Job Growth in Oregon's Thriving Software Industry Outpaced by...Booze?

Small software companies seem like they are everywhere in Portland, filling up office space and the seats in the city's coffee shops.

Here's how the state's economic development agency, Business Oregon, describes the industry's progress.

"Software and IT is one of the fastest growing industry groups in Oregon, with more than 50% employment growth over the past 10 years," the agency's website says. "Nearly 3,700 Software and IT establishments call Oregon home."

But one industry is growing even faster than software—booze.

Here's a chart from a new report from the Oregon Department of Economic Analysis:

The jobs represented on the chart are not clerks selling six-packs at convenience stores or people who work in restaurants or even brewpubs—but instead those people who brew beer, distill hard liquor and turn grapes into wine.

Josh Lehner, a senior economist with the state says the alcohol business brings with it added benefits beyond just the number of direct jobs it creates.

"While wages are not as high [as in software] in the alcohol cluster, it remains an important industry for a few reasons. At its roots, it is value-added manufacturing. It takes commodities and raw ingredients and turns them into a more valuable product that is then sold around the world," Lehner writes.

"The impact really goes beyond the bottles and cans however," he continues. "The broader cluster of agricultural products, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and local design, marketing and consulting services are key. When a new brewery opens in another state, they look to Oregon-based firms to help them get started."