Luring the next generation of techies to Portland

Kari Chisholm

For a while there, we'd see hot-shot tech startups launch in Portland, only to get yanked down to the Bay Area.

The rap? That Portland didn't have enough tech talent. That was only partly true. It was more often the case that the venture capitalists running the show wanted the talent nearby, not up here in Portland.

Slowly but surely, that culture is changing. Companies like Urban Airship are staying put here, even as they open up operations around the world. And companies like Salesforce and Emma are opening software development outposts in Portland.

And it's all because the talent wants to live here. We've got the great outdoors, a vibrant urban lifestyle, and a much lower cost of living (and less traffic!) than all of our West Coast counterparts - especially the Bay Area.

The O's Mike Rogoway notes that:

Software employment in the state is up 10.5 percent in the past year, according to a recent analysis by the Oregon Employment Department, and Oregon venture capital had its best start to the year since the dot-com era.

So, now a bunch of those local startups have collaborated - with support from some economic development organizations - to put together a video to promote the idea that, yeah, despite what you may have heard in the past, young tech professionals really can find jobs here, in a city where they'd love to live.

What do you think?

By Kari Chisholm May 31, 2013 Posted in Video.