Even as Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Tektronix and other Oregon tech stalwarts are slashing jobs, new companies are springing up by the bushel in Old Town, the Pearl and Portland’s inner eastside.

These startups are taking advantage of the social media craze to invent new Web tools that broadcast a user’s location online, for example, or stream advertising onto MySpace and other online communities.

But stalwarts they are not, and may never be, even as the state looks for ways out of its deepening recession. [...]

Oregon has long lacked the money, scale and leadership to be a great incubator for tech startups. Those weaknesses are less important these days, as the recession humbles big cities and mega-companies. The trend toward grass-roots technology and collaboration plays to Portland’s strengths.

Oregon Live: Tech entrepreneurs defy recession

(via Fast Wonder)

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