For starters, Oregon has less than half the population of Silicon Valley - there just isn't enough talent to draw from to get the in-house expertise the state needs.
On top of that, nobody wants to go work for the Government, and there is a dearth of talent at the state level when it comes to building huge software projects. Perhaps offering high salaries is a start, but the pace of the projects relative to other companies will always be a detractor. Combine that with the scrutiny of the public and constant need to practically over-document things, and you've got a culture that isn't attractive to talented software developers or analysts.
It isn't just that. Private companies pay a lot of bribes, I mean lobbying dollars, to keep the corporate welfare rolling in, and there are many, many citizen groups who gnash their teeth anytime the government "wastes" money by not paying private companies to do its work. There is a lot of motivation to keep shoveling good money after bad toward private companies, and little to change it.
For starters, Oregon has less than half the population of Silicon Valley - there just isn't enough talent to draw from to get the in-house expertise the state needs.
On top of that, nobody wants to go work for the Government, and there is a dearth of talent at the state level when it comes to building huge software projects. Perhaps offering high salaries is a start, but the pace of the projects relative to other companies will always be a detractor. Combine that with the scrutiny of the public and constant need to practically over-document things, and you've got a culture that isn't attractive to talented software developers or analysts.