Ron: How to set the temperature right for statewide economic growth in Oregon

by Communications Office

Ron recently met with people around Oregon to discuss his plan to create good-paying jobs in every part of the state.

He spoke at the Coastal Economic Summit in Grand Ronde, the Westside Economic Alliance in Hillsboro and a gathering in Eugene spotlighting the “app economy.”

Throughout his conversations, Ron highlighted the following pieces of his plan:

  • Trade done right– a must in a state where one in five jobs depends on exports and a top priority for Ron, who succeeded in his work to improve transparency, congressional oversight and stronger enforcement of human rights as well as labor and environmental protections in new trade agreements 
  • Boosting Oregon’s growing travel and tourism sector, which is responsible for an estimated 101,000 jobs statewide.
  • Technology – and the need to protect the creativity that fostered the explosion of e-commerce and the free flow of information on the Internet.
  • Education, including his work to boost high school graduation rates.
  • Modernizing our transportation and infrastructure through tools like greater use of municipal bonds to attract more private investment and a multi-year plan for the federal Highway Trust Fund.
  • Uniting brewers, vintners, cidermakers and distillers on a comprehensive craft beverage bill that would cut taxes and modernize outdated regulations for those industries.
  • And getting Oregonians back to work in the woods by doubling the harvest in a sustainable way.

“Last week was all about what we can do to build on our strengths to continue creating middle-class jobs in every corner of our state,” Ron said. “All these pieces of the economic puzzle add up to a robust economy that can support a diverse statewide economy.”  

While in Eugene, Ron also had the opportunity to drop off books from the Library of Congress to the children at the Boys & Girls Club of Emerald Valley. He did have help in that regard from a “very special guest.”