The latest reports, news, and documents from the Oregon Business Council and its initiative partners: 

OREGON BUSINESS PLAN

Leadership Summit Tees Up 2012 Policy Implementation

More than 900 business, elected, and civic leaders attended the Oregon Business Plan’s 9th Oregon Leadership Summit on December 12 and 13. This year's conference theme, Time to Deliver, focused on the need to implement important elements of job creation initiatives and public service reform adopted into law by the 2011 Oregon Legislature. In particular, Oregon is in a good position to improve outcomes in state budgeting, education, health care, and other public services at lower cost.

The Business Plan is a joint effort of Oregon's business associations coordinated by the Oregon Business Council. Its purpose is to grow Oregon’s economy with good jobs in every corner of the state.

Videos of panels from Monday morning’s plenary session are available at the Oregon Business Plan website, along with slides from breakout sessions and the second day's sessions on budgeting, education and healthcare. Site visitors can also download the latest Oregon Business Plan Policy Playbook, which summarizes progress over the past year and lays out initiatives for 2012.   

  

Video clips on the site include:

  • Russ Hoeflich of the Nature Conservancy and Paul Harlan of The Collins Companies calling for more intensive thinning of dry-side forestlands to promote forest health and create jobs in rural Oregon.
     
  • Hillsboro teacher Sarah Denney and community college leaders Greg Hamann and Sonya Christian envisioning a unified 0-20 education system and what steps we should take to get there.
     
  • Governor Kitzhaber describing how Oregon’s new approaches to state budgeting, health care, and education will reduce costs, stretch resources, and improve outcomes.
     
  • Senate President Courtney and House co-chairs Bruce Hanna and Arnie Roblan recounting Oregon’s highly productive 2011 legislative session and discussing  prospects for the February 2012 session.  

OREGON CLUSTER NETWORK

The Oregon Cluster Network is hosted by the Oregon Business Plan to support Oregon's mature, growing and emerging industry clusters and assist cluster participants as they work to accelerate innovation and the competitiveness of their industries.  By consciously connecting industry leaders with university researchers, schools, media, venture capital, economic development practitioners, and other resources, the Cluster Network generates new prospects for business recruitment, develops relevant economic and industry data, guides public policy, and helps cluster facilitators across the state share best practices to develop a regional collaborative advantage.  Learn more at www.oregonclusters.com. 

E3: EMPLOYERS FOR EDUCATION EXCELLENCE

Oregon's National Career Readiness Certificate:  With the passage of HB 2398, signed into law on July 28, 2009, Oregon joined a growing list of states to offer the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC).  The NCRC is a nationally recognized certificate that documents foundational workplace skills in three core areas - Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information and Locating Information - that are critical to the success of majority of jobs in the workplace.  The NCRC is a portable certificate utilized by thousands of employers and job applicants in over 30 states.

From the standpoint of hiring managers, the NCRC helps identify qualified applicants. For job applicants, the NCRC helps prove and strengthen workplace skills.  Statewide implementation is led by the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, in collaboration with E3. René Léger, former E3 Executive Director, serves as the executive on loan to provide dedicated leadership and focus, working closely with staff and key partners.

E3 is a statewide non-profit organization, founded by the Oregon Business Council, to bring together employers and schools to improve student achievement.  We promote high academic standards and encourage employers to work directly with students to help prepare them for post-secondary education and the workforce.  Read more at the http://www.e3oregon.org.

 

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Since 1985,  the Oregon Business Council (OBC) has played a central role in addressing public issues that are important to Oregonians. Through research and analysis, internal discussions, and collaboration with other organizations and public officials, OBC is an advocate for policies that improve Oregon's quality of life and economy.

Welcome to our web site. It describes who we are, how we work, and our major policy concerns. It also contains many of the studies and reports we've commissioned or supported in recent years.