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New Oregon Business Development Department Officially Open for Business
From Tim McCabe, Director, Business Oregon
The State Legislature has closed its 2009 session and your new Oregon Business Development Department—now known as "Business Oregon"—is officially open and looking forward to assisting Oregon businesses.
With the final passage of HB 2152 by the state Senate, we succeeded in taking the first steps in our efforts to restructure and reinvigorate our agency and its important work around the state. This has been a significant undertaking and its successful execution is critical to the future success of our agency.
In 2008, the Governor sought to establish a new agency structure to ensure that the distinct functions of the department would become more effective and accountable for all Oregonians. To this end, we are now (technically upon the signature of the Governor) the Oregon Business Development Department and our new, more strategic focus is to help existing Oregon businesses retain and create jobs, as well as recruit new, targeted investment to the state.
The successful reorganization of our agency would not have been possible without the direction and support of the Oregon Business Development Commission and its Chair Wally Van Valkenburg. In addition, the support of the agency’s community development partners: the League of Oregon Cities, the Association of Oregon Counties, the Oregon Public Ports Association and the Special Districts Association of Oregon was invaluable in crafting a new, improved way to address infrastructure needs. Finally, I want to thank Sen. Betsy Johnson and Rep. David Edwards for their active involvement and strong support throughout the entire process.
In conjunction with the formal department name change, we will now operate under the assumed business name “Business Oregon,” much like the Oregon Tourism Commission operates under the assumed name “Travel Oregon.” Beginning July 1, the department and its staff will begin referencing itself as Business Oregon.
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