News on current developments for Oregon business

California Solar Company Chooses Portland
A California company that installs solar energy systems has opened an Oregon sales office, adding another name to the fast-growing list of solar companies that have pumped more than $470 million into the Oregon economy in the past few years. Read more here.

Popular Science Ranks Portland 'America's Greenest City'
According to the March, 2008 issue of Popular Science magazine, Portland is "America's Greenest City" with half of its power coming from renewable energy resources. The survey, which evaluates cities with populations greater than 100,000 across four broad "green" categories, also awards points to cities offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels. Read more here.

XsunX Makes Plans to Locate New Solar Module Manufacturing Facilities in Oregon
XsunX, Inc.(OTC Bulletin Board: XSNX), a company working to begin the build-out of its planned 100 mega watt thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar module manufacturing facilities, announced September 25, 2007 it has selected the state of Oregon as the location for its planned facilities and is working with representatives to finalize a manufacturing site location. Read more here.

Solaicx Announces 48 MW Solar Facility in Portland, Oregon
Solaicx, a manufacturer of mono-crystalline silicon ingots and wafers for solar photovoltaic (PV) applications, has selected Portland, Oregon, as the location for its new silicon manufacturing facility.

"We looked at the state of Oregon's generous financial incentives for renewable energy and Portland's deep base of skilled labor in silicon manufacturing, and decided that the port is an ideal place for our continued growth as a company," said Jeff Jones, Solaicx VP of Manufacturing. Read more here.

Portland Named Among Fast Company's 2007 Top Green Leaders
Portland has been listed as a top Green Leader in Fast Company's "Fastest Thirty Cities -- and the Five Slowest." Lauded for having the most buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, Portland also receives praise for its high quality of life with mentions of its savvy urban planning, "eat local" revolution, farmers markets and world-class vineyards. Portland's "Fast Companies" making the cut are: Nike, Tektronix, Adidas USA and ad firm Wieden+Kennedy. Read more here.

Solarworld AG to Move Largest U.S. Solar-Wafer and Cell Factory to Hillsboro, Ore.
Solarworld AG, a German company with locations in Sweden, Germany and the United States, will move its solar-wafer and cell production facility from Vancouver, WA to Hillsboro, Ore., with plans to begin production this summer. Solarworld acquired the plant from Komatsu-Group, and plans to invest $397 million to double its solar-cell and wafer production by 2010 and add 1,000 new jobs. Solarworld currently employees 1,350 worldwide, and will offer the 100 Vancouver plant employees jobs at the new facility. See the Portland Business Journal Web site for details.

Solar Power Industry Companies: Learn more (PDF*) about how PGE can best support your Solar Power manufacturing business.

Portland ranked Most Sustainable City in the U.S.
Portland came out on top of SustainLane.com’s 2006 sustainability rankings of the 50 most populous U.S. cities. The rankings were based on a range of environmental factors: Breathable air, clean drinking water, renewable energy, parks, green buildings, farmers’ markets, affordable housing, recycling, walkable communities, and, especially, public transit. See the Grist Magazine Web site for information.

Oregonians share views on growth, economy and government
What do Oregonians think about growth and the economy? In a PGE-commissioned survey, 500 Oregonians expressed their views on growth, the economy and how government spends money. See the February 2006 survey results.

Oregon tax rankings: 41st in per-capita taxes, 30th in total revenue
A U.S. Census Bureau study showed that Oregonians enjoyed one of the nation’s lowest tax burdens in 2005, ranking 41st in the amount of per-capita taxes residents paid. Based on total state tax revenue, Oregon ranked 30th among the 50 states with $6.5 billion collected. See the Portland Business Journal Web site to learn more.

Biotech giant Genetech grows into Hillsboro, Ore.
San Francisco-based Genentech has selected a 100-acre site in Hillsboro as the future home of a new facility that will fill and package commercial drugs. The biotechnology company listed Oregon’s advantageous business environment, high-quality available labor force and development-ready land with supporting infrastructure as key factors in the decision. To learn more, see the Portland Business Journal Web site.

Northwest utilities are renewable energy leaders
Portland’s two electric utilities ranked second and third in U.S. renewable power sales, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In 2005, Portland General Electric customers bought nearly 400 million kilowatts of power generated by geothermal plants, dams and wind farms in 2005, which PacifiCorp customers bought more than 234 million kilowatts. See the Portland Business Journal Web site for details.

Medical products firm consolidates manufacturing in Oregon and New York
Welch Allyn Inc., a leading global manufacturer of frontline medical products and solutions, will consolidate domestic production at its two largest facilities in Beaverton, Ore., and Skaneateles, N.Y. The Beaverton facility will absorb defibrillator manufacturing operations from Chicago, with staffing expected to expand by about 10 percent. See the news release for details.

Schnitzer Steel expands operations
Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc., will nearly double the metal shredding capacity of its Portland metal recycling operation with installation of new state-of-the-art equipment. See the news release for details.

Keen Footwear steps into Portland
Keen Footwear has moved north from California to join Portland’s robust athletic footwear and apparel industry. A labor pool of footwear experts and easier access to outdoor opportunities were key factors in attracting the growing company to Portland. See the Portland Business Journal Web site for details.

MathStar expands staffing in Hillsboro
Minneapolis-based MathStar has expanded the executive team at its Hillsboro development site and plans to hire 20 more employees by the end of 2006. The company designs and develops ultra-high-performance semiconductors for image processing, digital signal processing and embedded reprogrammable logic markets. For more details, see the Portland Business Journal Web site.

LaCrosse Footwear leases new headquarters
LaCrosse Footwear Inc. has signed a long-term operating lease for a new 145,000-square-foot building in Portland to house its corporate headquarters and a distribution center. The company, which. manufactures rubber, leather and vinyl footwear for sporting, recreational and occupational markets, expects to move in June 2006. For more details, see the Portland Business Journal Web site.

Board gives Clackamas County top ranking for economy
The Oregon Progress board recognized Clackamas County as the top ranked county in the economy category. The category is measured by job growth/loss, per capita income, wages and unemployment. See the press release for details.

*Note: You will need the Adobe® Acrobat® Reader to view and print PDF files. Visit the Adobe Web site for downloading instructions.

Business News Archive
See our Business News Archive for previously published business news releases.