If Oregon’s business community has wondered how they’ll fare with Governor-elect Tina Kotek at the helm, they now have somewhat of a preview. Kotek, as keynote speaker at last week’s annual Oregon Business Plan Leadership Summit said ““Our entire state benefits when Portland is healthy and economically thriving,”
Hailing from Multnomah county, the governor-elect has been in regular meetings with her county’s commission chair and Portland’s mayor.
Softening her stance somewhat, Kotek also announced she’ll undertake a 36 county listening tour.
Oregon State University’s President: At the same summit during a question-and-answer session, OSU president Jayathi Murthy said, ““Education policy is in fact, economic policy — it really is the same thing,”
“Look, investments in higher ed are investments in our future and if you don’t invest in higher ed you’re basically giving that future away,” Murthy said. “We haven’t, in my view, invested sufficiently.”
An Oregon Business Plan summary document on the matter points out “Oregon’s two financial aid programs, the Oregon Opportunity Grant (OOG) and Oregon Promise, delivered $657 per full-time student in 2020. That’s well below the U.S. average of $830, and less than half of the $1,489 provided in Washington State.”
Corvallis Gets Carvana: Until now, Corvallisites wishing to drive themselves happy found themselves stranded if they wanted to use what Carvana calls its car vending machine. That however has changed.
The online car dealer has entered the Corvallis market, saying they can now offer early as next-day service in the area. Founded in 2012, the company delivers to 300 markets nationwide, and has a seven-day return policy.
South Corvallis Food Hub: In case you missed it, city councilors are anticipated to accept grant money to get the ball rolling on a new South Corvallis food Hub project.
The city received a grant from the Oregon Legislature via Benton County for $550,000 for the food hub, most of which will go to assessing needs, and site selection.
In a memo to the city council from Kathryn Duvall, Economic Development and Climate Program Specialist, “The residents of South Corvallis have long stated a desire for increased options for food access in their neighborhood.”
“These funds will be used to hire a consultant to evaluate the local food system and determine the gaps and challenges in the current system. The funds will also be used for program development and project costs related to site selection and development,” said Duvall.
Given that councilors are meeting tonight, stay tuned.
In Related News: The City is also receiving a $275,000 grant from Benton County to help small businesses experiencing ongoing impacts from the pandemic. The grant money was awarded to the city’s Economic Development Office, or EDO.
The dollars come from the county’s share of ARPA funding and therefore must be used in accordance with federal guidelines. The EDO will create and implement a grant program, according to a memo to the council from Jerry Sorte, Economic Development Supervisor.
The funds from the grant must be spent by June 30, 2024.
And, that’s about all the business news going on this week before Christmas. Happy Holidays!
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