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.

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/