Good morning Portland. Here are today’s five things to get your day started.

Now That’s What I Call Innovative

Schwabe’s announcement yesterday that it’s adding seven new IP attorneys, from a Portland boutique firm, really drives home the point that, yes, the city is really taking this innovation thing seriously.

Day after day, reporter Malia Spencer writes about fundraising, startups, acquisitions and other such scuttlebutt in Portland TechFlash (look for her Wednesday edition early this afternoon). And whenever we send one of those online newsletters to readers, I always wonder about the ancillary businesses that benefit from from our influx of entrepreneurs.

We’ll, of course, regularly track how such leaders as Schwabe continue to coalesce around our innovation economy even as they occupy other sectors.

Pure Gold
Speaking of innovation, few around the office had heard of this company, PowderPure, of The Dalles, until yesterday. I’m pretty sure we’ll be hearing more about them.

PowderPure, which dries fruits and vegetables and creates flavoring powders that don’t lose any of the foods’ nutrients, landed nearly $6 million yesterday (Portland firm Orca Capital lent a hand in the round). The company employs more than 70 workers.

One of the best parts about this job is getting a daily education on what’s going on around this state. I’m pretty sure today, I’ll learn about another PowderPure that’s ready to create more jobs, make new products and keep spreading the word about Oregon’s entrepreneurial acumen.

On the Other Hand …

Then there are the companies that aren’t doing so well.

Our sister papers the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal have excellent coverage of the Hewlett-Packard layoffs that have rocked the tech world.

The up-to-30,000 workers, in the company’s enterprise division, represent an estimated 10 percent of the company’s workforce. HP is notoriously secretive about its Corvallis operations, but we do know that earlier this decade, they employed hundreds in the state.

An Ice Way to Start the Day

We knew this was coming, but that doesn’t make it any less “cool.”

Adidas and the NHL finally sealed the deal on a seven-year agreement. And, one of the first questions asked related to ads on uniforms.

Gary Bettman, the NHL’s commissioner, dismissed the notion out of hand.

A Whole lot of sandwich

Feast Portland 2015 gets underway with a few pre-event doings today and, in earnest, tomorrow night at the Sandwich Invitational.

Here’s a look at one of the entries in this year’s Invitational, which takes place at Director Park.

As published in the Portland Business Journal, September 16, 2015.