Report Shows Oregon More Supportive of New Company Formation

In an effort to establish a snapshot of Oregon’s growth-stage company formation ecosystem, and to provide entrepreneurs and investors with an updated resource, Oregon Community Foundation, in collaboration with University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business and key partners in Oregon’s nonprofit, business and education sectors, today released the 2018 Oregon Capital Scan.

The report is a comprehensive analysis of the funding landscape across the state and indicates that Oregon has become a more supportive place for new company formation.

Since 2014, annual transactions increased by 40% and the aggregate dollar value of those investments has risen 42.5%, helping more companies across Oregon receive access to capital to finance their growth. The Oregon Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network also demonstrated significant growth in 2017; based primarily at community colleges around the state, the network of service providers helped start more businesses and reported a 53% increase in funding obtained by their clients.

“Thanks to a period of economic expansion, the outlook for capital flows and availability in Oregon is quite positive,” said Max Williams, President and CEO of Oregon Community Foundation. “With more equity investing, strong increases in SBA backed loans, and steady increases in activity at Oregon’s SBDCs, entrepreneurs and the community that supports them are in good shape as we kick off 2019.”

The report also highlights the success of crowdfunding as a consistent source of funding for new ideas, and notes that equity investing is now more geographically dispersed in Oregon, with the Portland metro region moving from over 89% of total funding in 2015 to 79% of equity investment dollars in 2017.

The effort to put forth and draft this report would not have been possible without the continued support and collaboration of a large group of organizations and individuals who serve as sponsors for this effort and help guide the work. The 2018 Oregon Capital Scan Steering Committee members are:

• Melissa Freeman, Chair – Oregon Community Foundation
• John Saris and Nate Wildfire – Business Oregon
• Adam Zimmerman – Craft3
• Jon Finney – CTC Consulting/MyCFO
• Ian Galloway – Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
• Kathleen Flanagan – The Ford Family Foundation
• Rachel Jagoda Brunette – Lemelson Foundation
• Sayer Jones – Meyer Memorial Trust
• Jason Hilton – Northwest Health Foundation
• Dmitri Palmateer – Office of the State Treasurer
• Noah Brockman, Oregon Small Business Development Centers Network
• Katherine Krajnak – Prosper Portland

Read the full 2018 Oregon Capital Scan and learn more about the growth of Oregon’s capital landscape.