Fresh Profile: Oregon Jobs

Published on 2008-08-04

For the Beaver State, home to such notables as Beverly Cleary, Ginger Rogers, Linus Pauling, and Herbert Hoover, fertile land has created many economic blessings. Thanks to the Missoula Floods, which spread sediment across Oregon's agriculturally rich Willamette Valley during the last ice age, Oregon is a top producer of grass seed, hay, wheat, potatoes, onions, pears, and hazelnuts. The abundance of these and other commodities has created thousands of agricultural jobs from Oregon's inception into statehood in 1859 up to the present day.

Oregon also boasts a lively wine culture with pinot grapes as its star player. The grapes that power the state's renowned varietals are similar to those grown in the world-class wine regions of Alsace and Burgundy, France. Consequently, wine production, which became a significant industry for the state in the 1970s, has blossomed, producing hundreds of wineries - enough to rank Oregon third in the nation for number of wineries and provide many agriculture related jobs.

Salmon is as common a fixture in Oregon restaurants and grocery stores as wine. Given that Oregon's salmon-fishing industry is among the largest in the world, its popularity isn't surprising. Both commercial and private fishing jobs are popular among Oregon natives.

Although not all of the state is as heavily forested as promotional literature would have tourists believe, logging does play a significant role in Oregon's economy. Nearly one out of every five jobs in Oregon is related to trade, transportation, or utilities, the Oregon Blue Book reports. The ubiquity of Oregon forestry jobs has diminished in the past 20 years due to the forest industry crunch created by fires and legal concerns about land management, but logging remains a vital source of employment for many Oregonians nonetheless.

Oregon fell upon hard times in the early 1980s, forcing a shift from its traditional resource sectors (forestry, agriculture, and fishing) to new ones such as technology. Portland, Oregon's largest city, has been the center of this movement. High-tech jobs in Portland, Oregon, and surrounding areas can be found at companies like electronic equipment testing firm Tektronix or semiconductor company Intel Corporation. Recently, biotech giant Genentech also purchased land in the area, so Oregon may see more biotechnology jobs in the near future as well.

Sportswear and equipment company Nike, Inc. is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. (Nike's original home, however, was farther south, providing Eugene, Oregon jobs in Track Town, USA.) Borne out of former University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman's efforts to create rubber-soled running shoes using his wife's waffle iron, Nike's high profile has brought considerable cash flow into the state and created around 7,000 Oregon jobs and over 30,000 jobs worldwide.

The Oregon Blue Book reports that as of 2006, Oregon had the sixth fastest-growing manufacturing sector in the nation, growing at a rate of 3.0% that year and adding 6,100 manufacturing jobs. Despite a 2001 recession that hurt employment all over the state, Oregon manufacturing and engineering jobs in the production of primary metals, transportation equipment, and computer and electronic products are now on the upswing, the Blue Book writes. In June 2008, Intel announced plans to build a solar cell manufacturing company in Hillsboro, which should generate additional manufacturing careers.

Perhaps owing to its scenic vibrancy, which has served as the background for many films, Oregon's tourism industry is strong and provides a good number of tourism jobs. Crater Lake National Park, the Columbia River Gorge, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Mt. Bachelor, and hundreds of miles of jagged beauty along the coastline are big draws for tourist dollars.

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