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those businesses tend to grow and leave. He cited Rosen Products as an example of a company <br />that was purchased and moved. There was no guarantee such companies would stay. He said <br />the region needed to compete constantly to keep such businesses in the community. While they <br />were here, they provided the fundamental basis for a sound, growing economy. <br /> <br />Mr. Roberts said that pay was not always the issue. Education, experience, training, and the <br />future a j ob provided were also an issue. He said that a measure of the health of an economy was <br />whether it was creating enough jobs to use all the human resources available. A full range of <br />employment opportunities needed to be available to residents. <br /> <br />Mr. Roberts spoke of the polarization of the Oregon economy, pointing out that in areas such as <br />eastern Oregon and the coast jobs in the traded sector were going away and retirees were <br />increasingly moving in and spending money on consumer goods and services. They drove up the <br />price of housing, and those who work in the retail sales establishments that serve the retirees <br />have to live in nearby communities because they can no longer afford to live in places such as <br />Bend. That was not a healthy situation, and it was increasingly occurring in Eugene. School <br />enrollment was declining in Eugene and increasing in Springfield and the Bethel area, where <br />housing was more affordable for families. He thought the community needed to address that <br />issue of unbalanced growth, and suggested one way was to work aggressively to attract jobs that <br />provide a range of employment opportunities. <br /> <br />Mr. Forbes asked what would help Eugene compete for traded sector jobs. Mr. Roberts said the <br />community's biggest advantage was the quality of its work force. He cited affordable utility <br />costs, transportation corridors, the airport, and quality of life as other assets. The regulatory <br />environment was important, and Oregon's was not bad. Oregon's quality of life was high and it <br />was important to companies. Oregon's tax structure was unbalanced and that was a challenge to <br />overcome. The legislature was working to increase Oregon's ability to compete in the traded <br />sector by reforming the corporate income tax. The high personal income tax and lack of a sales <br />tax were disadvantages. The State must have an adequate land supply. He said that incentives <br />programs for the traded sector were needed but they were not a substitute for the fundamental <br />things like the work force and infrastructure. <br /> <br />Mr. Kahle noted the pending move of Toby's Tofu to an enterprise zone in Springfield and asked <br />how Eugene could keep companies in town. Mr. Roberts believed that it would be helpful if <br />Eugene also had an enterprise zone because it would level the playing field. He said it would be <br />useful if the two cities had comparable policies and incentives. He noted that while the <br />enterprise zone was a factor for Toby's, land supply was also an issue that drove the move. <br /> <br />Mr. Bowerman asked if there was a benefit to having local homegrown businesses in the <br />nontraded sector, contrasting Jerry's and Home Depot. In the one case, money remained in the <br />community, and in the other case the money went to a corporate headquarters in another state. <br />Mr. Roberts emphasized the importance of local nontraded businesses, and said it was important <br />to encourage them to stay in the community. He briefly discussed the issue of assistance to local <br />versus nonlocal, saying that residents had a desire to see local businesses stay and grow. He said <br /> <br />MINUTES--Mayor's Committee on Economic Development March 8, 2004 Page 4 <br /> <br /> <br />