Great Article about Work and High Tech coming to the Gorge!!

Gorge's high-tech high life
The lifestyle lures workers, and the job growth lifts the area
Saturday, March 08, 2008
KERI BRENNER
The Oregonian

HOOD RIVER -- For Lisa Williams, life in the bucolic shadow of Mount Hood is perfectly compatible with operating at the core of a bustling tech-industry cluster.

"I started my business so I wouldn't have to drive to Portland every day," said Williams, 42, founder and chief executive of Media Forte Marketing, which helps businesses heighten their online presence so that they turn up more prominently in searches. "We moved here 11 years ago for my kids' dad's job, but we've stayed for the lifestyle."

She's not alone. A growing number of technology professionals have been finding their way to Hood River, The Dalles and across the Columbia River to the Washington communities of Bingen, White Salmon and Goldendale.

Tech employment has been quietly expanding in the gorge for years, growing from a handful of companies in 1998 to about 50 companies today with a wide variety of specialties -- from unmanned aviation to Web design. The 2006 arrival of search-engine behemoth Google Inc. merely cemented the sector's prospects.

The Mountain View, Calif., company, which generated $4.2 billion in profit last year, employs close to 200 staff and contract workers at its massive computer server complex in The Dalles. It's also made the community part of its long-term plans, partnering with Columbia Gorge Community College to develop a technology training program.

Williams and others have stepped up efforts to promote tech in the region, including an upcoming regional search-engine marketing conference at the Portland Zoo.

Colleen Wright, a presenter at the Monday event, says search-engine marketing has increased because it's measurable.

"You can see your results and see what's working," said Wright, of the Search Engine Academy in Beaverton, a training program. "You are able to get top search results if you follow certain guidelines -- more visibility, more sales."

The gorge's scenic beauty and destination status for windsurfing, skiing and other outdoor activities are persuasive tools for attracting highly skilled workers.

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