Portland Monthly

The magazine was co-founded in 2003 by Nicole Vogel and her brother journalist Scott Vogel,[3] and began as a glossy magazine with a focus on the lifestyle of Portland.[5] Nicole Vogel had previously been a vice president at Cendant Corporation, and had worked at Time Warner for five years and was a vice president at CNN.[3][6] Scott Vogel had previously worked as a journalist for The New York Times.[7] The niche market focus of the magazine was for "25- to 65-year-olds with household incomes of at least $100,000".[7] Nicole Vogel used Texas Monthly as one of her models for the magazine, which she had read growing up in Texas.[3] Planning and research for the magazine included conducting 200 interviews with residents of Portland, in addition to raising US$40,000 from angel investors.[8]

Nicole Vogel had previously sought out seed capital from investors at the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum in February 2003,[9] and in total raised less than $1 million from investors.[2] One of the first investors in Portland Monthly was the "Women’s Investors Network", a Portland-based group of women-investors which is part of the Oregon Entrepreneurs' Foundation.[10] A formal gathering was held on September 27, 2003 at the Portland Armory to celebrate the launch of the magazine,[11] and the magazine debuted September 29, 2003.[12] The first issue was 104 pages, and due to initial funding issues the magazine appeared bimonthly for the first year.[2] 40,000 copies were produced for the first issue.[2] The first issue was dedicated to the theme: "Why We Love This Town".[2] The magazine was profitable in its first year and brought in $1 million in revenue.[8]

Scott Vogel served as the magazine's first editor-in-chief,[2][13] and left Portland Monthly in late 2004 to join The Washington Post.[8] Russ Rymer served as the magazine's editor after Scott Vogel left,[3] but he left in February 2005 to become editor of Mother Jones.[14] After Rymer the magazine went to "employment contracts" for editors.[3] Journalist Louise Lague became the next editor-in-chief of the magazine on April 11, 2005.[1] In 2005 the magazine maintained a staff of 22 in addition to hiring freelancers.[8] In August 2005 the Portland Magazine purchased a local magazine related to weddings, the Portland Bride and Groom, which was founded in 2001.[15] Portland Monthly's style editor Jill Spitznass became the editor of the Portland Bride and Groom.[15] Ted Katauskas, who had formerly worked as managing editor of Portland Magazine, was promoted to the magazine's editor-in-chief in August 2005.[15] Katauskas was the fifth employee of the company.[15]

Circulation of the Portland Monthly in 2005 numbered 56,000,[3] and in 2006 paid circulation was 56,000 with an additional 18,000 to 22,000 sold on newsstands.[6] In February 2006 the magazine was the seventh-largest city magazine in the United States.[6] The magazine has reported on the effects of methamphetamine abuse in Oregon, and Enron's usage of the electric utility in Portland.[3] The magazine maintains a website at www.portlandmonthlymag.com,[16] and includes the first few paragraphs of selected articles on the site.[17] Ted Katauskas was editor of the magazine in 2008.[18][19]