Knowledge Learning Corporation

So just about every married couple you can think of has kids, right? Heck, now days you don't even need to wait for marriage to have kids. What do all these parents do with their kids when they go to work? That's right, Day Care!

What does this have to do with Portland, you ask? Well Portland is home to the nations largest private childcare provider. Knowledge Learning Corporation is probably better known as KinderCare.

However, the cute little child care centers are not the only thing Knowledge Learning Corporation does. They also team with large and small companies for on-site child care. They provide education opportunities and even run summer activities. In all they operate over 1,700 locations and employ 41,000 people! Sales in 2005 topped $.16 billion!

Their Portland headquarters is located downtown and offers a variety of professional level positions in disciplines such as: Accounting, Financial Planning, Business Development, Human Resources, Marketing, Real Estate, and much more! As of this writing, they boast 72 openings in Portland!

So check out their web site with the below links and go get yourself a new job and maybe even some free childcare!

Knowledge Learning Corporation home page
Knowledge Learning Corporation jobs page
Google Finance page

Laika Entertainment

Laika\ like-uh\ noun: 1. the first living thing from earth to be launched into space. 2. A cool animation company in Portland, Ore that is taking on Pixar and Dreamworks.

There is a good chance that Laika Entertainment is about to become the largest company in Portland that you have never heard of. Why, you ask? First, because it's former name was Will Vinton Studio's. Most importantly, it is now owned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and he has big plans.

Big plan #1: Don't let Pixar and Dreamworks have all the fun (and business). Big plan #2: take the best of Nike, an undisputed market leader, and implement at Laika. One of the most noticeable implementations? A 30 acre, 4 building campus in a Portland suburb. They've got your attention now, don't they?

So they'll need to fill those buildings with employee's, so get on over to their jobs page and check out the opportunities. Newspaper reports from over the last couple of years say that the company will swell to between 300-400 employee's by 2010! Keep in mind that every company needs finance, marketing, sales, accounting, IT, and all that other good stuff....they'll be hiring a lot more than just animators. At the time of this blog post, they have over 40 Portland area jobs listed on their site!

So if you want a fun place to work, a place on the cutting edge of entertainment, check out Laika Entertainment at the below links:

Homepage
Jobs Page
Wikipedia page

Integra Telecom

It's hard to name a phone company these days that doesn't start with "AT...", "Qw...." or "Ver..." But Portland Oregon is home to one of the best "other" telecom companies in the US.

Integra Telecom provides a full suite of telecommunications products to small, mid size, and even large businesses. What sets Integra apart from other companies in the industry is that it owns and operates it's own network while others just resell services from the baby bell's. Finally, they support that network with locally based customer service and technical offices.

Integra Telecom operates in 8 western states and employs 1,500 people. A few years back they moved their headquarters from the tech area in Hillsboro, into Portland at the Lloyd Center district. In fact, if you ever drive I-84 westbound, you've probably seen their sign.

So if you want to work at a company that cares about it's employee's and goes up against the Goliaths on a daily basis and wins, check out Integra!

Integra Telecom Homepage
Integra jobs page
Google Finance page

Banfield Pet Hospitals

The pet and pet care industry is growing every year. After all, the Humane Society of the United States tells us there are over 163 million dogs and cats in American homes. In 2006, it was reported that pet owners spent over $40 billion (yes, that's billion with a 'b') on their animals.

So it is no surprise that there is a nationwide network of animal hospitals (or veterinarian offices if you wish) to serve your every need. What may be a surprise to you is that this network of over 600 locations is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

You don't have to be a veterinarian to find a great job at Banfield. Just like any other company with 5,000 employee's and 600 'stores', you can find openings in a wide range of positions including Information Technology, Finance, Marketing, Quality Assurance, Team Resources and more. Positions range from entry level to senior management.

So if you love animals, as do about 73% of Americans, and you are looking for a great professional job, check out Banfield with the below links:

Banfield homepage
Banfield non-veterinarian jobs
Google Finance page

Corrigo

Portland Oregon isn't only known for being the athletic footwear and apparel capitol of North America, it is also known as the Silicon Forest. The Portland metro area got this nickname after tech companies from the original silicon geography, Silicon Valley, began setting up offices in the more modestly priced Willamette Valley.

Thanks to this phenomenon, my list of technology employers in the Portland metro area tops 64 companies! Yes, one of those companies is the well known Intel, but another is Wilsonville based Corrigo.

Corrigo makes web based and wireless software for work order, time tracking, and maintenance management. Users of Corrigo software simply use their cell phone or laptop to track purchase orders, employee time cards, maintenance schedules, and the like.

One of the best things about Corrigo is that they are no flash in the pan. Corrigo was founded nearly 10 years ago and just recently announced that they had raised another $10m in venture funding.

Word on the street is that Corrigo has repositioned it's staff to properly utilize their new funds. In other words, they are hiring!

For more about Corrigo job opportunities visit these links:

Corrigo Homepage
Corrigo jobs page
Corrigo's Google Finance page

LaCrosse Footwear

Over the last 50 years, Portland has grown into the athletic footwear and apparel capital of North America. Off the top of my head I can think of 6 companies with US Headquarters in the Portland area.

One of these companies that may not have known about is LaCrosse Footwear. This work and outdoor boot and shoe designer was founded in the late 1800's but only moved it's headquarters to Portland in the 1990's after purchasing Danner footwear.

LaCrosse makes it's home on NE Airport Way, just off of I-84. They recently moved it a beautiful new building that makes you feel like you are in the Pearl District. This company of 300 employs some of the most friendly people in the industry and they continue to add to their staff.

So if you want to work in the footwear industry but don't think you fit well at the big bad Nike's of the world, give LaCrosse a look!

LaCrosse Homepage
LaCrosse Jobs Page
LaCrosse Investor info
Danner Boots

The Town You Love, the Jobs You Want!

Welcome to pdxcompanies.com! This blog is dedicated to letting you know about the Portland area companies that you may not have known existed.

In 2006 I was changing careers and spent a lot of time on web sites like Monster and CareerBuilder. I grew more and more frustrated as the days went on, seeing junk job after junk job. If one only viewed the above mentioned job, you might think the only jobs in Portland were commission only sales gigs at fly-by-night companies.

I knew there had to be more jobs out there for educated professionals, and at companies other than Intel or Nike. So I set out to see if I was correct. What I found is that the Portland, Oregon area has an amazing group of companies that employ tens of thousands of professionals like you and me.

With this blog, I plan on profiling these employers, one every few days, and provide you with links to their home pages and directly to their jobs page. I hope you find this list of employers as encouraging to the Oregon economy as I have.

Good luck on your job search!