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Corvallis Business

The Corvallis area is home to a burgeoning innovation economy with a strong entrepreneurial community centered on engineering and high technology. The Corvallis Benton Chamber Coalition, the Software Association of Oregon, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), and Oregon State University are just of few of the active players contributing to this vibrant, creative environment.

The area’s early economy was based on agriculture, timber and education. Oregon State University, once known as the Oregon Agricultural College, was established in Corvallis in 1862. Designated as a land, sea, space and sun grant institution, OSU has grown to be the second largest and oldest institution of higher learning in Oregon.

A unique combination of soil and climate has made the Willamette Valley a world leader in seed and specialty crops, as well as Christmas trees. Grass and legume seeds, dairy, sheep, plywood, lumber and paper are important local products, and we have a well-respected and growing wine industry.

While wood products, agriculture and tourism continue to be major industries in the state, high technology is the fastest growing. Corvallis has over 25 software companies ranging in size from Summit Information Systems with over 300 employees to one-person operations, plus the world’s largest Hewlett Packard research facility campus. Corvallis benefits from its identity as a college town and has a workforce that is among the highest educated in the Northwest.

Population (July 2006)
• Corvallis: 53,795*
• Benton County: 84,125*
• 30-mile radius: 428,323
• 50-mile radius: 932,364
• University enrollment: 17,491 (spring 2006)* Oregon State University
*Sources: Portland State Population Research (July 2006)

Economic Performance (2005)
• Median household income: $44,231
• Mean Household income: $57,068
• Non-farm employment: 37,750 *(April 2005)
*Source: American Community Survey 2005 Unemployment

• Corvallis MSA/Benton County: 3.8%
• Oregon: 5.1%
• U.S.: 4.4%

CreativityPatents
• Patent growth, 1990-2001
– Corvallis MSA: 14.96%
– U.S.: 5.9%
Harvard Creativity Index ranking: 15th in the nation.

Knowledge Workers
• Five-Star Knowledge Worker status: Corvallis is in the top
20% of all U.S. metropolitan statistical areas as ranked by Expansion Management Magazine.
• Post-secondary educational attainment, 25 years and older:
75.2% of population

Research Parks & Industrial Land Availability
Benton County has over 1,800 acres of industrial zoned land available. Corvallis also has turn-key industrial properties, high-tech lease properties and research parks. The OSU research park “Innovation Place,” is scheduled for completion in 2012. The Business Enterprise Center (BEC) is a full-service business incubator offering shared services, mentoring and reduced rates for budding entrepreneurs. Since 1988, The BEC has a long list of successful graduate enterprises, graduating 87 businesses with more than 80 percent still in business five years after leaving the BEC.

ONAMI
Corvallis is home to the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), the state’s first signature research center. ONAMI’s mission is to grow research and commercialization, accelerating innovation-based economic development in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. In its first two years, ONAMI successfully leveraged 40 million in federal and private research grants and has over 140 researchers statewide working to achieve its mission. It is also a powerful collaboration involving Oregon’s three public research universities—Oregon State University, Portland State University and The University of Oregon. Other partners include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the State of Oregon, selected researchers from the Oregon Graduate Institute and the Oregon Health Sciences University.

Together, the ONAMI partners are performing cutting edge research in several aspects of nanoscale metrology, transparent and printed electronics, green nanoscience and nanomanufacturing, materials characterization, bulk microfluidics for energy/chemical and medical devices, process intensification and microfabrication. This research is applied to commercial opportunities ranging from computers to healthcare, and energy systems to environmental remediation.

Research Themes and Interests
• Graduating some of the country’s most employable engineers and drawing some of the most innovative and creative minds from around the world, Corvallis has specific research
capabilities
• Microfabricated systems for miniaturization of energy,
chemical and biological/biomedical processes
• Microreactor production of nanomaterials—high efficiency, high precision, low waste
• Select techniques for nanoscale metrology—a critical enabler for future generations of semiconductor electronics
• Select nanomaterials (functionalized and precision-spaced Au nanoparticles, bulk superlattices) and “green” synthesis techniques combining higher material yields and less harmful reagents
• Portable/miniature heating, cooling, and micro-power systems
• High-temperature, corrosion resistant microstructures (e.g. to enable localized and on-vehicle production of hydrogen)

Educational Partnership Facilities
• Oregon State University Office of Technology Transfer
• OSU Innovation Place
• OSU College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program
• Linn-Benton Community College Business Training and Workforce Development
• Expansion Management Magazine rated Corvallis as one of the top public school districts in the country, 509J District.
• Ninety-three percent of classes in the district (509J) are taught by teachers who are “highly qualified” under federal standards.
• Average SAT composite scores
Corvallis 1721
Oregon 1555
Nation 1518