Silicon Forest
Encyclopedia
Silicon Forest is a nickname for the cluster of high-tech companies located in the Portland
metropolitan area in the U.S. state
s 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 southern San Francisco Bay Area
. In the greater Portland area, these companies have traditionally specialized in output devices like computer displays and printers
, along with software-related materials. There is a solid clean technology
emphasis in this region.
Silicon Forest can refer to all the technology companies in Oregon, but usually refers only to 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 but does not use the term in its marketing materials. Lattice’s founder is sometimes mentioned as the person who came up with the term.
The high-tech industry in the Portland area dates back to at least the 1940s, with Tektronix
and Electro Scientific Industries
as pioneers. 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. These two companies, and later Intel, led to the creation of a number of spin-off
s and start-up
s, some of which were remarkably successful. A 2003 dissertation on these spin-offs led to a poster depicting the genealogy of 894 Silicon Forest companies. 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.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
metropolitan area in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and Southwest Washington, and most frequently refers to the industrial corridor between Beaverton
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...
and Hillsboro
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
in northwest Oregon.
The name is similar to Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
in California's southern San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. In the greater Portland area, these companies have traditionally specialized in output devices like computer displays and printers
Computer printer
In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
, along with software-related materials. There is a solid clean technology
Clean technology
Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy , information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, Greywater, and many other appliances that are now more energy efficient. It is a means to create electricity and fuels, with a smaller environmental...
emphasis in this region.
History
Washington County, Oregon
- Major highways :* Interstate 5* Interstate 205* U.S. Route 26* Oregon Route 6* Oregon Route 8* Oregon Route 10* Oregon Route 47* Oregon Route 99W* Oregon Route 210* Oregon Route 217* Oregon Route 219-Demographics:...
on Portland’s west side. First used in a Japanese company’s press release dating to 1981, Lattice Semiconductor
Lattice Semiconductor
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation is a United States based manufacturer of high-performance programmable logic devices . Founded in 1983, the company employs about 700 people and has annual revenues of around $300 million, with Darin Billerbeck as the chief executive officer...
trademarked the term in 1984 but does not use the term in its marketing materials. Lattice’s founder is sometimes mentioned as the person who came up with the term.
The high-tech industry in the Portland area dates back to at least the 1940s, with Tektronix
Tektronix
Tektronix, Inc. is an American company best known for its test and measurement equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. In November 2007, Tektronix became a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation....
and Electro Scientific Industries
Electro Scientific Industries
Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. is a high technology company headquartered in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, more specifically in Washington County, in the unincorporated Cedar Mill area north of Beaverton, U.S.A. It is a pioneer developer, and leading supplier, of photonic and...
as pioneers. 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. These two companies, and later Intel, led to the creation of a number of spin-off
Spin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
s and start-up
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
s, some of which were remarkably successful. A 2003 dissertation on these spin-offs led to a poster depicting the genealogy of 894 Silicon Forest companies. 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.
Companies and subsidiaries
This is a sample of past and present notable companies. They may have been founded in the Silicon Forest or have a major subsidiary:Current
- AmbricAmbricAmbric-architecture processors, are developed and marketed by a division of Nethra, a fabless semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California. Nethra purchased the Ambric technology in early 2009. Ambric the company was founded in 2003 and the current team, all from the original startup,...
(acquired by Nethra Imaging in April 2009) - ARRISARRISARRIS Group Inc. is a telecommunications equipment manufacturing company which provides cable operators with high-speed data, video and telephony systems for homes and businesses...
(via acquisition of C-CORC-CORC-COR is a communication services company incorporated in 1953 and based in State College, Pennsylvania. The corporation is best known for creating video transport systems. In 1965, C-COR introduced the use of integrated circuits in amplifiers used on utility poles and in 1969 was the first to use...
) - Cascade MicrotechCascade MicrotechCascade Microtech is a publicly traded semiconductor test equipment manufacturer based in Hillsboro in the Portland metropolitan area of the United States. Founded in 1983, the Oregon-based company employs nearly 400 people. Michael Burger is the chief executive officer, with the company...
- ClearEdge PowerClearEdge PowerClearEdge Power, Inc. is a fuel cell manufacturer focusing on the home fuel cell and small business markets. It is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, U.S. in the Portland metropolitan area's Silicon Forest...
- Consumer CellularConsumer CellularConsumer Cellular is a Portland, Oregon based Mobile Virtual Network Operator, founded by John Marick and Greg Pryor in October 1995. The company started out with an emphasis on the Pacific Northwest market, but when AT&T and Cingular merged in 2005, Marick renegotiated Consumer Cellular's contract...
- DigimarcDigimarcDigimarc is a digital watermarking technology provider enabling the invisible embedding of information into many forms of content, including audio, video, imagery, and certain objects...
- Electro Scientific IndustriesElectro Scientific IndustriesElectro Scientific Industries, Inc. is a high technology company headquartered in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, more specifically in Washington County, in the unincorporated Cedar Mill area north of Beaverton, U.S.A. It is a pioneer developer, and leading supplier, of photonic and...
- Elemental
- EthicsPointEthicspointEthicsPoint, Inc is a US-based corporation dealing in regulatory compliance software. As of 2010, EthicsPoint ranked as the 24th largest company in the Silicon Forest. In 2011, Ethicspoint was selected as the top technology-service company by TechAmerica...
- ExtensisExtensisExtensis is a software company based in Portland, Oregon. Its three main products are Extensis Portfolio, Suitcase Fusion, and Universal Type Server....
- EPSONSeiko Epson, commonly known as Epson, is a Japanese technology company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers, information and imaging related equipment...
- FEI CompanyFEI CompanyFEI Company , founded in 1971, is an American supplier of electron microscopy tools to researchers, developers and manufacturers working on the nanoscale. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, the company employs 1,770 people worldwide....
- FLIR SystemsFLIR SystemsFLIR Systems is a thermal imaging systems manufacturer based in Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1978, the company makes thermal imagers, thermal imager components, as well as larger systems containing thermal imagers along with other sensors, for both commercial and military...
- GemStone Systems
- GenentechGenentechGenentech Inc., or Genetic Engineering Technology, Inc., is a biotechnology corporation, founded in 1976 by venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer. Trailing the founding of Cetus by five years, it was an important step in the evolution of the biotechnology industry...
- Hewlett-PackardHewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
- IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
(by acquisition of Sequent) - InFocusInFocusInFocus Corporation is a privately owned American company based in the state of Oregon. Founded in 1986, the company develops, manufactures, and distributes DLP and LCD projectors and accessories as well as LCD flat panel displays. Formerly a NASDAQ listed public company, InFocus was purchased by ...
- Intel
- Integra TelecomIntegra TelecomIntegra Telecom is a privately owned, facilities-based, integrated telecommunications carrier and communications equipment provider headquartered in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1996, the company is one of the largest competitive local exchange carriers in the United States and...
- IP FabricsIP FabricsIP Fabrics is a privately-owned, US company that designs and manufactures network surveillance products for national security, lawful interception, data retention, and cyber crime applications...
- JanrainJanRainJanrain Inc. is a privately held technology company based in Portland, Oregon. Janrain offers software as a service solutions for commercial businesses and websites to connect their sites to the social web...
- Jive SoftwareJive SoftwareJive Software is a software company in the social business software industry based in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2001, Jive maintains additional offices in Portland, OR, Boulder, CO, Frankfurt, Germany, Tel Aviv, Israel, and London, UK.-Products:...
- LaCieLaCieLaCie is a computer hardware company specializing in external hard drives, RAID arrays, optical drives, Flash Drives, and computer monitors. The company markets several lines of hard drives with a capacity of up to many terabytes of data, with a choice of interfaces...
- Laika
- Lattice SemiconductorLattice SemiconductorLattice Semiconductor Corporation is a United States based manufacturer of high-performance programmable logic devices . Founded in 1983, the company employs about 700 people and has annual revenues of around $300 million, with Darin Billerbeck as the chief executive officer...
- Maxim Integrated ProductsMaxim Integrated ProductsMaxim Integrated Products is a publicly traded company that designs, manufactures, and sells analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products. Maxim develops integrated circuits for the industrial, communications, consumer, and computing markets....
- McAfeeMcAfeeMcAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
- Mentor GraphicsMentor GraphicsMentor Graphics, Inc is a US-based multinational corporation dealing in electronic design automation for electrical engineering and electronics, as of 2004, ranked third in the EDA industry it helped create...
- Merix CorporationMerix CorporationMerix Corporation is a printed circuit board manufacturer based in the U.S. state of Oregon. Prior to a merger in 2010 with Viasystems, the Beaverton based company had been the 31st largest public company in Oregon based on market capitalization as of 2006...
- Novellus SystemsNovellus SystemsNovellus Systems Inc. develops, manufactures, sells, and services semiconductor equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. It is a leading supplier of chemical vapor deposition , plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition , physical vapor deposition , electrochemical deposition ,...
- ON SemiconductorON SemiconductorON Semiconductor , is a semiconductors supplier company. Products include power and signal management, logic, discrete and custom devices for automotive, communications, computing, consumer, industrial, LED lighting, medical, military/aerospace and power applications...
- Oracle CorporationOracle CorporationOracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
(by acquisition of Sun MicrosystemsSun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
) - Panic Software
- Phoseon TechnologyPhoseon TechnologyPhoseon Technology is a privately owned electronic manufacturing company based in Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 2002, the company makes products that use ultraviolet light produced by light emitting diodes that are used for curing products in industrial settings. Phoseon is...
- Planar SystemsPlanar SystemsPlanar Systems, Inc. is a U.S. digital display manufacturing corporation based in Hillsboro, Oregon. Founded in 1983 as a spin-off from Tektronix, it was the first U.S. manufacturer of electroluminescent digital displays. Planar also makes a variety of other specialty displays. The company, with...
- Puppet Labs
- RadiSys Corporation
- Sage Software (by the acquisition of Timberline)
- SiltronicSiltronicSiltronic AG，is a Munich based company, which is one of the top Silicon Wafer suppliers in the world. It is 100% owned by Wacker Chemie AG and the single european-based Wafer supplier....
- SimpleSimple (company)Simple is a Portland, OR based banking industry start up founded by Josh Reich. The company is currently beta testing a bank offering that they claim will give consumers more information regarding their finances by utilizing an advanced website and smart phone applications...
- SolarWorldSolarWorldSolarWorld is a German company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing photovoltaic products worldwide by integrating all components of the solar value chain, from feedstock to module production, from trade with solar panels to the promotion and construction of turn-key solar power plants...
- SynopsysSynopsysSynopsys, Inc. is one of the largest companies in the Electronic Design Automation industry. Synopsys' first and best-known product is Design Compiler, a logic-synthesis tool. Synopsys offers a wide range of other products used in the design of an application-specific integrated circuit...
- TektronixTektronixTektronix, Inc. is an American company best known for its test and measurement equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. In November 2007, Tektronix became a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation....
- TripwireTripwire (company)Tripwire, Inc. is a software company based in Portland, Oregon that develops, markets and sells information technology security and compliance automation solutions. The company's products provide organizations control over physical and virtual IT infrastructure...
- TriQuint SemiconductorTriQuint SemiconductorTriQuint Semiconductor is a semiconductor company that designs, manufactures, and supplies high-performance RF modules, components and foundry services. TriQuint primarily works with the semiconductor gallium arsenide, or GaAs, and is the number-three worldwide leader in GaAs devices and the...
- Urban AirshipUrban AirshipUrban Airship is a privately held technology company based in Portland, Oregon. The company offers products related to mobile push technology and mobile in-app purchases/subscriptions.-History:In 2009 the Urban Airship was founded by current CEO Scott Kveton...
] - VeriWaveVeriWaveVeriWave is a company in Beaverton, Oregon, U.S. It was founded in 2002 to design and manufacture specialized testing equipment for Wi-Fi and Ethernet—products primarily of interest to manufacturers of wireless access points and network infrastructure....
- Vernier Software & TechnologyVernier Software & TechnologyVernier Software & Technology is an educational software and equipment company based in Portland, Oregon that produces sensors and graphing software for use in science education...
- WaferTech (TSMCTSMCTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited or TSMC is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, with its headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.-Overview:...
subsidiary) - WebtrendsWebTrendsWebtrends is a private company headquartered in Portland, Oregon, United States. It provides web analytics and other software solutions related to marketing intelligence...
- WebMDWebMDWebMD is an American corporation which provides health information services. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Clark and Pavan Nigam as Healthscape, later Healtheon, and then acquired WebMD in 1999 to form Healtheon/WebMD...
- XeroxXeroxXerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
- XPLANEXPLANE (company)XPLANE is a design company that creates illustrations for corporate clients. The company aims to distill complex processes into easy-to-grasp illustrations, using visualization techniques which it calls Pictonics. XPLANE was founded in 1993 in St...
- Yahoo!Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
Former
- BiiNBiiNBiiN was a company created out of a joint research project by Intel and Siemens to develop fault tolerant high-performance multi-processor computers build on custom microprocessor designs. BiiN was an outgrowth of the Intel iAPX 432 multiprocessor project, ancestor of iPSC and nCUBE.The company was...
(defunct) - Central Point SoftwareCentral Point SoftwareCentral Point Software, Inc. was a leading software utilities maker for the PC market, supplying utilities software for the DOS and Microsoft Windows markets. It also made Apple II copy programs.-History:...
(defunct) - Etec Systems, Inc.Etec Systems, Inc.Etec Systems was an American producer of scanning electron microscopes, electron beam lithography tools, and laser beam lithography tools from 1970 until 2005...
(defunct) - Floating Point SystemsFloating Point SystemsFloating Point Systems Inc. was a Beaverton, Oregon vendor of minisupercomputers. The company was founded in 1970 by former Tektronix engineer Norm Winningstad....
(defunct) - FujitsuFujitsuis a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
(factory closed) - NEC (factory closed)
- Open Source Development Labs (defunct)
- Sequent Computer SystemsSequent Computer SystemsSequent Computer Systems, or Sequent, was a computer company that designed and manufactured multiprocessing computer systems. They were among the pioneers in high-performance symmetric multiprocessing open systems, innovating in both hardware and software Sequent Computer Systems, or Sequent, was...
(defunct)
See also
- List of places with "Silicon" names
- Research Triangle ParkResearch Triangle ParkThe Research Triangle Park is a research park in the United States. It is located near Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina...
- Silicon AlleySilicon AlleySilicon Alley is a nickname for an area with a concentration of Internet and new media companies in Manhattan, New York City. Originally, the term referred to the cluster of such companies extending from the Flatiron District down to SoHo and TriBeCa along the Broadway corridor, but as the location...
External links
- The Oregonians Silicon Forest Blog
- Portland Tech portal at AboutUs.orgAboutUs.orgAboutUs.org is a wiki Internet domain directory. It lists websites along with information about their content. As a wiki, AboutUs allows Internet users to add entries or modify information....
- Silicon Florist: Coverage of the web-based startup scene