When you apply for the Sloan Award, you are automatically applying for the  the annual Family Forward Leadership Award, which is a local award that recognizes that one employer who really stands out — even in a field of innovative, family-forward employers. 

Click here for more information and to apply!

You’re invited…Google and friends are coming to Portland to get your business online!

Details:
March 26 & 27
Ambridge Event Center
1333 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97232

Oregon Get Your Business Online events are completely free.  However, space is limited, so we highly recommend that you pre-register online to reserve your spot.

Register today or call 1-800-986-6852 to register over the phone.   

Oregon Get Your Business Online - a new program from Google – is an easy, free, and fast way to get your business online.

If you don’t have a website or Google business listing, you’ll find everything you need to get started – web professionals at your side every step of the way. We’ll also provide the computers or a plug-in for your own laptop. 

If your business is already online, you’ll find tools and resources to help your business succeed online.

Workshop descriptions

Build your free website

Create and publish a website for your business in less than 60 minutes at our event. Learn how to customize your Google business listing online. 

• Get a free, easy-to-build, professional website
• Get a free customized domain name and hosting for one year
• Claim and customize your free Google business listing
• Learn how to optimize your new website to be found on Google

Grow your business online

Find out how to take advantage of online tools to run and promote your business.

• Learn more about Google’s top tools for small businesses, including Google Places, Google AdWords, Google Analytics, and Google Apps
• Discover how to get found and attract customers 

Promote your business online

This is a beginner’s guide to Google AdWords, including how to get started and how to improve your performance. 

• Learn how to create your AdWords account, choose keywords, and write great ads
• Get answers to your questions from a Google AdWords expert
• Find out how Google ranks ads

OBA came into the 2012 Legislative Session with a lofty agenda — to transform the way that health care is delivered and to redesign Oregon’s education system to focus on students and give them a first class education.

While some considered these overly ambitious goals for the Oregon Legislature’s first official even-year “short” session, OBA, along with our partners and, most importantly, our dedicated elected officials worked tirelessly in the halls of the Capitol to see these critical reform efforts come to pass.

The 2012 Legislative Session has been, in a word, transformational.  Not only have our elected leaders ushered in a new paradigm for health care and education, but we have proven once again that Oregon is a place where policy makers can put the needs of our citizens first and find common ground on critical issues facing our state.

Below you will find a recap of OBA’s priority legislation that was approved by the Legislature during the 2012 Session. With these key policies in place, OBA will begin another round of agenda development with our members and policy committees to continue strengthening Oregon’s quality of life and long-term economic competitiveness in the 2013 Regular Session.

Health Care Transformation

SB 1580 – Health Care Transformation: This legislation will, beginning with the Medicaid population, create a more coordinated health care system through the formation of Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs). The goal of CCOs is to deliver patient-centered, quality care with an emphasis on prevention to reduce waste and inefficiency that comes from unnecessary procedures and emergency room visits, duplicative testing, and lack of coordination.  This new way of approaching health care delivery will save billions over time.

HB 4164 – Health Insurance Exchange: The Oregon Health Insurance Exchange is a public corporation which will create a central marketplace where consumers and small businesses can shop for health insurance plans and access federal tax credits to help pay for coverage.

Education Redesign

SB 1581 – Achievement Compacts: This bill clarified that the Chief Education Officer has authority over the six education executives to lead the development of an integrated public education system.  Additionally, this legislation will require K-12 school districts, Educational Service Districts, community colleges, the Oregon University System and universities, and Oregon Health Sciences University to enter into achievement compacts with the state in order to receive state funding. 

HB 4165 – Early Learning Council: This legislation gives the Early Learning Council (ELC) oversight of a unified system of early learning services for children 0-6 years old to ensure that children enter school ready to learn, including a system of community-based coordinators that will deliver services to local communities throughout the state. The bill begins the process of creating standards and assessments for children that determine kindergarten readiness.

HB 4061 – Local Board for Public Universities: This bill establishes the Special Committee on University Governance, which will create a structure for Oregon’s public universities to have independent local boards.  The committee will begin its work immediately to meet a deadline of November 1, 2012 for recommendations to the Governor and Legislature.

• **Dr. Stuart Graham, Chief Economist for the United States Patent and Trademark Office
• **Andrew Kassoy, Co-Founder of B Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems

Panel Topics Include:

• Legal Entities for Social Enterprise
• FTC Green Guides and Green Certifications
• Intellectual Property and Economic Development
• Realignment of Capital for a more Sustainable Economy

Featured Panelists and Moderators:

• Drew Markham, Attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
• Jeff Wolfstone, Shareholder at Lane Powell
• Leslie Christian, President and CEO at Portfolio 21 Investments
• William Clark, Jr., Partner at Drinker Biddle and Reath and Author of Model Benefit Corporation Legislation
• Danica Noble, Attorney at Federal Trade Commission
• Heidi McCloskey, Senior Director of Communications and Resource Development at Textile Exchange
• Jay Eckhardt, Attorney at Stoel Rives LLP
• Kent Snyder, Attorney at Snyder & Associates P.C. and Chairman of EPEAT
• Evan Mueller, Clean Technology Investment Banker at Pacific Crest Securities
• Evan Reynolds, Assistant General Counsel at Nike Inc.
• Jacqueline Stone, Director of Green Tech Pilot Program at United States Patent and Trademark Office
• Wally Van Valkenburg, Partner at Stoel Rives & Member of Oregon Innovation Council
• William Rauchholz, Partner at Banner & Witcoff
• Aaron Berg, President at Blue Tree Strategies and CFO at Clean Energy Works Oregon
• Brooke Randall, Principal at Equilibrium Capital
• Carsten Henningsen, Director at Portfolio 21
• Paul Dickson, Principal at Starlight Investments

Details:
Location: White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street, Portland, OR
Date: February 9^th and February 10^th, 2012
For more information and to register, click here

9th Oregon Leadership Summit

The Leadership Summit is the place where Oregon’s business, elected, and community leaders work together on ideas, policies, and concrete actions to strengthen Oregon’s economy.  We’re working to reach a two-part goal:  create 25, 000 more jobs per year and raise our per capita income above the national average by 2020. Please join us December 12, 2011, at the Oregon Convention Center to take stock of progress and look at next steps in implementing Oregon Business Plan initiatives.

We’re also holding special follow-up summit work sessions the next day, December 13, at the Convention Center to focus more closely on implementing the education, health care, and fiscal reforms embraced by the Governor and Legislature coming out of last year’s summit. With these new policy tools in place, it’s time to deliver.

Here’s the overview:

December 12, 2011.  The Oregon Leadership Summit

This year’s summit will update regional jobs and economic development opportunities, review progress on Business Plan initiatives over the past year, look at how we can support job growth in our key industries, and consider proposals to help us achieve our job creation and income goals. We’ll hear from our elected leaders on these issues, with remarks from U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkely, Governor Kitzhaber, Senate President Peter Courtney, and Co-Speakers Bruce Hanna and Arnie Roblan.

December 13, 2011.   Policy Work Sessions on Education, Health Care, and Budgeting for Outcomes

In these sessions, we’ll take up the challenge of how to improve education and health care, how these issues are interconnected in state budgeting, and how budgeting reform can play a key role in education and health care reform – and in better delivery of other public services. This will be a hands-on workshop especially valuable for legislators and stakeholders.

For the latest agenda and registration information, click here.

KEY DETAILS

What: 2011 Net Impact Conference
When: October 27-29, 2011
Where: Oregon Convention Center in Portland
How: Click here

GoGreen ’11 Portland is a one-day statewide sustainability conference for business in Portland on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011.  GoGreen is built to inspire, educate and motivate business owners and professionals to deepen the commitment to sustainable practices at their organizations.  As an action-oriented, collaborative conference, GoGreen ’11 Portland teaches best practices on how to “green” your business and provides actionable next steps on sustainability for attendees.

Attendees learn from real-world success stories and participate in panel discussions geared to provide solid takeaways to make any size of business the most sustainable that it can be. The GoGreen Conference will feature over 50 business leader speakers and 15 different sessions on how to build sustainability into your business.

OBA President Ryan Deckert will be moderating a session called Our Carbon Future: State Business Leaders on Economic Impact, which will include panelists from Pacific Power, Intel, and SolarWorld.

DATE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4th 2011
TIME: 8:30am-5:00pm
5:00pm Networking Reception
PLACE: The Gerding Theater | 128 NW Eleventh Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
REGISTER

*Oregon Business Association Members receive $25 off to attend. Use the Discount Code OBA when registering*

Presented by Northwest Environmental Business Council, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and U.S. EPA – Region 10, the Business & the Environment Conference is an event for today’s environmental & operations managers.

While regulatory compliance is the cornerstone of environmental management, other operational elements such as energy efficiency, waste minimization, and product stewardship not only benefit the environment but also directly contribute to reducing costs, improving profitability, and enhancing competitiveness.

This conference brings these elements together to help companies thrive in today’s economy. Sessions will cover: Regulatory Updates, Managing Cleanup, Managing Energy, Managing Water, Managing Wastes, Money & the Environment, Markets & the Environment, and People & Processes.

$50 registration discount for friends of the Oregon Business Association (use discount code: OBA11). Full information can be found here.

Nike was recognized for its Nike School Innovation Fund (NSIF) and its partnership with Governor Kitzhaber on the package of education reform bills that was recently passed by the Oregon Legislature.  In particular, NSIF will provide funding and expertise as the state pulls together the Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB), which was created by SB 909.

The OEIB will align Oregon’s system of governance into one board that will be responsible for the educational outcomes of all Oregon students – from early childhood, through K-12 and into post-secondary education and training.

At the Roundtable, the President and Secretary of Education drove home the point that states must take a leading role in driving education innovation and that businesses have an important role to play in this process.

OBA and its partners worked hard to make the education package a reality in the 2011 Session.  It is rewarding to see Oregon’s achievements and the state’s successful partnership with Nike featured on a national stage with business leaders, the President, and the U.S. Secretary of Education.

Representing Nike at the event was Heidi O’Neill, a founding board member for the Nike School Innovation Fund and Julia Brim-Edwards, OBA’s Vice Chair.

Congratulations to Nike for this recognition!

From education redesign to health care transformation, OBA entered the session with an ambitious agenda.  This meeting will provide us an opportunity to report on what was accomplished, what wasn’t, and what comes next for many of the critical issues facing our state.

At the end of the meeting, we’ll present a separate panel with Labor, Environment, & Trade Association leaders to represent different perspectives on the 2011 Session.  The panelists are:

Art Towers, Executive Director, Oregon SEIU
SEIU’s mission is to improve the quality of life through worker empowerment and a progressive labor movement.

Andrea Salinas, Legislative Director, Oregon Environmental Council
The Oregon Environmental Council advances innovative, collaborative solutions to Oregon’s environmental challenges for today and future generations.

Jon Chandler, President and CEO, Oregon Home Builders Association
The Oregon Home Builders Association is the unified voice for the home building industry and the housing consumer.

Details below:
OBA All Members Meeting
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
8:00 – 9:30 am
NW Natural Community Room
220 NW 2nd Ave.
Portland, Oregon  97209

If you are an OBA member and would like to attend this meeting, please RSVP to Patti Winter by Tuesday, July 5th at: patti@oba-online.org / 503-641-0990.

We look forward to seeing you there!