This past Monday, I attended the 2011 Oregon Leadership Summit in Portland. It was attended by about 1,200 business leaders, government leaders, and others from around the state. The Summit is important for several reasons:
- It’s an opportunity for folks to network very effectively. Most anyone you know is in the room.
- The Summit generates an agenda that is used by the Oregon Legislature to drive its work during the regular session.
- The Summit also provides an opportunity for business leaders and government leaders to talk in-depth about issues of importance to both
- The Summit also provides the chance to identify and prioritize key issues
- Perhaps most important, the Summit gives AGC the opportunity to communicate our issues and priorities to key policy makers, the Governor and his staff, to the media, and to the broader business community
For the past 10 years, the Oregon Business Council has led the way in preparing a public policy document known as the Oregon Business Plan. Although it is changed over the years, the business plan focuses on public policy initiatives in four key areas: People, Place, Prosperity, and Pioneering Innovation – – the so called “4 P’s.” These public policy initiatives include proposals such as education reform, transportation infrastructure funding, changes in natural resource management, and healthcare policy.
The full 2011 Oregon Business Plan Framework can be found here. I hope you’ll take a minute to glance through the document.
As a key trade association in the state, AGC has been invited to be a part of the Oregon Business Plan Steering Committee. The Steering Committee has spent the better part of the year updating the Plan. The Steering Committee has also drafted the agenda for this year’s meeting. I would be interested in your feedback on the Plan; it’s important that we know what you think.
On a side note, I am writing this blog entry using Dragon Dictation. I’m amazed at how accurate it is, and how quickly it has learned how I speak. Because of our interest in making sure that you have the latest news possible, I hope to use this application regularly to let me get a lot of writing done very quickly. There is no way I can type as fast as I can talk.
That’s it for today. Take a minute to let us know what you think.