Oregon Business Matters

Tyler Freres is vice president of sales at Freres Engineered Wood, a family owned company that has produced timber products in Lyons and Mill City for more than a century. Tyler talks with host Angela Wilhelms about the evolution of the family business, state and federal forest management practices and Mass Ply, a cross-laminated product developed by Freres Engineered Wood that won OBI's inaug...

If you follow college sports, you've heard the term NIL, which stands for "name, image and likeness." You also probably know NIL refers to the payment of collegiate athletes. Beyond that, you can be excused for knowing little about the complex world of collegiate athlete compensation. In this episode of Oregon Business Matters, host Angela Wilhelms talks with an expert in this rapidly...

In this episode, host Angela Wilhelms talks with Brian Hall, CEO of rapidly growing NIC Industries . Based in White City, NIC Industries manufactures powder coatings and liquid ceramic coatings, which it sells around the world. The company's products include its successful Cerakote car-care line, which can be found in retail stores around the country. NIC Industries is a 2025 recipient of OBI’...

Family owned Duckwall Fruit packs and ships more than two million cartons of premium pears every year in Oregon's Hood River Valley. In this episode, host Angela Wilhelms talks with Duckwall Fruit's Sara Duckwall and Ed Weathers about Oregon pears, running a century-old family business and much more.

For the past 15 years, Jeff Stone has the Oregon Association of Nurseries, which represents the state's expansive nursery and greenhouse industry. It is the state's largest agricultural sector, and Oregon is the nation's third largest nursery state in the country after California and Florida. About 80% of what Oregon's nurseries grow is sold outside the state, contributing to Orego...

The Oregon Business Matters podcast talks with two pillars of Oregon journalism. Patsy Smullin is owner and president of California Oregon Broadcasting (COBI), the parent company of KOBI-TV in Medford. And Bob Wise is president and general manager of KOBI-TV. KOBI is an NBC affiliate in Medford. Bob Wise has worked at KOBI-TV for more than 20 years. And last November, Patsy was honored as a "g...

Jordan Papé is one of Oregon’s busiest people. He’s the president and CEO of The Papé Group , a multigenerational family business that operates in nine states throughout the west. He is highly engaged in civic and public life, and he serves on OBI’s board of directors. The Oregon Business Matters podcast talks with Jordan about the evolution of his family’s business, its work to fuel vehicles wit...

Just in time for Oregon's summer tourist season, Oregon Business Matters talks with Escape Lodging Chairman and co-founder Patrick Nofield. Escape Lodging owns and manages hotels and restaurants in Cannon Beach, The Dalles, Beaverton and elsewhere in Oregon. Nofield also serves as board chair for the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Epic Aircraft's E1000 GX won the 2024 Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest. Epic President and CEO Doug King joins the podcast to talk about the Bend-based company, the E1000 GX and the challenges of operating a business in Oregon.

An interview with Oregon state Sen. Mike McLane, a Powell Butte attorney with more than 20 years of military service who has served as a circuit court judge, as Oregon House Republican leader - and even written children's books.

This bonus episode is a recording of comments made by OBI President and CEO Angela Wilhelms at the organization's Annual Meeting June 4 in Salem. Wilhelms' comments describe the policy-driven challenges facing Oregon's businesses and the failure of Oregon's political leaders to acknowledge, much less correct, them.

Dr. Memo Diriker is a faculty member in Salisbury University's Franklin P. Perdue School of Business and the founder of the StratACUMEN Group, which OBI engaged to analyze Oregon's regulatory environment. Dr. Diriker joins the podcast to discuss his team's work, Oregon's regulatory burden and ways other states have found to eliminate excessive regulations.

Sarah Pope is executive director of Stand for Children Oregon, one of the state's most influential public education-advocacy organizations. She talks with Oregon Business Matters about Oregon's ongoing struggles with statewide standardized test scores, what might be causing the problems and what policymakers can do to address them.

State Sen. Kayse Jama and state Rep. Ben Bowman are two of the Legislature's highest-ranking Democrats. They talk to Oregon Business Matters about what spurred their interest in public service, what legislative leadership entails and more.

State Sen. Daniel Bonham and Rep. Christine Drazan are the two highest ranking Republicans in the Oregon Legislature. They talk to Oregon Business Matters about what spurred their interest in legislative service, what leading caucuses in the legislative minority entails and more.

About the Oregon Business Matters podcast, produced by Oregon Business & Industry, Oregon's statewide chamber of commerce.

Oregon Business Matters talks to John Horvick of DHM Research about how he got started in the public opinion research business, how polling has changed during his nearly two-decade career, how the views of Oregonians have changed and more.