Reports Show Effects of Weak Economy, Population Shift
What happened: In recent weeks, Common Sense Institute Oregon has released two reports that should motivate policymakers to improve the conditions businesses need to grow and individuals need to thrive. The reports examine domestic migration and economic growth, two areas in which the state has struggled in recent years.
Domestic migration: On July 29, CSI Oregon released a report focused on domestic migration data. In 2022-23, domestic arrivals and departures were roughly balanced. However, people who left earned more than those who arrived, a difference of about $7,300 per household. In sum, Oregon recorded a net loss of $476 million in adjusted gross income during 2022-23. And on net, “Oregon’s highest earners are leaving the state, and the households replacing them earn considerably less. Whether driven by tax policy, cost of living, remote work flexibility, or retirement decisions, the direction of the flow of income is unambiguous.” This trend is worrisome given Oregon’s reliance on personal income tax revenue to fund public services. Go here to learn more.
Economic growth: On Aug. 5, CSI Oregon released a report focused on the growth of Oregon’s economy, specifically the consequences of Oregon’s tepid rate of expansion. In 2025, Oregon’s GDP grew at only 1%, less than half the national rate. If Oregon’s economy had grown by an additional percentage point, the state could expect to have about 12,000 more jobs, $879 million more in wages and $88 million more in personal income tax revenue. Go here to learn more.
Context: Business leaders have warned policymakers about the state’s declining competitiveness and weakening economy for years. Oregon’s average monthly employment growth has trailed the national average for six consecutive years. Its GDP has grown more slowly than the national average for five straight years. And its unemployment rate has exceeded the national average for four straight years. Oregon’s performance in respected national rankings has suffered accordingly. CNBC ranked Oregon 42nd in its 2026 America’s Top States for Business index, a drop of 25 places since 2017, when the state was ranked 17th. To reverse this trend, the state’s elected officials must address the underlying policy drivers.
U.S. Treasury Eliminates ‘Beneficial Ownership’ Reporting
New rules adopted: On Aug. 11, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule that removes the requirement for U.S. companies and individuals to report beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Additionally, FinCEN announced that it would delete previously reported information by U.S. persons from the beneficial ownership information database. Foreign entities classified as reporting companies still will be required to report beneficial ownership information for foreign individuals.
About the CTA: Enacted by Congress in 2021, the Corporate Transparency Act includes reforms to anti-money laundering laws and is intended to help prevent, among other things, terrorist financing, corruption and tax fraud, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The CTA required small businesses in the U.S. to file beneficial ownership reports to the U.S. Treasury Department by Jan. 1, 2025. However, the Treasury Department announced in 2025 that it would not enforce penalties and fines associated with the reporting rule for U.S. reporting companies.
Learn more: Read the Treasury Department’s press release here and a FinCEN frequently asked questions document here.
Webinar Recording: Pending I-5 Closure in Portland
Beginning Sept. 11, all southbound I-5 lanes will close in Portland between Broadway/Weidler and I-84. The closure, which will allow for the replacement of the road surface, will last for five weeks and create potentially significant travel disruptions. ODOT expects congestion to extend into Washington and for southbound travel to take two or three times as long. On July 30, representatives of the Oregon Department of Transportation joined OBI to discuss the project, its likely effects and planned detours.
Go here to watch a recording of the webinar. Go here to view the slide deck used in ODOT’s presentation.
Helpful links:
- I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project website, which includes information about the closure, including maps.
- Business Toolkit created by ODOT.
- Get There Oregon resources for employers.
- Sign up for traffic and closure alerts here.
Join Us for the 2026 Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow
OBI’s Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow will return for a fifth year this fall with a one-day tour of four Portland metro area businesses. The Roadshow will take place on Friday, Oct. 2 – recognized nationally as Manufacturing Day – and visit (in this order):
Looptworks (Gresham)
Leatherman (Portland)
QB Fabrication & Welding (Clackamas)
Miles Fiberglass & Composites (Clackamas)
The Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow gives participants, including policymakers and business leaders, a chance to tour some of Oregon’s most innovative companies and talk to the people who run them. To learn more about this year’s participating manufacturers and to register, go to the Manufacturing and Innovation Roadshow web page here.
Travel Medford’s Darren Van Lehn Talks Sports Tourism with OBI
Darren Van Lehn is director of sports development for Travel Medford, Oregon’s largest destination marketing organization. Sports tourism has become an important economic driver for Medford thanks to first-class facilities such as Lithia and Driveway Fields and Rogue X as well as work by Darren and Travel Medford to leverage them. In this episode, Darren talks with Oregon Business Matters about the economic impact of sports tourism, the future of sports development in Medford and the importance of the private sector to the region’s quality of life.
Listen to our interview with Darren here.
In case you missed it, check out our recent interview with Jon Stark, CEO of Economic Development for Central Oregon. To listen to this interview and many others, visit the Oregon Business Matters website.
The Oregon Business Matters podcast can be found on major podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
Policy and Rulemaking Updates
Transportation survey: The Governor’s Rebuilding Our Transportation Vision Workgroup has reached its halfway point (all meetings are on YouTube, if you are interested). The most recent meeting featured presentations from other states on their operations and funding, including Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Utah. A proposed public survey instrument was shared with the group but was pulled back following member feedback. However, the survey has been reworked and was released on Aug. 14. Please take the time to fill it out here so that the perspective of business leaders is included. It will take only a few minutes.
Arbitrary and capricious: For each of the past two sessions, OBI has prioritized legislation that would establish an “arbitrary and capricious” standard for administrative decisions. Oregon is one of only three states that provide maximum deference to state agencies while, by contrast, the federal Administrative Procedures Act maintains an arbitrary and capricious standard. Notably, Oregon’s attorney general has filed an avalanche of lawsuits against the Trump administration that rely on arbitrary and capricious arguments (by OBI’s count, over 50), including three lawsuits in August related to TANF, Trade and Escrow Interest. OBI agrees with Oregon’s attorney general that executive branch decisions should be neither arbitrary nor capricious, and we hope he’ll support our efforts to give Oregon the same tools he uses to challenge federal government actions.
Cap-and-invest discussions: Gov. Kotek has convened a small group of stakeholders to begin discussing key principles of a possible move toward a state cap-and-invest (aka cap-and-trade) program in lieu of the existing state regulatory scheme known as the Climate Protection Program (CPP). The CPP was adopted by the Department of Environmental Quality’s policy-setting board and established a costly mechanism to charge certain fuels (think gasoline, natural gas, propane, etc.) for carbon emissions. The program is an outlier compared to those designed in other states and Canadian provinces. OBI has long sought a shift from the CPP to a more rational, market-based cap-and-invest program that would put Oregon on a more level playing field with states like Washington and California. Gov. Kotek’s Prosperity Council included this transition in its June report, and the governor promptly agreed that the transition is needed. Her stakeholder group is a step toward what ultimately must be a legislatively adopted program.
Data centers: Proposals to limit data center construction in Oregon continue to proliferate. On July 27, Hillsboro, with one day of notice, enacted a 120-day moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems. In Salem, meanwhile, a data center was moving through the normal business development process when, on July 30, Gov. Kotek suddenly withdrew state land tied to the project. Roughly a week later, the governor announced her support for local data center moratoriums. Salem City Council has now voted to impose a moratorium, with Clackamas County announcing a “pause” on data center applications. Separately and encouragingly, the Governor’s Data Center Advisory Committee continues to have fact-based discussions about all aspects of data centers. A draft report is expected in the coming weeks, followed by a public comment period. Recordings of all meetings are available for public review.
Health plan report: In a largely anticipated move, the Universal Health Plan Governance Board voted to delay the release of its legislative report detailing the implementation of a statewide single-payer health system until later this year. Over the past several months, a UHPGB committee working to develop a financing plan for the system failed to reach consensus, and a finance and revenue committee minority report outlined concerns about the proposed financing structure and the cost estimates used to develop it. The board is still required by law to release a report by Sept. 15, but revenue questions will remain unanswered until at least December. Separately, the board is asking the Legislature for additional funding to continue operating into the next biennium.
Heath care workgroup: The Strengthening Oregon’s Independent Health Care Workgroup, led by House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, convened this month to discuss issues affecting independent medical practices. Sen. Lisa Reynolds, D-Portland, plans to reintroduce a bill requiring independent clinics to be reimbursed at the same rate as hospitals. Bowman also expressed interest in changes to the Provider Incentive Loan Repayment Program to help reduce barriers for providers entering the workforce.
Undersea cable rulemaking: Oregon’s administrative rules governing easements for transpacific telecommunications cables are undergoing their first comprehensive update in more than 25 years. The rulemaking reflects major advances in undersea cable technology, including cables that combine data transmission with ocean monitoring capabilities, as well as updates to Oregon’s Territorial Sea Plan (2023) and SB 793 (2025), which requires the Department of State Lands (DSL) to establish application and compensation fees for territorial sea easements. OBI submitted comments on Aug. 3. Because DSL administers the program, the final rules will be adopted by the State Land Board, which is composed of the governor, secretary of state and state treasurer.
Notable News
Moda Center vote: The Portland City Council on Aug. 12 approved a term sheet that in the following months will be used to negotiate an arena renovation and long-term lease deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. In exchange for $120 million in initial city funding for an estimated $600 million renovation of Moda Center, the city is seeking a 20-year lease with the Blazers to ensure they remain in Portland for the foreseeable future (Willamette Week).
Democratic senator confrontation: In the days since a Hillsboro state senator was accosted at a community event, tensions in Oregon’s Democratic Party have spiked, fueled by diverging reactions to the incident and incendiary social media posts by some activists (The Oregonian).
Moda Center payoff: It’s best not to think of the ongoing negotiations over who should pay for Moda Center renovations as a rational conversation between two parties looking for a mutually beneficial deal (Portland Business Journal).
Proposed finance measure: For the first time in three decades, Oregon will place limits on political donations beginning in January. But months before that change, the next tussle over Oregon campaign finance laws is already getting underway — and could land Oregon in the vanguard of states pursuing a novel legal theory that aims to radically change state politics (Oregon Public Broadcasting).
PGE reorganization: Portland General Electric and state regulatory staff have reached an agreement that would allow the company to reorganize and put Oregon’s largest electric utility under a new holding company (Portland Business Journal).
Pacific Northwest power: The Pacific Northwest faces a big task to meet rapidly rising energy demand in the next six years, but analysts from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council sounded optimistic on Aug. 13 as they released a draft plan. Their least-cost prescription includes 9 gigawatts of new renewable energy, 5.2 gigawatts of energy storage and 2.1 gigawatts of natural gas plant capacity (Portland Business Journal).
Chavez-DeRemer job: Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the former Oregon congresswoman who resigned as U.S. secretary of labor this spring amid a series of misconduct allegations, has secured a new job advocating for data center growth (The Oregonian).
Lam Research: Semiconductor equipment manufacturer Lam Research could pump up to $1.7 billion into the city of Tualatin over the next 15 years under a tax break deal approved by local policymakers Aug. 10 (The Oregonian).
OEA internal division: Political jockeying inside the state’s largest teachers union is reaching new heights, half a dozen members and educators represented by the Oregon Education Association have told The Oregonian/OregonLive (The Oregonian).
Oregon unemployment rate: Oregon enjoyed a robust labor market in the years after the Great Recession, with job growth handily outpacing the nation amid historically low unemployment. The state has steadily lost its edge in the intervening years, a painful erosion that shows up starkly in Oregon’s unemployment rate — now the third highest in the nation (The Oregonian).
Wine board director: Gina Bianco, executive director of the Oregon Wine Board, has resigned after two-plus years in the role, the semi-independent state agency told the Business Journal on Aug. 7 (Portland Business Journal).
Boeing sells Insitu: Boeing agreed to take a minority stake in Archer Aviation in a deal that hands over control of its flying-taxi venture Wisk Aero. The companies said Aug. 10 that Archer would acquire Wisk, as well as air-traffic software provider SkyGrid and drone maker Insitu from Boeing (The Wall Street Journal).
Registration Open for Sept. 16 Oregon Infrastructure Summit
The annual Oregon Infrastructure Summit will take place Sept. 16 at the Salem Convention Center. Organized by the Northwest Environmental Business Council, the summit will cover transportation funding, housing innovation, energy infrastructure, the Oregon Prosperity Roadmap and more.
Visit the summit website here to learn more, and go here to register.
Nominations Open for Worker Safety, Health Awards
Nominations are being accepted for the 2027 Oregon Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health (GOSH) Awards, which recognize organizations and people who make exceptional contributions to workplace safety and health. Award nominations are due Oct. 12. The award categories are workplace safety program, association, safety committee, safety/health/wellness team, innovation, safety/health/wellness advocate, labor representative, safety and health professional, rising safety star, and business leader.
Get more details and make a nomination here. Awards will be presented March 2, 2027, as part of the March 1-4 GOSH Conference at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The four-day conference provides knowledge, training and tools across industries to strengthen protection of workers from hazards and to drive down business costs. Learn more about GOSH here.
Check Out OBI’s Member Benefits
OBI offers members a range of programs that can save money or help small businesses offer benefits normally available only to much larger companies. Benefit programs include:
- HealthChoice: Helps businesses with fewer than 100 employees offer comprehensive health-care benefits through our partnership with Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon.
- Partners Retirement Plan: Allows multiple employers to offer a 401(k) benefit to employees through a group structure while maintaining individual company design and control over the benefit – such as eligibility, employer match, and vesting.
- CompSAFE: Helps eligible companies enjoy workers’ compensation discounts through SAIF Corporation.
- Fuel Program: Helps members save fuel costs through our partnership with Ed Staub & Sons.
- LegalPLUS: OBI members receive 15 minutes of free legal consulting per month from Innova Legal Advisors.
Go here to learn about all of OBI’s member benefits.