OBC supports the vision of the Oregon Business Plan, a policy forum that we’ve shared nearly two decades with leaders from all sectors of Oregon life. This vision, recently updated, embraces three intertwined policy priorities for a coming decade of shared prosperity:
GROW Oregon’s Economy With Well Paying Jobs
INCREASE the Education and Work Skills of Oregonians
ENHANCE the Economic Mobility of More Oregonians
The Oregon Business Council embodies Oregon’s long history of business leaders who contribute their energy and expertise to civic life. A roundtable of top executives, OBC was founded in 1985 with the idea that a small, committed group of business leaders could make a significant contribution to Oregon’s well-being and future. Our mission is to enhance Oregon’s quality of life and economic prosperity — for all Oregonians in all parts of our state.
We do that through engagement in public issues in a range of ways – research and analysis, communication, convening, advocacy, and direct action with community partners. We’ve had an impact on some of Oregon’s most pressing public issues. These include public finance, economic development, education, poverty, health care, community health, and resource and environmental issues. We are non-profit, non-partisan, and independent, and our work is aimed at a broad public benefit.
Oregon’s economic outlook has weakened. Job growth has stalled. Population growth has slowed. Public institutions are under growing fiscal pressure. And Oregon is competing harder than ever for workers, employers, and investment. The state needs modest, deliberate growth to sustain its workforce, tax base, public services, and opportunity. In just two years, Oregon’s projected 2050 population fell by 531,000 people. Oregon's Choice: A Roadmap for Renewal lays out a path to change that trajectory. For most of the past half century, Oregon could assume growth and focus on managing its consequences. That era has ended. The work now is to make Oregon a place where people, employers, and investment choose to stay and grow. Oregon's Choice outlines five pressures, and a path forward, to rebalance the tax system, get Oregon students back on track, reduce catastrophic wildfire risk, turn housing policy into housing, and modernize the rules that shape the economy. The work will take sustained effort and real tradeoffs. But Oregon’s trajectory is not fixed. The choices made now will help determine whether the state can renew growth, strengthen public services, and expand opportunity.
