The new governor said she aims to bolster rural Oregon’s economy by improving regulatory climate for small businesses.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Gov. Kate Brown intends to bolster the rural Oregon economy by improving the regulatory climate for small businesses.
In an interview with the Portland Tribune, the Portland Democrat said she would like to take the idea “to the next level in terms of having a regulatory climate that makes sense.”
In response to critics who raised questions about her commitment to outlying areas of Oregon — she’s lived three decades in Portland — Brown says, “It’s important that we continue to utilize our natural resources in a way that will enable communities and rural economies to thrive.”
While Brown is still new to the top position in the state, she said she is gathering ideas on how to enhance the business climate throughout Oregon:
She says she supports a coordinated effort by state agencies to pull as a team to help communities. Brown says communities should forge their own identities and not resemble each other. Brown says she has not yet had time to devise her own ideas. But she mentioned a recent speech by Sean Robbins, the director of the Oregon Business Development Department since June 2014, who says his agency (Business Oregon) will refocus on growth of existing businesses rather than recruit them from elsewhere.
