slides: 5 Takeaways From the Oregon Leadership Summit

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Joanna Evoniuk, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Over 1,000 of Oregon’s leaders in business and government gathered in Portland for the 2015 Oregon Leadership Summit on Tuesday, to gather ideas and set agendas for the coming year. Although many topics and policies were discussed, the gathering focused on Oregon’s education, infrastructure and rural economies.

The annual leadership summit, started in 2002 by Senator Ron Wyden and the Oregon Business Council, brings together business associations and organizations, as well as state legislators, to focus on important state issues.

“It’s the one time all year both public and private sector get together and try to agree on where to go," said Ryan Frank, communications manager for the state's economic development agency, Business Oregon. “We’re not focused on what makes us different but what makes us similar.”

Slideshow Below: 5 Takeaways From the Oregon Leadership Summit

Senator Wyden, Governor Kitzhaber and leaders of the of the Oregon legislator, such as Speaker of the House Tina Kotek, Senate President Peter Courtney, minority leaders Senator Ted Ferrioli and Representative Mike McLane spoke on issues the legislative assembly will be tackling in the coming session.

The Oregon Business Council released the Oregon Business Plan for the year as well. The 2015 plan focuses on three main themes—education, infrastructure, and the strengthening of rural economies.

John Svicarovich, Manager of Research & Communication for the Business Council, said this year’s plan is a continuation of emphasis from the past plans to create quality jobs, reduce poverty, and raise incomes in the state.

Need for Change

Valerie Johnson, co-owner of the Roseburg based DR Johnson Lumber, said that although the economy in rural Oregon has grown stable after the recession, there was still significant need for improvement.

“Budgets are devastatingly less. It doesn’t take a math genus to figure out rural communities are hurting,” Johnson said. “Every town and county is doing everything they can to be self sufficient.”

Johnson said jobs are still lacking in those areas and small harvests from national forest lands are hurting communities dependent on timber.

Improving Oregon’s infrastructure was high on the agenda. Frank said his agency wanted to make sure businesses are connected to local or global markets.

“Infrastructure is like your house or car—the more you can invest, the better it is,” Frank said. “We need to make sure infrastructure is keeping up with growth and we actually have the ability to do what we can do.”

Although the summit is more a meeting of ideas than a call to action, leaders are glad to hear their problems have been recognized. Johnson said she is grateful for the summit and to hear people consider ideas that would benefit of all of Oregon. However, talk is not enough.

“I applaud Kitzhaber and his staff, and it’s a relief to hear that message coming out, but I call on the congressional delegation to get serious about listing to what needs to be done and stop playing politics,” Johnson said. “Let’s get some real work done.”

Related Slideshow: 5 Takeaways From the 2015 Oregon Leadership Summit

The 2015 Oregon Leadership Summit, hosted in Portland on Tuesday, was a gathering of political and business leaders to discuss upcoming plans and policy for the coming year. The Oregon Business Council also released their 2015 Oregon Business Plan. Here are five takeaways from the event:

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#1

Legislative Backs Education Funding

Governor Kitzhaber’s proposed budget for 2015-2017 has made it clear he is focusing on education, with almost 50 percent of total funds allotted for it. In his opening remarks, Kitzhaber shared his plan to increase literacy and graduation rates.

The governor and all legislators present at the summit endorsed the Oregon Business Plan’s goal of improving skilled jobs training around the state, according to John Svicarovich, Manager of Research & Communication for the Business Council.

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#2

Natural Resources

The Governor’s budget and Business Oregon are working towards creating an innovation fund for natural resource industries. Kitzhaber spoke of the need to make the most of natural resources in the state. With rural economies in Oregon struggling to make headway, the funds would help stimulate growth and new ideas.

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#3

Cross Laminated Timber Panels

The summit included a presentation from D.R. Johnson Lumber. The company is developing a process for manufacturing cross laminated timber panels, which can be used to construct multistory buildings. Co-owner Valerie Johnson said her company had been swamped with interested in the product. They hope to launch the product by mid 2015.

Johnson said the wood panels are better for the environment, both in production and use, than other alternative materials. Buildings made with wood are also better during earthquakes, something that’s appreciated on the west coast. The project was praised as a new innovation for Oregon’s timber industry.

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#4

Vehicle Taxes

With talks of improving Oregon’s infrastructure on the table, the question of how to pay for it was raised. Vehicle taxes were one of the solutions offered.

The Oregon Transportation Forum's (OTF) recent proposal to the state legislature called for adding revenue to improve infrastructure and transportation for the state. One suggestion for raising funds was to index the gas tax to offset the loss in funds by more fuel efficient cars. Chris Hagerbaumer, a board member of the OTF, said the increase would help the state and counties from falling behind in maintenance.

Senator Peter Courtney was one of the legislators who spoke of a need to increase transportation taxes to make sure the state can maintain infrastructure projects and take one new ones.

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#5

Flexible Safety Net

Part of the Oregon Business Council’s key goals is to help move Oregonians out of poverty. Svicarovich said the Council has a goal to reduce those living in poverty to below 10 percent by 2020. Right now 16.7 percent live in poverty, according to Svicarovich.

To help reach that goal, the 2015 Oregon Business Plan calls for expending the safety net for people working their way out of poverty. Some suggestions include redesigning the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, expanding employment-related daycare programs, and reforming the tax codes to help working families.