angeles $724.2
San Francisco $308.8
Seattle $219.1
San Diego $166.6
Denver $154.1
San Jose $145.8
Greater Portland $111.4
Sacramento $97.5
austin $80.6
albuquerque $38.0
5-year job growth2002-2007
los angeles 227,859
Seattle 155,004
austin 90,711
Greater Portland 88,099
Sacramento 81,795
San Diego 79,916
Denver 62,279
albuquerque 35,828
San Francisco 13,767
San Jose -6,327
PhoTo couRTESy of oREgon hEaLTh & ScIEncE unIvERSITy PhoTo couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
Jobs projected 2008-2013
San Diego 14.9%
San Jose 12.7%
Greater Portland 12.2%
Sacramento 12.2%
San Francisco 10.5%
austin 9.9%
l.a. 9.2%
Denver 8.0%
albuquerque 6.1%
Seattle 6.1%
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
5th Best Retirement Neighborhood / MonEy 2007
economy / projections
Jobs projected2008-2013
austin 29.7%
Sacramento 23.9%
Greater Portland 23.3%
Seattle 17.7%
San Jose 16.1%
San Diego 15.3%
Denver 12.5%
l.a. 12.3%
12.2%
albuquerque 9.3%
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
Professional servicesgreater Portland’s profes-sional and business services sector is projected to add 32,000 new jobs over the next five years. The 23.3% growth, third to that of austin and Sacramento, will bring the region’s total to 170,300 workers by 2013.
Even in the midst of a downturn in the national economy, the metro region’s professional services sector is projected to add 2,000 jobs between 2007 and 2008.
The sector grew 12% from 2002 to 2007, adding 14,600 jobs.
Professional services employers include advertising and P.R. firms and companies specializing in computer systems design, employment services, and scientific and technical consulting.
Financial servicesThe financial services sector in greater Portland will increase 12.2% by 2013, outpacing benchmark regions except San Diego and San jose. The additional 8,500 jobs will bring the total to 78,300, comprising 7% of the region’s workforce.
The growth continues a trajectory; from 2002 to 2007, the sector increased by 7.4%, adding 4,900 jobs. Though financial services jobs are likely to see a slight decline (700 jobs) in the next year, the sector is expected to rebound in 2009.
Employers in the financial services sector include banks, insurance companies, securities and commodities firms and other investment companies.
Four to watch
San Francisco
InTEL’S RonLER acRES, couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD
information servicesgreater Portland’s informa-tion industry will grow by 7.7% between now and 2013, adding an estimated 2,000 jobs. The growth rate is second only to Seattle’s.
from 2002 to 2007, the sector grew 2.5%, while austin, Sacramento, L.a., albuquerque, Denver and San francisco all lost jobs in information services. only San jose’s and Seattle’s sectors saw greater growth than Portland’s. In the next year, the sector will add 700 new jobs.
jobs are with companies that distribute information, data or communication, such as software publishing, tradi-tional publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting and web search portals.
Construction, natural resourcesgreater Portland’s construc-tion and natural resources sector will grow by 7.2%, bringing the number of workers to 128,700. The growth rate, second only to that of Sacramento, is three times faster than that of Seattle.
The projected growth is a continuation from 2002 to 2007, when Portland-vancouver’s construction and natural resources sector grew by 27.6% percent, the fourth-highest of benchmark metros. from 2007 to 2008, the sector is projected to lose about 2,700 jobs but rebound in 2009.
companies in this sector specialize in agriculture, construction, mining and utilities.
Jobs projected 2008-2013
Seattle 9.3%
Greater Portland 7.7%
austin 6.7%
albuquerque 5.7%
l.a. 4.6%
San Diego 4.3%
4.1%
San Francisco 3.8%
San Jose 3.8%
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
Denver -4.7%
Jobs projected 2008-2013
Sacramento 10.4%
Greater Portland 7.2%
austin 6.7%
albuquerque 5.7%
Denver 4.2%
Seattle 2.1%
San Diego 1.1%
San Francisco 0.7%
San Jose -0.2%
l.a. -2.6%
SouRcE: gLobaL InSIghT 2008
Trade, transportation
and utilities jobS PRojEcTED
2008-2013
austin 11.2%
Greater Portland 7.2%
San Diego 7.0%
San Jose 5.2%
Seattle 4.9%
Sacramento 4.7%
Denver 4.4%
San Francisco 4.2%
l.a. 4.0%
albuquerque 3.2%
SoUrCE: GloBal inSiGhT 2008
11
Sacramento
America’s Greenest City / PoPuLaR ScIEncE, fEbRuaRy 2008
economy / innovation
“we’re attracting companies that provide a boost to our economy while producing products that are right for the future of the planet.” — hillsboro mayor Tom hughes
Thinking big, thinking greenMore patents per capita were issued to inventors in greater Portland than in San Francisco or Seattle and Denver com-bined. Open-source software, under the leadership of Linus Torvalds, cut its teeth here. The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, providing support and educational programs for companies and investors, is spurring a rise in funding for early-stage firms.
All this speaks to the region’s independent spirit and innovative thinking.
Much creative thought
these days is focused on the need to lessen our environmen-tal footprint. Greater Portland, a longtime leader in green thinking, is home to firms such as Collins Pine, whose new particleboard earned it a Top Green Building Product award by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2007, and newcomer GreenPrint, which saves tons of paper each year by reducing pages printed from the web.
The region is a hub of green building activity. It is home to 58 LEED-certified buildings — 14 of them educational fa-
cilities — and another 127 are in the process of earning LEED status. Portland-Vancouver has more LEED-certified build-ings per capita than any other benchmark metro.
Though “innovation” brings to mind new products, the word also applies to the less tangible side of business. Three regional companies — David Evans and Associates, Umpqua Bank and Nike — rank among Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, which recognizes innovative thinking in human resource practices.
The greenestPopular Science named greater Portland america’s greenest city in 2008. SustainLane ranked it the no. 1 forward thinker in environmental awareness and resource conservation in 2006.
not just mengreater Portland has 4,200 top women executives and more women-owned businesses per capita than Seattle, austin or San jose.
independent thinkersThe number of freelance and self-employed workers in the region grew by 22% to 143,000, from 2000 to 2007.
Startup climateIn 2008, Money named Portland the no. 6 best u.S. city to Live and Launch.
Fast-growing companiesof the 80 greater Portland- vancouver companies on the Inc. 5000 list, 10 placed in the top 500, with angelvision Tech-nologies earning the highest rank, at 120.
ad agency accoladesadweek named greater Port-land-based wieden+Kennedy global agency of the year 2008.
red Dot awardsIn 2008, regional hard-drive manufacturer Lacie took home four Red Dots in the annual worldwide technology and design competition.
lEED-certified buildings
711
161618
25
42
565862
Seat
tle
la
San
Fran
cisc
o
San
Die
goDen
ver
Sacr
amen
to
aus
tin
San
Jose
alb
uque
rque
Gre
ater
Por
tlan
d
1�
Best Organized Marathon in the Country / RunnERS 2008
inc. 5000 companiesPER METRo2007
los angeles 260
San Francisco 169
Denver 86
Seattle 84
Greater Portland 80
San Diego 75
austin 47
San Jose 46
albuquerque 16
Sacramento 12
SouRcE: Inc. 2007
Top female executives PER 100K RESIDEnTS
San Francisco 261
Denver 248
San Jose 227
Greater Portland 194
los angeles 190
austin 184
Seattle 184
Sacramento 170
San Diego 154
albuquerque 127
SouRcE: u.S. cEnSuS, aMERIcan coMMunITy SuRvEy 2006
inventor patents PER MILLIon
RESIDEnTS, 2007
San Jose 13,801
austin 7,540
San Diego 3,432
Greater Portland 2,987
San Francisco 2,075
Seattle 1,880
albuquerque 1,835
Denver 430
los angeles 329
Sacramento 310
SouRcE: SwIDER, MEDEIRoS, havER LLP 2008
Fortune 1000 companies2008 RanK
no. 60 intel*
no. 153nike
no. 444 Precision Castparts
no. 727 StanCorp Financial
no. 757 Schnitzer Steel industries
no. 962 Portland General Electric
* headquarted in Santa clara, ca
SouRcE: foRTunE 2008
PhoToS couRTESy of PIca. LEfT: Donna uchIzono coMPany, aRTIST; KEnnETh aaRon, PhoTogRaPhER. RIghT: RInDE EcKERT, aRTIST; SaLLy gaRRIDo SPEncER, PhoTogRaPhER.
“Portland put our green foot forward to proudly prove that sustainable living is a way of life, not just a movement. Fashion never looked better.” — becky Moore on Portland fashion week, livepdx.com
How Nike got its start (in a waffle iron in Eugene, Oregon) is legend. Four decades later, the athletic wear giant (aka Fortune 500 company no. 153), with 6,000 employees in the region, and its counterpart Columbia Sportswear, 2,700 employees, anchor a cluster of apparel design firms.
Women’s sportswear maker lucy was born here and has been joined by Keen Foot-wear, Icebreaker and others. Icebreaker was recognized by Outside magazine as a Green Gear All Star in 2008.
Apparel design is not just about athletes. The annual Portland Fashion Week features high-fashion designers such as Michelle DeCourcy, Souchi and Anna Cohen. This year’s PFW showcased fibers including bamboo, hemp, soy, organic cotton, recycled poly and fair trade silk.
Global award-winner Ziba Design, growing at 20% each year since 2003, is con-structing a 70,000-square-foot headquarters in Portland’s Pearl District, aiming for LEED gold. Other leaders include Gerding Edlen Development, renowned for building sus-tainable buildings, Allied Works Architecture and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca.
Two major art institutes, the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Art Insti-tute of Portland, feed this cluster, turning out talented graphic artists, web designers, clothing designers and photographers. The University of Oregon offers a school of architecture.
architecture, graphicsDesign: apparel, the region’s strong suits
Talent cluster45% larger than national aver-age for same-size metros, with 10% annual growth since 2001
Firms215 athletic apparel/active outdoor and 1,900 creative service companies in 2006, as well as 525 freelance architect consultants
Major employersnike, columbia Sportswear, adidas america, ankrom Moison associated architects, IDc architects
Workforce6,600, not including self-employed
average salary$45,820
outlookgreater Portland is on the cut-ting edge, with a growing com-munity of companies that are leaders in green thinking.
When Tektronix launched the tech sector in greater Portland 60 years ago, it spawned a tradition of innovation in hardware and software. Intel arrived in the ’80s.
Beyond the gates of the chip giant’s campus, a feisty and vibrant software cluster has grown up here. True to the region’s independent streak, the software industry here defies categorization, but if it had one hallmark it would be open source.
Greater Portland is home to Linus Torvalds, the father of the Linux Operating System, and the region hosts each year the O’Reilly Open Source Conference (OSCON).
Other emerging software technologies including Drupal and Ruby on Rails have a strong foothold. Up and coming firms include collaboration wizards Jive Software and wiki experts About Us.
The Software Association of Oregon,
with 400 members, sponsors the annual In-notech conference, which this year featured a track on clean technology, among others. Grassroots organizations such as The Legion of Tech and Portland Open Source Software Entrepreneurs (POSSE) are an integral part of the software scene.
Greater Portland is a lure for talent, offering a great lifestyle without the cost or congestion of Seattle or the Bay Area. The region’s freelance community includes 2,900 software consultants — significantly higher than the national per capita average (136, compared to 94). People here are tech savvy; the rate of blogging and twittering is among the highest in the country.
The region’s high-tech GDP is 81% higher than the national average, according to the Milken Institute.
Computer software
1�
“Portland put our green foot forward to proudly prove that sustainable living is a way of life, not just a movement. Fashion never looked better.” — becky Moore on Portland fashion week, livepdx.com
No. 15 Most Wired City / foRbES 2006
Talent cluster20% larger than national average
GrowthProjecting 28% in software and 25% in IT services by 2016
Firms856 in 2006
Major employersMentor graphics, IbM, Saber corporation, Sage, webTrends
Workforce13,420 software and 12,420 IT service workers
average salary$88,875
outlookThe region is attracting a steady flow of firms looking to tap into a rich pool of software workers, many of whom just won’t live anywhere else.
LEfT: nIKE, couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD. abovE: PRE1 SofTwaRE
The worldwide emphasis on sustainability puts the region’s environmental services firms in the spotlight. Greater Portland’s longstanding leadership on issues such as land use, water quality, transportation and energy has nurtured a growing cluster of companies committed to conscientious use of the planet’s resources.
The metro area’s more than 500 employ-ers offer specialities in a range of fields, from sustainable development to brownfields to wildlife migration. The cluster’s per capita employment is greater than that of Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose or Los Angeles.
Of the top five employers here, three are homegrown and headquartered in greater Portland: GeoDesign, David Evans and Associates and PBS Engineering and
Environment. Global CH2M Hill employs 700 people in the region.
Greater Portland’s environmental focus is supported by public sector organizations, including the Office of Sustainable Develop-ment, the first of its kind in the country, creating policy and programs to improve the region’s environmental, social and economic health. The office honors forward-thinking companies with the annual BEST (Business for Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow) awards.
Higher ed programs support the cluster as well, including the University of Oregon’s top-ranked environmental design program. Community colleges provide programs in recycling technology and environmental engineering technology.
and recycling technologyEnvironmental services
Talent cluster43% larger than national average for same-size metros
Growth15% annual since 2001
Firms550 in 2006
Major employersch2M hill, David Evans and associates, uRS corp., PbS Engineering and Environmental, geoDesign Inc.
Workforce4,240
average salary$62,930
outlookThe talent cluster is projected to grow 14% here, and with the global emphasis on preserving resources and living sustainably, greater Portland companies’ expertise will be in demand.
Electronics
1�
manufacturing and alternative energyIt was a big year for solar. And for greater Portland.
Capitalizing on a talent pool seasoned by the electronics industry, solar panel manufacturers SolarWorld, Solaicx and XsunX announced plans to build major manufacturing plants in greater Portland. Oregon’s aggressive tax incentives for green-energy firms helped clinch the deals.
The SolarWorld move was named by Site Selection magazine as one of the top 10 site-se-lection deals in North America in 2007.
Portland was one of the federal govern-ment’s first Solar America Cities, a program that now includes 25 cities, providing funding for infrastructure and encouraging adoption of solar technology.
Leading on the wind side is Vestas, the global
provider of wind-power systems, which employs more than 900 in the region. Portfolio 21, which invests in sustainable companies worldwide, recognized Vestas as the Top Green Financial Performer for posting a 131% return in 2006.
Providing young talent, the Oregon Insti-tute of Technology’s renewable-energy program — the first four-year degree program in the U.S. — prepares grads with coursework in generators, thermodynamics, photovoltaics, wind, biomass, hydropower and geothermal energy development.
The new solar energy cluster will also continue to be well supplied with workers by the region’s substantial hardware and electronics sector, which includes greater Portland’s largest employer — with 15,000 regional workers — Intel.
PhoToS couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD
Talent cluster84% greater than the national average for same-size metros
Growth4.6% annually since 2001
Electronics firms285 in 2006
renewable energy firms35 in 2006
Electronics employersIntel, Tektronix, xerox corp., Merix, waferTech, SEh america
renewable energy employersvestas, Solarworld, Solaicx, xsunx
Workforce15,450
average salary for electronics workers$37,410
outlookThe region’s solar cluster is emerging quickly. Solarworld projects phase one employment of 900, xsunx of 500, and Solaicx of 100.
No. 4 Hottest Spot for Knowledge Workers / cnn MonEy 2007
place
No. 2 city in which to eat smart, be fit and live well / cooKIng LIghT, fEbRuaRy 2008
“portland is its own piece of performance art, and the price of admission is negligble. it’s lifestyle as theater.” — Stephanie Shapiro, Baltimore Sun
Ocean to the west, skiing to the eastGreater Portland has few peers when it comes to quality of place. Part of that is by design, part by the grace of nature.
Green and wooded parks dot the region; rivers offer kayaking, dragon boating and waterskiing; miles of trails lure hikers, mountain bikers and runners. A short drive finds snowsports (year ’round), world-class windsurfing, wilderness backpacking, and miles of beachcombing on Oregon’s all-public coast.
Greater Portland, too, is foodie heaven, with 40 farmer’s markets dispensing local fare, including fresh seafood. The region’s chefs, restaurants and cuisine regularly draw accolades in the national press,
including the New York Times, which referred in 2007 to greater Portland’s “Golden Age of Dining.”
A temperate growing climate has spawned some 150 wineries and award-winning pinot noirs. Portland-Vancouver loves its beer as well, offering 49 pubs and breweries — more per capita than any other U.S. metro. And there’s coffee, lots of coffee.
With 290 bookstores — including Powell’s, the big-gest independent bookstore in the nation — greater Portland is for readers. And the metro is wired — more than half of the 1,325 wi-fi spots are free. The indie music scene is hot (Slate called it America’s indie
rock mecca); a national-draw jazz festival cheers the city in winter and a blues fest over the Fourth of July. Portland Fashion Week showcases dis-tinctively local talent.
The quirkier side of the metro offers up the weekly Saturday Market of crafts, food and street music; the annual Urban Assault bike scavenger hunt; election time’s irreverent Candidates Gone Wild talent show; the holiday season’s Tuba Christmas and Santa pub crawl; and the Vancouver Sausage Festival, a 35-year-old tradition.
It’s not surprising that Sperling named greater Port-land the third Best Place to Live in America in 2007.
Eat herePortland-vancouver is home to 23 organic and 1,000 ethnic restaurants. goveg.com named the region the Most vegetarian friendly in north america in 2007.
World champion beers greater Portland breweries claimed nine medals — more than those of any other city in the world at the 2008 world beer cup.
Top shapewith 370 gyms, health clubs, spas and yoga studios for the fitness-minded, Portland was named the no. 5 fittest city by Men’s fitness in 2008. Runners magazine rated the Portland marathon the best organized Marathon in the u.S.
on filmMovieMaker magazine named greater Portland the no. 8 metro for indie filmmaking in 2008, its fifth year among the top 10.
living wellcooking Light ranked the metro the no. 2 city in america to “eat smart, be fit and live well” in 2006.
Dog friendlyPortland offers more dog parks — 31 of them — than any other city in america.
Pnca PhoTo by EMILy woLfER
1�
Bookstores PER MILLIon RESIDEnTS
Greater Portland 135
austin 134
San Diego 124
albuquerque 121
Denver 119
Seattle 116
San Jose 97
Sacramento 94
l.a. 85
San Francisco 78
SouRcE: D & b zaPDaTa 2008
WineriesPER MILLIon RESIDEnTS
Greater Portland 69
San Francisco 45
Sacramento 43
Seattle 42
San Jose 39
Denver 34
austin 29
San Diego 28
21
l.a. 17
SouRcE: D & b zaPDaTa 2008
No. 8 city for independent filmmakers / MovIEMaKER MagazInE 2008
Public wi-fi spacesPER 100K RESIDEnTS
San Jose 224
San Francisco 97
Greater Portland 62
Seattle 59
austin 46
Sacramento 38
Denver 33
San Diego 33
albuquerque 32
l.a. 25
SouRcE: jIwIRE 2008
BrewpubsPER MILLIon RESIDEnTS
Greater Portland 23
Seattle 16
San Diego 16
Denver 14
9
Sacramento 9
austin 9
albuquerque 9
San Jose 7
l.a. 5
SouRcE: bREwERS aSSocIaTIon 2008
San Francisco
PIonEER SQuaRE couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD haySTacK RocK couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD PhoTo couRTESy of MT. hooD MEaDowS
albuquerque
No. 1 Biking City in America / u.S. cEnSuS buREau 2006
place / transit
for the 6�,000 residents who work from home, the only traffic congestion may be a two-dog pileup in the hallway.
Portland likes to bikeGreater Portland’s unofficial motto might be: There’s more than one way to get there from here.
There’s the car — which in this region is likely to mean “hybrid,” as greater Portland has the most per capita hybrid car purchases in the nation. An alternative to your own vehicle is Zipcar, whose cars parked all over the metro area can be rented for $9 an hour, gas included.
A more efficient idea
might be to join the thousands who commute by way of the region’s user-friendly mass transit — TriMet and C-Tran buses; MAX’s 44-mile light rail system; and m&m-colored streetcars that make an eight-mile loop through downtown Portland, with 46 stops and nearly as many cafes lining the route.
The latest addition to the transit lineup is “the tram,” a silver bean-shaped bubble that can carry 78 passengers
per trip from Portland’s waterfront to and from the Oregon Health & Science University. Tram ridership has far exceeded expectations — 125,000 people rode it in February 2008.
For your health and the health of the planet, the best transportation option is to use your own engine — that is, bicycle or walk to work. Some 50,000 Portlanders do it daily.
Bike maniaThe League of american cyclists blessed greater Portland in 2008 with a platinum rating as a bicycle friendly community — the first large u.S. metro to gain that distinction.
Most bicycle commutersgreater Portland leads the benchmark cities in bicycle commuters, with nearly 2% of the workforce pedaling to work.
Commuting options11% of the region’s workforce walks, bicycles or rides mass transit to work.
Work from homeMany don’t commute at all — 6% of the workforce make their offices at home.
Shorter commutesgreater Portland’s commute time is 25 minutes, less than the national average.
foREST PaRK, TRaM, waTERfRonT PaRK, couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD
21
residents using alternative transportation
San Francisco 29.5%
Seattle 23.0%
Greater Portland 22.0%
l.a. 21.2%
Sacramento 18.2%
austin 17.6%
Denver 17.4%
San Jose 17.2%
San Diego 17.2%
albuquerque 15.7%
SouRcE: u.S. cEnSuS, aMERIcan coMMunITy SuRvEy 2006
annual hours of traffic delay PER TRavELER
albuquerque 33
Greater Portland 38
Sacramento 41
Seattle 45
austin 49
Denver 50
San Jose 54
San Diego 57
San Francisco 60
l.a. 72
SouRcE: TExaS TRanSPoRTaTIon InSTITuTE, uRban MobILITy STuDy 2007
Best City to Have a Baby / fIT PREgnancy, januaRy 2008
TriMet, you’ll like it
fareless Square gives passengers a free ride all hours, all days, throughout the heart of inner Portland.
Max light rail provides a quick and inexpensive trip to downtown Portland from PDx airport. compare its $1.75 ticket price to cabfare of around $35.
TriMet ridership means 200,000 fewer car trips and 4.2 fewer tons of pollutants in the air each day.
Portland International Airport takes the sting out of a flight delay. The No. 1 airport in the U.S. for business travelers (Conde Nast Traveler, 2006 and 2007), PDX offers 19 res-taurants and 15 shops in which to pass time, among them the locally grown Nike Store and Powell’s Books.
PDX also offers wi-fi — and it’s free.
The airport’s 544 daily flights include 45 to domestic markets and six to cities in Mexico, Canada and Europe. Air freight carriers make non-stop trips to Asia.
Smaller airports serve the region as well, with the Hillsboro airport a home base for Intel, Nike and others’ corporate and private jets.
Like other regional busi-nesses, the airports are getting greener, with Portland Inter-national recycling 24% of its waste. Food vendors and others collect consumer food waste for composting. Used grease is turned into biofuel. Lufthansa’s German-language magazines get a second life in greater Port-
land schools and colleges.The Port of Portland and
the Port of Vancouver, WA, serve the region’s maritime commerce on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Two transcontinental railroads, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific, handle goods by rail.
importing carsThe ports of Portland and vancouver, wa, make up the third-largest auto import gateway in the u.S., with honda, hyundai, Toyota and Subaru routing their cars through the region.
By shipIn 2007, 1,400 international cargo vessels called at the Portland harbor, and the harbor handled nearly 18 million tons of cargo, an increase of nearly 15% from 2006.
Connecting greater Portland with the world
transportation
Container cargofive carriers provide direct shipment to asia, Europe and South america.
PassengersPDx served 14.6 million passengers in 2007, a 4.3% increase over 2006, and 18.2% over 2003. International passengers more than doubled from 2003 to 2007, to 575,000.
2�
No. 4 Best City in America / PLacES RaTED aLManac 2007
PDx directamong the major metros with nonstop service from Portland International are:
atlantaBostonChicagoDallas-Ft. WorthDenverhonoluluhoustonlos angelesnew YorkPhiladelphiaPhoenixSan FranciscoSeattleWashington, D.C.
amsterdamFrankfurtGuadalajaraMexico CityPuerto VallartaTokyoVancouver, B.C.
for a complete list of nonstop flights, log onto www.flypdx.com.
2�
cost of Business
Top Place to Live and Retire / aaRP MagazInE
Location, location, priceGreater Portland-Vancouver’s real estate picture is compel-ling.
On the housing side, though the region hasn’t been immune to the mortgage crisis, it has fared better than most. In 2007, the metro area saw 5,834 foreclosures in 2007, or .06% of all homes, while Den-ver saw 49,519 foreclosures, affecting 2.6% of all homes.
On the commercial side, greater Portland’s story rela-tive to its counterparts is, in a word: affordable. The metro
area’s Class A space is the least expensive of West Coast metros. Compare the region’s $25.30 per square foot to Los Angeles’ $63.70.
Portland-Vancouver also offers the second-most-afford-able total industrial space of benchmark cities, at $6.34 per square foot. Only Denver’s is lower, while total industrial cost in San Jose, San Francisco or San Diego is twice the price.
Greater Portland’s cost of goods, services and housing, though 21% higher than the
national average, is the least expensive of major West Coast metros.
The median household in-come for the region is $55,267, which reflects an increase of 17% since 2000, but ranks the region second-lowest among benchmark metros. However, both median household and per capita income grew faster than those of Austin, Denver and San Jose.
Commercial real estate
Flexflex space is less expensive in greater Portland than in any other west coast city and, at $11.14 per square foot, is just higher than austin’s $10.23, and Denver’s $9.52. warehouse space is $5.52 per square foot, a rate better than all but Denver’s $5.28.
Space availableThe metro area’s vacancy rate for class a space is 10.8%, for warehouse space 7.0%, and for flex space 9.4%. The total indus-trial vacancy rate, with more than 11 million square feet available, is 7.3%.
Construction under waybuildings with 943,000 square feet of industrial space were completed in the first quarter of 2008, and 27 more buildings with another 1.2 million square feet are under construction.
housing
affordable to buyThe median housing price rose from $244,900 in 2005 to $295,200 in greater Portland, still the third-most-affordable of benchmark metros.
Benchmark metrosSan jose’s and San francisco’s median housing prices of $836,800 and $805,400, respec-tively, are three times higher than Portland-vancouver’s. Sac-ramento’s is 18% and Seattle’s 24% higher than Portland’s.
rentalsThe average monthly rental for a one-bedroom apartment is $875. In San francisco, expect to pay $2,031, and in Seattle $905. Denver’s one-bedroom rentals go for $797.
“Businesses here find a comfortable and sustainable lifestyle, and economic development resources that allow them to thrive.” — Business xpansion Journal
2�cost of BusinessClass a office price PER SQ. fT.2007
l.a. $63.70
San Francisco $46.90
San Jose $43.90
Seattle $38.50
San Diego $37.40
Sacramento $29.80
Denver $25.80
Greater Portland $25.30
albuquerque $22.40
austin $19.80
SouRcE: cb RIchaRD ELLIS Q4 2007
Total industrial space cost PER SQ. fT.2008
San Jose $14.69
San Francisco $13.76
San Diego $12.11
l.a. $8.77
Seattle $8.07
austin $7.57
Sacramento $6.80
Greater Portland $6.34
Denver $6.28
albuquerque n/a
SouRcE: coSTaR InDuSTRIaL REPoRT QI 2008
Cost of living% ovER naTIonaL avERagE2007
San Francisco 68.5%
San Jose 54.2%
l.a. 44.6%
San Diego 39.5%
Sacramento 24.7%
Seattle 21%
Greater Portland 20.8%
Denver 3.4%
albuquerque -1.7% austin -5.5%
SouRcE: accRa coST of LIvIng InDEx Q4 2007
Median housing price2008
San Jose $836,800
San Francisco $805,400
l.a. $589,200
San Diego $588,700
Seattle $386,900
Sacramento $342,700
Greater Portland $295,200
Denver $245,200
albuquerque $198,500
austin $183,700
SouRcE: naTIonaL aSSocIaTIon of REaLToRS 2007
average one-bedroom apartment rent2007
San Francisco $2,031 San Diego $1,569
l.a. $1,564
Seattle $1,434
San Jose $1,262
Sacramento $1,071
austin $946
Greater Portland $875
Denver $797
albuquerque $777
SouRcE: accRa coST of LIvIng InDEx Q4 2007
Median household income2008
San Jose $84,996
San Francisco $73,159
San Diego $62,061
Seattle $61,341
Denver $59,465
Sacramento $59,450
l.a. $57,241
austin $55,779
Greater Portland $55,267
albuquerque $46,945
SouRcE: cLaRITaS 2008
PhoTo of waTERfRonT PaRK, couRTESy of PoRT of PoRTLanD
2�
S k a M a n i a
C l a r k
C o l U M B i a
W a S h i n G T o n
Y a M h i l l
C l a C k a M a S
W a S h i n G T o n
Pa
Ci
Fi
C
oC
Ea
n
o r E G o n
Vancouver
Beavertonhillsboro Portland
M U l T n o M a hGresham
W i l l aM
ET
T
E r i V
Er
C o l U M B i a r i V Er
the greater portland-vancouver region
More about the region
Travel: travelportland.com, traveloregon.com, experiencewa.com
Business news: bizjournals.com/portland, vbjusa.com
Daily news: oregonlive.com, columbian.com
Credits
Intern Eric Schmitt contributed to this report
Design and production by Katherine Topaz, topazdesign.com
Illustrations by jason walton, waltonportfolio.com
What is Greenlight?Greenlight Greater Portland is a consortium of private-sector
leaders dedicated to growing a sustainable and vibrant economic
future for the seven-county Portland-Vancouver metropolitan
area. The group has come together to tell the world that
the region is open for business, offering a dynamic home for
forward-thinking leaders and their innovative companies.
President and CEo Tim Priest
Vice president Gillian Floren
Vice president Steven Pedigo
1211 S.W. Fifth ave., Suite 560
Portland, oregon 97204
503.445.8065
www.greenlightgreaterportland.com
BoarD anD inVESTorS
Founding sponsors
Mark ganz, The Regence group, greenlight board chairman
Malia wasson, uS bank
Platinum sponsors
Eric Parsons, The Standard, greenlight treasurer
Pat Reiten, Pacific Power
Peggy fowler, Portland general Electric
Steve Stadum, ohSu
Gold sponsors
Roger hinshaw, bank of america
Scott campbell, The columbian
bill Stoller, Express Personnel Services
bob jesenik, aequitas capital Management
wes Lawrence, Key bank
jim Mark, Melvin Mark companies
Dennis Rawlinson, Miller nash LLP
Randy Miller, The Moore company
harvey Platt, Platt Electric
Keith Leavitt, Port of Portland
Lindsay Desrochers, Portland State university
john bradley, R&h construction
wally van valkenburg, Stoel Rives LLP
Don Krahmer, Schwabe, williamson & wyatt
alan johnson, wells fargo
CEo advisory council
jay haladay, coaxis
Ryan buchanan, eRoI
Mark Edlen, gerding Edlen
greg Kantor, nw natural
gary Reynolds, Perkins & company
jeffrey Reaves, group Mackenzie
investors
john willis, ch2M hill
greg goodman, city center Parking
Tom hochstettler, Lewis & clark college
Robert Stutte, norris & Stevens
Marvin Revoal, Pacific benefit Planners
greg Specht, Specht companies
josiah whitman, whitman Partners