PORTLAND METRO EMPLOYMENT 

• The nonfarm payroll employment in the Portland metro area (2003): 922,000 (a 27% increase from 1990)
• View a Portland Metro Area map showing the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and selected firms throughout the region
• Average 2003 manufacturing wage: $15.31 per hour
• Major employers: Intel Corp. 15,000, Providence Health Systems 12,800, Fred Meyer, Inc. 13,325, Legacy Health System 7,158, and Kaiser Permanente 6,725
 

Beaverton Business  

The city of Beaverton supports a thriving economy in the heart of Washington County’s Silicon Forest. In the past decade, the city has grown from a bedroom suburb to a burgeoning business center.  

More than 4,500 companies fuel the local economy, providing 55,000 jobs. Major employers include Intel, Tektronix and Nike. But there are also plenty of small and medium-sized businesses. Nearly 65 percent of the employers have five or fewer employees. Only 12 percent have more than 20 employees.  

Technology
High technology is the leading employer in the county. More than half of the manufacturing jobs in the region are in technology. 

Technology giants like Intel, Tektronix and IBM have fostered hundreds of spin-off companies that produce semiconductors and software. Altogether the high-tech firms spend billions of dollars every year on research and development in the local area.  

Sports Apparel
Nike’s world headquarters is located in Beaverton. A number of other sports and apparel firms have followed Nike’s shoe steps. Columbia Sportswear, one of the world’s largest outdoor apparel companies, has relocated here. 

Jobs by Industry
Wholesale and Retail Trade 24.8%
Manufacturing 22.9%
Government 7.2%
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate 5.8%
Transportation & Public Utilities 4.2%
Construction and Mining 5.6%
Services 27.5% 

Source: Oregon Employment Department 

Beaverton's Top Industry Segments by Total Employment
1. Eating & Drinking Places
2. Apparel Wholesale
3. Local Government (including schools)
4. Other Manufacturing
5. Computer & Data Processing
6. Personal Supply Services
7. Grocery Stores
8. New & Used Car Dealers
9. Communications Equipment
10. Wholesale of Electrical Goods 

Source: City of Beaverton "Economic Development Strategic Plan"  

Leading Employers of Washington County
1. Intel Microcomputer component manufacturer 12,000
2. Beaverton School District public schools 3,782
3. Nike, Inc. Athletic footwear and apparel 2,850)
4. Volt Services Group Temporary and direct placement 2,500
5. Cypress Semiconductor Semiconductor manufacturer 2,000
6. Shari's Management Corp. Restaurant chain 2,000
7. Tektronix Inc. Test and measurement products 2,000
8. Home Depot Home improvement chain 1,700
9. Maxim Integrated Products Inc. Silicon circuit manufacturer 1,500
Washington County Government services 1,500
10. Target Stores Retail chain 1,400
11. Precision Interconnect Electronic cable 1,050
Tuality Healthcare Health care 1,050
12. IBM Computer manufacturer 1,000
13. First Consumers National Bank Credit card banking 900
14. Wendy's International Inc. Fast food franchise 877
15. Verizon Northwest Telecommunications 815
16. Plaid Pantries Inc. Convenience store chain 800
17. adidas America Inc. Sportswear 700
Reser's Fine Foods Inc. Prepared foods 700
Shilo Inns and Resorts Hotels 700
Source: "Largest Employers of the Portland/Vancouver Metropolitan Area" published by Portland Chamber 

Major Industries
Technology
Oregon's technology industry added more than 22,000 jobs to the Portland metro area's economy between 1993 and 1998, helping to make Oregon the second-fastest-growing state economy in the country during the period. The "Silicon Forest" attracted companies with its skilled work force, strong infrastructure, access to West Coast and Asian markets, and high quality of life. Oregon's high-tech industry accounts for 13 percent of the state's economy and 60 percent of Oregon's international exports. Semiconductors, software and computer services are the largest industry segments.  

High-tech employment also reaches into the culture of the community: Portland ranks third in the United States in computers at home (69 percent) and fourth in home Internet access (58 percent), making it one of the most "wired" regions in the country, according to a 2001 Nielsen/NetRatings survey. 

Manufacturing
One of the largest sectors of the economy, manufacturing, accounts for approximately 15 percent of the Portland metro area's employment. Well over one-half of Washington County's manufacturing jobs are in "high tech" categories, raising the annual pay per worker to $76,179. Oregon's manufacturing sector lost jobs across the state during the national economic slowdown.  

Trade
The high-tech sector's growth highly depends on international trade. Overall, Oregon's export trade is strong despite economic declines in other areas. Oregon's exports have doubled in value since 1993 with nearly all that growth due to increased exports to Asia. Forecasts predict that Oregon's economy will become increasingly dependent on international trade.  

Tourism
Tourism adds an estimated $313 million to Washington County, primarily from visitors staying in hotels and other accommodations. Oregon's tourism industry experienced strong growth in the past decade, with visitor spending increasing six percent per year in the 1990's. The trend changed in 2001, when the terrorist attacks of September 11 combined with a slowing economy to create turmoil in the nation's travel industry. Decreases in Oregon, which tends to be a regional drive destination, were less acute than for fly destinations. For more information on visiting Oregon, contact the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Washington County, Oregon at 503-644-5555, 1-800-537-3149 or www.wcva.org 

Wine Industry
Boasting one of the world's most diverse geo-climatic regions, Oregon is ideally suited to growing wine grapes and ranks fourth in the US in wine production. Oregon is famous for pinot noir wines, but equal quality can be found in varietals of riesling, chardonnay, gewürztraminer, cabernet sauvignon, pinot gris and müller-thurgau. Washington County is home to more than a dozen wineries, with two located right in Beaverton. More information about Oregon wineries can be found at www.oregonwine.org.
 

Hillsboro Business 

Over the past 30 years, advanced electronics manufacturers and software producers have forged a new industry and, in the process, created a new economic base for Hillsboro. Tektronix began making oscilloscopes after World War II. New start-up specialty companies producing components and providing high-precision tooling and manufacturing spun off from Tektronix and opened offices in Washington County. One was Rodgers Organ Co. (today's Rodgers Instrument Corp.), makers of world-famous electronically assisted pipe organs. In the mid-1970s at the beginning of the personal computer era, Intel Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., opened a manufacturing plant in nearby Aloha. Suppliers and customers of Intel followed. They in turn attracted software engineers, molded plastic manufacturers, assemblers and parts manufacturers. In the 1980s major Japanese firms such as Fujitsu, Epson and NEC built factories in Hillsboro. Soon, Hillsboro had amassed a proliferation of all kinds of high-tech design and manufacturing firms, which sold their products to other firms or marketed them to U.S., Asian and European companies. 

Today, Hillsboro, the heart of the so-called "Silicon Forest," is home to a diverse group of companies that make personal computers and computer components, microprocessors and silicon wafers, devices and chemicals used in making computer chips, processors and advanced electronic components of telecommunication and mobile communication equipment, computer printers, computer testing and design software and hardware, molded plastic components and control equipment. Internet providers and web-based e-business firms are finding Hillsboro a good place to do business. Companies are moving their corporate offices to the area in the many new, modern Class A office buildings emerging in Hillsboro's landscape. As a consequence of such industrial growth, Hillsboro has seen a remarkable development of business centers, industrial parks and residential neighborhoods in the last 10 years. Intel, alone, employs more than 13,000 people in Hillsboro and Aloha and plans to expand its Ronler Acres and Jones Farm campus even more as the company keeps pace with the world demand for microprocessors, communication components and Internet technology. 

Hillsboro has 35 business parks, some as large as 300 acres. The largest are Dawson Creek, Westmark and Tanasbourne Commerce centers, but many encompass 20 to 50 acres. Much of the new industrial construction is appearing in north and west Hillsboro and north of U.S. 26 near West Union. 

Hillsboro community leaders and organizations such as the Greater Hillsboro Area Chamber of Commerce and the Westside Economic Alliance spearheaded the industrial expansion of Hillsboro. Realizing as early as the mid-1950s that the town needed new industry to form a solid tax base and to keep its young people from leaving for greener pastures, the city began annexing land and recruiting businesses. In 1957 city leaders formed a Hillsboro Economic Development Association. In the late 1970s investors and real estate developers, principally Standard Insurance Co., formed the Sunset Corridor Association. Standard bought 900 acres west of Hillsboro and began developing the infrastructure with the support of the association. Today, Tanasbourne is a beautiful and expansive mix of shopping centers, light industrial campuses, Class A office structures, apartments and upscale condominiums. 

While major employers employ hundreds of people in Hillsboro, oddly enough 88 percent of Hillsboro's businesses employ fewer than 10 workers. Hillsboro employers continue to attract many residents who live outside of the community.
 

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