This week in startup news for the Portland metro area,  @TiEOregon   Columbia River Pitch competition winners, an acquisition for EasyHome, Cascadia Cleantech Accelerator reveals new cohort, Blend promises inspiration, and Vancouver events like Startup Conversations in the Couve and Portland Podcasters in Vancouver beckon.

- TiE Oregon Columbia River Pitch https://youtube.com/live/CeO1Poa-Y5I
- Blend https://blendpdx.com/
- Startup Conversations in the Couve https://www.meetup.com/northbankinno/
- Portland Podcasters https://www.meetup.com/portland-podcast-cooperative/

PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER STARTUP NEWS
00:00 Portland and Vancouver startup news
00:50 TiE Oregon Columbia River Pitch winners
02:56 EasyHome acquired
04:16 Cascadia Cleantech Accelerator 2024 cohort
05:43 Blend (June 7-9)
06:28 Vancouver Washington startup events

ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------
For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog and podcast that covers founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet.

ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ----------
Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). 

All because of a blog. Weird.

https://siliconflorist.com

#oregon #washington #startup

Week ending Jun 7, 2024 - Portland startup news

A lot of working people are somewhat familiar with the US Senate and US House of Representatives in the other Washington... but they're not as familiar with our STATE Senate and State House of Representatives in this Washington (you know... the one in Olympia.)

Harold sits down with State Senate candidate Adrian Cortes (https://www.votecortes.com/) and State House candidates John Zingale (https://www.electjohnzingale.com/) and Deken Letinich (https://www.electdeken.com/) to find out the differences - and similarities - between the Federal Legislature and our State Legislature, the value of failure, and how you can change things in our state by talking to your state legislators.

Remember working people in Southwest Washington, this is YOUR podcast! Email us at podcast@swwaclc.org and let us know what you think about the show, and what you'd like to hear in future episodes!

We're a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network - find more radio shows and podcasts that speak to working people about working people's issues at www.LaborRadioNetwork.org.

Working To Live In Southwest Washington

From Advocating To Legislating

If you've been out and about in Vancouver Washington, you may have noticed some new additions to the walls of businesses such as Richland Hub (https://richlandhub.com/) or White Oak Books (https://whiteoakbooks.net/.) These and other businesses are displaying posters that explore our region's deep Labor history.

The posters are part of a May Day Scavenger Hunt (https://tinyurl.com/mbwpk8px) put together by a coalition of Southwest Washington educator, health care, state worker, and other unions that will culminate in a May Day celebration at the Clark County Historical Museum (https://cchmuseum.org/) on May 1st at 5:00 PM.

Harold sits down with several members of these unions

PSE (https://www.pseclassified.org/) member Rachel Rice

EEA (https://www.eeaoffice.com/) member Katherine Aimone

OFNHP (https://ofnhp.aft.org/) member Connor Daniels

CCAHE (https://www.ccahe.org/) member Sydney Brahmavar

WPEA (https://www.wpea.org/) member Courtney Braddock

EEA (https://www.eeaoffice.com/) member Marj Hogan

to find out more about May Day, what YOU could win by taking part in this fun community activity, and the scavenger hunt's surprising connection to... Pokemon Go?

Find out more about this May Day celebration and how you can participate in the scavenger hunt at https://tinyurl.com/mbwpk8px. 

Remember working people in Southwest Washington, this is YOUR podcast! Email us at podcast@swwaclc.org and let us know what you think about the show, and what you'd like to hear in future episodes!

We're a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network - find more radio shows and podcasts that speak to working people about working people's issues at www.LaborRadioNetwork.org.

What Are Those Labor History Posters You're Seeing Around Vancouver All About?

The 2025 Washington State Labor Council Convention took place July 22nd - 24th at the Vancouver Hilton. As The Stand put it (https://www.thestand.org/2025/07/convention-2025-our-voice-our-power-our-movement/) those three days "strengthened bonds of solidarity, grew skillsets, and celebrated the powerful resiliency of a movement by and for working people."

Over the course of those three days Harold hit the Convention floor and talked with other Delegates including

Ryan Andreas (USW Local 289m - https://usw.org/)
Joe Bond (IBEW Local 48 - https://www.ibew48.com/)
Ava Claridge (AFSCME Local 443 - https://www.wfselocal443.org/)
Rik Desken (SAG-AFTRA Seattle Local - https://www.sagaftra.org/seattle)
Dustin Hysmith (SMART Local 16 - https://www.smw16.org/)
C Moline (NALC Branch 79 - https://nalc79.org/ - and Washington Young Emerging Labor Leaders - https://www.instagram.com/washington_yell/)
Nate Omdal (AFM Local 76-493 - https://local76-493.org/)
Chuck Pirtle (AFSCME 1181 - https://www.facebook.com/WFSELocal1181/ - and the Kitsap County Central Labor Council - https://unionhall.aflcio.org/kitsapcountyclc)
Tony Zemple (IUOE Local 302 - https://www.iuoe302.org/  - and the Northwest Washington Central Labor Council - https://www.nwwclc.com/)

about the big moments that stood out to them during the event, their impressions of Vancouver, and why working people who aren't in a union (yet) should care about what happens at state Labor Federation Conventions.

If you'd like to hear some of the speeches the Delegates mentioned when they talked to Harold, check out TVW's coverage of
Day 1 (https://tvw.org/video/washington-state-labor-council-constitutional-convention-2025071064/) and 
Day 2 (https://tvw.org/video/washington-state-labor-council-constitutional-convention-2025071065/) 
of the WSLC Convention.

This episode is sponsored by Union Plus's Unions Power America Sweepstakes, which offers union members across the country the chance to win $40,000.00 and a dream trip to New York City! No purchase is necessary; find out all the details and official rules at https://unionpowerusa.com.

Remember working people in Southwest Washington, this is YOUR podcast! Email us at podcast@swwaclc.org and let us know what you think about the show, and what you'd like to hear in future episodes! 

We're a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network - find more radio shows and podcasts that speak to working people about working people's issues at www.LaborRadioNetwork.org.

Ground Zero For Worker Protections: Voices From The 2025 WSLC Convention

More than mildly obsessed with Portland, Oregon, startups

New tracks tagged #vanwa