Tina Kotek talks industrial land, promoting Portland and trade in Q&A with Greater Portland Inc
19 Oct 2022
Oregon voters will elect a new governor on Nov. 8. Over the last several weeks, Monique Claiborne, president & CEO of Greater Portland Inc, the regional economic development organization, sat down with each of the three candidates in a series of interviews.
The conversations cover key economic issues, including business recruitment and retention, restoring livability in Portland, top economic priorities, taxes and incentives, agency alignment and land-use policy.
Our third interview was with Tina Kotek, who served in the Oregon House of Representatives for 15 years, representing North and Northeast Portland. She was the speaker of the House from 2013 to 2022, and is the Democratic nominee for governor.
Watch the full interview on Youtube
Interview Highlights:
On promoting Portland:
“I am never going to disparage our city nationally. I am always going to be a cheerleader. … It’s frustrating to me to hear at least one person who’s running for this seat talking disparagingly about the city of Portland in particular. … I will always be out there promoting us, traveling wherever I need to to bring people here to build economic development.”
On supporting Oregon businesses:
“I’d really like to focus on supporting the businesses who are here. Look, I think recruiting new businesses and new investment is important. But we have some great companies here that need to be supported to go to the next level of development. … And I think that is a role for Business Oregon and all the state agencies working together to remove barriers to growth.”
On building trade partnerships:
“A key role for the governor is to be that ambassador to other countries we export to… I did, as speaker of the House, lead a trade mission to China. … That is something in particular I think we can do more of … because those relationships you develop outside of Oregon, either nationally or internationally, are going to be very important to promoting our economic growth.”
On industrial land capacity:
“I’ve been a strong supporter of maintaining our current industrial land capacity. … We have some super siting laws that allow us – based on a set of criteria – to move quicker in terms of siting things and preparing infrastructure to create new industrial land opportunities. … I do think it’s important to grow some of these large parcels and build the infrastructure and workforce in other parts of the state. I think that could be more realistic.”
Previously released
- Oct. 5: Interview with Christine Drazan
- Oct. 12: Interview with Betsy Johnson
- Oct. 26: Recap conversation with Ryan Kuenzi and Rob O’Neill of Moss Adams
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