Why is Oregon's economy so bad? (stores, money, company)

[Elk Wallow]

This is the mantra of lumber barons who are after the last of the old growth forests. Even if the whole state was clear cut, that is not going to bring back Oregon's timber jobs due to mechanization. Where I live the average rainfall is 120 inches of rain a year. That 10 feet of rain.

[Terryj]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

This is the mantra of lumber barons who are after the last of the old growth forests. Even if the whole state was clear cut, that is not going to bring back Oregon's timber jobs due to mechanization. Where I live the average rainfall is 120 inches of rain a year. That 10 feet of rain.

First of all, most logging and lumber companies do not want old growth timber, why, because most of it is worthless, most of the old growth is infested with "pecky rot" this makes the tree worthless as far as lumber goes. The Oregon logging jobs of the past are gone and will not recover, this is due to better ways of harvesting timber with fewer workers. Most of the large mills in Oregon are gone and will not be back, so a lot of Oregon harvested timber of today is sent to China, Japan and other countries.

So now Oregon is still struggling with the economics of these smaller towns that depended on timber revenue to support county and local government. A couple of the hardest hit counties are Josephine and Curry Counties, where over 50% of the county is owned by the federal government. Do we turn all these small town into tourist attractions as you suggested, everyone can be employed in the service industry which normally pays minimum wage. That way we can have entire towns below the poverty line. That isn't the answer, we need to get creative with what we have to work with. At one time Coos Bay was a busseling port on the Oregon coast, it's draw back was, it had locked it self with the timber industry. Coos Bay could still be a important port on the coast if the state would help revitalize the infrastructure, rail and road. But why do that when most of the population in Oregon lives north of the 45th parallel.

[Elk Wallow]

Peckerwood trees? They must have wanted it once SINCE 96% OF OLD GROWTH IS GONE.

Thats right. Most of the educated population lives north of the 45th parallel. Its either tourism sector service jobs or else the kids can get themselves an actual education or a skill. Junior college is cheap and productive for that purpose. But tourist type businesses are great for local entrepreneurs. Oregon needs nation wide tourism ads like other states.

[Tall Traveler]

There's no really strong list of companies driving the economy in Oregon and the mentality is not one of materialism or entreprneurialship to a significant degree. I lived in Portland are for 3 years and it was not a good 3 years economically.

[Elk Wallow]

In Oregon its about quality of life not so much the quantity of money.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

Peckerwood trees? They must have wanted it once SINCE 96% OF OLD GROWTH IS GONE.

Thats right. Most of the educated population lives north of the 45th parallel. Its either tourism sector service jobs or else the kids can get themselves an actual education or a skill. Junior college is cheap and productive for that purpose. But tourist type businesses are great for local entrepreneurs. Oregon needs nation wide tourism ads like other states.

If that's the case, then 50% of the old growth never existed. Besides natural fires, the Indians did what they could to keep the trees in check by burning. What is really endangered in Oregon is the classic oak savanna. Fire suppression has allowed fir and cedar to encroach on and choke out the oak savanna and it's multiple species. When was the last time you saw a Western Meadowlark? It's the state bird, and once was so common everyone saw it. Now it is rarely seen. The reason is that all the land that can't be farmed is covered with trees. Having too many trees is one of our state's major environmental problems.

[delta07]

Please remember to follow our TOS when posting. If this thread continues to spiral off topic, I will close it and infractions will be issued.

Stay on topic. Attempts to hi-jack threads by switching topics or going off topic will be deleted and infractions issued. This is not a chat room - when people hi-jack threads by posting messages that are of interest to only few people, the threads often stop being useful discussions of initial topics.

Our opinions on a location or issue are just that, opinions. Highly subjective. Personal preferences. Quirks, even. Leave wiggle room for dialogue, others may not see things the same as you, or been there as long as you, and any one of us can be wrong. Pouncing on someone you disagree with runs contrary to the spirit of this board and its members. We are here to help each other.

[redguard57]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

There's no really strong list of companies driving the economy in Oregon and the mentality is not one of materialism or entreprneurialship to a significant degree. I lived in Portland are for 3 years and it was not a good 3 years economically.

I'd say not so much anti-entrepreneurial but anti-growth and development. There are plenty of small businesses. I live in Bend and there is a constant churn of small businesses starting, failing, a new one starting, some succeeding, etc... Portland, Eugene, Covallis, etc.. strike me similarly.

But there's not much interest in growing your business bigger and bigger.

An interesting comparison for me is Powell's books vs. Half Price Books. Powell's is incredibly popular but they seem satisfied with their flagship store and 3-4 branch stores. To the extent they grow, they've focused on improving their downtown store for the most part. With their name recognition and size, they could open branches in other towns in Oregon and the Northwest and destroy the competition if they wanted. Ie: there's no way our discount bookstores in Bend could compete if they wanted to open a Powell's outlet here. It would suck up all the tourist dollars.

Half Price Books started similarly as a family owned used bookstore in Dallas, but they grew, opened new branches, forced competitors out once they developed stronger market share and economies of scale, and now have 120 stores in 16 states mostly in Texas and the states north of it in the midwest. In fact one of my friends that worked for Borders before they went bankrupt said that any Borders location nearby a Half Price Books could never compete and that HPB blew them out of the water in sales - in fact he was convinced HPB chose locations nearby knowing they could poach customers.

[PNW-type-gal]

But that is because the Powell family wanted to keep hands-on running of the stores - Walter to Michael to Emily. Start opening up stores in different cities and you end up stepping back in your role from someone who runs a bookstore to someone who manages a chain of widget-stores (books, hardware, clothing, hamburgers, whatever). Powell's once had more stores than they do now and closed them when they realized they were spread too thin.

That is neither lack of ambition nor lack of entrepreneurship, it is being realistic in what your goals are and how you want your company run. It is the current MBA-think that your goal must be making more and more money and getting bigger all the time until you can sell the company. Powell's presently has a completely sustaining model - sure, they aren't a growth company and have been rolling with the changes in how new and used books are sold, but to become a bigger company would mean fundamental changes to how the company is run.

[redguard57]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

But that is because the Powell family wanted to keep hands-on running of the stores - Walter to Michael to Emily. Start opening up stores in different cities and you end up stepping back in your role from someone who runs a bookstore to someone who manages a chain of widget-stores (books, hardware, clothing, hamburgers, whatever). Powell's once had more stores than they do now and closed them when they realized they were spread too thin.

That is neither lack of ambition nor lack of entrepreneurship, it is being realistic in what your goals are and how you want your company run. It is the current MBA-think that your goal must be making more and more money and getting bigger all the time until you can sell the company. Powell's presently has a completely sustaining model - sure, they aren't a growth company and have been rolling with the changes in how new and used books are sold, but to become a bigger company would mean fundamental changes to how the company is run.

Sure, and I appreciate that. It's not the only Oregon-based business that operates in that low key fashion and I think that contributes to the state's economy not being particularly dynamic.