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OBI honors Rep. Jeff Barker and Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis as Jobs Champions
Second-annual award highlight of OBI Annual Meeting
Rich White, Boeing and Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis
Kathryn Williams, NW Natural and Rep. Jeff Barker
SALEM – Oregon Business & Industry honored two legislators today, naming them the 2020 Jobs Champions. This year OBI chose to recognize both a long-serving statesman, Rep. Jeff Barker, D-Aloha, and an up-and-coming lawmaker, Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany.
“We created this award a year ago to recognize leaders who take time to consider how new laws will work in the real world and, especially, their impact on our ability, as employers, to retain and grow jobs that can support Oregon families,” said Karen Vineyard, incoming OBI board chair and market executive for global commercial banking at Bank of America.
OBI recognized Rep. Boshart Davis as one of the most vocal and effective advocates for rural jobs, noting her efforts to address the concerns of Oregon farmers and timber workers in legislation.
“Rep. Boshart Davis was a standout in an overall outstanding class of freshmen legislators,” Vineyard said. “We are excited to see her grow as a leader in the years ahead.”
In honoring Rep. Barker, who is retiring after this year, OBI saluted his long career as a public servant. Besides serving as a legislator, Barker has been a Portland police officer, an Oregon State trooper and a U.S. Marine. Since he was elected in 2003, Barker has chaired the House Judiciary Committee and currently leads the House Committee on Business and Labor where he oversees work on some of the most complex bills considered by the Legislature.
“Rep. Barker is a leader who always takes the time to understand the details of a bill and, most importantly, the impacts, particularly on Oregon workers and their jobs,” Vineyard said.
OBI thanks these legislators for their work supporting Oregon jobs, Oregon businesses and Oregonians across the state. This is the second time OBI has presented this award. In 2019 OBI recognized Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, as the first Jobs Champion.
More than 200 people attended OBI’s annual meeting, which also included remarks from Gov. Kate Brown and a panel of legislators that highlighted issues before the 2020 legislative session.