page_title: Albany, Oregon
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Albany, Oregon / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory in Albany, Oregon, USA. w:Albany Research Center
context_page_description: Albany is the county seat of Linn County, and the 11th largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, just east of Corvallis and south of Salem. It is predominantly a farming and manufacturing city that settlers founded around 1848. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population of Albany was 50,158. Its population was estimated by the Portland Research Center to be 55,338 in 2019.
  Albany has a home rule charter, a council–manager government, and a full-time unelected city manager. The city provides the population with access to over 30 parks and trails, a senior center, and many cultural events such as the Northwest Art & Air Festival, River Rhythms and Movies at Monteith. In addition to farming and manufacturing, the city's economy depends on retail trade, health care, and social assistance. In recent years the city has worked to revive the downtown shopping area, with help from the Central Albany Revitalization Area.
context_section_description: Albany calls itself the "rare metals capital of the world", producing zirconium, hafnium and titanium. One of the major producers of these metals in Albany is ATI Specialty Alloys and Components (formerly ATI Wah Chang) which has a 110-acre (0.45 km²) site that primarily focuses on the production of zirconium.
  Albany and the surrounding communities are major exporters of grass seed. Other crops produced include corn, beans, mint, strawberries, and hazelnuts. Linn County is also referred to as the "Grass Seed Capital of the World".
  The decline of the timber industry and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has left Linn County with a relatively high unemployment rate. The Oregon Employment Department does not maintain unemployment statistics for cities. The losses in the timber industry in around Albany have led the city to a more diverse economic base for the city, led by retail trade, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing as the three leading aspects of the economy. Oregon Freeze Dry is a leading employer in the manufacturing sector of the Albany economy with its headquarters located in the city. The company employs over 300 people and was incorporated in 1963. The Albany facility is the company's main research and development site in the industry, and has recently partnered with Seattle-based technology company EnerG2 to produce carbon electrode material, in a 74,000-square-foot (6,900 m²) former distribution center of Oregon Freeze Dry by 2011 bringing a new green technology industry to Albany. Tec Laboratories has made Tecnu poison ivy cleanser and other topical medicines in Albany since 1977.
  Albany is also home to the Albany Research Center, which is part of National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). They employ a staff of 120. Albany Research Center was founded in 1943, the laboratory specializes in life cycle research starting with the formulation, characterization, and/or melting of most metals, alloys, and ceramics; casting and fabrication, prototype development; and the recycle and remediation of waste streams associated with these processes.
  Albany has a per capita income of $18,570, putting it ranked at 81st in the state.
caption: Albany Research Center
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX K200D", "Image Software": "K200D Ver 1.00", "Image DateTime": "2009:08:07 13:24:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "532", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 33, 0, 1, 0, 22, ... ]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/350", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:08:07 13:24:23", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:08:07 13:24:23", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "2813/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3872", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "42", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Hard", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}