OBI Announces 2022 Oregon Visionary Award Recipients

Oregon Business & Industry is thrilled to announce the selection of two honorees to receive the Oregon Visionary Award – OBI’s highest honor – at its annual Vision Oregon event, which will take place at the Portland Art Museum on Oct. 19. The event also will feature a moderated panel discussion involving the leaders of three businesses in key Oregon sectors.

“The Visionary Award embodies the spirit of innovation, creativity, and unlimited potential that exists in Oregon and Oregonians,” said Jordan Papé, OBI board chair and CEO of the Papé Group. “This year’s honorees demonstrate a true commitment to their customers, employees, and they have a clear commitment to making their communities, this state, and the world a better place. OBI is excited to honor these visionaries in October.”

OBI’s Visionary Award recognizes future-focused employers and innovative businesses that find new solutions to significant problems or otherwise create needed change. The 2022 Visionary Award winners are:

• Scott Hamlin: In 2009, Hamlin founded Portland-based Looptworks, a champion of the circular economy on a mission to eliminate textile waste by transforming the world’s excess textile materials into premium upcycled goods, recycled fibers and downcycled goods. After meeting rigorous standards for social and environmental impact, Looptworks became a B Corporation in 2014, certifying its commitment to placing as much value on protecting people and our environment as it does on growing a profitable business. During the pandemic, Hamlin pivoted the company’s efforts to support front-line workers by transforming retired airline uniforms and NBA jerseys into thousands of durable, reusable masks. Looptworks has received the B Corp “Best for the World” award for its positive impact in our community for three years in a row. Its partnership with companies like Eddie Bauer, Adidas, the Portland Timbers and Thorns, United Airlines and many others has helped prevent over 6 million pounds of excess textile material from going to landfills just this past year. Looptworks recently announced a plan to build a textile recycling facility in the Pacific Northwest.
• Dutch Bros: When shifting environmental regulations threatened the viability of the family dairy farm, brothers Travis and Dane Boersma opened an espresso cart in Grants Pass. Since that day in 1992, Dutch Bros has opened hundreds of drive-through locations, providing small business ownership and operator opportunities and creating jobs across Oregon. Today, Dutch Bros operates in 14 states and is continuing to grow. Since its inception, Dutch Bros has donated millions of dollars to nonprofits in its communities, including the Muscular Dystrophy Association for programs related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, from which Dane died in 2009. One of Oregon’s best-known entrepreneurial success stories, Dutch Bros went public in 2021.

This year’s Vison Oregon event also will feature a moderated panel discussion involving three leaders of businesses in key Oregon sectors. The panel will discuss challenges and opportunities that come with doing business in Oregon and globally, how they navigate those, and their visions for 2023 and beyond. It will include:

• Tim Boyle – chairman, president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear
• Jessica Gomez – founder and CEO of Rogue Valley Microdevices
• Amy Prosenjak – president of Oregon brands, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates 

Though the October event will mark the second annual Vision Oregon event, it has a long and cherished history in the state. Previously known as the Statesman Dinner, OBI’s flagship event has been one of the largest convenings of Oregon political and business leaders for 20 years now.

The longstanding Statesman of the Year Award has evolved into the Oregon Visionary Award, a change that the OBI board made to better demonstrate that the spirit of the event, and that of our honorees, is focused on the future of our state. The 2021 winners of the Visionary Award are Bill and Karla Chambers, owners of Stahlbush Island Farms; Alando Simpson, CEO of City of Roses Disposal and Recycling; and Rogue Food Unites. Past recipients of the Statesman Award include Phil and Penny Knight; U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, Gordon Smith and the late Mark Hatfield; and Gert Boyle, the late chair of Columbia Sportswear.

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