A Vision for a Better Oregon
Having a strategy for making progress is key. This strategy must do more than call out goals only attainable decades down the road. It must specify steps that we can take in the short-term.
Jessica Gomez is Founder/CEO of Rogue Valley Microdevices and serves on the OIT Board of Trustees, Oregon Healthcare & Oregon Business Development committees. She has announced her candidacy for Governor of Oregon.
The last few years have been challenging for Oregon. We have experienced catastrophic wildfires, shuttered businesses due to a global pandemic, increasing homelessness, and social unrest that has negatively branded our state. Oregon, a state once known for leading the way in passion and innovation, is now hindered by policies that hurt business and discourage entrepreneurship.
A brighter future requires change. It requires refocusing our attention on the passion of Oregonians and enacting policies that unleash and encourage that passion. What are Oregonians passionate about? In a word, progress.
According to research at the Oregon Values And Belief Center, the aspirational goals of our state include making Oregon more affordable, reducing crime and poverty, improving educational outcomes, improving air and water quality, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Oregon can make progress on all of these issues by thinking critically about how we solve problems and how our leaders can empower innovation rather than restrict our vision for the future.
Progress occurs when failure is not an option. We must learn from our missteps and quickly adjust. The desired outcome is that every step is an improvement, moving us toward a more innovative state. I’ve seen this process work firsthand. My Oregon-based company provides manufacturing support to hundreds of organizations developing and commercializing innovative new products. The motivation behind this new and innovative technology is not simply to make something better, cheaper, or faster. The purpose, passion, and vision are to improve the standard of living for people all over the world, and to empower them by providing access to life saving medical treatment, education, jobs, and economic opportunities.
When the focus is on improvement, no one wastes time perpetuating outdated or ill-suited solutions. Instead, there’s a tireless focus on building upon what we have learned. That same focus needs to be applied to Oregon’s governance and economic policy, both working together to create an environment where innovation can thrive.
Among several areas for improvement is how Oregon engages with the rest of the nation and world. Much of Oregon’s innovation can be exported throughout the U.S. and around the globe. What can Oregon contribute? How about advanced crop irrigation technology? Or forest management and wildfire fighting and prevention techniques? Biodegradable plastics? Recycling technology? Sustainable farming? The answer is all of the above, and the list goes on and on.
Innovation can unlock those improvements and one key ingredient to innovation is the entrepreneur. Supporting a culture of entrepreneurship is a way Oregon can enable thousands of highly skilled, passionate individuals to think creatively. Innovation cannot be mandated by our state government. Funding innovation through research grants, public universities, R&D tax credits and many other economic development initiatives will create a collaborative ecosystem of stakeholders all working together to support new ideas. Emphasizing critical thinking in schools will help support future innovation. Teaching children how to think, not what to think, will build creative minds.
Oregonians are no stranger to incredible challenges. Natural disasters, war, hunger, and disease have shaped our collective experience and forced us to innovate while facing adversity. That innovation led us through difficult times. Today, in spite of apocalyptic rhetoric directed at us from all sides, we are living in a time of relative peace and prosperity. Yet, we still must innovate and push ourselves to reach new frontiers.
There is clearly room for improvement in Oregon. Having a strategy for making progress is key. This strategy must do more than call out goals only attainable decades down the road. It must specify steps that we can take in the short-term. Leaders must recognize that the intersection of passion and innovation leads to the progress that will propel us forward.
There is strength in our differences. Our differences foster innovation that allows for progress. We must channel that innovation to pursue our passions and create a brighter future. That is the Oregon Way.