2007 Regional Road Show and Focus Groups

In 2007, Oregon Business Plan, Governor's Office and Oregon Economic and Community Development Department Staff travelled Oregon to advance regional cluster development and talk with Business Leaders about their priorities.  The results of these meetings helped to shape the Oregon Business Plan Policy Playbook.  A full account of the focus groups, including evaluations of Oregon's business climate, input on the Oregon' business plan initiatives, and outlines of cluster-specific initiatives can be found in the Cluster Resource Guide.

Regional Events

The Dalles

Central Oregon

Medford

The Southern Oregon Business Clusters and Consortia Conference focused on on collaborative efforts in Southern Oregon to address global competitiveness challenges.   Representatives from the Southern Oregon High Performance Enterprise Consortium, Workdrugfree Oregon, The Oregon Heavy Lift Helicopter Group, and the Southern Oregon Healthcare Consortium Power UP Regional Workforce Training Consortium discussed how their collaborative efforts are giving individual companies competitive advantage.

After the forum, Oregon Business Plan and state officials conducted a focus group with wood products companies.  The focus group results can be viewed as part of the Cluster Resource Guide at www.oregonclusters.org.

Above:

Left:  Cameron Smith, an advisory to Governor Kulongoski talks with Lowell Gibson of Recognition Specialties about the Southern Oregon High Performance Consortium.

Middle:  Representative Dennis Richardson and SOREDI Director Ron Fox discuss workforce issues.

Right:  Allen Alley pencils out some of his ideas for two participants in the conference.

Cluster Focus Groups

Between July and December, 2007, Oregon Business Plan, the Governor's Office and the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department conducted focus groups with executives from over 20 industry clusters in Oregon.  By operating as a cluster, companies, their suppliers and their support institutions are better able to communicate their collective needs and tackle common issues such as workforce challenges, barriers to innovation, and branding/marketing opportunities.  

Review the focus group results by downloading the 2008 Cluster Resource Guide or browsing the pages of www.oregonclusters.org.

Above:

Oregon Business Plan and State officials conducted focus groups with Forest Products (left), Environmental Technology and Services (right), and over 20 industry clusters in 2007 in preparation for the Oregon Leadership Summit and the updated Oregon Business Plan. 

back to top