Monday, December 14, 2009

New Business Developments Hold Promise for 2010

By Tim Knapp, Wilsonville Mayor


As we start a new year, this is a good time to reflect on the past year and to look forward to plans for 2010.

The economic recession has impacted our business sector during the past year, as reflected by the high-profile closure of Joe’s Sporting Goods’ 300,000 square-foot corporate office and warehouse, InFocus downsizing and moving out of town, and the slower than expected residential development of the Villebois urban village. And a number of our local businesses have also encountered difficulties as overall consumer spending has decreased.

We will, however, persevere and as we look forward to 2010, there are some positive signs for the local economy:

• Fred Meyer stores will start construction this summer on the $70 million, 200,000-square-foot Old Town Square shopping center, located at the intersection of Wilsonville and Boones Ferry Roads. Fred Meyer’s parent company, Kroger Inc., has indicated that the Wilsonville Fred Meyer’s will become the prototype for future stores by incorporating more energy-saving ‘green’ features, a greater pedestrian and ‘village square-style’ orientation and unique architectural elements;

• Rockwell Collins, a $4.5 billion firm with 20,000 employees worldwide that designs and manufactures communication and aviation electronics, is consolidating US “heads-up” display operations by transferring approximately 150 primarily high-paid engineering positions to Wilsonville from San Jose, California. This move will bring Rockwell’s total local workforce to as high as 400 to 450 people. The chamber has responded to a request by Rockwell Collins for 100 ‘relocation packets’ for prospective employees who may transfer to our area.

• Movie Gallery, which acquired Hollywood Video in 2005, decided in 2008 to retain the Wilsonville corporate office as the firm’s US headquarters, relocating from Alabama and resulting in about 200 positions being retained here. Movie Gallery, which rents and sells DVDs, movie videos, and video games, did however vacate in 2009 the 178,000 square foot distribution center used by Hollywood Video located in North Wilsonville.

• Coca-Cola Bottling Company is constructing a $35 million, 150,000-plus square-foot expansion of the existing Coca-Cola plant, resulting in a 311,500 square-foot facility. The city worked with the Oregon Economic Development Department to obtain a $500,000 immediate opportunity grant to help with additional roadway transportation capacity for the expansion. Retaining Coca-Cola, which also considered relocating to a site in Washington state, kept over 100 existing jobs and resulted in an additional 17 jobs in Wilsonville and 45 jobs in the surrounding area.

• Coherent, Inc., which designs, manufactures and markets a variety of lasers and precision optics for measurement and diagnosis, told city officials that it was planning to relocate 20 to 40 positions to Wilsonville from Canada related to the October acquisition of StockerYale Inc.

• bioMérieux, a global firm headquartered in France that designs, develops, manufactures and distributes tools and instruments for medical in vitro infectious disease diagnostics and other products for the pharmaceutical industry, acquired in late 2008 Wilsonville-based PML Microbiologicals. This move retained over 200 jobs in Wilsonville and provided a global customer base and increased access to capital for the local facility.

• Medline Industries Inc., the nation’s largest privately-held medical-supply firm, leased 109,000 square feet of warehouse space in the former Nike Inc. Distribution Center on 95th Avenue. The Illinois-based firm is establishing its first Oregon outpost with about a dozen employees to better serve hospital and medical clinic clients from Portland to southern Oregon. Medline is the third medical-supply distributor to set up shop in Wilsonville, joining Richmond, Va.-based Owens & Minor Inc. and Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health Inc.

• Other development proposals are in the works, including a new business park by Pacific NW Properties on the south side of Wilsonville Road just west of the railroad crossing; a new Wilsonville Audi automobile sales and service facility next to the Nissan dealership on 95th Avenue; and the 12,800 square-foot multi-tenant Morrissey Medical/Dental Building on SW Town Center Loop West.

While some of these firms are generally larger employers, they often purchase supplies and services locally and the expenditures by their employees benefit local, smaller businesses. We are not completely out of the recessionary woods and there will be challenges to rise above in the coming year. So let’s work together and support each other and our local businesses through these tough economic times. If we look out for our neighbors, pitch in where needed, shop locally and work as a team, we will all survive and become stronger in the long run.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

President's Report

By: Scott Starr

President’s Message

I want to thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as president of the Wilsonville Chamber this year. It has been a pleasure to meet many of the Chamber members and represent you in the meetings, forums, and planning sessions I attended this year. The year went by quickly, but many accomplishments were achieved in a short amount of time. One of the most impactful accomplishments was the transition to a new vision and mission for the Chamber. This new vision and mission provided clarity and focus to our collective efforts as we sought to do the following:

Our Vision:
To create and promote economic vitality for business in the south metro region

Our Mission:

Business is the priority


Many new changes occurred. Equine tourism has really come into its own, the golf tournament and fall food fest changed locations, the website exploded in growth, and Brandi Herford was hired in September. We have worked with the city to improve the sign code, make Wilsonville a more appealing place to locate a business, and plan with city leaders about how to make it easier to business here. With all of these exciting changes, one thing stayed the same. In the middle double digit unemployment and a struggling economy, our membership stayed the same. This was a pretty amazing statistic to stay even with 2008, but still a very troubling sign as to the state of our economy.


The Wilsonville Chamber has taken strong stands to protect free enterprise. The most recent effort is rejecting the anti business efforts of the Oregon legislature by opposing measures 66 and 67. Additionally, we have advocated for more traffic lanes on I-5 to protect commerce, protect land to be developed for business, and supported efforts to protect exit 286 by building up surface streets in the Wilsonville, Tualatin, and the Sherwood area.


Our luncheons have been well attended and Scott Philips lined up some very inspirational speakers. Steve Gilmore has done a good job managing the Chamber and has assembled a wonderful supporting team. He has been very active in leading the Chamber with Candi running the office, Jennifer managing the visitor center, and I am excited about our renewed focus on our networking opportunities for AM’s and PM’s with Brandi’s leadership. They have all done a great job. I also want to commend the board and the executive committee. Their dedication, professionalism, and passion have really helped the Chamber be effective and bring value to its members. Finally, I’d like to thank the committee chairs for their time and leadership. They really take our vision to a higher level.


I appreciate your patience this year and the opportunity you gave to lead this great organization. We are well positioned for the future with staff, board, vision, and members to make it happen. Please stay involved and encourage other non member businesses to join with us!


www.wilsonvillechamber.com


Governmental Affairs Report- No on Measures 66 and 67

By:
Ray Phelps, President-Elect

Greg Del Ponte, Interim Director, Oregon Department of Aviation is the committee’s December speaker. Mr. Del Ponte will describe the process for updating Aurora Airport’s Master Plan.

Carl Hosticka, Metro Councilor, District 3, met with GAC on November 4th to report on the status of the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) update and the Urban and Rural reserves process.

Mr. Hosticka did not sound too hopeful that the new RTP would include a study of the southern I-5 corridor (North Tigard to the Boones Bridge) requested by our Chamber. This study is totally dependent upon the inclusion of Alternative 7 projects in the RTP, which appears doubtful at this time. The corridor study’s primary stumbling block is the lack of agreement on Alternative 7 projects by elected officials of the cities of Sherwood, Tualatin and Wilsonville.

Mr. Hosticka reported the Urban and Rural Reserves process is on schedule for a final decision in the spring of 2010. The process is working toward identification of lands outside Metro’s current Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) that should be reserved for future urban development, lands that should be reserved for future rural use, and lands undesignated for either urban or rural uses. Activity is now underway to refine various land parcels identified by Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington Counties and Metro for urban and rural uses so all four (4) jurisdictions are able to agree on lands identified as urban, rural or undesignated.

GAC heard from representatives of two organizations that support (Defend Oregon) and oppose (Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes) the income tax measures scheduled for a vote of the people at a special statewide election on January 26, 2010. These measures are on the ballot following the successful completion of a petition process to refer two actions by the legislature earlier this year to increase personal and corporate income taxes. The measures will be identified on the ballot as Measure No. 66 and Measure No. 67.

The legislature proposed the following ballot titles for the two measures. The organization principally responsible for obtaining the needed signatures to have these measures on the ballot has filed a lawsuit with the Oregon Supreme Court seeking different wording for the two measures.

Measure No. 66 states: Raises tax on Household Income at and above $250,000 (and $125,000 for individual filers). Reduces income taxes on unemployment benefits in 2009. Maintains funds currently budgeted for education, health care, public safety, other services.

Measure No. 67 states: Raises $10 corporate minimum tax, business minimum tax, corporate profits tax, maintains funds currently budgeted for education, health care, public safety, other services.

GAC members voted 13-0, with 3 members abstaining, to recommend the Chamber Board of Directors go on record in opposition to both measures. The Board unanimously agreed with GAC’s recommendation and is recommending a “NO” vote on both measures.

www.wilsonvillechamber.com
www.stopjobkillingtaxes.com/

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

PGE President/CEO Speaks to Large Chamber Crowd

By PATRICK JOHNSON
Wilsonville Spokesman

Regional focus.

It’s the tenor of two recent luncheons sponsored by the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce. Last month, noted economist John Mitchell told a multi-chamber group about where our economy may be headed. This past week, Portland General Electric CEO Jim Piro spoke to the same multi-chamber group about the challenges facing his utility.

Piro spoke during the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce’s Oct. 13 luncheon series sponsored by the Stafford Woods Conference Center, Hayden’s Lakefront Grill and Fred Meyer. The group of about 80 people met at Stafford Woods. Chamber members from Wilsonville, Tualatin, West Linn, Sherwood, Lake Oswego and Tigard chambers were invited.

Economic development depends on energy availability and costs, said Piro. To help rebound the economy his company is looking at ways to provide low-cost power to the Willamette Valley.

He said that a six-city region, which includes Wilsonville, West Linn, Lake Oswego, Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood, has 90,000 customers and makes up 11-percent of PGE’s total customer base.

There has been a $45 million investment in infrastructure in this region, increasing capacity by 18 percent. Over the past five years, PGE’s entire system has been expanded by $775 million worth of projects.

“It’s one of the fastest growing areas in our service area,” Piro said. “Just in terms of large customers ... this area has grown by 18 percent.”

Piro said this growth creates challenges for his company. He expects the long-term retail load to grow more than 45 percent by 2030. During that time, several long-term power purchase contracts also will expire, driving the need for additional resources.

He hopes that through efficiency PGE can reduce the load.. To do so, however, the next 20 years will have to reveal new energy sources to meet the demand. “We do not have enough resources to meet our customer’s loads,” Piro said. “Today we go to the marketplace and buy that energy, but over time that surplus is going away. We cannot depend on the markets to provide those resources. We do not have a very vibrant power business in the west.”

Existing sources of energy for PGE include coal and natural gas plants, which make up the bulk of the energy production. Hydroelectric power makes up a smaller segment of the power, and renewable power sources, primarily wind, make up about 15-percent of the power generated. Piro said the goal is to reach 25 percent by 2025.

PGE has outlined several ways to try to help meet the power needs of his customers by 2015. Those include creating more energy efficiency measures, new renewable resources, efficient natural gas-fired generation and demand-side resources.
“Demand-side resources include time of day pricing or controls that we are working on,” Piro said.

He also said PGE will be putting environmental controls on its coal-powered Boardman plant in eastern Oregon. It has a proposal for a $750 million transmission line project which will connect the Boardman plant to the Salem area.

“Energy efficiency is really the cheapest resource we can acquire,” Piro said. “It comes from the customers changing the technologies in their home, changing to energy efficient lighting, using variable speed drives in business areas.”

Piro said he plans 20 megawatts annually saved through energy efficiency gains. PGE uses programs like “Save more, matter more” which recognizes businesses that save energy and also pledge to implement energy efficiency measures. “The most expensive load to service is the peak load,” Piro said. “The cold winter day or hot summer day where the air conditions are on or the heaters are on, that’s very expensive for us to serve.

For residential customers, Piro said PGE is looking at different approaches, including time-of-day pricing to give people incentive to not use power during peak times, and discounts for off-peak usage. He also suggested using “smart” appliances that react to heavy load periods and switch off.

“For example, hot water heaters. Electric water heaters don’t have to run at the peak hour,” he said. “They can run before that and then recharge after that. We are trying to find ways to set up a smart grid.”

PGE Website

Friday, October 9, 2009

Government outlines H1N1 flu guide for small businesses.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Small Business Administration have paired with the Centers for Disease Control to create an H1N1 flu "preparedness guide."

According to Homeland Security, outbreaks of H1N1, also known as the swine flu, are occurring across the country, including a very large breakout in eastern Washington, and are expected to coincide with the return of flu season in the fall and winter.

The agency encourages small businesses to put strategies in place before the flu season hits. To view the preparedness guide, visit http://www.flu.gov.

Economist Speaks to Multi-Chamber Luncheon Hosted by the Wilsonville Chamber

While the economic downturn draws to a close, one question still looms: How fast will our economy recover?
Article by Patrick Johnson
Re-printed from the Wilsonville Spokesman

Noted economist John Mitchell, a former economist for U.S. Bancorp, and a professor at Boise State University, addressed this topic to a crowd of more than 150 at the monthly Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce luncheon series last week.

“We won’t know for several years how long the recession is,” Mitchell said. “But the bottom line is that it is drawing to a close – I think that’s the most likely scenario, is that we are about there.” New economic indicators were expected this week, but Mitchell feels the worst of the economic downturn will be over by the end of next month.

“Four of five months ago there wasn’t a lot you could point to,” he said. “But now building permits are off the bottom, inventories are coming down. Look at the motor vehicle business, their inventories are depleted, so what do they have to do? They have to make more cars. Industrial production rose in July for the first time since … the recession started. … All those leading indicators are pointing toward rebound.”

Mitchell said employment growth lags after the economy rebounds, so it will be a while before there is significant job growth.

“That’s when people are going to feel better about it, and that’s going to be a while,” he said. But how will the economy rebound? Mitchell said there are several ways the economy can grow. “A ‘V?’ Is it going to be a quick down and a sharp up? That’s what normally happens after a quick recession, but I don’t think that’s going to happen this time,” he said. “Will it be a ‘U’ shape, where we linger down here before starting up? Will it be the dreaded ‘W,’ a double dip, start out, back down, then back up. Nobody knows.”

Mitchell said he felt the rebound would look like the letter L, where the economy drops suddenly and then grows slowly.

“The economy is not likely to play its traditional role,” he said. “You have that saving shortfall that has to be filled, credit markets are getting better but not like they were. I think that’s the most likely scenario. But again, there is a great amount of uncertainty here.”

Mitchell reminded the crowd of a good economy for the past 25 years, so it isn’t surprising the downturn happened.

“Remember, the last serious recession prior to this one ended in November of 1982,” he said. “So between November 1982 and the end of 2007 there was recession basically 5 percent of the time. There are a significant number of people who have never seen a significant business cycle in their lives until this one.”

Mitchell pointed out that this week would mark the first anniversary of the Lehman Brother’s failure and the AIG bailout. “What an exciting anniversary!” he said to a crowd that broke out into nervous laughter.
According to housing data, Mitchell said the decline in the housing markets “seems to be over” and that Oregon is ranked 47th in the country in job growth. “But, hey, we are ahead of Michigan, Arizona and Nevada,” he said. According to national data, he said North Dakota is ranked number one. “Bismarck or bust!” he said.

From December 2007 to March 2009, household net worth dropped from nearly $63 trillion to just more than $50 trillion. Mitchell said many of the recessionary cycles are based around housing starts. This recession is no different.

National data shows that at the peak of the economy in 2005, there were 2.3 million housing starts per month. At the bottom of the recession in January, there were only 500,000 starts nationwide.

“Bottom line, that equity spun out over that time period, house value have gone down — a tremendous decline in net worth,” he said. “Now, the importance of that is what are the implications on spending down the road?”

In addition, he said, Oregon’s leading production of lumber and wood products has been adversely impacted. “There are a lot of new issues out there. How is this new system going to work? ” he asked. “I would love to be a fly on the wall in the next Chrysler negotiations, with (the United Auto Workers union) on both sides of the table – how is that going to work? Besides being a chamber of commerce luncheon, this is a GM shareholders meeting. Think about that.”

Mitchell questioned how the government will handle its fiscal policy moving forward.
“How do you unwind it, and when do you unwind it,” he said. He pointed to 1937 when policy makers hurt the economy by pulling stimulus out too early. But he also said the inverse was true, as when Kennedy-Johnson tax cuts in 1966 and 1967 combined with the Vietnam War and the Great Society programs led to increased inflation, but policy makers didn’t pull the tax cuts out in time. That resulted in high inflation in the late 1960s and 1970s. “It’s a very tricky thing that policy makers are going to have to do,” he said.

The lunch topic attracted a wide-range of people from the region, including Oregon Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin, state senator Martha Schrader, state rep. Matt Wingard, Metro president David Bragdon, Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts and Alan Kirk, Wilsonville city council president.

It was an event that included the Wilsonville, West Linn, Canby, Sherwood and Tualatin chambers.

www.wilsonvillechamber.com

Friday, September 25, 2009

The Chamber fills a newly created position!

Brandi Hereford will join the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce in late September as the new “Events & Membership Services Coordinator.”

Brandi comes with a very relevant work history and knows the ropes of Chamber work, events, and membership-based non-profits. She comes to our Chamber from the Prineville Chamber of Commerce where she has served as the Executive Director there for almost two years. She was hired over 25 other applicants in Prineville because their board felt she had the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm to take their Chamber to the next level. She had previously served as the administrative assistant to the former Executive. In the last two years she has proven them right and they are sad to lose her. Her move to Wilsonville brings her closer to family and she is excited about the opportunity.

Brandi graduated from Crook County High School in 2001 and attended Linn Benton Community College in Albany, before graduating from Oregon State University with a Bachelor's Degree in General Agriculture. She also has minors in Agriculture Business Management and Animal Technology. Before moving back to Prineville after college, Brandi worked as an event coordinator for the Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon and as an account executive for Ingalls & Associates, a marketing and event-planning firm out of Albany. Brandi has worked extensively with the Oregon Festivals & Events Association, Oregon Fair Association, and various other leadership programs. Her event planning specialties include conferences, banquets, trade shows, rodeos, and festivals.

Brandi brings a great deal of energy and ideas to the Wilsonville Chamber and we are excited to welcome her.

SIDE LINE

Sadly, her hiring comes in the wake of our long-time employee Debbie Hallander’s retirement. Debbie is a dedicated and hard-working person and she will be missed a great deal. On behalf of the staff and Board of Directors at the Wilsonville Chamber and Visitors Center, we want to wish Debbie a fun and RELAXING retirement. You deserve it!

Economic Development Plan Adopted by Clackamas County

Over the past year, Business and Economic Development staff and the Economic Development Commission (EDC) have developed an updated Economic Development Plan. This plan will guide economic development policy for Clackamas County for the next five to 10 years. It contains a longer-term vision for the County, its cities, unincorporated areas, and business, community and political leaders. The plan helps decision-makers to chart a steady successful course, to weather changing economic conditions and continuously improve, diversify and grow our economy. Strategies will remain constant but the emphasis may shift based on the economic climate and opportunities to come.

Highlights of the plan include an overview of the County’s economic landscape, vision, guiding principles and specific strategies with action steps and indicators of success. The proposed vision is: “Clackamas County thrives as a great place to operate a business, raise a family and visit sites and attractions. Our County’s vision is to create a unique niche in the Portland Metro area as the “Pioneers of Innovation” - a business friendly place that fosters innovation, sustainable practices, attracts the creative class and embraces its diversity”.

The plan focuses on a five-pronged strategy to maximize success:
• Business Retention and Growth: Helping our existing businesses to thrive is a top priority whether they are small or large, or located in urban or rural communities.
• Business Recruitment: Attracting strategic industry clusters and firms that have the strongest potential to thrive here, invest and create well paying jobs.
• Infrastructure: Advocating for funding for additional infrastructure capacity and maintenance, while developing short- and long-term supply and improving quality.
• Critical infrastructure includes transportation, water and sewer, among others.
• Workforce and Education: Ensuring that there are available, skilled workers to meet the growing and changing needs of Clackamas County employers.
• Regional Collaboration: Leveraging efforts and resources in marketing, recruitment, and in addressing economic development challenges together. Collaboration will occur at the local level with cities and communities as well as with regional, state and federal partners. This flexible and multi-faceted approach will help ensure long-term prosperity for Clackamas County.

The plan was developed with input from the EDC, business community, cities and regional stakeholders.

View the Economic Development Plan

Thursday, August 27, 2009

2009 Legislative Session Was Bad for Business

By Rep. Matt Wingard (R-Wilsonville)

With a poor economy and record-high unemployment, the Legislature should have improved Oregon’s business environment. After all, healthy businesses create jobs and generate the tax revenue we need to balance the state’s budget. Unfortunately, the 2009 Legislature defied common sense by raising taxes and passing mandates that will further slow our recovery.

You’ve likely heard about the permanent income and corporate tax increases that were approved. Salem used the current economic crisis as an excuse to not only raise the corporate minimum tax, but create a new tax structure that will hurt businesses regardless of their profitability. I encourage all chamber members to help put these tax measures on the ballot and give Oregonians a voice on this important issue. For more information, visit www.stopjobkilling taxes.com.

Corporate and income tax increases dominated the headlines, but you may have missed other new laws that could affect your bottom line. These include a new premium tax on health insurance that will further harm the ability of small businesses to provide coverage to their employees. The Legislature passed dozens of fee increases that will be passed to consumers who are already struggling to pay their bills. Businesses with high transportation costs will soon pay even higher gas taxes and registration fees. While this revenue will be directed to worthy transportation projects, Salem refused to utilize hundreds of millions in savings that could have been better spent on infrastructure.

In addition to tax and fee increases, the Legislature passed dozens of new regulations and mandates. For example, the Legislature passed a new employer “gag rule” that strips businesses of their right to require employee attendance at meetings that occur on company time. The Legislature passed a bill to give state agencies unprecedented power to regulate and punish businesses, such as allowing DEQ to enact fuel standards and excessive mandates on transportation equipment and parts. The Legislature also expanded Oregon’s product liability laws to enrich trial lawyers while exposing businesses to more expensive and frivolous lawsuits.

As your representative, I understand that Oregon needs a healthy business environment to create jobs. Some of my colleagues and I were successful in helping to stop bills that were even worse than those I’ve described, such as a statewide “cap and trade” program that would put our businesses at a competitive disadvantage. We helped stop a “product stewardship” bill that would give DEQ the ability to regulate, and ultimately ban, certain products. Democrats also failed to pass bills such as paid family leave and prevailing wage expansion, but they’ll likely attempt to pass these in future sessions.

Republicans introduced bills to reform Oregon’s minimum wage law by connecting automatic indexing to the unemployment rate. We sought to give employers the ability to keep medical marijuana away from the workplace, and boost our economy by providing tax credits to businesses and homeowners who invest in improvements to their properties. Unfortunately, all of these pro-growth proposals were killed by the Democratic majority. Overall, the 2009 Legislature was great for trial lawyers and unions. Precious little was done to encourage private sector job growth or to reform the regulatory environment for small businesses in Oregon.

September GAC Meeting

Catalyst

Government Affairs Committee

NEXT MEETING - Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Noon – 1:00 PM at Visitor Center

GAC members will have an opportunity to hear from Mark Clemons of Group Mackenzie, a northwest planning and engineering company, commissioned by the Oregon Business Development Department (The Oregonian, Aug. 9, 2009), to develop an economic model for predicting the economic value of new employment lands. Mark will explain how the model works and the result of work for the Wilsonville area.


Mr. Clemons presented to the Clackamas County Economic Development Commission at its meeting on July 22, 2009 a prototype study done for land in Washington County. The model analyzed the value of land bordering U.S. 26 west of the City of Hillsboro that the city wants earmarked industrial. As some of you are aware, I am a member of the Clackamas County Economic Development Commission. The Commission receives an update on the Urban and Rural Reserves process at nearly every meeting since I started serving on the Commission. County Commissioners Jim Bernard and Charlotte Lehan graciously gave up their time on the Commission’s Agenda for this presentation. I probably would be unaware of Group Mackenzie and its study had I not been a Commission member.


Group Mackenzie’s analysis quantified the economic output of existing employment lands and then used this data to project the economic output of an area immediately adjacent to the City of Hillsboro being considered for urban reserve designation. The economic output is measured in terms of payroll taxes, property taxes and market value. This model evaluates the financial productivity of employment lands and the importance of clustering employment lands to enhance economic outputs.


The Clackamas County Business Alliance (CCBA) has contracted with Group Mackenzie to apply the economic model to areas in Clackamas County. Data from existing industrial/employment areas will be applied to potential urban reserve areas to better gain an understanding of the possible economic impacts of clustering employment lands GAC’s invitation to Group Mackenzie to speak at its September meeting is in response to the Chamber’s Vision – Create and promotes economic vitality for business in the south metro area – and Mission – Business is the priority. These directions motivate Chamber leadership to provide members with as much information as available regarding any proposal with a potential for impacting a member’s economic future, in this case the reserves process. Furthermore, GAC members have consistently requested input from all sides regarding an issue before the Committee is asked to recommend to the Board of Directors whether the Chamber should take a position on an issue and the position to be taken.


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Defending Free Enterprise, US Chamber to Launch Major Campaign

(This article originally ran in the US Chamber's Magazine)

Rapid government expansion and increased taxes, regulations, entitlements, debt, and attacks by anti-business activists--all are evidence that the American free enterprise system is faced with unprecedented challenges.

A new U.S. Chamber initiative, the Campaign for Free Enterprise, will rally small businesses, local chambers, policymakers, and the general public to stand up for free enterprise, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity.


"It's time to remind all Americans that it was a free enterprise system based on individual initiative, hard work, risk, innovation, and profit that built our great country," says Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue. "We must reaffirm the spirit of enterprise in America."


The campaign, which will formally launch this fall, will include:


* Grassroots outreach to the Chamber membership.


* A vigorous media, new media, and public education program with a special focus on the economic literacy of younger Americans.


* A highly visible national paid media advertising effort.


* Education of governors and mayors on the avalanche of new rules, restrictions, mandates, and taxes that could seriously undermine the wealth and job-creating capacity of small businesses in their areas.


* An aggressive issue advocacy program, leading up to the 2010 elections, to educate citizens on the critical economic issues facing our country.


* Ongoing public opinion research.


* Gatherings of academics and thought leaders to build the intellectual argument for free enterprise, open capital markets, and global engagement.


* Lobbying to defend free enterprise values and to advance pro-growth legislation, and, where necessary, taking legal action to challenge unconstitutional and unlawful government regulations.


The Chamber is urging its members to sign up online to become a supporter of the campaign. Supporters will receive ongoing updates on ways to participate, including contacting lawmakers, attending events at state and local chambers nationwide, and taking part in surveys and polls on policy, regulations, and the state of the economy.


Join the campaign at
http://www.uschambermagazine.com/freeenterprise/.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Government Affairs Committee Update

Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan updated GAC at its June meeting regarding the status of the Urban and Rural Reserves project. This project is moving quickly toward completion.

The Chamber believes designation of areas in the metro region as urban or rural reserves will set the direction of economic growth for the next 50-years in the south metro region. A senior Chamber member, who is a professional planner, recently indicated to the City Council this project is a daunting task given it seeks to anticipate the future of our community for the next 50-years, a period of time 10-years longer than the City has existed.

The Board of Directors’ Executive Committee sent a letter to Clackamas County Chair Lynn Peterson, with copy to County Commissioners Lehan, Tom Brian (Washington) and Jeff Cogan (Multnomah), Mayor Knapp, and Metro Councilors Harrington and Hosticka. The Committee made several observations and offered suggestions regarding the reserve process, concluding that its assessment of this process will be based on the criterion of how much land is available over the next 50-years for creation of new jobs. The Committee did not state a formal Chamber position. The Chamber may wish to do so when specific areas are proposed as either urban or rural reserves.

The Executive Committee sent this letter on July 1 since a preliminary designation of urban-rural reserve areas is scheduled for the end of July and the Board of Directors and GAC do not meet in July. The law governing this process designates the metro region’s three County Commissions and Metro as the governing bodies authorized to establish urban and rural reserve areas.

The 2009 session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly was very busy. State Representative Matt Winegard (Dist. 26) will recap the session at our meeting, highlighting legislation directly impacting business.

WELCOME TO WILSONVILLE!! Dan Knoll, Wilsonville Public Affairs Coordinator, will show a video at our meeting providing an overview of city services, attractions, and events that make our community a special place to live, work and play. The video will be available to new residents, businesses, realtors, civic organizations and others interested in helping promote the City and services it offers.