Silicon Forest

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This article is about an area in Northwestern United States. For the district in Novosibirsk, Russia, see Akademgorodok.
Intel's Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro

Silicon Forest is a nickname and specifically refers to the cluster of high-tech companies located in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Southwest Washington, and most frequently refers to the industrial corridor between Beaverton and Hillsboro in northwest Oregon.

The name is similar to Silicon Valley in California's San Francisco Bay Area. However in greater Portland, these companies specialize in output devices like displays and printers, along with software-related materials.

Contents

[edit] History

Mentor Graphics headquarters in Wilsonville

The term Silicon Forest can refer to all the technology companies in Oregon,[1] but usually is in reference only to those in Washington County on Portland’s west side. First used in a Japanese company’s press release dating to 1981, Lattice Semiconductor trademarked the term in 1984.[1] Lattice’s founder is sometimes mentioned as the person who came up with the term, but the company does not use the trademark on products.[1]

The high-tech industry in the Portland area dates back to at least the 1940s, with Tektronix and Electro Scientific Industries as pioneers.[2] Tektronix and ESI both started out in Portland proper, but moved to Washington County in 1951 and 1962, respectively, and developed sites designed to attract other high-tech companies.[2] These two companies, and later Intel, led to the creation of a number of spin-offs or start-ups, some of which were remarkably successful. A 2003 dissertation on these spin-offs led to a poster depicting the genealogy of Silicon Forest companies.[3] High-tech employment in the state reached a peak of almost 73,000 in 2001, but has declined nearly 20% to 58,000 in 2008.[4]

[edit] Companies and subsidiaries

The following is a partial list of past and present notable companies founded in the Silicon Forest or which have a major subsidiary located there:

[edit] Current

[edit] Former

Genetech facility in Hillsboro

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Rogoway, Mike (April 9, 2006). Bizz blog: Silicon Forest. The Oregonian.
  2. ^ a b Manaton, Michael E. (August 4, 1994). "Tektronix began 'Silicon Forest' boom". The Oregonian (MetroWest edition).
  3. ^ "Mapping the Silicon Forest Universe". Portland State University: The Institute for Portland Metropolitan Studies. http://www.pdx.edu/ims/siliconforest.html. Retrieved 2008-04-22. 
  4. ^ Rogoway, Mike (April 20, 2008). "High-tech's no longer Oregon's high point". The Oregonian.
  5. ^ About Epson Portland Inc. Epson Portland Inc. Retrieved on October 8, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Tims, Dana (December 8, 2005). "Metro West Neighbors: Emerging suburb built on silicon". The Oregonian: p. 9. 
  7. ^ Suh, Elizabeth (October 28, 2007). "Intel's impact on community helps other businesses thrive". The Oregonian.
  8. ^ Kosseff, Jeffrey (May 14, 2002). "Xerox's Wilsonville unit continues to make strides". The Oregonian: p. C1. 
  9. ^ Yahoo! to open customer service center in Hillsboro. KATU. Retrieved on October 8, 2007.
  10. ^ a b Read, Richard (March 7, 2004). "Racing the world". The Oregonian.

[edit] External links

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