May 15, 2026
Oregon Business & Industry is honored to present Mike Keiser, founder of the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, with its prestigious Jobs Champion Award. The award recognizes people who have made a positive and lasting difference in ensuring that Oregonians have access to jobs that support individuals, families and communities in our state. Mike Keiser has done all of this in spades.
Keiser developed a passion for golf while building a successful greeting card company. Following its sale and the subsequent development of a private, nine-hole course in Michigan, Keiser spent years looking for the right location to build something truly visionary. He found it on the Oregon coast, where in 1991 he bought the original 1,215 acres for what would become Bandon Dunes.
Eight years later, in 1999, Keiser opened the course to the public. Despite the links course’s remote location, demand to play it far exceeded expectations. Over the next 10 years, Keiser added three courses to the site. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort now includes seven courses, several of which consistently rank among the best public courses in the United States.
Keiser’s vision has produced lasting economic benefits for Oregon’s south coast, which has become a bucket-list destination for golfers from around the world. The resort itself employs 850 people, not including nearly 700 caddies who will work there this summer. It indirectly supports many other businesses in the area. And it distributes millions of dollars every year through the Bandon Dunes Charitable Foundation, which supports conservation, economic resilience, community health and youth golf.
Thirty-five years ago, Mike Keiser took a chance on Oregon. He invested his time and his money in pursuit of a vision whose success was far from certain. That gamble has paid off. Keiser has created one of the nation’s top golf destinations and in doing so has made a significant impact on the well-being of those who live and work on Oregon’s south coast. OBI is proud to recognize him with its Jobs Champion Award.
Mike will be honored at OBI’s Oregon Economic Summit, which will take place May 28 in Salem.