Business Portland News & Event Round Up, December 23

Recent business stories of note:

• Portland came in at No. 60 in a ranking of metro area job growth over the past decade

• Oregon's manufacturing sector increased by about a half a percent in 2011

• Business Oregon has received $16.5 million in federal funds aimed at making it easier for small businesses to borrow money

• The Mayor’s Office has released Global Portland: A 2011 Progress Report

• How Cloudability tapped a social network to land investors

• Beaverton-based Agilyx, a developer of a process to convert waste plastics into crude oil, said it raised $25M in Series C funding

• Two Portland Incubator Experiment companies have landed outside financing

• Pensole, a roving footwear design school, will open a permanent home next month in Portland’s Old Town

• Bull Run Distilling Co. of Portland wants to put Oregon whiskey on the map

• Oregon's craft distillers are beginning to hold their own when it comes to national attention

• Portland Roasting has had a case study done by Portland State University on sustainability practices at the company

• East Portland business districts will get money and expertise to help boost economic development

• San Diego bike shop Velo Cult is relocating to Portland next month

• Snowy weather and the recession nearly forced 30-year-old retailer Kitchen Kaboodle of Portland into bankruptcy in 2009

• Tanuki sets an edgy table for Japanese izakaya in Portland

• Happy Holiday’s from Portland’s PopArt

• Feeling clever? Try your hand at Google’s cartoon caption-writing contest

Some business announcements and events of note:

• NE 42nd Avenue Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative has a new website

• There is a free marketing workshop offered for small businesses as part of the Sellwood Bridge Project on January 9

• A session on Local & Mobile Search is on January 10

• 2012 Economic Forecast is on January 11

• SearchFest 2012, Portland’s Premier Search Marketing Conference, returns February 24

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