Business Oregon News

April 2011

Erickson Air Crane Officials Testify on Behalf of Senate Bill 219

Bill would Establish Business Expansion Program to Help Retain and Attract High-paying Oregon Jobs

On March 15, the Senate Business, Transportation and Economic Development Committee held its first public hearing on a Business Oregon-backed proposal to create a new business incentive called the Business Expansion Program.

This program would help innovative, knowledge-based industry companies create more high-paying jobs in Oregon. It would do so by helping to offset a company's expansion costs based upon the anticipated increase in income tax revenue due the state from the new jobs created.

The bill has attracted the backing of Governor John Kitzhaber, Sen. Richard Devlin and Rep. Tobias Read. In addition, the proposal has the support of key business leaders from Associated Oregon Industries, the Oregon Business Plan and the Oregon Economic Development Association (OEDA), all of whom testified that Oregon needs additional incentives to compete for firms that rely largely on high-skilled workers in such fields as high technology and corporate management.

"I think it is a very much needed tool," Rep. Tobias Read told the committee. Read pointed out that the state's current incentive programs are largely aimed at either very small firms or large capital-intensive companies like Intel that receive major property tax breaks.

Read and Devlin are the chief sponsors of SB 219, which would provide forgivable loans to medium-sized companies with above-average wages. The bill calls for a portion of the estimated income taxes received from workers at the companies to flow back into a fund administrated by Business Oregon.

Udo Rieder, the CEO of Erickson Air Crane, of Portland and Central Point, told the committee that in order to compete globally, companies such as his (that are subject to outside recruitment) need to see states offer such programs to help them stay and grow here; and compete across the globe.

"This is one (incentive) that can affect the decisions we'll be making at Erickson in the very near future," Rieder said. "Our business case would be more competitive (to win business from China) if SB 219 moves forward. We can potentially offer a more competitive basis for increased manufacturing within Oregon."

Senator Devlin said he became interested in the concept when Novellus, a silicon chip equipment supplier, was considering adding jobs to its Tualatin facility. Novellus decided to stay and expand in Oregon and eventually added another 200 jobs here—at an average wage of about $70,000, but Devlin said he was concerned that the state didn't really have any special incentives for that kind of firm despite its obvious value to the Oregon economy.

"For somebody who wants to bring high-paying jobs into the state, we have very little," Sen. Devlin told the committee. "This incentive would have an absolute connection to jobs created."

The committee is expected to hold a second public hearing and possible work session during the second week of this month after proposed amendments are finalized through the Legislative Counsel's office.

Business Oregon to Appear Before the Ways and Means Committee Beginning April 4

Business Oregon will appear before the Oregon Legislature's Joint Committee on Ways and Means, Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee April 4-7 to discuss the 2011-13 budget request. As you know, these are tough fiscal times and legislators and the Governor need to find billions of dollars in cuts to balance the next state budget.

I remain convinced of the unmatched value and return on investment that Business Oregon brings the state in the form of jobs retained and created, along with the increased income tax revenue associated with those jobs. We are happy to make our case to the Legislature and highlight their wise investment in Business Oregon's efforts to create jobs for Oregonians across our state. Below is an outline of our planned testimony, which you can watch or listen to on the Legislative Web site.

Dates: April 4-7
Time: 8:30 a.m.
Location: Hearing Room 174

Day One:
Wally Van Valkenburg, Chair of the Oregon Business Development Commission, will set the stage for our agency testimony. Our presentation will focus on our agency overview and our top five priorities: retain staff; Strategic Reserve Fund; Industry Competitiveness Fund; Infrastructure Finance Authority programs; and Business Finance programs. Additionally, we will also discuss two commission priorities: the Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC) and the proposed Business Expansion Program.

Day Two:
We will finish reviewing our agency priorities including the Oregon Film & Video Office, certified industrial sites/brownfields, the Office of Minority, Women and Emerging Small Business (OMWESB), the Oregon Arts Commission and the Cultural Trust.

Day Three:
We will finish our testimony with a focus on agency outcomes including Key Performance Measures (KPMs), and outcomes for Oregon InC, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Cultural Trust and the Oregon Film & Video Office.

Day Four:
The committee will hear public testimony about the impact Business Oregon has on communities and businesses across the state.

I hope you can tune in and then weigh in with your local legislator about the importance of Business Oregon's work in your community.

Governor Visits KIALOA Paddles in Bend

Kitzhaber Touts Importance of Exports for Oregon Small Businesses

Governor Kitzhaber continues to keep his promise to travel across Oregon to various communities each month to discuss critical issues with local residents and to highlight our economic development successes.

Most recently, the Governor visited Central Oregon to highlight new job creation, education and economic development plans to local business leaders at the annual luncheon of Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) in Bend. In addition, he also toured Bend's KIALOA Paddles which manufactures a full line of carbon fiber and hand-crafted wood paddles for all kinds of water sports.

"KIALOA Paddles is a good example of a small Oregon business working with a state agency to help grow their business. They are building more products and selling their goods not just locally but internationally too," the Governor said.

KIALOA Paddles is one of hundreds of small businesses that have received assistance from Business Oregon. Staff from Business Oregon's Japan Representative Office met with KIALOA Paddles in 2009 to discuss various inquiries the company had received from Japan. Within months, KIALOA Paddles received an order for paddles, and they have recently shipped a second order to the same customer. In total, KIALOA Paddles has exported more than $4,000 in product to Japan as a direct result of Business Oregon export staff assistance.

"I will continue to aggressively pursue a range of economic development policies and priorities from workforce development to strategic investment in innovation and clean technologies that will be important to getting Oregonians back to work," Governor Kitzhaber told officials.

The Governor's next stop will be Medford, later this month.

Pediatric Care Clinic Development Moving Ahead in Klamath Falls

Construction of a New, World-class Pediatric Clinic is on Track to Start in June in Klamath Falls.

The clinic, which is being built by the Sanford Health Foundation, will serve children from birth to 18 years old in the broader Klamath Basin, including Klamath and Lake counties in Oregon and Siskiyou and Modoc counties in California. The site of the new facility will be alongside the region's largest hospital and hopefully operations will begin by early next year.

Business Oregon contributed $50,000 toward the project's $5 million-plus total cost from the Governor's Strategic Reserve Fund last year. Numerous community foundations and local groups also will make generous contributions to cover the portion of the project's costs not covered by the Sanford Health Foundation.

"The intent of the Sanford Children's Clinic initiative is to expand access to pediatric healthcare for children who might otherwise go without," Dave Link, Sanford Health Sr. Executive Vice President, said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the facility. "Physicians in this community have provided quality care to children for years, but this new Sanford Children's Clinic will ensure that this care will continue to benefit children and young families for many years to come."

The Sanford Children's Clinic physician team will include two pediatricians from the Klamath Pediatric Clinic and one from the Sky Lakes Medical Center and will grow through recruitment in subsequent years. Additionally, the clinic will employ administrative and nursing staff to support the provider team. It will serve a community and broader metropolitan area of 60,000 people, including more than 16,000 children.

It is important to note that improving health care services for local residents has been identified as a top priority by the Klamath County Commission as well as the Klamath County Economic Development Association. Recently, those folks made that clear in a presentation to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and a representative from the Oregon Solutions team.

Business Oregon Redevelopment Experts to Appear at National Brownfield Conference

Conference will Feature Video of Port of Newport's International Terminal Redevelopment for a National Audience

Business Oregon Brownfields Program Specialist Karen Homolac will present at the Brownfields 2011 conference regarding the importance of restoring industrial land to industrial reuse rather than "up zoning" to allow for higher end redevelopment (i.e., residential). This is a critical point as industrial land maintains the jobs where residential areas are already located—close to major transportation corridors.

She'll also be presenting about the SeQuential Biofuels Service Station project in Eugene as a case study of the reuse of a brownfield site for essentially the same—but a more sustainable—reuse as a biofuels service station.

In addition, Business Oregon's Industrial Lands Specialist Michael Williams will participate in the Conference's Developers Advisory Panel. Michael also will give a presentation on our Industrial Site Certification process and demonstrate how it worked on a brownfield property in The Dalles. The property, a NW Aluminum site, was certified this past December. The 101-acre site is a former federal Superfund site that was delisted in 1996. It is one of the largest brownfield redevelopment projects in the U.S.

Better yet, the renovation of the site in The Dalles is expected to create 400 to 1000 jobs.

Coming Attractions: I am also excited to announce that the conference will feature the debut of a recently produced video showcasing our agency's successful partnership with local officials to clean up and redevelop the Port of Newport's International Terminal site well as the Port of Toledo's boatyard. The two redevelopments, done in conjunction with the construction of a new headquarters for N.O.A.A.'s Pacific Research fleet, will mean hundreds of new jobs for Newport. You'll be able to watch the video soon at Business Oregon's Web site.

Business Oregon's Redevelopment Work Wins Award at U.S. Brownfields Conference

One of Business Oregon's most prominent brownfields redevelopment projects—the Reynolds Industrial Park in Troutdale—will receive a Phoenix Award at the Brownfields 2011 Conference in Philadelphia next week as the best project in the NW Region of the U.S. The Phoenix Awards go to outstanding revitalization projects from each of the 10 U.S. EPA regions as well as projects having a special community impact.

As you may recall, the redevelopment of the Troutdale site—the former home of a Reynolds Metals Aluminum smelter—led to the siting of FedEx Ground's new state of-the-art, $129 million package distribution hub there, which opened late last year. FedEx is the first occupant at the former Reynolds property and the facility will bring an estimated 1,000 jobs to the Troutdale area. The FedEx Ground (FedEx Ground) Package Systems, Inc.'s site is located on about 78 acres within the Port of Portland's new 693 acre Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park.

Upcoming Events

• Oregon InC Meeting April 4
• Broadband Advisory Council April 28

Find a complete listing of events on our Events Calendar