Oregon Business Plan and the Leadership Summit

By Linda Barney, Barney and Associates

The Oregon Business Plan and associated Fourth Annual Leadership Summit was held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on January 9th with a packed crowd of business and government attendees. Since it was launched in 2002, the Oregon Business Plan has provided the strategic framework for Oregon's business and elected leaders, working together to build a stronger, more competitive state economy. Throughout the day – in speeches provided by Senators, the Governor and various government and business leaders – the emphasis was on how to make sure Oregon is competitive in the global economy and that Oregon needs to improve education from kindergarten through the university level, as well as improving training programs for the state’s workers.

Michael Porter, a professor at the Harvard Business School and world-renowned guru on competitive strategy, spoke via a video teleconference on the state's economic development efforts around "industry clusters." ‘Clusters’ are geographically concentrated groups of companies and institutions in the same field who work together to improve the competitive advantage in their “cluster” area. Business leaders have identified more than 40 business clusters in Oregon. Some of Oregon’s main industry clusters include: Defense and Security, Environmental Technology and Sustainable Industries, Food and Agriculture, Forestry, Healthcare and Bioscience, High Technology, Metals and Transportation Equipment, Software, Sports and Apparel, Tourism and Hospitality, Creative Services and Arts, Distribution and Logistics, and Professional Services. There are a number of sub-clusters and associations and industry groups working within each cluster.

Porter indicated that Oregon has more industry clusters than would normally be expected for a state this size but that they are less developed. Porter stated, “The real challenge is significantly upgrading the clusters you have. Prosperity has little to do with the mix of clusters in a region but has everything to do with the sophistication and productivity of clusters."

The software cluster

Software is part of the economic foundation of the state of Oregon and the software industry is a recognized cluster. Oregon is home to more than 2,000 software companies, ranging from those that publish and sell software as a product, to those that embed software in their products or devices, and to IT departments in organizations with software professionals on staff.

The Software Association of Oregon, with over 600 members, reports that Oregon software companies compete worldwide and the local software industry is particularly strong in the following sub-clusters: Electronic Design Automatic (EDA), financial solutions, outsourced software development, open source, educational and training software, embedded software, information technology, nanotechnology, and healthcare applications. Research by the SAO has found that the IT Community using software professionals employs 65,000 workers.

Oregon Business Plan software cluster session

Business and government leaders and those involved in the software industry met in a special Software Cluster session to discuss how stronger public/private collaboration can enhance education and extend the global reach of Oregon software companies to help them build a software industry able to compete worldwide.

Molly Moore, Vice President of the Software Association of Oregon, acted as Moderator for the Software Cluster session. Formed in 1989, the Software Association of Oregon (SAO) fosters an environment that fuels the growth of Oregon's software industry through the mission of Start, Move, Grow. The SAO is committed to Education and Workforce Development. According to Moore, “Based on a survey earlier this year, our members have clearly stated the need for a highly qualified workforce in order to remain competitive, and that means we need to invest in our students, our teachers and our workers. The SAO forms a broad umbrella industry group in support of the cluster elements. We offer many activities including professional development programs, networking opportunities, economic development initiatives, and education and workforce training programs.”

Ways of meeting the needs of the software industry as well as educational goals of K-12, higher education and continuing educations of workers were major topics covered in the Software Cluster session. The Software Cluster session consisted of the following panel members who provided information on clusters and their perspective on software in Oregon:

• Molly Moore (Vice President, Software Association of Oregon) – Moderator
• Representative Tom Butler (Oregon Representative House District #60 – Serving Malheur, Harney, Baker and Grant Counties) – Facilitator
• Stuart Cohen (CEO, Open Source Development Labs) – Panelist
• Greg Drew (CEO, WebTrends/SAO Board Member) – Panelist
• Jim Snyder (Director, Northwest Educational Cluster) –  Panelist

Software – removing the barriers

Throughout the Software Cluster session, members of the panel stressed that there is a wide diversity of types of software being developed in Oregon. There are many companies developing proprietary software, a wide range of open source software developers, successful sub-clusters (such as the educational cluster) and a large IT workforce using, implementing and maintaining this software. The theme of this session was that the software industry must join together to develop and extend use of software created in Oregon and to make sure our children and workforce have the needed education to compete in the global marketplace.

Northwest Educational Cluster

The Northwest Educational Cluster capitalizes on the region’s concentration of educational software companies and has grown to over 130 members from 35 education-based companies since its inception in August 2003. The participating companies are based in the Portland, Vancouver, Corvallis and Eugene areas and focus on e-learning, visual learning, curriculum content providers, testing/evaluation services, and educational institutions. Jim Snyder (Director, Northwest Educational Cluster) stated that the mission of the cluster is to, “Support the growth and development of businesses that serve the education market, create networking opportunities to discover synergies, and explore the potential of the education industry as an economic driver for Oregon.” Specific objectives of the cluster include securing funding for K-20 education to support student learning, creating partnerships between educational institutions and the education technology industry, promoting visibility of the education industry and the cluster activities, and fostering a business climate in Oregon that is conducive to competing nationally and globally.

Oregon’s Open Technology cluster

 Stuart Cohen – CEO of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) – spoke about the open source movement in Oregon, and the great opportunities open source presents for new job creation. OSDL was founded in 2000 when seven global IT leaders came together to address shared challenges in the Linux industry. Today, OSDL has more than 75 members on 4 continents. In addition, OSDL employs Linus Torvalds (the creator of Linux) and other Linux luminaries including Andrew Morton and Andrew Tridgell. The goal of OSDL is to make Linux enterprise-ready and accelerate its growth. Revenue from Linux is expected to top $35 billion and the open technology market to reach $100 billion by 2008. Cohen indicated that Oregon is the “Center of Open Source/Linux Centers” with OSDL, the Open Technology Business Center (OTBC) in Beaverton, the IBM Linux Technology Center (IBM LTC), the Oregon State University Open Source Lab, courses in open technology and Linux taught at Portland State University and other universities as well as major investments in Linux/open technology by a number of major companies in the state including Intel. There are around 5,000 workers employed in open source software in the state. In addition, Oregon Research & Development Centers have strong alliances with key players across the world. Cohen stated, “The mission of the Open Technology Business Cluster is to establish a whole ecosystem in Oregon that creates businesses, jobs and wealth, and improves government efficiency and effectiveness. Cluster objectives include creating a cohesive cluster, raising awareness of Open Technology in Oregon, recruiting (businesses, people, projects) to the state, providing university/industry partnerships, strengthening the funding and start-up environment, being a leading government in use of appropriate Open Technology, and creating pilots together which involve outside partners as well.”

SAO Foundation programs and goals

Greg Drew, CEO at WebTrends, discussed issues he has seen in the software industry in Oregon based on his experience as a successful CEO in multiple software companies. Drew indicated that throughout the state, software and technology companies rely on an available and qualified workforce but that his company typically cannot find enough candidates in Oregon. This trend is seen throughout the state. The conclusion of high-tech and software executives is, “There are too few Oregon IT and high-tech graduates.” Drew stated, “We must take a longer-term initiative to adequately educate our children. We must train them to compete not just locally but also globally. We must have a strong economy or we will be run over.”

The SAO Foundation was created in 2003 as a means for the software industry and other interested parties to formally fund and support programs to improve the availability and quality of technology education in Oregon schools. A clear issue with creating a supply of qualified works is the shortage of students interested in math and science, the limited use of technology in classrooms and the small number of information technology teachers who are not well-supported. Drew stated, “The programs of the SAO Foundation aim at increasing not just the technical ability but also the teamwork, critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills in our future workforce.” Programs of the SAO Foundation aimed at meeting the needs of teachers and students include SuperQuest – the Willamette University/SAOF High School Programming Contest – and the IT Educator of the Year Award. Additionally, the SAO Foundation supports the Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program (ORTOP). The SAO Foundation is the only Oregon trade association with a focus on K-12 technology teachers, and will continue programs that will make a difference for Oregon students to better prepare them for skills required by the technology industries and for entry in to work in a global economy.

Legislators listening to the special needs of the software sector

State Representative Tom Butler (representing Oregon House District 60 serving Malheur, Harney, Baker and Grant counties) was facilitator for the session. Butler spoke about the needs of both his rural district and the larger metropolitan areas in the state and the need to work together to guarantee better education for students in K-12, higher education, workers and to provide what software businesses require to be competitive in a global marketplace. Representative Butler stated, “It's important that Legislators hear from Oregon's business leaders and those who are successful in the private sector. The state legislature can do a better job listening and then working cooperatively and collaboratively with the leaders in Oregon's software sector. Through the leadership of SAO, legislators should accept the challenge to work to create an atmosphere and economic climate where (SAO) industry members can thrive and flourish. I thank the SAO and applaud your efforts to reach out to the Oregon education community and fulfill the business community's commitment to our youth and institutions of higher learning.”

About the author

Linda Barney is the founder and owner of Barney and Associates, a technical and marketing writing firm. Founded in 1990, Barney and Associates specializes in technical writing, documentation, online help, web content, and training. Barney and Associates also provides a wide range of marketing writing services including creating media articles, white papers, data sheets, solution briefs, case studies and reviewer’s guides. Contact Linda at linda@barneyassoc.com.