Aug. 9--Editor's note: At last count, there were 340 technology companies in Clark County employing 8,800 workers, including established, A-listers such as Hewlett-Packard, Sharp and Wacom and a midrange of smaller, homegrown companies such as GWI Software and Infinity Internet.

Today, The Columbian begins a series of profiles of lesser-known local startups and younger companies that are working hard, growing fast and gaining regional and national attention among their industry peers.

To enhance the project, The Columbian has created a Top Tech Web site at www.columbian.com/toptech that will include more company profiles as well as technology event news and resources for Clark County's tech companies. To comment, contact Libby Tucker, who covers technology for The Columbian, at libby.tucker@columbian.com, 360-735-4553 or on Twitter @LibbyTucker.

Amid rounds of downsizing and generally slow business as a result of the recession, a collection of Southwest Washington technology companies are surviving and thriving, spinning out creative new products and services in near anonymity. The sector is downright vibrant.

It took some digging to find these companies, which hide in plain sight. But a series of phone calls and meetings with industry associations, economic development and employment agencies, industry heavyweights and the companies themselves led to a list of 10 top Clark County tech companies generating local buzz.

A common theme emerged in talking with executives with these tech players, large and small. Although many of the businesses have been here for years, the people working in them don't know each other, or what's happening in the local tech community. With the region focused instead on Portland's tightly knit tech market, businesses here appear isolated and fragmented.

So here's an introductory list. These 10 companies have in some cases recently landed venture capital funding or received a mention in the Wall Street Journal.

They are often spinoffs from the Washington State University Vancouver campus or tech businesses such as Apple, Dotster and InFocus. They make traditional software, program iPhone applications, build broadband networks or design nifty gadgets. All operate at the cutting edge.

"We have within the region a pretty significant installed base of tech companies of all flavors," said Jerry Petrick, director of business expansion with the Columbia River Economic Development Council in Vancouver. "But it's like herding cats (to find them).