Chamber Roundtable Shines Spotlight on Oregon’s Business Climate and Competitiveness
To kick off their Chamber Roundtable series in 2025, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed Paloma Sparks, Executive Vice President and General Council at Oregon Business and Industry (OBI), to speak to an insightful new set of recommendations in OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda.
After a half-hour of networking time for a very full room of attendees, Paige Walters, Senior Director of Advocacy and Economic Development for the Springfield Chamber, introduced the topic of economic competitiveness, noting its concurrence with the Chamber’s business advocacy work. Sparks began her presentation by diving into what OBI has identified as Oregon’s three biggest competitiveness problems:
- Oregon is an expensive state in which to live and operate a business.
- Oregon creates unnecessary obstacles to opportunity and success.
- Oregon’s political culture undervalues the state’s private sector.
Throughout her presentation, Sparks made it clear that OBI is working diligently to specifically address the broad range of issues that have ultimately ranked Oregon very low for supporting business and economic development.
“Part of what we want to see is a greater emphasis on implementation, rather than just adopting new rules … that agencies put effort into helping businesses implement these new programs,” Sparks explained, mentioning a comprehensive website and action toolkit that OBI hopes will also add a level of transparency across agencies – as well as a way for more of the business community to get engaged.
Following the presentation, Sparks took myriad questions from attendees, taking deeper dives into issues that are important to local business owners. Many attendees wondered what they and their teams could be doing to advocate more at the policy level, which led to a discussion of ways to engage. Those include:
- Staying connected to the Springfield Chamber’s business advocacy work, including signing up to receive timely updates and calls to action via the Advocacy Bulletin – email paige@springfield-chamber.org to be added to the list.
- Subscribing to Legislative Updates from Oregon State Chamber of Commerce.
- Staying up to date on action alerts and news items made by Oregon Business and Industry.
- Reaching out to elected officials directly to tell your story and help them understand how issues directly impact your business.
“For us [at OBI], knowing the real, on-the-ground business impacts are sometimes the most valuable, because we can really explain to [policymakers] what it looks like for small businesses when they are proposing these new policies.”
– Paloma Sparks, Executive Vice President and General Council, Oregon Business Institute
The Chamber would like to thank Paloma Sparks of OBI for taking the time to lead a Roundtable discussion on the Oregon Competitiveness Agenda, and for answering questions, connecting with members, and providing helpful resources.
More about Chamber Roundtable
The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly Chamber Roundtable Series fosters interactive discussions on legislation and policy, community and economic development, and workforce and talent. Quarterly, these Roundtables will be coupled with an on-location business tour exploring some of the many unique industry leaders throughout the Springfield area.
About Oregon Business and Industry
OBI was founded in 2017 with the merger of Oregon’s two most significant statewide business organizations, Associated Oregon Industries and the Oregon Business Association. The result is Oregon’s largest and most effective statewide business advocacy group. OBI strives to strengthen Oregon’s economy in order to achieve a healthy, prosperous and competitive state for the benefit of present and future generations. A strong private sector is necessary to ensure that all Oregonians have access to good jobs that support thriving families. A strong private sector is also necessary to generate adequate funding for critical public services such as schools, transportation, and public safety. OBI values equity and support efforts to end historic injustices. Based in Salem, OBI has more than 1,600 members in every region of Oregon. They include both small and large businesses, represent virtually every industry and sector, and employ more than 250,000 Oregonians. These businesses come together as Oregon Business & Industry because they are committed to building a stronger Oregon.
