Mary Nolan's economic development plan: "Repeat after me, 'Oregon is great for business'"

Oregon House majority leader Mary Nolan has a plan to bring back business to Oregon. It's simple: Just tell people that Oregon is a great place to do business. And then keep repeating it until some business believes it.

Mary Nolan has a reputation in Capitol for being one of the most anti-business Democrats in the building. But now she is belting out a tune from the same hymnal that the rest of the Salem's Democrats are singing from. The tune is, "Oregon is Great for Business."

Oregon is, objectively, a great place to do business. Oregon offers entrepreneurs and business leaders an educated and well-trained workforce; a strong transportation infrastructure; among the nation's most robust, low-cost workers' compensation systems, and, yes, the fifth-lowest business tax burden in the country.

You can expect Mary Nolan to support Oregon's business right around the same time you can expect Osama Bin Laden to deliver Easter Mass.


She names 2 solar cell companies (that have consume copious amounts of tax dollars through the Business Energy Tax Credit). Even the brewery she mentions made it's energy efficiency "investments" because the state's BETC program threw a bucket of money at the brewer.

After that, you get to play buzzword Bingo: solar, family wage jobs, biomass, livability. Remember you get to use clean-tech only once!

Portland Development Commission offers flimsy aid to firms following the latest fads

Oregon is a funny place. If your business surfs the latest fads of buzzwords like green, sustainable, or (our faddishly favorite) clean-tech, you'll find politicians playing an economic version of What-would-you-do-for-a-Klondike-Bar?



Problem is, Oregon's efforts to boost business are half-hearted at best. Even worse, they come with so many strings attached that even a marionette would run screaming for Idaho.

The Portland Business Journal reports that latest massively misguided effort comes from the Portland Development Commission, the city’s economic development arm. The PDC has launched a program that it hopes will help small businesses create jobs. But, the program is limited only to those businesses that will satisfy the mayor's fondness for "clean-tech," or green, jobs.

The program is called the Small Contractors Loan Insurance Program (pdf) and it helps businesses obtain a revolving line of credit. As such, the PDC recognizes that there is substantial financial risk to the city involved. For businesses seeking the loans, there are some strings attached ...

Businesses must meet minimum qualifications, including:

• Pay prevailing wage or 180% of state minimum wage, whichever is higher;
  
• Be Home Performance with Energy Star Building Performance Institute-certified; and
• Hire new worker/installer weatherization employees from a qualified weatherization training program.

Businesses get bonus points if they have a track record of hiring or retaining underserved populations, or a detailed plan for welcoming diversity in their workplace.

And some more strings ...

Workers must come from "qualified training programs" such as those that:

• Provide weatherization training using curriculum developed by an accredited organization to meet United States Department of Energy standards and any additional specifications and standards designated by the Oregon Department of Energy and Energy Trust;
• Have at least three defined partnerships with state recognized pre-apprenticeship programs or signatory community organizations that serve historically disadvantaged or underrepresented populations, including women, and people of color; and
• Offer mentoring, follow-up monitoring and/or other support to assure retention of participants in the program and in weatherization careers.

All that for a glorified credit card!