WILSONVILLE, OR — The ninth annual First Team Mortgage Group–Wilsonville Chamber Fall Food Fest is scheduled for Thursday, September 10, 2009, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. and for the first time, the event will be held at the Family Fun Center! With more space, bigger tents and more parking, this year is sure to be the best ever!
Major sponsors like Sonic will be on hand to pass out special deals and free samples! Our premier sponsor, First Team Home Mortgage at MetLife Home Loans, will be hosting Miss Oregon and the Bossa Boys Band will be drumming up some festive music all evening long!
The popular community event provides a wonderful opportunity to try samples from some of the many food venues the Wilsonville area has to offer. Over twenty-five Chamber-member restaurants, pizzerias, coffee & dessert shops, wineries and other businesses participate. Vendors provide samples of fare from their menus; attendees pay a single admission charge and the food and beverage samples are free.
Ticket prices in advance are $10 per person or $40 for a family of five; ticket prices at the door are $12.50 per person or $50 for a family of five. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Wilsonville Chamber Visitor Center, 29600 SW Park Place or at the Family Fun Center, beginning August 1st. Vendor space opens July 7, 2009 and is filling up fast. Call Jennifer at the Chamber if you have a scrumptious way to market your business and would like to participate as a vendor.
There will be no smoking or pets allowed at the venue. Parking for disabled guests is well marked in the Family Fun Center parking lot. There will be additional parking at Les Schwab and at the movie theater. For more information, contact the Wilsonville Chamber at 503-682-0411 or see the Chamber’s website, www.wilsonvillechamber.com.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Road Improvements
Mayor Tim Knapp provided at the June meeting of your Government Affairs Committee an update on pending road construction projects. These projects are intended to meet the growing transportation needs of our community.
City Projects
Contract awarded to improve Boones Ferry and Wilsonville Roads for the Fred Meyer Town Square development.
Contract expected to be awarded before year-end to improve Barber Road between Boones Ferry and Boberg Roads.
State Projects
Contract awarded to repave north and south lanes of I-5 between Tualatin River and Boones Bridge; construct an auxiliary lane on I-5 southbound from I-205 to Elligsen Rd. /N. Wilsonville interchange; construct an auxiliary lane on I-5 northbound from Elligsen Rd. /N. Wilsonville interchange to I-205. Project completion is expected November 2010.
Construction will start in 2010 on a new lane on northbound I-5 between Miley and Wilsonville Roads as will construction on Wilsonville Road/I-5 interchange.
City Projects
Contract awarded to improve Boones Ferry and Wilsonville Roads for the Fred Meyer Town Square development.
Contract expected to be awarded before year-end to improve Barber Road between Boones Ferry and Boberg Roads.
State Projects
Contract awarded to repave north and south lanes of I-5 between Tualatin River and Boones Bridge; construct an auxiliary lane on I-5 southbound from I-205 to Elligsen Rd. /N. Wilsonville interchange; construct an auxiliary lane on I-5 northbound from Elligsen Rd. /N. Wilsonville interchange to I-205. Project completion is expected November 2010.
Construction will start in 2010 on a new lane on northbound I-5 between Miley and Wilsonville Roads as will construction on Wilsonville Road/I-5 interchange.
Mandatory Business Recycling
If you reap what you sow, Oregon is headed for more troubling times
By: Scott Starr, Chamber President
The Wall Street Journal featured a very compelling opinion article on May 18, 2009 titled “Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich.” In it, authors Laffer and Moore discuss how more governors and states than ever are proposing the Obama solution to balancing the budget which, in effect, will put an undo burden on the “rich,” or job creators, more specifically, small business owners. California and New York are the most notable states for this extremely poor philosophy turned remedy. Now included in that pack is Oregon. In just a few weeks we will all see how California chooses to fix or ignore the problem and whether or not the federal government will need to step in and fix their mess.
Why would I agree with the WSJ and strongly believe this is a futile strategy and tactic to fix the economy and create jobs? We have the evidence right in front of us. The WSJ article says, “It never works because people, investment capital and businesses are mobile: They can leave tax-unfriendly states and move to tax-friendly states.” Between 1998-2007, there has been an incredible flight of more than 1,100 people a day moving from the nine highest income-tax states and mostly relocating to the nine tax-haven states (with no income tax). More fuel to the fire needed? How about over those same years the low income-tax states created 89% more jobs and had 32% faster personal income growth than the high-tax states. That income growth, in turn, was there to pay more taxes. Meanwhile, Oregon is already headed for a shortfall.
The reason I am so passionate about this subject is because the Oregon House and Senate completely sold out Oregon based businesses and our state economy this past session. I hope each member of the Wilsonville Chamber shares my concerns. You all need to know that the WSJ isn’t just talking about trends in CA and NY. It is happening in Oregon and the Wilsonville Chamber is facing the consequences today. We are losing memberships because businesses are closing down or joining many others and moving out of state. Consequently, the total tax pool is shrinking and further increasing the tax on those who stay.
We are consistently hearing from business owners that it isn’t worth trying to fight “the system” any longer. “The system,” that is an interesting choice of terms. In the Declaration of Independence there is a great statement regarding what we hold dearly and agree that segregates us as citizens of the US. The line is “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Most scholars agree that the pursuit of happiness was meant to describe the ability to pursue any legal business or employment opportunity or what we might call the “American dream.” The “system,” or the leadership in the Oregon state government appears to have determined that the pursuit of happiness or the American dream is not nearly their priority. Instead, they are spending too much money on their own priorities and then overtaxing business to pay for it, thumbing their noses at our assumed federal rights.
This arrogant thinking and policy making that willfully or mistakenly took direct aim at the business community has got to stop. For everyone who employs people or has a non - government job in Oregon, we need to ask our state legislators to put an end to this anti-business agenda. This state is losing too many jobs and companies. The elected officials who nurtured and consistently supported anti-business legislation and who are responsible for continuing our woeful unemployment rate in this state are Governor Kulongoski, Senators Peter Courtney and Richard Devlin, and Representatives Dave Hunt and Mary Nolan. To make a difference, we need to be in touch with their offices and all of our business associates in their districts. We need to voice our opinion that they have done enough harm. The time is now to depart from failed policy efforts and allow the business community to compete with other states and bring jobs back to Oregon!
www.wilsonvillechamber.com
The Wall Street Journal featured a very compelling opinion article on May 18, 2009 titled “Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich.” In it, authors Laffer and Moore discuss how more governors and states than ever are proposing the Obama solution to balancing the budget which, in effect, will put an undo burden on the “rich,” or job creators, more specifically, small business owners. California and New York are the most notable states for this extremely poor philosophy turned remedy. Now included in that pack is Oregon. In just a few weeks we will all see how California chooses to fix or ignore the problem and whether or not the federal government will need to step in and fix their mess.
Why would I agree with the WSJ and strongly believe this is a futile strategy and tactic to fix the economy and create jobs? We have the evidence right in front of us. The WSJ article says, “It never works because people, investment capital and businesses are mobile: They can leave tax-unfriendly states and move to tax-friendly states.” Between 1998-2007, there has been an incredible flight of more than 1,100 people a day moving from the nine highest income-tax states and mostly relocating to the nine tax-haven states (with no income tax). More fuel to the fire needed? How about over those same years the low income-tax states created 89% more jobs and had 32% faster personal income growth than the high-tax states. That income growth, in turn, was there to pay more taxes. Meanwhile, Oregon is already headed for a shortfall.
The reason I am so passionate about this subject is because the Oregon House and Senate completely sold out Oregon based businesses and our state economy this past session. I hope each member of the Wilsonville Chamber shares my concerns. You all need to know that the WSJ isn’t just talking about trends in CA and NY. It is happening in Oregon and the Wilsonville Chamber is facing the consequences today. We are losing memberships because businesses are closing down or joining many others and moving out of state. Consequently, the total tax pool is shrinking and further increasing the tax on those who stay.
We are consistently hearing from business owners that it isn’t worth trying to fight “the system” any longer. “The system,” that is an interesting choice of terms. In the Declaration of Independence there is a great statement regarding what we hold dearly and agree that segregates us as citizens of the US. The line is “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Most scholars agree that the pursuit of happiness was meant to describe the ability to pursue any legal business or employment opportunity or what we might call the “American dream.” The “system,” or the leadership in the Oregon state government appears to have determined that the pursuit of happiness or the American dream is not nearly their priority. Instead, they are spending too much money on their own priorities and then overtaxing business to pay for it, thumbing their noses at our assumed federal rights.
This arrogant thinking and policy making that willfully or mistakenly took direct aim at the business community has got to stop. For everyone who employs people or has a non - government job in Oregon, we need to ask our state legislators to put an end to this anti-business agenda. This state is losing too many jobs and companies. The elected officials who nurtured and consistently supported anti-business legislation and who are responsible for continuing our woeful unemployment rate in this state are Governor Kulongoski, Senators Peter Courtney and Richard Devlin, and Representatives Dave Hunt and Mary Nolan. To make a difference, we need to be in touch with their offices and all of our business associates in their districts. We need to voice our opinion that they have done enough harm. The time is now to depart from failed policy efforts and allow the business community to compete with other states and bring jobs back to Oregon!
www.wilsonvillechamber.com
Monday, July 6, 2009
Wall Street Journal Editorial on Taxes
On May 18 the Wall Street Journal ran an Editorial by Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore regarding state tax policy. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich
Americans know how to use the moving van to escape high taxes.
By ARTHUR LAFFER and STEPHEN MOORE
With states facing nearly $100 billion in combined budget deficits this year, we're seeing more governors than ever proposing the Barack Obama solution to balancing the budget: Soak the rich. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon want to raise income tax rates on the top 1% or 2% or 5% of their citizens. New Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn wants a 50% increase in the income tax rate on the wealthy because this is the "fair" way to close his state's gaping deficit.
Rest of Editorial
Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich
Americans know how to use the moving van to escape high taxes.
By ARTHUR LAFFER and STEPHEN MOORE
With states facing nearly $100 billion in combined budget deficits this year, we're seeing more governors than ever proposing the Barack Obama solution to balancing the budget: Soak the rich. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon want to raise income tax rates on the top 1% or 2% or 5% of their citizens. New Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn wants a 50% increase in the income tax rate on the wealthy because this is the "fair" way to close his state's gaping deficit.
Rest of Editorial
Monday, June 22, 2009
Business is the Lifeblood of the Economy
By:
Chamber President Scott Starr
These troubled economic times are producing some interesting solutions to the problems that we are all trying to work out. Recently, the Oregon legislature made the decision to disconnect the Oregon income tax from the federal tax code, which would eliminate much of the tax benefits to the business community from the Federal Stimulus package and is in essence a $96 million tax increase. This decision has the business community and anyone who is a proponent of free enterprise wondering how putting Oregon businesses at a competitive disadvantage will help our local economy. Not only has our state legislature put many businesses at risk for the short term, they have also gone to great lengths to make our local businesses less viable and competitive in the long term vs. other states. This action will probably be signed into law by the governor, has left the business community trying to make sense out of what just transpired.
Business is the lifeblood of the economy; more government is not. Business generates wealth; government spends it. That in itself is not a bad thing unless government gets in the way of businesses’ ability to generate wealth. What we have witnessed is, in effect, the Oregon legislature killing the goose that lays the golden eggs because they think they have their own recipe for gold. It just doesn’t work that way. History tells us the Oregon economy lags behind the nation. Why have we consistently over at least the past 12-14 years been one of the worst performing states when it comes to unemployment and economic growth? One must wonder what sense it makes to spend so much money per student on education if the state can do no better than to create a market environment that is somewhere from ambivalent to hostile for business. All we end up doing is exporting our children to other states who welcome their talents with more opportunity and jobs.
Something is wrong with this cycle. How many more jobs will be lost before Oregon’s elected leaders stop using band-aids and start trying to find a cure. The most recent band-aids for expense management by making Oregon families and small businesses pay $96 million more in taxes is not the answer. It is time that the employed and unemployed of Oregon start making our legislators accountable for putting our economic livelihood at risk. Perhaps it is time we “cure” the Oregon House and Senate from those who choose to curtail wealth creation in favor of spending more to stay in power. Perhaps it is time to share more with the state Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and Governor that their policies are not working. At the same time, the pro-business actions of Wilsonville’s legislators, Representative Wingard and Senator George, must be encouraged to continue advocating for free enterprise and business prosperity.
www.wilsonvillechamber.com
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