The Portland region can double its exports and add tens of thousands of jobs, Metro Council President Tom Hughes said Friday, but it must market itself and improve education for minorities to be successful.
Delivering a State of the Region address at the City Club of Portland's Friday Forum, Hughes focused on the economy in his 28-minute speech, talking about bringing jobs to the Portland region and having employees ready to fill them.
He said the Portland region is recovering from the Great Recession faster than most of the country, and its export growth was ranked second in the U.S.
The region's green reputation, Hughes said, is a marketable export economy.
"The policy environment we have established, as a state and region, promotes a level of sustainability that cities around the world are looking to for best practices," he said. "Our work to maintain a tight urban growth boundary, our work on transportation planning, the work we are doing right now on climate (change) – these are all policy decisions that have created a market for green building."
Hughes said Nike's expansion plans have brought him "nothing but pleasure."
"I feel neither glee nor disappointment about where in the region those jobs were going to be located," Hughes said, referring to Nike's decision to expand close to its home base in Washington County. "A win for one of us is a win for all of us, and when we market the region, we are marketing all parts of the region."
But, Hughes warned, not every segment of the region's population is immediately poised to benefit from economic growth. The region's rapidly-growing Latino population, the Metro Council President said, has educational outcomes that are "out of line" with those of Caucasians.
Hughes, a retired high school teacher, pointed out that 42 percent of Latino adults lack a high school degree, compared to 5 percent of white adults.
"We must ensure that all of our young people have the opportunity to participate in the economic growth of our region, and that we are providing the tools and training to prepare a workforce that is ready for the jobs of tomorrow," Hughes said.
The region, Hughes said, will still import skilled workers – "hopefully not to retire, but to work and put their entrepreneurial skills to use.
"But we can neither afford to, nor would we want to, leave large sections of our existing population in an economic second class," Hughes said.
Metro wouldn't be leading the charge for improved educational outcomes, Hughes said. But, he said, Metro can use its geographic scope to convene and facilitate discussion about how we address the challenge.
Hughes drew his first applause of the speech when he mentioned the Oregon Convention Center hotel project, a project, he said, "that has died more times than the average alley cat.
"I think," Hughes said, "that we are perilously close to being successful this time." He said negotiations on the project are in the final stages.
"We expect to overcome whatever hurdles are put in our way, and finally build this hotel," he said.
Hughes also mentioned a shortfall, estimated at $27 billion to $41 billion, in available infrastructure funding in the Portland region. He said the chances for federal and state funding to address the region's infrastructure funding gap look bleak.
"So, really, the future of our infrastructure, our roads, bridges, parks, libraries, sewer and water systems is going to be up to us," he said, pointing to the Community Investment Initiative and its Regional Infrastructure Enterprise as one way to address those challenges. The Initiative's work, he said, is in its early stages.
"I would not expect any group – public sector, private sector or the combination – to come to answers quickly or without a high level of collaboration," Hughes said. "If we do not begin to address the issue of funding and maintaining our critical infrastructure, we will, over time, become a less attractive place for companies to locate and expand."
Hughes also spoke about the natural areas levy on this month's ballot; because of Oregon election laws, Metro News cannot report on that portion of the speech.
In closing, Hughes emphasized that the region's economy depends on collaboration.
"When we work together, we accomplish great things," Hughes said.
Regional collaboration was the subject of a few of the questions posed by City Club of Portland members after Hughes' speech.
Deane Funk, a City Club board member, wondered why Eastern Multnomah County hasn't had the same economic success as other parts of the region, despite its access to the airport, transit and relatively light traffic on its roads. Funk asked what East County leaders should be doing to improve the economy in that part of the region.
"On the westside, we just get along," Hughes said. "We work together, we collaborate, we do things together, we support each other, we're happy with each other's successes."
Hughes said he's seen signs of that level of collaboration in the East County, pointing to the East Metro Connections Project as one example of improved collaboration between Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village and Multnomah County. He also said the Port of Portland's land holdings in Gresham and Troutdale will ultimately pay off in job-creation dividends.
The area immediately south of Gresham was on the mind of Greg Macpherson, a member of the state's Land Conservation and Development Commission. He asked Hughes what should happen with Damascus' continually stalled planning efforts.
"The folks in Damascus pretty much have to solve that problem themselves," Hughes said. "I just think the issue will never be solved by outsiders. It has to be solved by the residents of Damascus."
City Club member Jeannie Couch asked Hughes for his thoughts on how the region should react if the Columbia River Crossing project falls apart. Hughes said he thinks it ultimately will find funding.
But, he emphasized, the value to the Portland region of building the Columbia River Crossing can't be understated, mainly because of its benefit to shipping and freight movement. Hughes said one-seventh of the jobs in the Portland region are closely tied to the Port of Portland, which has a strategic advantage over other West Coast ports because of how easily freight can be dispatched to points east.
"If we congest that area much more, as we anticipate by 2035 it will be, that port cannot function, nor can the Port of Vancouver," Hughes said. "So the job losses in this region… is really an important feature of why we need to get this done."
Hughes' speech is scheduled to be broadcast at 7 p.m. Friday on OPB Radio, and at times next week on cable access in Portland. It will also archived online at the City Club of Portland's website.