Portland Business Journal Highlights Most Admired Companies
The Central Oregon region was represented in the 2008 Oregon’s Most Admired Companies awards as published by the Portland Business Journal (PBJ) last month. To generate the rankings, PBJ asked 2,000 CEOs and top-level managers in Oregon and southwest Washington to select three companies they regarded the highest in eight industries: technology, health care, nonprofits, financial services, professional services, commercial real estate, manufacturing, agriculture and wood products. Among those operating in the Tri County area on the list were: Precision Castparts Corp., which operates a significant titanium casting plant in Redmond, and Jeld Wen, with a large window plant in Bend among other business units in the banking, title, and resort development sectors. Others included in manufacturing were TriQuint Semiconductor, which has a small manufacturing operation in Bend and Bend-based Deschutes Brewery, which ranked high among the ag sector.
A number of professional services companies operating in Central Oregon were also recognized including developer and commercial construction firm Gerding Edlen (office in Bend); attorneys Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt (rapidly growing practice, office in Bend); Miller Nash (offices in Bend and Prineville); ODS Companies, which is just about to occupy a new five story office in the Old Mill District (built incidentally by Gerding Eden), and a host of banks operating in the region including Bend-headquartered Bank of the Cascades, Umpqua Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and West Coast Bank. Integra Telecom, which purchased Eschelon (formerly Unicom) was also recognized in the technology category. Central Oregon has admired companies operating in all of the eight industries surveyed – a testament to the increasing recognition of local top local companies as well as the increasing importance the region is playing in the statewide economy.