Employment at Portland Advertising & PR Agencies Has Grown 37 Percent from 2003 to 2007

I had the pleasure of meeting Daniel Timothy Wood, Digital Strategy Director at PMSI, over coffee this morning at Jace Gace on SE Belmont.
He mentioned a recent article in The Oregonian that lists several creative firms who have opened shop in Portland, some specifically to serve Adidas.

The latest newcomers include Chicago marketing firm Tangible Worldwide and Boise-based Fuel3 Advertising, which announced its entry into the market Wednesday. They join San Jose, Calif.-based Liquid Agency Inc. and Salt Lake City’s Struck Inc.; Struck opened a Portland office in October; Liquid did so in July.
“This is a proactive move,” said Tangible’s chief executive, who goes by the single name of Merrick. “More than anything, this office is for talent, because we are in need of talent more so than clients.”

The search for digital talent is a subject we hear a lot about. I, for one, keep hearing how hard it is to find seasoned digital creatives. Yet, here I am, a seasoned digital creative in a new city, wondering which firm might be a good fit for me.
Maybe someone will come find me, but I don’t believe that now anymore that I believed Goodby was going to find me when I worked in Salt Lake or Denver. Just like before, it’s incumbent on me—the seeker—to beat a path to the most interesting people and firms.