GL Solutions, located in Bend, continues to grow thanks to new contracts from around the nation. The company creates regulatory software and database systems tailored for state licensing and has recently added several state agencies to its client roster. In 2009 when business finance officer Les Livengood and others in the agency first assisted the company through a loan guarantee, GL Solutions had 28 employees, where today they are at about 80.
Pacific Stainless Products, Inc., has added more than 25 jobs in the last several months. The company now employs 150 in St. Helens. Pacific Stainless has seen more contracts due to the additional capacity provided by a recent expansion, which was made possible through the financing assistance of an Industrial Development Bond from Business Oregon.
SAM Medical, located in Wilsonville, continues to grow and has manufactured products in Oregon for more than 25 years. The company has been named by Inc. Magazine in their top 5,000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. Business development officer Chad Freeman and global trade specialist Tom DiCorcia have assisted SAM, including connecting the company with the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership, utilizing a Business Retention Services grant, and most recently, helping SAM Medical attend two overseas trade shows with Oregon Trade Promotion Program grants. As a result of the export promotion, the company expects to realize $25,000 in additional sales.
When Facebook first came to the state, its employment estimate was 35 people. Since then, the company has grown to 54 employees. Now with the announcement last week that Facebook will construct a second data center building on the site, the company says it will add another 10 permanent workers upon completion. In addition, the 250 construction workers already working at the site daily will now have another year of work. On the recent facility tour conducted for the Oregon Business Development Commission, company representatives cited Business Oregon’s industrial site certification as the primary reason they chose to locate in Prineville, and in Oregon.
Global trade specialist Sunun Setboonsarng recently led two clean tech missions for Oregon companies to Bangkok, Thailand and Beijing, China. Three companies went to Bangkok, attending trade shows and company meetings that the global strategies team assisted in setting up. Five companies went to Beijing, to attend a trade show on environmental protection, where Sunun and Business Oregon’s Chinese representatives assisted the companies to make sure they had a valuable trip.
Back in Oregon, global trade specialists Alexa Hamilton and Dana Shannon facilitated meetings between the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Business Council and Oregon companies interested in doing business in Saudi Arabia. The group session and one-on-one meetings took place in Eugene, and it appeared many of the companies participating will see export opportunities down the line.
Global trade specialist Tom DiCorcia recruited four Oregon bioscience companies—Microstein, ColumbiaSoft, SAM Medical and 13Therapeutics—to attend the Bio International convention in Washington, DC.
Finally, Scott Nelson and Annette Liebe of the Governor’s office recently attended an event at Breedlove Guitars where they met the company’s new owners. In 2007 when Business Oregon first assisted Breedlove with an Industrial Development Bond and a forgivable loan from the Governor’s Strategic Reserve Fund, Breedlove had 35 employees and the company now has more than 50.
