2013 Archives

Social media is turning consumers into entrepreneurs. Is this the end of ownership?

Eleek co-owner Sattie Clark builds a family-owned business around sustainable lighting.

The fifth annual 100 Best Green Companies to Work For in Oregon list showcases exemplary workplaces that inspire and empower workers with a daily and enduring commitment to sustainable practices.

Despite their name, shipworms are not worms but mollusks: small, clam-like creatures that cause no end of headaches for boat owners by drilling their hard shells into ship hulls, then consuming that cellulose as breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now a team of OHSU researchers, in partnership with scientists from other institutions, has discovered an upside to the hungry worm.

Narumol Poonsukwattana (Nong), 33, runs one of Portland’s most famous food carts: Nong’s Khao Man Gai.

This month’s Powerlist ranks foundations by total assets.

In 2008, readers weren’t bullish on using digital technologies for business purposes. Less than 10% of respondents to an online survey had used Facebook or business networking sites in the previous six months. Five years later, that number has surged to about 40%.

Charitable giving can bring people together on many different issues to find solutions that cross the traditional Oregon divides of geography, politics and culture.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are computer-literate and those who take an hour to figure out how to indent a paragraph in Microsoft Word. Alas, I fall into the latter, techno-illiterate camp.

Oregon is a state of small businesses. More than 75% of the businesses in the state employ only between one and nine employees. That is why, at Business Oregon, we focus so much of our work on helping small businesses finance growth and find new markets for their products.