Amid rising unemployment, mass layoffs and increasing costs, Oregon’s top economic and political leaders hold annual meeting to plot out the state’s financial path.
By Kyra Buckley, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon’s economy is in rough shape.
On Monday, economic and political leaders pitched their vision for a path forward to steer the state’s economy back to relative stability, when they gathered for the annual Oregon Leadership Summit.
They have their work cut out for them.
Unemployment has steadily ticked up from 4% to 5% over the last year. During the same time, the state has shed nearly 25,000 jobs, and the workforce has dropped to fewer than 2 million people. Population growth has stalled. Some Oregonians fear going to work or school due to federal immigration enforcement activity.
Meanwhile, the cost of food, utilities and housing is going up. And a stubbornly persistent housing shortage and affordability crisis continue to force a shocking number of Oregonians into homelessness or housing insecurity.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., acknowledges it’s a difficult task.
“The reality is I’ve had more than 1,100 town hall meetings open to all,” Wyden told OPB ahead of Monday’s summit. “The number one issue is where the second word is cost – it might be medical costs, it might be energy costs, it might be housing costs. But Oregonians are just getting clobbered by some of these costs.”
This year’s event, taking place in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center, comes as near-stagnant population and economic growth have put pressure on state leaders to attract more business opportunities to Oregon.
“For much of the past five decades, Oregon outpaced the U.S. in population and job growth, buoyed by steady in-migration and a reputation for livability and opportunity,” reads an Oregon Business Plan report purposefully released ahead of the summit. “But that momentum has slowed. Job growth now trails national averages, in-migration has fallen sharply, and population forecasts have been cut in half since 2019.”
The event also comes as Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek is seeking to make attracting business a key pillar of her reelection campaign. Kotek will speak midday at the summit about her vision for Oregon’s economic agenda moving forward.
Leaders from major Oregon industries — such as health care, computer chips and artificial intelligence, and food and agriculture — will present to lawmakers and other attendees.
Wyden said he expects rural education and healthcare, along with housing and affordability, to be the main topics of discussion.
“Never bet against Oregon,” Wyden said. “There’s no question that we’ve got work to do. We’ve got work to do in terms of mental health, we’ve got work to do in terms of downtown Portland. But what we consistently do – you stay at it and you get results.”
This article first appeared on opb.org.
