Economic Recovery Cabinet

Back in early February, Mayor Adams held his first Economic Recovery Cabinet meeting. The invitation list was large and included representatives from academia, chambers of commerce, large employers, developers and builders, organized labor, economists, government and nonprofits, attorneys, representatives from some key sectors, including:  finance and banking, creative, manufacturing, entertainment and tourism and high tech, as well as utilities and trade associations.

At that meeting, the Portland Development Commission rolled out their “50% Draft of The City of Portland’s Economic Development Strategy 2/4/09,” where you will find this on page 15:

Small businesses create jobs and are the backbone of Portland’s economy. Over 90 percent of Portland’s businesses have fewer than 100 employees, and nearly three-quarters of net new jobs in Portland are created by small business. Support for small businesses in Portland is paramount to maintaining Portland’s competitiveness and attracting talent.

Of the 83 people invited to join the Economic Recovery Cabinet, five were explicitly representing small businesses.  If you include the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations, the number goes up to six.  This despite the fact that small businesses represent 90% of businesses in Portland and we create 3/4 of net new jobs.  Does anyone else see a disconnect here?

The next meeting of the Economic Recovery Cabinet is March 18th.  I would like to bring with me comments and suggestions from other local business owners.  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.  Individually we are easy to bypass, but together we can truly advocate for Portland’s small businesses.

Not sure what you are supposed to comment on?  Here is a short list of some of the information and resources currently available for Portland businesses and residents.

• The Portland is Better Together campaign.
• Mayor Sam Adams’ State of the City address.
• The disaster recovery loans from the Small Business Administration

What else should be on that list?