Now that President Obama has officially signed the stimulus legislation, we’d all like to find out what specific benefits it will provide. In this post, I’ll focus on the benefits to small businesses. More courageous citizens have read through the entire legislation, and many have been talking here and there about the possible benefits. Here’s what we could determine so far. (more…)
About a week or so ago, the NY Times’ Green Inc. blog posted this piece about the tax barriers to the growth of renewable energy companies. Many of the companies rely heavily on something called “tax equity” for their funding, but flaws in the tax equity system inhibit the companies’ growth. This could be a genuine concern for many Oregon businesses because of the vast amount of renewable energy companies in the state, many of which rely heavily upon the government. (more…)
The Wall Street Journal ran this story today about the boom in investment and sales growth in alternative energy (or “greentech”) companies. The story makes us think, of course, of Oregon, which is proving to be a cleantech hotbed. We’ve written about this in the past in our Renewable Business in Green Portland post and in our Starting a Green Business post. This latest WSJ article (more…)
Apparently Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit, which is one of a multitude of tax incentives drawing companies to the state (see a list in this previous post), is proving to be more popular and generous than anticipated. The ease of qualifying for, and receiving, the tax credit has pushed the number of applicants to 4,000, as noted in yesterday’s Oregonian, which ran this story about the companies that are benefiting, calling the credit “the state’s fastest growing tax shelter.” (more…)
For those of you who also follow Portland’s start-up scene, the Leftbank project on the east side has been receiving press throughout the year, and recently received more coverage from the Portland Tribune here. The project is intriguing for it’s objective — to house under one roof a group of creative, design and sustainable businesses, which are the types of businesses that already make up a large segment of Portland start-ups. Included among those businesses are bicycle companies, which have also been heavily featured (more…)
Next month’s cover story in Oregon Business Magazine is about the recent growth of Oregon’s bicycle industry. It’s great to see an industry so resilient — and prosperous — despite the floundering economy. So add Oregon’s bicycle industry to the handful of growth industries that make this area so unique, like green tech, outdoor apparel, design, and microbrewing, among others. As these industries grow, expect to see smaller companies sprout up around the main players, providing complementary products and services. (more…)
Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with the green business wave sweeping over Oregon. In the wake of last week’s news about foreign solar companies choosing the Portland area for their American headquarters, we wrote a post about the various tax incentives, and other reasons, that green companies are attracted to this area. Apparently the news is spreading: the Wall Street Journal recently published this article on more renewable businesses choosing to locate in the Portland area.
While browsing through earth2tech’s daily roundup of headlines for green startups we came across a couple of stories about startups receiving “Series A funding,” which made us think about the many ways to finance new businesses. Getting an idea from A to Z requires money, often from an outside source (if you can get any these days). Outside money typically comes in the form of bank loans, a sale of securities (often called a “private placement of securities”), venture capital or government (more…)
With the national economy in the dumps, and Oregon as a whole not doing much better, one of the lone hot areas for entrepreneurs, especially in the Portland area, appears to be in starting up so-called green businesses. There is no exact definition for a green business, but there are certain characteristics that seem to indicate some companies are more conscious about the environment, saving energy and reducing waste than others. However you define this group of companies, a green wave of growth is happening in Oregon. Outside businesses are choosing to locate here and new businesses are opening their doors.