Friday, April 30, 2010

Exec. Talk

By: Steve Gilmore, CEO

The economic news right now is all over the place and it is not clear if we have reached the bottom of the recession in Oregon. The numbers from the University of Oregon and other economic indicators show some improvements and some very troubling downward trends.

In Wilsonville we have several good news stories on the economy like the addition to the Oregon Institute of Technology, and several of our employers are adding new jobs to our local economy including Coke and Rockwell Collins as two examples. These are great stories and we are lucky that these companies are investing in Wilsonville. Those investments will help every type of business in Wilsonville and will help spur the economic vitality of our community.

If you are ever feeling a little down about our economy or our future in general, inspiration is not hard to find. Just look at our small businesses and entrepreneurs and they will give you great inspiration and hope. These people are extraordinary individuals who create more than 60% of all net new jobs, develop most of our innovations and inventions, and are the unsung heroes in our community. These “people” are YOU and with your hard work and dedication you will ultimately help pull this economy out of recession. You are the unsung heroes of our community and we thank you for everything that you do.

We cannot lose sight of what allows you to pursue your dreams, better your lives, and hire our friends and neighbors. It is the free enterprise system, which is the greatest economic system ever devised. It is very important that we continue to defend and advance this system during these difficult economic times.

The Wilsonville Chamber is honored to represent you and to defend the free enterprise system. As always please feel free to call me at (503) 682-0411 or email me at steve@wilsonvillechamber.com with your questions or concerns, because we are in this together and the Chamber is here to help you.

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Points from the President

By: Ray Phelps, President

GREAT NEWS! I am sure by now all of you know Oregon Institute of Technology is planning to move to our community. Dr. Chris Maples, President, informed us he plans to consolidate OIT’s four Portland locations in the vacant InFocus building. Dr. Maples reported the school could start classes in 2012.

This move is especially significant for our member high tech businesses since the school offers several engineering programs critically important to these businesses. Council President Alan Kirk planted the seed for this move early this year and Mayor Tim Knapp helped close the deal. Good work gentlemen!

Your Chamber has been active in welcoming Dr. Maples to our community. Several of the Chamber’s board members hosted a luncheon for Dr. Maples to discuss OIT’s future plans with us, Mayor Tim Knapp and City Councilor Steve Hurst. We also introduced Dr. Maples to your Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee where he spoke briefly of his consolidation plan and of an immediate need for our help.

Dr. Maples shared with us information regarding a ballot measure that will be on the 2010 ballot at the May Primary Election. This measure, No. 69, amends the Oregon Constitution to allow lowest cost general obligation bonds to be used for expansion into existing buildings. Current Constitutional language does not specifically authorize the state to use low cost general obligation bonds to purchase existing buildings, which can be less expensive than new construction. If this measure is not approved, the Oregon University System will be forced to continue to use more costly forms of financing to pay for its capital needs. Your Board of Directors unanimously adopted a resolution supporting passage of this ballot measure.

Your Government Affairs Committee heard from Cynthia Thompson, Wilsonville Transit Director, and two representatives of TriMet regarding the proposed reductions in Westside Express Service (WES) commuter-train transit services. The Committee recommended to your Board of Directors the Chamber sends a letter to TriMet stating opposition to the proposed transit service reductions. The Board of Directors unanimously agreed with the Committee’s recommendation. You will have received before you read this comment a copy of the Chamber’s letter to TriMet stating the several reasons your Chamber opposes any transit service reductions.

Your Chamber wrote this month to the Oregon Department of Transportation in support of the City of Wilsonville’s Transportation and Growth Management Grant Application for $175,000 to update the city’s Transportation Systems Management Plan. This Plan is the master blue-print for all municipal road operations, transportation planning and transit programs. Obtaining this grant reduces the city’s need to look at property-tax revenues or other business charges to help fund transportation planning.

THANK YOU DAVE ANDERSON! Coca-Cola Bottling of Oregon, Chamber member since 1990, is consolidating three of its distribution centers into its operation in Wilsonville. This will add 150 employees to the company’s current Wilsonville work force when expansion is completed.

GOOD JOB CITY!! Mayor Tim Knapp reported this month at GAC that Coke’s investment was due in part to the city’s capital investment in the new Willamette River water treatment plant and the city joining with the company to obtain from Oregon Economic Development Department a $500,000 Immediate Opportunity Grant for increased capacity at I-5/Wilsonville Road interchange.

As I promised you in January, The University of Oregon’s Index of Economic Indicators rose 0.3% in February to 88.7 (1997=100) from a revised December figure of 88.4. KeyBank sponsors this report. The bank’s Wilsonville office has been a Chamber member since 2003 and holds a Gold Club membership.

Tim Duy, Director of Oregon Economic Forum, reported the pace of improvement moderated compared to gains reported for the previous five months. Still, the recovery remains intact, with six months annualized increase rising to 11.7 percent. It would be premature to conclude that the slower increase in the UO Index indicates the strength of the recovery is waning. The recovery increasingly looks sustainable, although the pace of growth in the absence of inventory correction and government stimulus may be insufficient to drive rapid improvement in the labor market.

Wilsonville Seeks to Solidify “Workforce Development” Infrastructure with Arrival of Oregon Institute of Technology

By Tim Knapp, City of Wilsonville Mayor

You may have heard the exciting news that the state’s premier university of engineering and technology training seeks to relocate to Wilsonville. The Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) plans to consolidate four Portland metro-area campus locations to the vacant, 140,000-square-foot InFocus building.

Over the years, the most-often repeated issue of concern that I have heard consistently from our city’s major employers revolves around workforce development — that leading businesses compete successfully in a global economy by recruiting and retaining the most innovative, well-educated employees. In particular, Wilsonville high-tech firms like Coherent, FLIR, Mentor Graphics, Precision Interconnect, Rockwell Collins and Xerox that are the employers of tomorrow need top-quality workers who are skilled in hard sciences and various fields of engineering.

As a center of higher education focused on science and engineering, OIT promises to provide area employers with opportunities for internships, advanced studies for current employees, a fertile ground of prospective new hires and potential new business spin-offs and other public-private collaborations.

Just as Wilsonville has made a significant public investment in basic infrastructure—high-quality roads, transit services, water and sewer—we can now leverage our close relationship with educational partners like the West Linn-Wilsonville school district and Clackamas Community College to work with OIT and cement the community’s reputation as a great place to live, work, play and learn. Strengthening our educational infrastructure complements the work the city has done with basic infrastructure and provides a solid foundation from which businesses may thrive and prosper in a competitive world economy.

The OIT proposal to relocate to Wilsonville is an exciting development, and city officials are working to enable it to succeed. OIT can make a strong contribution to the future of Wilsonville.

Coming to Wilsonville: Elements of OIT’s Decision
Oregon Institute of Technology’s decision to consolidate all four Portland area campuses to one Wilsonville site, the vacant InFocus building, was based on several factors:

• South side of Portland metro area: OIT has been looking for an appropriate site on the south side of the Portland metro area with good access to major highways and more central location to serve students on both east and west sides of Portland.

• Access to high-quality transit services: OIT was attracted to Wilsonville’s South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART) services, which provide direct linkages with Tri-Met and WES to Portland and with CATS to Canby and Cherriots to Salem.

• Available facility at reasonable price: Purchase of the existing InFocus building, which could house all of OIT’s Portland programs and provide room to grow, would cost $20 million less than building a new facility from scratch.

• Warm Wilsonville welcome: Elected officials and business leaders reached out to OIT, initially for interest in helping to develop an optics/laser-optics technical training program and subsequently to opening a campus location.
Dr. Chris Maples, OIT President, reports that if the move to Wilsonville is successful, OIT anticipates opening in Fall 2012 for the first class of 600 students. Eventually OIT could enroll 1,000 students at the Wilsonville campus, which might include on-site housing.

In the Portland area, most students attend courses in the evening, and many students take six to seven years to obtain a degree. OIT graduates have a 90% placement rate with an average starting salary of $52,000.

Oregon Higher Education Funds, Ballot Measure 69, will appear on the May 18, 2010, election as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment. The measure clarifies that a public university may purchase an existing facility, rather than construct solely new buildings, with bond funds.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Points from the President

By:
Ray Phelps

Chamber members approved the recommendation of your Board of Directors to update and amend the bylaws. Doris Wehler, ex-officio board member, led this effort. Eighty-five percent of chamber members voting approved the changes in the bylaws. Thank you Doris for your great work!

The City Council adopted earlier this month changes to the city’s sign code. These changes were needed to respond to recent court decisions striking down signage requirements of many local governments due to the content of the signs. The city’s new signage requirements are now content neutral. The significance of the Council’s action enables the city to continue regulating the use of signs in our city in much the same way as in the past, which enables our businesses to continue using responsible signage to attract business.

Your Chamber weighed-in on one amendment considered by the Council. Initially, some folks wanted to repeal the provision in the current sign code authorizing the use of A-Frames for advertisement. The Chamber felt, and so informed the Council, that repeal of this provision would be detrimental to the financial interests of many businesses relying on this form of advertisement. The City Council heard the Chamber, and others, and did not repeal the use of A-Frames for advertising. Chamber member Mark Pruitt, Professional Sign & Graphics Co., was very helpful in this Chamber success.

The Chamber’s Transportation and Transit Committee, led by board member and committee Chair Keith Gibson, is examining the impacts of reduced WES service in the city. In addition, your Government Affairs Committee (GAC), led by board members and committee co-chairs Wendy Buck and Elizabeth Peters, will hear from representatives of SMART/WES on April 7th regarding the impact of reduced service for WES. GAC members will be asked to make a recommendation to your Directors on the direction the Chamber should take to let TriMet know how the business community feels about WES and the service it provides. More later.

The City and the West Linn-Wilsonville School District will be soon swapping land for construction of a new school. This is a very creative approach taken by these two organizations to help minimize costs in providing school buildings for the ever increasing population of students in our school district. The primary reason this exchange of land is being made is the slow development of Villebois Village.

The City is on the “move!” As most of us know from first-hand experience, there are a number of major road projects underway in our city, with more to come. This economic vitality is very beneficial to the many businesses operating in our city. Your Transportation and Transit Committee, with an assist from ex-officio board member and City Councilor Steve Hurst, continues to monitor these projects and will report to you from time to time on the progress of these projects.

As I promised last month to report, the University of Oregon’s Index of Economic Indicators rose 1.7% in January to 88.5 (1997=100) from a revised December figure of 87.0. Tim Duy, Director of Oregon Economic Forum, reported this is the third consecutive month of gains in excess of 1 percent. Data reflects an annual revision of state employment data, which enters the UO index by way of employment services payrolls.

Mr. Duy points out that while the UO index is consistent with solid economic growth, this growth has yet to translate into significant overall job gains. The initially reported December nonfarm payrolls gain was revised to a loss, while January 2010 saw a rise of just 1,100 jobs.

Like the US economy, the Oregon economy is bouncing off the recession lows of last summer. The labor market response to improving conditions, however, has been tepid at best. While overall job losses have largely ended, concerns about the sustainability of growth appears to be leaving firms cautious about hiring; rising activity at temporary employment firms is a hopeful sign this caution is easing.

Exec. Talk

By:

Steve Gilmore

The first quarter of the year is behind us and we are pleased that our membership is growing, members are attending events in large numbers, and we are working aggressively on public policy issues to ensure that the south metro region and Wilsonville is a vibrant place to do business.

The Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee hosted the three candidates for Metro Council President, and our members asked challenging insightful questions. One of these three candidates will shape the Metro area for years to come, so this race is extremely important. We hope to provide future opportunities in the future to hear more from these candidates.

Last month I mentioned that the Chamber has over 80 networking events, and since January we have done several firsts on the networking front. Nearly forty Chamber members attended our first ever Speed Networking event at the Conference Center at Stafford Woods and those attendees have encouraged us to hold these events at least quarterly. Everyone walked away from that event with over a dozen new contacts, and I know that several of those contacts have led to business relationships. The Chamber has also instituted a monthly evening event called “The Last Call” Business After Hours and the number of attendees is growing each month. The Small Business University program is a great member-to-member education opportunity, the feedback that we have been receiving has been extremely positive and the numbers of attendees are growing. I would encourage you to take advantage of our networking events as you pay for them with your membership dues.

It is exciting and gratifying all at the same time that our Chamber is flourishing in this down economy. I give all the credit to YOU our members! You have shaped the organization through your investment, voice and involvement. Thanks for all that you do and please let us know how we can continue to help you.

Government Affairs Committee

Three candidates for Metro President addressed a packed room of business leaders and local elected officials at the last Wilsonville Chamber Government Affairs Committee meeting. The committee hosted a unique forum to hear the candidate viewpoints, and to give members insight to how each would provide leadership for the regional government entity.

Rex Burkholder is a sitting Metro Councilor and has been for nine years. As a candidate, he feels that he brings Metro experience, record of leadership and a record of vision for the area. Before coming to Metro he had private sector experience. At Metro he has been working on transportation choices/investments that focus on outcomes. He supports investments in carbon-reducing light rail, bike and bus rapid transit options. He has championed efforts to protect green regions.

Tom Hughes has 30 years experience in local government, including 15 years on the Hillsboro Planning Commission and eight years as Hillsboro’s mayor. He said that during this time he learned to create an environment within which jobs could be created, stressing the important relationship between business and government. He believes that Metro should be more business-friendly and should help move the region toward full employment.

Bob Stacey has 35 years experience in four levels of government, including City of Portland, Tri-met, State of Oregon (working for Governor Roberts), and serving Congressman Blumenauer in Washington D.C. He was Executive Director and staff attorney for 1000 Friends of Oregon, a prominent land use and conservation group, and was also in private law practice. Stacey noted his hands-on experience with growth management and land use.

Each candidate responded to questions provided in advance by Chamber members. The session is detailed in the minutes, which will be distributed at our April meeting and are available to all members on request.

On April 7 at 12:00 noon the committee will hear from Cynthia Thompson of WES. She will provide a background and update on recent discussions regarding WES service reductions to Wilsonville.

Please read the Spokesman Article and see the video about the Forum here.

Ambassador Angle

Ambassador Angle!


The Ambassador Team has recently added a new member, Scott Stokley with Mt. Angel Publishing. Scott has been interested in joining the Ambassadors for quite some time and an opening just came up. Scott may be a familiar face to many of you, as he sells advertising in the Chamber Business Directory and now the Wilsonville Map. Welcome to the team Scott!

You will notice that the Ambassador team has been ‘renovating’ our networking events recently. One new element is having attendees at “The Morning Spark” AM events fill out an announcement card when they sign in and then the MC reads those announcements during the formal program. This enables the event to have at least 30 minutes of networking before the program, as well as at least 20-30 minutes of networking before everyone needs to get to work. We appreciate your corporation with these new changes and want to remind you that announcements can always be sent into the Chamber!

2010 Ambassador Team: Rhonda Bakke (Chair), John Ludlow Realty Inc.; Danny Abrego, Portland Reign Photography; Tim Aye, McLarens Carpet One; Tammy Beal, West Coast Bank; Dorie Christman, Bay Northwest / T-Line; Valia Eskandari, Chic Design; Leslie James, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Carole Maylender, Key Bank – Tualatin; Kim Rose, Mack Johnsen, DMD, PC; Donny Salinas, Integra Telecom; Scott Stokley, Mt. Angel Publishing; and Vivian Wilcox, Edward Jones / Investments.