Oregon Business & Industry is thrilled to announce the selection of The Sports Bra founder Jenny Nguyen as its final Oregon Visionary Award honoree for 2024. Nguyen and her fellow honorees – see below – will be recognized at OBI’s annual Vision Oregon Event, which will take place at the Portland Art Museum on Oct. 23.
OBI’s highest honor, the Oregon Visionary Award recognizes people, employers and organizations that strengthen Oregon’s economy and contribute significantly to shared prosperity by developing solutions to significant problems. At a time when Oregon’s reputation has struggled and its economic competitiveness has waned, this year’s Visionary Award winners have demonstrated how well the state, driven by its private sector, still works.
When it comes to innovation, inspiration and fun, Oregon can still deliver.
The Sports Bra, in northeast Portland, is a sports bar with an innovative approach: Its five TVs show only women’s sports. Nguyen came up with the concept in 2018, when she and several friends watched an NCAA women’s basketball tournament game on a tiny TV at a local bar without sound. Following a Kickstarter campaign that raised twice its goal in only 30 days, The Sports Bra opened in March 2022 and has experienced wild success.
In April 2024, only two years after its opening, The Sports Bra announced plans to expand with the help of investment from the 776 Foundation. The foundation was established by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who committed to donating all returns from the investment in The Sports Bra to advance women’s sports.
In addition to spotlighting women’s sports, The Sports Bra supports women in the food and beverage industry. Nguyen, a trained chef, sources ingredients from women-owned businesses.
Nguyen’s fellow 2024 Oregon Visionary Award honorees are:
• Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute (ATAMI). As a core unit of OSU Advantage within the Division of Research and Innovation, ATAMI is a vibrant incubator for businesses leveraging cutting-edge flow chemistry and manufacturing technologies. Located on Hewlett-Packard’s Corvallis campus, this unique collaboration hub brings together Oregon State University engineers and private-sector partners to propel research, development and commercialization. ATAMI offers an impressive array of state-of-the-art tools and is home to the OSU Advantage Accelerator, which provides startups with crucial training and guidance for every stage of their journey. By providing comprehensive workforce training and access to top-tier researchers and equipment, ATAMI supports business success and fuels economic growth in communities across Oregon, fostering a thriving ecosystem and contributing to OSU’s strategic plan of “prosperity widely shared.”
• ZGF and Hoffman Skanska Joint Venture for their leading roles in creating PDX Next. The first and last thing visitors to Oregon see is Portland International Airport’s new main terminal, an architectural tribute to the state’s landscape, its evolving industries and its unique culture. Designed to evoke the feeling of a walk in the forest, the new terminal maximizes access to natural light and features abundant greenery beneath an undulating, 9-acre mass timber roof. The terminal also provides a uniquely Portland experience by giving visitors access to many local shops and restaurants – and reintroducing the airport’s famous PDX carpet. The accomplishes all of this while minimizing energy use and carbon emissions. The project combines the architectural vision of ZGF with the expertise of Hoffman Construction and Skanska, whose joint venture made it happen.
This year’s Vison Oregon event will feature a keynote address by noted political commentator Chris Stierwalt, who hosts the “Ink Stained Wretches” podcast and serves as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on American politics, voting trends, public opinion and the media. At the event, OBI will also announce the winner of the Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest.
Past winners of the Visionary Award include the Families First Childcare Center and OMIC R&D in 2023 and Looptworks founder Scott Hamlin and Dutch Bros in 2022.
Go here to learn more about the Vision Oregon Event.