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On behalf of the State legislators from Oregon’s Coastal
Caucus, we are proud to present the seventh annual economic summit, hosted by
the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians,
at the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City. This year's Coastal Caucus Economic Summit (OCCES) is designed
to advance our region’s economic development and policy interests, with
insightful presentations of local, state and national economic trends in
carbon reduction and education.
“We have put
together an exciting two-day event – packed with informative panels and numerous
discussion opportunities – by bringing together Oregon’s coastal leaders so we can
development strategies that will improve our region’s economy,” Rep. Caddy
McKeown, D-Coos Bay, said. “This investment of time and energy from everyone creates
a more powerful voice to influence how we consider the potential impacts of
legislation and how it could affect rural and coastal economies.”
Limited Registration Available
As part of rural-coast initiative to work collaboratively to generate economic growth, OCCES18 will once again feature informative panel discussion, concurrent sessions, with a great lineup of keynote speakers. This is a free event with limited space available. Therefore, registration is required. Also, the agenda and application are constantly being updated as we add more speakers’ bios to the Annual Summit.
Download 2018 OCCES App
Download the OCCES 2018 app for event information, a paperless
trail, ability to manage your schedule and presenters' full bios.
To
ensure this crucial gathering of statewide leaders and policy professionals can
address the critical issues facing our coastal-rural communities, become a
sponsor of OCCES18 and take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to share
your interest in coastal-rural economic development.
An amazing list of keynote speakers and industry leaders will be joining us for OCCES to offer an opportunity to engage in discussions and share their knowledge. We’ll be revealing even more speakers' bios as we lead up to
the event!
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Oregonians know Ron as a
senator who listens. Always citing the
need to “throw open the doors of government for Oregonians,” he holds an
open-to-all town hall meeting in each of Oregon’s 36 counties each year. Thus far, he has held more than 900 meetings. Wyden
serves on the Committees on Finance, Budget, Intelligence, and Energy and
Natural Resources. He is ranking member
of the Senate Finance Committee and the ranking Democrat on the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee.
Wyden
began college at the University of California-Santa Barbara where he won a
basketball scholarship and played in Division I competition for two seasons
before transferring to Stanford University where he completed his Bachelor’s
degree with distinction. He earned his
law degree from the University Of Oregon School Of Law in 1974, after which he
taught gerontology and co-founded the Oregon chapter of the Grey Panthers, an
advocacy group for the elderly. He also
served as the director of Oregon Legal Services for the Elderly from 1977 to
1979 and was a member of the Oregon State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home
Administrators during that same period. He served in the U.S. House of
Representatives from 1981 until his election to the U.S. Senate.
Senator
Wyden’s home is in Portland; he is married to Nancy Wyden, whom he wed in
September 2005. He has five children: Adam, Lilly, Ava, William and Scarlett.
Besides his Washington DC office, Senator Wyden has six offices throughout the
state of Oregon.
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A son of a millwright, Jeff Merkley was
born in Myrtle Creek, Oregon. His family moved with the timber economy to
Roseburg and then to East Multnomah County.
Jeff began his career in public service as
an intern with Oregon’s former Senator Mark Hatfield. After working in
Washington D.C. for a few years in both the Pentagon and at the Congressional
Budget Office, Jeff came back to Oregon to work with families to build homes as
the head of Portland’s Habitat for Humanity.
He was elected to the Oregon House of
Representatives in 1998. In 2007, he became Speaker of the Oregon House
and held that post until his election to the U.S. Senate. In 2009, he was
sworn into the same senate seat once held by Mark Hatfield.
In the nine years he’s been in office, Jeff
has been on the frontlines of debates around health care, financial reform,
energy, reforming the Senate and working on solutions to the ongoing housing
crisis and he will continue fighting for Oregon.
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Congressman
Kurt Schrader is currently serving his fifth term in the United States House of
Representatives. He represents Oregon's 5th Congressional District, which
includes all of Marion, Polk, Lincoln and Tillamook Counties as well as the
bulk of Clackamas and small portions of Multnomah and Benton Counties. Before
being elected to Congress, Schrader, a farmer and veterinarian for more than
thirty years, established and managed the Clackamas County Veterinary Clinic in
Oregon City and operated his farm where he grew and sold organic fruit and
vegetables.
In 1996,
Congressman Schrader was elected to the Oregon State House of Representatives.
There he served as a member of the Joint Ways & Means Committee. Schrader
was one of five legislators asked by their peers to guide Oregon through the
budget crisis of 2001-2002. Schrader was elected to the Oregon State Senate in
2003 and was immediately appointed to chair the Joint Ways & Means
Committee. He continued to serve in that capacity until he was elected to U.S.
Congress in 2008.
Congressman
Schrader attended Cornell University where he received his BA in Government in
1973. He received his veterinary degree from the University of Illinois in
1977.
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Congresswoman
Suzanne Bonamici has represented the First District of Oregon in Congress since
February of 2012. Located in the Northwest part of the state, the district
includes Washington, Yamhill, Clatsop, and Columbia counties and part of
Multnomah County.
A leader on the
Committee on Education and the Workforce, Suzanne is working to give everyone a
better future and the opportunity to succeed. She is focused on strengthening
public education and growing the economy. On the Science, Space, and Technology
Committee, Suzanne is committed to investing in research and innovation, and
dedicated to making sure that policy decisions are based on science. As the top
Democratic member of the Subcommittee on the Environment, she is working to
address the causes and consequences of global climate change. Her background as
a consumer protection attorney informs her work on strengthening consumer
protections, which are especially important to seniors, service members, and
the vulnerable.
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Elected Oregon’s 29th State
Treasurer in 2016, Tobias Read is a collaborative problem solver who draws upon
his management, political and finance policy experience to serve Oregonians as
Treasurer.
He has worked in the U.S.
Treasury and as a liaison between designers, engineers and manufacturing units
for Nike Inc. In 2006, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives,
where he served a decade and championed legislation to invest in public
education, improve state financial management, finance critical infrastructure
improvements, and to help Oregonians save for a more secure future.
While serving in the Oregon
Legislature, he pushed to strengthen the state’s rainy day fund, which was a
key factor that helped the state to earn a credit rating upgrade in 2011. He
led efforts to promote infrastructure projects using innovative public-private
partnerships, and was a chief sponsor of the Oregon Investment Act, which
streamlined Lottery investments in promising Oregon startups.
In 2015, he was a chief
sponsor of the Oregon Retirement Savings Plan, the first operating
state-sponsored retirement program which launched in mid-2017. The plan enrolls
Oregon workers who lack access to a retirement savings option through their
employers, allowing hundreds of thousands more Oregonians to retire with
dignity after a lifetime of work.
Tobias earned his
bachelor’s degree from Willamette University and his MBA from the Michael G.
Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. He lives in
Beaverton, OR with his wife, Heidi Eggert, and their two children.
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The most
veteran member of the Oregon Legislature, Senator Peter Courtney is now serving
a record-setting eighth term as Senate President. Courtney was first selected Senate
President in 2003 when the Senate was evenly divided with 15 Democrats and 15
Republicans. Courtney is in his fifth
term as a State Senator, representing portions of Salem, Gervais and Woodburn.
He previously served seven terms in the Oregon House of Representatives,
including four terms as House Democratic Leader.
Courtney has
been an out-spoken leader in the state's efforts to prepare for a Cascadia
Subduction Zone earthquake. Most notably, he led the creation of the Seismic
Rehabilitation Grant Program which provides funds to make schools and emergency
services facilities safer in the event of an earthquake.
Courtney, long
known as a champion for mental health services, led the charge to increase
funding for mental health treatment. The Senate President's efforts to improve
mental health care in Oregon began in 2004 when he was among a group that
discovered the unclaimed cremated remains of more than 3,500 Oregonians who had
died while patients at the Oregon State Hospital. The story of the "Room of
Forgotten Souls" served as catalyst for the effort to replace the state
mental hospital facility built in 1883.
In his 32 years
in the Legislature, Courtney has sponsored nearly 200 measures which have
become law.
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Before her
election to the Oregon House of Representatives in 2006, Speaker Kotek worked
as the policy director for the non-profit advocacy organization Children First
for Oregon. Prior to joining Children First, she was a public policy
advocate for Oregon Food Bank.
Some of Speaker
Kotek’s legislative accomplishments include: helping to pass landmark
legislation that ended discrimination based on sexual orientation and created
domestic partnerships for same-sex couples; redesigning the state’s welfare
program; prohibiting discrimination against holders of Section 8 vouchers;
restricting the use of a job applicant’s credit history when making hiring
decisions; and strengthening Oregon’s early childhood system to help all
children be ready to succeed in school.
With
the Speaker’s leadership, Oregon has become a leader in passing laws that
improve economic opportunity, such as increasing the minimum wage,
strengthening retirement security, expanding access to paid sick leave, prohibiting
racial profiling, and guaranteeing health insurance for all children. In the
2016 and 2017 sessions, she was particularly focused on the state's housing
crisis through a variety of strategies to preserve existing affordable housing,
increase the supply of needed housing, and protect tenants in an unpredictable
rental market.
Speaker Kotek
holds a B.S. in religious studies from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in
international studies from the University of Washington. She lives in
North Portland with her wife Aimee and their dogs Rudy and Wicket.
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