Governor Tina Kotek announced that she is partnering with the Oregon Business Council to convene local elected, business, and community leaders to tackle issues impacting the economic future of Portland’s Central City. Governor Kotek and Dan McMillan, President and CEO of The Standard and PMC board member, will co-chair the Portland Central City Task Force (PCCTF). The task force will focus on identifying next steps to develop a shared vision for the Central City’s future economic growth and address immediate emergent challenges including cleanliness, crime and vandalism, unsheltered homelessness and tax competitiveness.
“It’s no secret that downtown Portland has faced an onslaught of challenges in recent years that have tarnished some of the characteristics that people love about Oregon’s largest city,” Governor Kotek said. “Growing pains turned into crises, exacerbated by a global pandemic, and now concerns about Portland have become a statewide economic issue. It’s time to look forward, bring together diverse voices, and focus our energy on developing concrete and equitable solutions. I want to thank everyone who believes in Portland and is committed to building a brighter future, whether you’re a member of this task force or doing great work elsewhere.”
It is an honor that the Governor and McMillan asked Andrew Hoan of the Portland Metro Chamber (PMC), Alando Simpson of COR and current chair of PMC, along with Vanessa Sturgeon of TMT Development and current chair of Downtown Portland Clean & Safe to participate in this focused and collaborative effort. The economic vibrancy of Portland’s Central City is a bellwether for the prosperity of the entire state and this aligns with the Chamber’s top strategic priority because we are committed to Portland’s success.
Businesses and community leaders based in the Central City have been hanging on through some incredibly difficult times and everyone can be a part of the solution. We are grateful to have a Governor willing to forge the partnerships to make this happen and believe that Portland needs to grow, not just stand still. This task force will have a focused mission to dig into the details of some of our most emergent issues and collaborate on actionable solutions.
“I’m sure we can all win awards for the amount of meetings we’ve had about fixing problems, but what this is about is action because we have the leaders of government sitting side-by-side with the business community,” said Andrew Hoan, President & CEO of the Portland Metro Chamber. “This is about learning together and fixing the problems together.”