Portland Economic Development Strategy

Why Software?

• Average high‐tech wages in the state are 101% higher than average private sector wages
• Oregon ranks 16thin the nation for R&D spending per capita and 16thin venture capital investments
• The growing reputation of the Silicon Forest attracts entrepreneursWhy

SOFTWARE CLUSTER SNAPSHOT
Total Regional Employment (2006)	16,612
Average Annual Wages	$80,000
Employment Growth (2001-06)	-11.8%
Portland Share of Regional Employment (2006)	31%

What does this cluster contribute to the economy?

• Even in times of economic uncertainty, software remains a significant component of the global economy. The drive for greater efficiency and the increasing globalization of business markets spurs much spending as companies invest in the hardware and software infrastructure that enables them to operate in increasingly competitive markets.
• The Portland region is home to the Silicon Forest of the high tech industry. The region has a significant amount of silicon chip manufacturing capacity and is now seeing a rise in the software development component of the high tech sector.



• Niches within the software industry that are especially strong in Portland include:
• GIS/mapping software, open source, identity, medical informatics, and wiki technology, Open Source development, Financial Services, Social Networking, Wifi/WiMAX-related applications, Mobile Applications, OpenID, Business Intelligence and CleanTech Software/IT
• In 2005, Oregon’s software industry generated $3.2 billion in aggregate wages, produced more than 51,000 jobs, generated more than $833 million in state and local tax revenue and provided $9.20 billion in aggregate economic impact.
• 60 of every 1,000 private sector workers in Oregon are employed by high tech firms. Oregon’s average high tech wage is $75,616,¹ 101% higher than average private sector wages.
• Oregon ranks 16th in the nation for R&D spending per capita and 16th in venture capital investments.²

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¹“Cyberstates 2008,” American Electronics Association
²“Cyberstates 2008,” American Electronics Association

Top PDC Initiatives

What is PDC doing?	Why?
Create cluster inventory and map	Gain industry knowledge and initial cluster mapping by indentifying firms, resources, and leaders in the software cluster. This will help us uncover common themes and better understand the cluster firms interact. We are currently meeting one-on-one with firms, and have completed six meetings.
Meet with startup and emerging businesses to glean insights on entrepreneurial development	Identify business needs and issues for newly formed and emerging businesses. This will inform an entrepreneurial program to support the Economic Gardening piece of the city’s Economic Development strategy. PDC is working through Nedspace to convene round table discussion.
Hold Industry Roundtables	Identify who/what is shaping and driving the software industry and what issues the industry is dealing with. This will lead to a more informed industry definition around which to begin convening. Three roundtable discussions were held in early November.
Synthesize information to identify key policies and practices impacting software	Information gathered from the interviews and roundtables will be synthesized to help shape and define the role the public sector should play to help grow the cluster. PDC will identify a key set of issues resulting from the round table discussions, which will inform the next step in cluster organizing.