Leaders of Oregon's booming data center industry recently recognized Business Oregon Director Tim McCabe with their first ever Leadership Award at an event in Hillsboro.

Business Oregon provided a forgivable loan from the Governor's Strategic Reserve Fund of $75K to assist the company in the purchase of specialty packaging equipment that was manufactured locally.

Mayor Charlie Hales says it's time to shift the city's urban renewal spending from the Pearl District to neighboring Old Town/Chinatown — $57M worth over the next five years. Hales and others have decided that Old Town/Chinatown has great potential, but that won't be fulfilled without city subsidies.

The Chaucer Foods project was awarded affordable financing in the form of a $6M federal New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation, coupled with $4M in matching Oregon NMTC funds.

To spur more creative thinking at City Hall, Hales put $1M into his first city budget for an Innovation Fund, and invited city bureau managers to submit ideas to spend a piece of the money. City Council approved the first six projects to share that money.

USDA Rural Development State Director announced federal investments in ten Oregon producers of advanced biofuels for the production of domestic renewable energy development. The funding is provided through the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program.

>>> SEARCH HEADLINES   

Early in recovery, the Portland metropolitan area was responsible for nearly all jobs gained statewide. This changed in 2013. Portland continued to add jobs at a steady and healthy rate, however other areas including Bend and Medford began adding jobs as well. This report by the State of Oregon provides us with a review and forecast for the state's economy.

The Northwest Economic Research Center (NERC) investigated the effect of the tax structure on residential sale prices as part of ongoing efforts to understand the impacts of Oregon's property tax system on local governments. Specifically, they investigated the magnitude of property tax capitalization - if two houses are similar in all ways except for their property tax payments, do their sale prices differ as a result?

This study by the OSPIRG Foundation examines the third annual update of the reports made available by the law on the Oregon Transparency Website in 2014. It evaluates how well transparency requirements for economic development tax subsidies are being followed and the degree to which the new information helps the public determine the value of these programs.

>>> SEARCH ONLINE RESOURCE DATABASE   

Annual Roundtable Sponsor