About Oregon Business Insider, OBI’s Free Newsletter
Oregon Business Insider, a free monthly newsletter created by Oregon Business & Industry (OBI), appears on the first Wednesday of every month.
Oregon Business Insider is intended for anyone who’s interested in Oregon’s business environment. You do not need to be an OBI member to receive Oregon Business Insider.
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The Month that Was: Three Things that Happened in June
Prosperity Council report: On June 25, the Governor’s Prosperity Council released its highly anticipated list of recommendations to improve Oregon’s economy and competitiveness, many of which echo those in OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda. The council’s 10 priority recommendations include calls for more competitive tax policies, enforceable statewide permitting timelines, a reduction in regulatory “burdens,” modernization of state policies governing industrial and employment land, and the replacement of the Climate Protection Program with a cap and invest program aligned with those in neighboring states. The report also emphasizes the need for urgent and bold action, pointing out that “incremental change will not be enough.” Gov. Kotek created the council in January to help create strategies to achieve the goals listed in her Oregon Prosperity Roadmap. Read the full report here and OBI’s statement in response here.
‘Bespoke’ manufacturing rules: On June 12, the Bureau of Labor and Industries adopted rules implementing HB 2688, which the Legislature passed in 2025. Prevailing wages – elevated wages paid for public projects – traditionally have applied to road and building projects. HB 2688 extends them to off-site manufacturers doing custom (or “bespoke”) work for public projects. OBI and industry partners have pointed out various problems with the adopted rules, including the fact that they are silent on the applicability of the law to out-of-state manufacturers. This disparity potentially could create significant competitive disadvantages for Oregon manufacturers required to pay higher wages. The rules also require wage posting at worksites that are likely to confuse employees. Go here to read the rules, which become effective July 1 (today), and here to read a BOLI FAQ document.
Legislative Committee Days: From June 15-17, the state Legislature held committee days, which included informational hearings on topics that could lead to proposals during the 2027 legislative session. Notable discussions included federal tax code reconnection, Oregon’s property tax system, Oregon’s school funding model, and anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) exemptions for government entities and outside counsel.
The Month Ahead: Three Things to Watch in July
CNBC rankings: On July 15, CNBC will release its annual America’s Top States for Business rankings. Oregon plunged 11 places last year in the widely followed index, dropping from 28th to 39th overall. Only three years earlier, in 2022, Oregon was ranked 18th. Oregon was dragged down in 2025 by its rankings in cost of doing business (43), economy (41), cost of living (45) and business friendliness (47). CNBC is known for adjusting methodology from year to year. Go here if you’d like to read about CNBC’s approach to this year’s rankings, which will increase the weighting of areas in which Oregon performed well in 2025, including infrastructure (14), workforce (23), quality of life (19) and access to capital (24). Next month’s Oregon Business Insider will take a look at this year’s rankings. OBI considers individual rankings like CNBC’s within a larger context that includes many pieces of economic data as well as long- and short-term trends. See OBI’s data dashboard, the Oregon Scorecard, for more.
Business creation data: On July 29, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release data for the fourth quarter of 2025 that will include information about establishment births and deaths (in simple terms, business creation and expansion). The June edition of Oregon Business Insider took a closer look at this data (read it here), and through the first three quarters of 2025, Oregon’s average quarterly rate of establishment births ranked only 44th nationally. This month’s data release will allow for comparisons over a full year.
Initiative signature deadline: The deadline to submit signatures for initiative petitions aiming for the November 2026 ballot will pass on July 2 (tomorrow). Notably, this deadline applies to Initiative Petition 28, dubbed the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act. It would criminalize any “harm” to an animal, defined as any nonhuman mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian or fish. It effectively would render illegal everything from pest control to ranching – including animal husbandry and fishing. As of June 24, petitioners had submitted 138,335 signatures. To qualify for the ballot, the petition will need 117,173 valid signatures. However, many submitted signatures will be deemed invalid during the verification process, requiring petitioners to submit many more signatures than required. The deadline for state elections officials to verify signatures is Aug. 2.
Monthly Year-Over-Year Employment Snapshot
What is this?: Previous editions of Oregon Business Insider have used this space to spotlight a policy or event. Beginning this month, we will use this space to highlight a single group of data: year-over-year changes in employment, including total nonfarm employment (see the map above) and employment in key sectors. The data will be presented graphically in the same manner every month for ease of use. You can click the graphic above for a larger version.
Why this data?: Jobs matter, and year-over-year employment changes are a straightforward barometer of the state’s business environment and economic health. Businesses tend to invest in states with favorable tax and regulatory regimes, and jobs follow business investment. Also, job creation is one of the three strategic goals of Gov. Kotek’s Prosperity Roadmap, which the recommendations of the Governor’s Prosperity Council (see item above) support.
How Oregon’s doing: Not great, clearly. From May 2025 to May 2026, total nonfarm employment in the state dropped more dramatically than in any other state except Virginia (-1.2%) and Maryland (also -1%). As Oregon Business Council President John Tapogna pointed out on LinkedIn, “Oregon is keeping company with states hit hardest by federal job cuts – without having that excuse. … Maryland, Virginia and D.C. were at the center of last year’s federal job cuts through the DOGE effort. Oregon was not. Our weakness is homegrown.” Oregon’s performance was among the nation’s bottom 10 in four sectors and among the top 10 in none. The state’s 7.3% decline in information employment was the nation’s biggest. Meanwhile, Oregon actually fared better in May than in April, when the state was tied with Maryland for the nation’s biggest year-over-year percentage employment decline at -1.2%.
Learn more: The data in the graphic above comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and you can find it here. The Oregon Employment Department also reports detailed monthly employment statistics on its website here.
Statistic of the Month: Per Capita Personal Income
2025 per capita personal income: In 2025, Oregon’s per capita personal income (PCPI) increased 3.9% to $73,678, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The state’s rate of increase trailed the national average of 4.3%. Likewise, Oregon’s per capita personal income trailed the national average of $76,393. PCPI is calculated by dividing total personal income by state population.
PCPI in recent years: Relative to the national average, PCPI in Oregon improved dramatically from 2010 (see chart above), when it was roughly 88% of the national average, to 2020, when it approached 96% of the national average. In the five years since 2020, however, PCPI in Oregon has stalled at about 96% of the national average. The percentage retreated slightly in 2025, dropping by 0.4 percentage points. Between 2010 to 2020, Oregon’s compound annual PCPI growth rate was 4.7%, which far exceeded the national rate of 3.8%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Between 2021 and 2025, Oregon’s compound annual PCPI growth rate slowed to 4.1%, trailing the national rate of 4.2%.
Oregon’s ranking: In terms of state rankings since 2005, Oregon peaked in 2021, when per capital personal income was the nation’s 20th highest. In 2025, it was 23rd.
Learn more: The Bureau of Economic Analysis makes snapshot data for states available on its BAERFACTS (BEA Regional Fact Sheet) web page here. Information is available for states and counties.
Oregon Business Matters Talks with Hayden Homes’ Deb Flagan
Oregon Business Matters is OBI’s biweekly podcast. It features interviews with state business and political leaders, economists, academics, pollsters – all with a focus on issues that matter to Oregon’s businesses.
This month’s spotlight episode is our interview with Deborah Flagan, vice president of community engagement and giving for Hayden Homes. The Redmond-based company is the largest private homebuilder in the Pacific Northwest, operating in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. In this episode Deborah discusses the company’s focus on building affordable market-rate housing, its philanthropic work, the difficulty of building homes in Oregon, and Hayden Homes’ evolution over nearly 40 years in business. Listen to the conversation here.
In case you missed them, check out our recent interviews with TrackTown USA CEO Michael Reilly, Oregon Symphony President and CEO Paul Snyder, Con-Vey Chairman and CEO Dave Larecy, Sport Oregon CEO Jim Etzel and Hillsboro Hops President and General Manager K.L. Wombacher, Visit the Oregon Business Matters website to listen.
You can also subscribe to the Oregon Business Matters podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Opportunities to Engage
If you would like timely opportunities to engage in the political process, please consider signing up with the Oregon Prosperity Initiative. Participation will allow you to send comment letters to key legislators and policymakers in support of policies that would improve Oregon’s economic competitiveness – and in opposition to policies that would erode it. It’s an easy way to help improve Oregon’s business climate.
About Oregon Business & Industry
OBI is Oregon’s statewide chamber of commerce and also Oregon’s affiliate for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation. OBI works tirelessly as the voice of business in Salem, pursuing policies necessary to support a prosperous private sector.
OBI members enjoy many benefits, including opportunities to participate in OBI’s policy-setting committees, participation in OBI events, regular communications about key public policy developments, and access to cost-saving programs, including:
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 more about OBI, here to learn more about OBI’s member benefits and here to talk with OBI about becoming a member.