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Remarks from Bill Thorndike -- President & CEO, Medford Fabrication; Chair, Oregon Business Plan Steering Committee December 6, 2004 -- Leadership Summit 2004 Thank you, Senators
Wyden and Smith. Thank
you for your bipartisan leadership. You,
together with Governor Kulongoski, President Courtney, and Speaker Minnis –
have helped us create a unique partnership among business and elected leaders
in support of long-term economic prosperity for Oregon.
It's
gratifying and exciting to see everyone here.
The strong presence of elected and business leaders is testament to our
commitment to our economic future. Let
me tell you about our day. This
year’s Summit is structured differently
from the previous two. We
have dropped the breakout sessions this year -- We will be in plenary session
all day. The reason
is that we want to make sure everyone is on the same page about the plan and
its initiatives – so that you as leaders have the full picture.
When
you leave today, we want you to understand that the Oregon Business Plan is
about more than a series of action plans, it is about vision
and strategy for Oregon’s future coupled with a set of interconnected
initiatives that will carry us forward. The
sum is greater than its many important parts.
We
also have re-thought how to best get feedback on the plan.
We spent a great deal of time listening during the year, and the plan
you will see today is the result of that outreach.
Yet, the plan is still a draft, and we want to hear your views on the
specifics that we present. You
will have multiple opportunities to give us feedback. You
can give us feedback directly today on the questionnaire that is included in
your packet or you can connect with steering committee members and initiative
leaders during breaks or at the reception at the end of the day.
But
more important, we understand that capturing all the comments in just one day
is virtually impossible. So if
you want more opportunity to discuss this plan, just let us know on the form
and one of us will call you. We
might call you even if you don’t ask.
You are Oregon Leaders who have taken your valuable time to be here
today. We promise to
take the time to listen to your feedback over the next few weeks as we
complete the plan for 2005. We
have a busy day. Before I review
the agenda, I would like to summarize the framework of the Oregon Business
Plan It's
not new, but I'd like to review it quickly because it holds our whole effort
together, and it guides the agenda.
There will be a quiz on this.
We want this framework imprinted on your brain.
[Slide
– Quality Jobs] The
Oregon Business Plan supports one overriding economic goal: Creating
Quality Jobs for All Oregonians. That's straight out of Oregon
Shines. It's been in place for more than a decade. It's the right goal.
[Slide
– Vision + ] In
support of that goal, the plan works on three levels:
VISION + STRATEGY + INITIATIVES. [slide-Traded
Sector] The
vision is about what
drives job creation in the Oregonian economy – the fortunes of the
traded-sector industries that sell goods and services outside Oregon. Our
vision is that our traded-sector industries will lead their markets with
cutting-edge research, design production and marketing.
And we see them growing in what we call clusters.
This
vision is important, because we can't be commodity producers anymore. In a
global economy there are too many other places that can beat us at that game.
We have to add value in every way we can.
OK.
That's the vision. [Slide
– four Ps] Our
strategy defines how we
will help our current and emerging traded-sector businesses compete and grow. How
can we do this? It turns out that nearly everyone in the community has a role
to play. Our
strategy is to give our traded-sector businesses the best playing field
possible – a set of conditions and resources we call the Four Ps –
Pioneering Innovation, People, Place, and Productivity.
We will talk about these throughout the day. [Slide
– Initiatives] Finally,
the Four Ps lead us to the initiatives. Initiatives are where the rubber meets the road in
the Oregon Business Plan – where we get traction on the Four Ps.
Every
initiative we pursued this past two years was designed to make us stronger in
one or more of the Four Ps. Over time, we'll complete and retire some
initiatives. We'll expand or refocus others. And we'll add new ones. Here
is the list of initiatives we are proposing for 2005.
This is the product of all the outreach and discussion during the past
year. It’s a
set of initiatives, that if pursued successfully will drive our vision and
strategy forward. [Slide
– Vision + ] So
that’s it. The Oregon Business
Plan in a nutshell. This
morning, we’ll review the vision and strategy of the plan, and begin the
presentations on plan initiatives for 2005 and beyond.
During the noon hour, we will hear from the Governor and other members
of the Leadership Committee. In
the afternoon we will learn about three important initiatives we want to
highlight this year. Let’s
get started.
Back to Highlights from Leadership Summit 2004
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