Nike’s first sole was poured in a waffle iron in Oregon — and Intel’s biggest site isn’t in California, it’s here
- A University of Oregon coach and his old runner founded Nike on a handshake
- Intel’s Hillsboro campus employs more people than any other Intel site on Earth
- 99% of America’s hazelnuts grow in the Willamette Valley
- The Beaver State, 33rd to join the Union (1859)
How Oregon’s digital economy grew
Oregon becomes the 33rd state
Admitted to the Union on February 14.
The handshake that became a swoosh
Phil Knight had been one of Bowerman’s wear-testers as a University of Oregon runner; a 1962 Stanford class paper on Japanese athletic shoes became the blueprint for a real company two years later. Blue Ribbon Sports spent seven years just importing shoes before making its own — and the waffle-iron story is verified down to the object, a 1936 wedding-gift Bersted Manufacturing iron the Bowermans later recovered near their Oregon home. Nike is now a $46.3 billion company with around 77,800 employees, still headquartered in Beaverton on what’s now called the Philip H. Knight Campus.
Oregon, not California, is where Intel is biggest
It’s a genuinely counterintuitive fact, confirmed on Intel’s own site: the company’s Hillsboro, Oregon operation is "the company’s largest, with more than 22,000 employees" — more than triple the headcount at its Santa Clara, California headquarters. Intel has invested more than $59 billion in Oregon since arriving in 1974, including a $36 billion modernization pledge in 2024 backed by a $7.86 billion federal CHIPS Act award.
How Oregon businesses buy websites
Nike and Intel get the headlines, but most of Oregon’s businesses are the trades, farms and shops serving Portland’s neighborhoods, the Willamette Valley, and towns across the rest of the state.
Trades and home services
Oregon’s coast, valley and high desert are very different markets — say plainly which one you serve.
Agriculture and B2B services
Suppliers to the Willamette Valley’s farms and wineries benefit from being specific about what they handle.
Shops and hospitality
Clear hours and location, readable on a phone, win the quick local search.
How well do you know Oregon’s digital economy?
3 quick questions. Get all 3 right and you win a 10% off discount code. Every answer is somewhere on this page.
Oregon quiz · 1 of 3
What kitchen appliance did Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman use to invent the waffle-sole running shoe in 1971?
Why FastSites works here
A state where a waffle iron became a billion-dollar shoe company understands that the best ideas often come from making do with what’s on hand. A clear one-page site, live in days, at a published price, is that same instinct for a small business.