Backward and forward

robin2011The New Year approaches, triggering the annual reflex to assess the year gone by. It was a year of impressive anniversaries for Oregon Business: the magazine turned 30, and our 100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon project turned 18.

Confidence game

1211_InputGraphBusiness leaders get information about news, events, public policies and products from a variety of sources. In this month’s Input we asked our readers to what extent they trusted that information.

Mac’s List of job postings grows

1211_MacsList_02Mac’s List, now a weekly newsletter of job postings that goes to nearly 9,000 subscribers, and a website with 36,000 visitors a month — not to mention a Facebook page and a Twitter account — recently graduated from a sideline to a business with a life of its own.

Business heats up for small food processors

1211_SmallFoods_02As the state’s economic malaise continues to suck the life out of industry after industry, one sector has withstood the worst of the blows. Food processing in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest as a whole has grown over the last few years, according to industry statistics. The state’s estimated $12 billion food processing industry has its giants but its true strength lies in its small businesses.

Biodegradable diaper company expands

1211_gNappiesSix years after launching gDiapers, a privately held Portland company that manufactures reusable and biodegradable diaper products, co-founders Jason and Kim Graham-Nye are expanding to the United Kingdom with a new brand, gNappies.

Bend housing bounce

1211_BendHousingDespite a housing market that is still depressed, one housing development in Bend — one of the hardest-hit cities in the housing-led recession — seems to be bouncing back.

Pulverizing the plastic problem

1211_PlasticProblemThe way it works now, about 16 million pounds of plastic soda and water bottles redeemed each year through Oregon’s beverage container deposit program are baled and sold as scrap, often to foreign companies. Millions more plastic bottles never get redeemed and are instead recycled curbside. They, too, usually end up as exported scrap.