Founded in April 1999 in Portland, Oregon, Celilo Group Media is a media and technology company with a mission of expanding the marketplace for sustainable products and services. 

Celilo is the national leader in creating incentive and rewards programs for sustainable lifestyle decisions. Our flagship product is the annual print and mobile Chinook Book, currently being published in Portland, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver, and Minneapolis. The publications are localized by our staff in each market. Since its founding, Celilo has distributed over 250 million green and local coupons. We have worked with thousands of schools and community groups who raise funds for their organizations through the sale of Chinook Book. 

The Chinook Book mobile app was launched in 2010 for delivering secure one-time-use coupons, and it has grown to be accepted at over 2,500 merchant locations. The flexible app platform hosts Chinook Book offers as well as exclusive rewards for community partners ranging from universities and utility green power programs to the nation's leading carsharing service. 

In 2010 the company was certified as a B Corporation and was recertified in 2013.

About Celilo Falls

Our company is named after Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. The Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest regarded the falls of Celilo as a sacred place. Trading communities flourished there, drawn by the bounty of fish the falls provided. Before the arrival of Lewis and Clark, Native Americans from as far south as California and as far North as Alaska would travel to Celilo to fish and trade.

On March 10, 1957, a dam at The Dalles, Oregon was completed, and within 24 hours the roar of Celilo falls was silenced under the rising water of the Columbia. But the falls are still there, under the water, and one day we may hear them again.

"Celilo" can be loosely translated as "echo of rocks against water." We chose the name Celilo out of deep respect for the history of the falls, and to remind us daily to reflect on those things put forth as progress and economic development. In our small way, we hope our work will help to preserve the remaining echoes of nature and culture we all share.

Photo provided by the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum. For a longer history of the falls of Celilo, read Recalling Celilo on SalmonNation.com.

Founding Team

Nik Blosser

Industry

Consumer Goods

Founded

1999

Year Joined

2001

Chapter

Portland