CommissionerSam.com - Jobs & Economy

A Commitment to Sustainability

The Office — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:27:18 -0700

Sam and Commissioner Saltzman display the freshly signed "Commitment Statement"On Tuesday, June 10th, the Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Sam Adams welcomed community leaders to sign a commitment statement to create a Sustainability Center of Excellence to establish Portland and Oregon as the global leader in sustainability. This commitment statement has been embraced by leaders from the business, academic and nonprofit sectors, and sets in motion a process for working together to develop a large, multi-faceted center.

While individual momentum has propelled Portland forward, the Center will centralize diverse and innovative skills in a way that promotes cross-fertilization, collaborative decision-making and greater visibility in the national and international arena.

"To achieve the vision of being the world's best we all need to come together in one initiative. I believe our collaboration improves the scope, reach and probability of success for each of us," Sam offered the group in his opening remarks.

The City is working to find an interim space for the center, which could open as early as this fall. At the same time, a working group is being convened to determine the long-term location and programmatic development for the center. Recommendations will be made to the broader group in September.

More than 100 businesses, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations have expressed their support for this visionary approach, and many more are expected to join in their support as the center begins to take shape. These include Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Gerding Edlen Development, Oregon BEST, Portland State University, Multnomah County, Green Building Services, Lewis and Clark Law School, and the Association of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations.

To sign up your organization, please contact sustainable.portland@gmail.com

Sam Adams Welcomes Old Town Pizza to MLK

Kimberly Schneider — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:22:51 -0700

Old Town Pizza opened its second outpost at the Portland Development Commission-backed Vanport Square development on Thursday with a pizza dough toss that had Sam tossing dough with finesse. The new restaurant is located at 5201 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. one block north of N.E. Alberta Street.

Adams was among six community leaders who competed to toss pizza dough the highest in order to secure a charity donation of $500 made by Old Town Pizza to the winning contestant's charity of choice.

Prior to the dough toss contest, Sam congratulated Old Town Pizza on becoming the newest business along N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
"Vanport Square is here because neighborhood associations and community citizens collaborated to make it a reality," said Adams. "In opening here today, Old Town Pizza has made a commitment to residents and other business owners along MLK to do its part to renew and revitalize our city."

Vanport Square was started in 2001 when the Portland Development Commission selected developers Ray Leary and Jeana Wooley to convert the old Marco Manufacturing building and surrounding land into a commercial center.

When Adam Milne, owner of Old Town Pizza, first heard about Vanport Square he was immediately interested. So, when it was announced in the fall of 2004 that the conventional leased approach to filling the spaces was abandoned in favor of selling condominiums to businesses through low-interest loans offered by the Portland Family of Funds, Milne submitted his reservation to buy one of the largest units.

Old Town Pizza Vanport Square showcases the restaurant's philosophy of sustainability and environmental stewardship in many of the restaurant's design features - such as the weathered wood wall from an old Oregon barn, the giant beams from barracks that housed Italian immigrants at the San Pablo Fish & Wildlife Refuge, and the centerpiece chandelier that hung in the Portland Art Museum until a 1970s remodel.

Established in 1974 with the opening of its original landmark location in Old Town's Merchant Hotel building, Old Town Pizza is a Portland legend known for its incredible pizza, cozy atmosphere and bustling happy hours. Owner Adam Milne - a devoted Old Town Pizza customer since celebrating his ninth birthday at the restaurant - purchased Old Town Pizza from the original owners, the Accuardi family, in 2003. The second location, Old Town Pizza at Vanport Square, will open in June 2008. www.oldtownpizza.com

Portland: National Sustainability Center

The Office — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:57:11 -0700

On April 15th, Commissioners Dan Saltzman and Sam Adams brought together leaders of environmental nonprofits, businesses committed to sustainability, institutions of higher learning, and government agencies to discuss an exciting development for the City of Portland.

Sam and Dan recognize that Portland and Portlanders are early adopters of and innovators in the field of sustainability. From renewable energies to watershed management to alternative transportation, the city and its people are devoted to sustainable lifestyles, business practices, and urban development.

Culminating in the April 15th meeting, Sam and Dan are attempting to bring local players in this field together to harbor collaboration and forward thinking and to develop the potential for Portland to be the national hotbed for sustainability. The conversation resulted in a communal motivation to get the ball rolling on developing a physical Center for Sustainability and collaborating efforts on making Portland the City that Works Sustainably, Forever.

As was discussed on April 15th, the center will act as a local sustainability focal point, help create a long-term sustainability road-map for Portland, and encourage sincere public awareness and involvement in Portland's sustainable development. It could act as an umbrella organization, facilitating collaboration and eliminating inefficiencies caused by parallel efforts in local sustainability initiatives, while showcasing all that Portland individuals, organizations, businesses, and agencies are contributing to the field. It will centralize our diverse, innovative efforts in a way that promotes cross-fertilization, more weighty decision-making power, and greater visibility in the national and international arena.

Sam hopes to move forward quickly with plans to bring diverse players together with fresh ideas and sincere contributions. The next step is committing these collaborators to contribute their ideas and efforts to a working group, which will move forward with policy, program, and physical development. Take a look at the article in the Portland Business Journal and please contribute your own ideas on what this center would look like and how to help Portland be to Sustainability what Hollywood is to Film.

Portlanders Weigh in on How to Spend Stimulus Tax Rebate

Kimberly Schneider — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:33:00 -0700

Whatever one thinks of the federal government's plan to stimulate the national economy, tax rebate checks are in the mail for nearly anyone who filed a 2007 tax return. The Oregonian reports that many of us will pay down debt or increase savings. The president of Parkrose neighborhood business district reminds us to "buy local" if we're going to make purchases. Click above for the full articles or finds excepts below.

"Use rebate from Uncle Sam wisely, readers say"
By MICHELLE ROBERTS -- The Oregonian

Here are some scenarios to make the most of the dollars coming your way:

Pay down credit cards

Thanks to the Federal Reserve's interest-rate cuts over the past few months, the average credit-card rate last week dropped to 13.01 percent on cards that don't offer rewards, according to IndexCreditCards.com, a consumer-focused credit-card research company.

Even at that lower interest rate, making minimum payments every month will keep you mired in debt for decades.

If you have a credit card balance of $5,000 and pay only the industry standard minimum payment of 2.5 percent ($125) a month at that interest rate, you'd need 19 years, 2 months to pay off that debt -- and you'd spend about $3,700 in interest before you were done.

So, for a family that gets a check for $1,800 (the maximum for a household with two adults and two children) paying off a credit card debt that extracts 13 percent interest compounds the windfall. If a couple with two children pays down a 13 percent credit card debt of $5,000, and continues to make monthly payments of $125, they would have a zero balance in just 31 months and would spend about $600 in interest.

With an interest savings of $3,100, that means a family could increase the power of their rebate from $1,800 to $4,900.

If you want to figure out your own savings, check out the free debt calculators at www.bankrate.com.

Invest in your kids

College 529 plans are a great way to boost the value of your federal rebate checks.

If you're a parent to a newborn, setting up a tax-free 529 college-savings plan will allow you to turn $300 (the rebate amount for each child under age 17) into $948 in 17 years, or by the time little Austin or McKenzie is ready for Harvard. That's based on a conservative return estimate of 7 percent.

Throw in another $1,300 a year (this is easier than it looks -- it's the same you'd spend on one venti Starbucks Caramel Macchiato a day), and your babe's college fund bubbles to $39,740 by the time you're sweating SAT scores.

"It's amazing how much it adds up," says Michael Parker, executive director of the Oregon 529 College Savings Board. "People get frightened at the cost of college. Yes, college is expensive, but the cost is manageable. If you can save a little now to defray it, coupled with work study and a little debt, you're well on your way."

Invest in Retirement

Where to invest a little bit of found money? Especially when the stock market is more topsy-turvy than Paula Abdul on a typical "American Idol" episode? Let's stick to the basics. Plunking your federal tax rebate into a traditional or Roth IRA can pay off big time. (The following calculations assume a 9 percent return on Roth IRAs and 8 percent on traditional.)

If a couple in their mid-30s with two children invests their $1,800 stimulus check in a traditional IRA, they could be sitting on a $15,396 nest egg (after taxes) by the time they turn 65 -- without ever pitching in another penny.

The math is good for those who get a $600 rebate, too. If a 29-year-old sticks that money in a traditional IRA, that $600 could turn into $8,144 (after taxes) by the time the office manager orders his or her retirement party sheet cake.

In a Roth IRA, the couple who invests $1,800 could have a $23,882 nest egg, and the individual who puts in $600 could have $13,351 without ever putting in more money.

Michelle Roberts: 503-294-5041; michelleroberts@news.oregonian.com

"Local Business" By Michael Taylor, Parkrose BA President - Statistics from ILSR

There are good reasons to support your local businesses. Not only do they offer variety, unique goods, and employment opportunity, they:

Support the Economy

Every $100 spent with a local firm leaves $68 in the local economy; $100 spent in a chain store leaves $43. For every square foot occupied by a local firm, the local economic impact is $179, versus $105 for a chain store. Dollars spent at an independent business deliver twice the economic impact of those spent at national chains.

Support the Community

Small firms give an average of more than two and a half times the amount per employee than do medium or large firms (small firms give $789 per employee, medium firms $172. and large firms $334).

Support Themselves

Wal-Mart has received more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies from state and local governments across the country. Taxpayers have helped finance not only Wal-Mart stores, but also the company's huge network of distribution centers, more than 90 percent of which have received subsidies.

While we can be friends with our "big box" neighbors, we should remember that the small, medium, and local businesses are the lifeblood of our communities. Next purchase, make it local! Make it count!

10 Strategies to Keep Portland's Economy Working

Sam Adams — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:13:53 -0700

Dear Portlander,

We've all heard that another economic slow down is upon us. The national economy is currently confronting slow job growth, a severe mortgage lending crisis and credit crunch, and a widening income gap.

In Portland, we are hopeful that the current slowdown won't become a local recession, but too often in recent history Oregon and the Portland region have been among the worst hit by national recessions. With Oregon's unemployment up, and an increase in foreclosures, we need to make sure we're proactive in preparing for whatever happens in the next six to twelve months.

Historically, city government has done little to either prepare for a slowdown or act to recover from one. It's time we do so.

The purpose of this draft economic response strategy is to identify the actions we can take immediately to help mitigate local impacts of the national economic slowdown on Portlanders and Portland businesses.

This discussion draft lays out immediate and short term strategies designed to foster job creation and retention, economic development, and to strengthen our safety net by:

marshalling existing resources and increasing partnerships with the private sector
greenlighting requests put forward by the bureaus
investing in target initiatives and;
increasing certainty wherever possible

For a sense of where these strategies are in the budget process (sorry it's so complicated!) click here.

The total $6 million investment into our economy and community will help individuals and businesses using proven strategies and new partnerships.

As a city and a region, we will clearly need to take additional action to address this economic slowdown. However, these investments will help people stay in their homes, secure family-wage jobs and increase their assets. They will also help small businesses stay open and grow by reducing uncertainty and tax burden, accessing new markets, and securing technical and capital assistance.

I'd like to thank the City, County, State, organized labor, private sector and community leaders who have already added their expertise and advice to this document. I am sending this discussion draft proposal to you for your input before I finalize it and submit it to my colleagues for their consideration as part of the city budget making process now underway.

Yours,

Sam

10 Strategies to Keep Portland's Economy Working

Recognizing that the Federal and State governments have important roles to play in reinvigorating our economy (see complete report for legislative priorities), here are some ideas about what the City of Portland can do to mitigate risk and to seize opportunities that will immediately benefit our vulnerable families and businesses - while we continue to move forward with the long-term strategies that will help our region thrive:

In the next 3 months:

Form a Council of Economic Advisors
Protect Basic Services
Boost Support to Vulnerable Families, Expand Rent Assistance and Increase Capacity of Foreclosure Counseling Services
Support small businesses by placing a moratorium on new fees and taxes, Extending City Building Permit Validation, Easing Permitting Process, Boosting Technical Assistance and Access, Expanding Loan Programs and Promoting Local Retail Activity

In the following 6 months:

Expand Job Placement and Workforce Training Programs
Reduce City Taxes on Small Businesses
Increase Exports of Local Products and Services
Maintain Tourism Support
Support Transition to a Sustainable Economy and Green Jobs Strategy
Integrate Job, Housing, Education and Development Programs

For the complete draft document, click here.

After reading the draft document, please help us prioritize these possible actions and add your thoughts, questions and ideas through a short survey here.

Oregonian: Tech Firms Flock to City's Core

Kimberly Schneider — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:53:26 -0700

By Jonathan Brinkman

It turns out that empty-nesters with excess discretionary income are not the only ones who gravitate to Portland's urban core. To attract top talent, software companies are briskly filling large, open spaces in older downtown Portland buildings with fresh faces, ideas and energy.

In the past two years, dozens of software companies have taken root or expanded in downtown. Some have kept adding space in the district even amid worries of a broad economic slowdown. The trend has
gradually given downtown a burgeoning tract of the tech scene, traditionally concentrated in Portland's western suburbs.

Two crucial factors are driving the trend: Software companies -- particularly those focusing on social networking, online advertising and finance -- are thriving. And a hip office in a central location can be a
competitive edge in attracting top-notch staff. "Software companies have always tended to go toward these types of creative spaces, but this is now a fullgrown phenomenon," said Harvey Mathews, executive director of the Software Association of Oregon. "I get calls from people from all over the place, and all of them want this Old Town, downtown, brick funky
space."

The spate of downtown activity also supports the recent conclusion of new economic development group Greenlight Greater Portland, which lists the software industry among the metro area's most promising job engines.
The biggest recent deal came in February, when Jive Software announced it was taking three floors and 38,000 square feet of the vacant former Federal Reserve building at Southwest Ninth Avenue and Stark
Street. The move is slated for this summer. Jive, formed in 2001 in New York City, came to Portland in 2004. It has 145 employees at its current
location at Southwest Third Avenue and Alder Street.

The new building "has the potential for a lot of creativity," said Dave Hersh, Jive's chief executive. "We would kill the company in one fell swoop if we tried to move out to the suburbs."

Among other software companies expanding in Portland:

Galois Inc., specializing in computer security, is moving July 1 from a 12,000-square-foot space in Beaverton to a 19,000-square-foot space at 421 S.W. Sixth Avenue.
PreCash Inc., a Houston financial software company, moved its 40-person technology team from a 17,000-square-foot space on Southwest Broadway to a 20,000-square-foot office in the same building that Galois is moving into, called the Commonwealth Building.
An e-mail marketing software and Web company, eROI, moved Dec. 1 from a 6,200-square-foot-space inthe Albers Mill building at the west end of the Broadway bridge to a 10,000-square-foot spot in a renovated building on Northwest Fifth Avenue in Old Town. It plans to pick up an additional 7,500 square feet in the building early next year.

"This is a very important evolving industry," said Sandra McDonough, chief executive of the Portland Business Alliance, the city's chamber of commerce. "For them to see the central city as the place they want
to be is great for Portland."

The state's tech bubble burst in 2001, and it's only been in recent years that the industry has gained new steam. Statewide employment in the software industry grew by 16 percent from 2004 to 2006, the most
recent year for which data is available.

Chris Elsenbach, a managing principle for corporate real estate adviser CresaPartners, said that's partly due to the tech bust survivors.
"Software firms struggled through 2002, 2003, 2004, but the good firms are coming out of that," he said. "The companies that survived the tech downturn are now profitable. They are selling their products, making
money, adding desks."

The hard part is getting good employees to fill those desks, said Joe Cortright, a Portland economist who co-wrote "The Young and the Restless," a study of the so-called creative class.

"The chief asset of a software company is the talent it attracts," he said. Being centrally located -- easy to get to by public transportation -- and having coffee shops, good restaurants and cultural amenities nearby
help attract creative young workers, he said.

That's what convinced Jay Haladay, owner and chief executive of Coaxis Inc., to move last April from Tigard into a 50,000-square-foot space in a converted warehouse in inner Southeast Portland. "I wanted to create a recruiting magnet," he said of the LEED-certified building at 1515 S.E. Water St. he helped develop. "Being downtown lends itself to the kind of people we're looking to attract."

Jill Bruhn, a Web developer at eROI, lives by the Lloyd Center -- just across the Willamette River from work. She moved from Ashland six months ago.
"I moved here to work in a company like this in the city center," she said. "I didn't want to work in the suburbs. This is kind of the lifestyle I want."

Update on the BLF/BIT Reforms: Next Installment of Reform Rolls out this Summer!

Kimberly Schneider — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:53:03 -0700

In 2007, the City of Portland and Multnomah County approved extensive reforms to the city business license fee (BLF) and the county business income tax (BIT). The reform effort sought to ease the tax burden on small businesses and to improve the economic competitiveness of our city and county.

The changes made in 2007 doubled the annual gross receipts exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 and raised the owner's compensation deduction by 30% to $80,000. The changes were the first installment in a plan to raise the owner's compensation deduction to $125,000 over a five-year period. In addition, a $100 minimum payment for the BIT was adopted in order to better align with the BLF and to increase stability in the tax system. The City Council and County Board also agreed to make the minimum payments progressive by implementing tiers for the minimum. The additional revenue generated by a tiered minimum structure will be used to offset a portion of further increases in the owners' compensation deduction.

The City's Revenue Bureau, who administers both the City's and Multnomah County's tax codes, is now collecting some additional data from business tax filers which will help with implementation of these reforms. The Revenue Bureau, which is currently immersed in tax season, will release a five-year-plan this summer outlining next steps in implementation of the BLF and BIT reform package.

Local Downtown Retailer Celebrates New Home

Kimberly Schneider — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:37:37 -0700

Congratulating the TeamYesterday Sam joined Victoria and Mayor Potter for the opening of the Mercantile's new location downtown at the corner of 7th and Alder. Owner of the Portland's own classic specialty boutique, Victoria, thanked PDC for the storefront improvement funds she received and applauded Sam for being the City's champion for small businesses: "I'm a beneficiary of Sam's support - and the store's a testament to it." Sam commended Victoria and her team for taking on a location that required serious seismic upgrades and their commitment to remaining in the heart of Portland.

The beautiful new location, immediately off Broadway, features cutting edge and classic fashion choices for women. Go check out this great example of a local small business that represents the best in local retailing and world-class architecture and design. Whether you are shopping for hip, sophisticated, fun, or special occasion dressing, you will undoubtedly discover something special at Mercantile!

Portland Tribune: Region Needs Strong Workforce & System

Kimberly Schneider — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:46:40 -0700

Following The Tribune's ReThinking Portland series of articles that highlights key challenges to our region's workforce development system and Sam's role in pushing to address them , Forest Grove News released the following editorial (for the Tribune articles click here):

Oregon is known for many things when it comes to work: A leader in high-tech innovation. A producer of finely crafted wood products. A source of diverse and plentiful agricultural bounty. And a center of manufacturing growth that is the envy of the nation.

But as illustrated in the latest edition of "Rethinking Portland," included in today's News-Times, Oregon soon may be known for something else: a work-force crisis of either challenging significance or treacherous proportions.

It is estimated that the state's economy will create 250,000 new jobs over the next decade and that another 400,000 jobs will open as baby boomers retire. As the economic engine of the state, the Portland region can expect to see at least half of those jobs created in this region.

Employers already are having serious trouble finding qualified applicants to fill these new positions or replace retirees. Many employers are reaching out of state to recruit for manufacturing positions and even some low-tech jobs. Others are letting many positions go unfilled.

In fact, Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams, who serves on the regional Workforce Investment Board, estimates that there currently are 20,000 unfilled jobs in the Portland area - approximately one-third of which pay $20 or more per hour.

This work-force crisis is not occurring in a vacuum, and not without many well-intentioned people trying to make a difference.

Regionally, there are numerous educational, employer- and government-aided programs, but their results are mixed and disconnected.

A study conducted by ECONorthwest says that 80 different organizations, including community colleges, are spending close to $150 million in Washington and Multnomah counties in work-force development. High school and higher education programs represent yet another layer of investment and job-training activity.

But while there are many programs, there is no fully integrated work-force system. In addition, there is little to no tracking of workers as they are hired, and no guarantees for employers that they will have qualified workers when they need them.

Change is needed on many fronts, but here is a short list of our recommendations:

• Create a unified work-force development system.

• Establish and follow measurable results.

• Re-establish a greater sense of pride in work.

• Invest in public infrastructure.

• Prioritize.

The creation and retention of family-wage jobs should be Oregon's No. 1 policy.

NYT: Higher Education Gap May Slow Economic Mobility

Kimberly Schneider — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:44:24 -0800

By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: February 20, 2008

Economic mobility, the chance that children of the poor or middle class will climb up the income ladder, has not changed significantly over the last three decades, a study being released on Wednesday says.

The authors of the study, by scholars at the Brookings Institution in Washington and sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, warned that widening gaps in higher education between rich and poor, whites and minorities, could soon lead to a downturn in opportunities for the poorest families.

The researchers found that Hispanic and black Americans were falling behind whites and Asians in earning college degrees, making it harder for them to enter the middle class or higher...[Read the rest at NYT.com]

DJC News: Rubber meets the road at Columbia-Lombard connector

Roland Chlapowski — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:29:11 -0800

Efforts by businesses in the Columbia corridor helped keep project on radar screen of local agenciesLike a two-lane blacktop tourniquet, Northeast Columbia Boulevard to Lombard Street impeded the smooth flow of traffic near Portland International Airport. With freight and everyday commuters stuck at choke points, the business community and the city recognized the need to improve Portland's most important east-west arterial for freight traffic.

With the completion of the East Columbia to Lombard Connector - which widened roads, improved access points and created safer pedestrian and bicycle crossing - the city and the Port of Portland say they've solved a nearly 20-year-old transportation problem.

Dan Laden, Portland Office of Transportation project manager for the connector, considers it to be "the most significant" transportation project in the city since the aerial tram.

"In terms of road projects, this is the largest, the most expensive project we've worked on," Laden said.

Faced with a project cost of about $34 million, finding adequate financing for the complicated connector was always a main concern. The project had been pinpointed as early as the late 1980s, but budgetary concerns and a heavy backlog of road projects kept pushing the timetable back. In 1998, the project began inching forward again, Laden said.

Eventually, the city got the bulk of the connector's funding, more than $29 million, from the Oregon Transportation Infrastructure Act, which was established by the Oregon Legislature to support road and bridge maintenance across the state. Another $2 million came from Port funds, while an additional $3 million came from city development funds.

More than $7 million from that total pot of money was spent on right-of-way acquisition, a process in which the city moved seven businesses along the corridor to new locations in order to make room for the widened road.

For the businesses not displaced, keeping the project on the city's radar screen was the main goal.

The Columbia Corridor Association, an early-in-the-pipeline proponent of the connector, argued that congestion along Columbia Boulevard was a major problem for more than a decade. The association lobbies on behalf of the interests of Columbia Corridor businesses and was instrumental in gathering business-owner feedback on the project.

"The old intersection was just inadequate for the amount of traffic going through there," said Corky Collier, executive director of the Columbia Corridor Association.

With his office located on the corridor, and with a traffic-bundled bottleneck acting as a barrier, Collier says he would spend about 20 minutes per trip inching through the corridor's congestion.

The problem was a common one for businesses located along the corridor.

In 2001, Metro received 33 letters - drafted by the Columbia Corridor Association and signed by corridor-housed businesses such as Freightliner and Harsch Investment Properties - in favor of the project. The correspondence and effort of business owners along the corridor helped keep the project on the priority list said Josh Thomas, spokesman for the Port of Portland.

The corridor currently houses 3,000 businesses, 50,000 employees and has an estimated payroll of $1.4 billion, the Port says. At full build-out, the port expects the corridor will have about 90,000 employees. And with business expansion still taking place along the corridor, the city was concerned that the congestion would stall traffic altogether in the near future.

The connector is already having the desired effect in relieving congestion, according to the Port.

"We're starting to see significant improvements to that area," Thomas said.

And the Columbia Corridor Association's Collier, for one, is thankful. Businesses along the corridor depend on reliable routes for shipping and transportation. With a more dependable route, these businesses now expect to save time and money, Collier said.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

By Tyler Graf

© 2008 DJC News
The Daily Journal of Commerce Inc.
921 S.W. Washington St.
Suite 210
P.O. Box 10127
Portland, Oregon 97296

Phone 503-226-1311 | Web: www.djcoregon.com

Link to the full story here.

NYT: Building Costs Deal Blow to Local Budgets

Guest Author — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 09:39:59 -0800

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

SEATTLE - State and local governments in many parts of the country are struggling to pay for roads, bridges and other building projects because of rising construction costs, adding another burden to budgets already stressed by the troubled housing market.

The problems have come as many governments pursue ambitious projects to improve roads and airports, build schools and upgrade long-neglected water and sewer systems. Many of the projects were conceived when money from property, sales and income taxes was steady and interest rates low, but officials say the ground has shifted beneath their feet.

"Everybody's scared," said Uche Udemezue, director of engineering and transportation for San Leandro, Calif., which will soon put out a request for construction bids on a retiree center and a parking garage. "You don't know what you're going to find when you go out to bid."

Costs have jumped for projects as varied as levee construction in New Orleans, Everglades restoration in Florida and huge sewer system upgrades in Atlanta. The reconstruction of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, a $234 million project, has been fast-tracked for completion by December, and state officials say it is too soon to know whether it will come in on budget.

The impact has been felt in different regions at different times, and not every project has been high-profile. In Oregon, high costs have forced the State Department of Transportation to slow the rate at which it upgrades roads and bridges. In Seattle, school building projects were put on a fast track this fall because of fears of cost overruns...[Read the rest at NYT.com]

Vanport Square Opens on MLK

Kimberly Schneider — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:14:18 -0800

Commissioner Adams joined developers Ray Leary and Jeana Woolley, PDC Commissioner Charles Wilhoite and Carl Talton to celebrate the grand opening of Vanport Square - located on NE Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd & Alberta. Sam's remarks follow:

Thank you Ray for that introduction. It's wonderful to join you all here today on this brisk morning for a project opening that warms the heart.

As a resident of North Portland's Kenton neighborhood - who uses MLK daily -- I'm excited about this development and what it means for our City.

MLK is a critical boulevard in the City of Portland. It connects the Oregon Convention Center, the Central Eastside, the Lloyd District, Emanuel Hospital, PCC's Cascade Campus, Trail Blazers Boys and Girls Club, the Skanner, Observer and Asian Reporter newspapers, and numerous parks, churches and schools. The boulevard provides a connection through Portland's most diverse neighborhoods.

Studies show that 28,000 cars drive along MLK Boulevard each day. Now that's a tremendous opportunity for businesses located along MLK, but it's also an opportunity to get people out of their cars and onto the Streetcar system.

I hope you can envision with me a time in the not too distant future when the Streetcar line will extend from downtown to the Central Eastside and Lloyd District all the way up MLK. This will help reduce the congestion on the Boulevard, and will also make it a more walkable street, which is what retailers along here need to grow and thrive.

But today we are gathered for the opening of the Vanport project and there is much to celebrate about this project.

Vanport Square is a hard-fought triumph for Ray and Jeana, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Blouvard and for PDC - and we're grateful to them for that fight. We would not be here today if it weren't for their perseverance, vision and creativity.

The result is a project that will support 75 jobs - and 16 businesses that have the opportunity to own a business AND build equity in their property on MLK. At the same time, the large plaza will be a gathering place for the entire community.

With this success, this project sets the stage for new commercial activity, new vitality and new development on this Boulevard.

Ray and Jeana's tribute to the City of Vanport and the residents who lived there also sets the tone for any new development: the past is not forgotten; the past remains with us today.

I'd also like to acknowledge former Mayor Vera Katz - for her involvement in this project - and Mayor Potter - who could not be here today but sends his congratulations - for all the support he has shown in this effort.

So, to Ray and Jeana, to all the citizens who volunteered their time at countless meetings, to the City staff involved - a big thank you.

I look forward to joining you along MLK for other celebrations of this great boulevard.

Thank you.

Oregonian: Moving Beyond a Gas Tax - Sam Adams has sealed the case for the city to create a new utility fee for transportation

The Office — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:18:28 -0800

OREGONIAN EDITORIAL - Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Seven years ago, then-City Commissioner Charlie Hales tried to add a novel road-repair fee to Portland utility bills. In the rear-view mirror, it's beginning to look like a smart maneuver. At the time, it felt like a swerve, both fast and slick.

Understand, it had then been eight years since the gas tax had increased. Hales' fee -- about $2 per month per household; $1,000 for some businesses -- was based on a theoretical trip-generation formula devised by the Institute of Transportation Engineers. While Hales convinced the Portland City Council his fee was fair, or fairish, or at least expedient, he failed to convince the community.

Grocers, restaurant owners and other high-traffic businesses balked at paying this ta --, er . . . fee, and staged a mutiny. We weren't too complimentary either; a couple of times, we called it "road kill."

Now a version of the utility fee has come roaring back to life. It would be larger for households -- $4.54 per month -- and average $83 per month for businesses (though most would pay less). Clearly, Commissioner Sam Adams learned from Hales' rocky experience when Adams was chief of staff for then-Mayor Vera Katz. Adams isn't just trotting the idea out to see whether he can make it stick. He has cemented a coalition in favor of it and brought the community along behind him.

At a public hearing today, there may be some testimony against the fee. But many businesses, citizens and interest groups now support it, recognizing that the health of the economy is directly dependent on safe, efficient streets.

Plus, the 89-member group convened by Adams to study the issues has recommended a number of safeguards to structure the fee more fairly, provide an avenue for appeals and ensure that the $24 million a year it generates will be spent repairing arterials, upgrading dangerous intersections, adding 20 miles of sidewalks and making other vital improvements.

Adams has held more than 20 town hall meetings, described in detail exactly where the money will go and tried to anticipate -- and answer -- any question voters might have about it. Given what Adams has run, which amounts to a campaign, it's fair to ask why the issue shouldn't go to voters for an OK.

Roughly 20 cities in Oregon have enacted such a fee. Yet it's still novel enough that, ideally, voters would have the chance to approve it. (It could still be referred to the ballot; threat of referral is what derailed the fee the first time around.) The trouble is that if voters flatten the idea, it's hard to imagine anyone picking it up again or any better idea coming along.

Meanwhile, it's been 15 years since the last legislative increase in the gas tax went into effect. Salem's making hopeful noises, but Portland shouldn't just wait and hope for state action.

What enhances confidence this time around is that Adams has engaged in a very public and thorough kicking-of-the-tires.

Based on that process, the council should go ahead and enact the fee. It no longer feels slick, but the fast is still there. And when it comes to our road system, fast is sounding better by the second.

Visiting Leatherman Tools

Kimberly Schneider — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:50:16 -0800

CEO Jake Nichol and Commissioner Sam at Leatherman Tools: It was love at first sight for Sam and Leatherman Tool's new gardening shearsSam visited Leatherman Tools' recently renovated headquarters and manufacturing center in NE Portland to hear about what the famously innovative folks are up to. Sam got a chance to talk about his work with workforce development, support of Manufacturing 21 and other ways the City of Portland is working to support our local economy.

Sam heard about athe company's adoption of "lean" -- efficiency -- techniques and toured the state-of-the-art facility. He also had a chance to hear about the company's commitment to the community. Leatherman has promised to keep its manufacturing in Portland - saying it's both the smart and the right thing to do. As part of the commitment, Leatherman focuses their outreach locally by sponsoring a local elementary school, and supporting Mercy Corps, the Mt. Hood chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and the Big Brother Big Sister program among other investments.