Oregon Business Matters

Redmond-based Hayden Homes is the largest private homebuilder in the Pacific Northwest, operating in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. In this episode of the Oregon Business Matters podcast, Vice President of Community Engagement and Giving Deborah Flagan discusses the company's focus on building affordable market-rate housing, its philanthropic work, the difficulty of building homes in O...

Michael Reilly helps keep the Eugene track magic going as chief executive officer of TrackTown USA, a nonprofit that hosts track and field events. And not just any events. TrackTown organizes some of the most iconic track and field events in the nation and across the globe, including the national and para national championships, the Olympic Trials, the Prefontaine Classic and even world championsh...

The Oregon Symphony, now in its 130th year, is Portland's largest performing arts organization. It entertains hundreds of thousands of people annually, many of them in Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Oregon Symphony President and CEO Paul Snyder talks with Oregon Business Matters about the variety of programming the symphony produces, its impact on the regional economy, the impor...

Dave Larecy is chairman and CEO of Roseburg-based Con-Vey . For decades, the company has produced production lines for wood products and other industries. Con-Vey makes the machinery that other companies use to make plywood, beams, oriented strand board and many other things that make modern life possible. Con-Vey's production lines are so sophisticated and so highly automated that it has even...

Sport Oregon CEO Jim Etzel discusses the economic impact of spectator sports in Oregon, which account for 23% more of Oregon's economic output than the national average. Spectator sports should be thought of as traded sector economic activity, attracting people and dollars from out of state, and worth a certain degree of public investment, Etzel argues.

Hillsboro Hops President and General Manager KL Wombacher talks about the minor league baseball team's history in Oregon, its new stadium and the economic and cultural importance of the team to the Portland metro area and to the state.

In 2009, apparel industry veteran Scott Hamlin founded Looptworks to address the problem of textile waste. Looptworks, which recently moved into its new facility in Gresham, transforms excess clothing and other textiles into thread or yarn that can be reused and nonwoven fibers that can be used to produce insulation and other non-clothing products. Scott talks with host Angela Wilhelms about the c...

ATI's Specialty Alloys and Components Division in Millersburg might be the coolest company in Oregon that few people know. It produces metals that can withstand incredibly harsh conditions, and its products are used in a wide variety of products, from jet engines to MRI machines.

Oregon Business Matters talks with John Tapogna, former longtime president of economics research firm ECOnorthwest and newly installed president of the Oregon Business Council. John and host Angela Wilhelms discuss his new role and what he believes are the five major challenges facing the state: poor school performance, insufficient housing, wildfires, the state's overreliance on the income ta...

In this episode, host Angela Wilhelms talks with Peter Skrbek, CEO of Bend-based Deschutes Brewery, about the iconic craft brewer's history, its approach to product innovation, its connection to Central Oregon and much more.

Host Angela Wilhelms talks with Cara Turano, president and executive director of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, about the important role of entrepreneurs in the state's business ecosystem. They discuss the major challenges entrepreneurs face, the common mistakes they make, what it's like to start a business in Oregon and more.

Jared Walczak, a senior fellow at the Tax Foundation, joins host Angela Wilhelms to discuss the organization's annual ranking of state tax environments, the State Tax Competitiveness Index . Until recently the vice president of state projects, Walczak explains how the index works and why 35th-ranked Oregon has fallen further than any other state since 2020. He also warns about the consequences...

Host Angela Wilhelms talks with Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Portland Metro Chamber President & CEO Andrew Hoan. Topics covered include unsanctioned camping, overnight shelter construction, increasing trust in government, the city's tax burden and other issues of importance to Portland's residents, visitors and businesses.

When you go to the store to buy a beverage – whether it’s a nonalcoholic drink or a six-pack of beer – you’re aware of the brand you’re buying, obviously, as well as the store at which you’re buying it. But what you don’t see is the distributor that brought that beverage to the store – and probably stocked the shelf. Beverage distributors play an important but largely invisible role linking manufa...

Bullseye Glass is Portland manufacturing institution, producing colored glass used by artists around the world since the 1970s. This fall, the company won OBI's third annual Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest. In this episode of Oregon Business Matters, host Angela Wilhelms talks with Bullseye Glass founder Dan Schwoerer about the company's history and its unique products.

In the latest episode of the Oregon Business Matters podcast, host Angela Wilhelms talks with Ned Ford, chief operations officer for Harry & David parent company 1-800-Flowers . Ned oversees Harry & David , which maintains its headquarters - along with an impressive operation - in Medford. With the holiday season just around the corner, Ned and Angela talk about Harry & David's evo...

Matthew Drake, CEO of Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort, talks with host Angela Wilhelms about the ski resort business, including challenges posed by weather variability, running an independently owned ski resort, and the threat to resorts like Mt. Hood Meadows created by Oregon's unusual liability law relating to recreational uses.

October is National Manufacturing Month. Host Angela Wilhelms talks with OBI Senior Policy Director Duke Shepard about the importance - and struggles - of Oregon's manufacturing sector. Duke also recaps OBI's annual Manufacturing & Innovation Roadshow, which toured seven manufacturers in the Willamette Valley and southern Oregon on Oct. 6-7.

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...