March 9, 2026
In an episode released today, Oregon Business Matters host Angela Wilhelms talks with John Tapogna, former longtime president of economics research firm ECOnorthwest and newly installed president of the Oregon Business Council. John and Angela discuss his new role and what he believes are the five major challenges facing the state: poor school performance, insufficient housing, wildfires, the state’s overreliance on the income tax and Oregon’s historic ambivalence about population growth. Go here to listen to the episode.
During this interview, Angela mentions a 2025 Oregon Business Matters interview in which Stand for Children Oregon Executive Director Sarah Pope discusses the causes of Oregon’s poor school performance as well as potential solutions. You can listen to that interview here.
Angela’s interviews with John Tapogna, Sarah Pope and other guests can be found on OBI’s website here and on major podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube