SILICON
FOREST
land’s current mayor came to be
full of young entrepreneurs wearing
jeans, fleece pullovers and hoodies.
On a recent morning, a dozen
people sat in the space, peering
at computer screens, scribbling
on white boards, studying their
prototype products and huddling
in a windowless conference room
as they plotted the future of their
fledgling companies. Collectively,
they represent the fruits of a
city effort to update Portland’s
economy as it adjusts to globalization and technological change.
They’re also a testament to the
difficult process of evolving an
idea into a going concern.
“The big thing is just feeling
like a real company,” says Bernie
Rissmiller, 34, one of the ClutchPlay founders. “Being four people
working from home, it was like
we were just in the ether. Having
a space where we’re interacting
with people as a company and just
being chosen for this is a validation of our business plan.”
FROM FRUIT TO VIDEO GAMES
Despite its reputation as a bohemian paradise for perpetually young people inclined to lie
around in flannel shirts while
HUFFINGTON
11.10.13
awaiting the next farm-to-table
meal, Portland is in reality a relatively traditional Pacific Northwest economy. It remains heavily
dependent on exports for its sustenance. More than 40 percent
of those exports are computer
chips forged locally — Intel has a
major presence — and destined
for electronics factories in Asia.
This is the sort of commerce susceptible to the ebbs and flows
of global demand, and the ebbs
have proven unpleasant: The local unemployment rate peaked at
11.3 percent in June 2009, amid a
punishing global downturn, before dropping back down near 7
percent in recent months.
“We’re trying to diversify,” says
Patrick Quinton, executive director of the Portland Development
Commission. “We’ve definitely
been pushing ourselves to think of
ways to generate more buzz around
startups and tech in Portland.”
Ask Quinton how he and his
colleagues dreamed up plans for
what became the PDX Challenge,
and he does not play coy.
“We stole it,” he says.
The contest was largely modeled
on a competition run by MassChallenge, a Boston-based nonprofit that this year plans to award
some $1.5 million in seed capital
to promising startup companies.
Portland added a uniquely lo-