| Remarks by Governor Ted Kulongoski |
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| June 6, 2006 |
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Opening of WorkSource Portland Metro North Center and New Columbia's "Main Street"
I want to begin by thanking the people and organizations who helped put this project together: Oregon Housing and Community Services; Steve Rudman, Kandis Brewer Nunn, and the Housing Authority of Portland; Worksystems, Inc’s Andrew McGough, and Board Chair James Paulson; Dr. Preston Pulliams, of PCC ; Jerry Burns from the Department of Human Services; and the Oregon Employment Department, headed by Laurie Warner.
Thanks also to Senator Smith – and our federal partners at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. New Columbia would not have been possible without HUD’s 35-million dollar HOPE VI grant.
We are here today to celebrate a great milestone: The opening of “Main Street” for New Columbia – including this WorkSource Portland Metro North Center.
I’ll talk about the WorkSource Center in a moment. But first I want to say a few words about Main Street – and the affordable housing, strong businesses, and services for jobseekers that you will find here.
New Columbia is really about new thinking.
New thinking about affordable housing. New thinking about sustainable development. And new thinking about workforce training.
Let me start with affordable housing.
One in five Oregonians have trouble paying for the cost of their housing. To help solve this problem, Oregon Housing and Community Services has provided more than 6-million dollars in annual low-income housing credits, which has generated approximately 60-million in funding for the development of affordable housing in New Columbia.
These credits will be combined with local and federal dollars to help eligible families live comfortably and affordably in New Columbia.
As for sustainable development: Instead of creating wonderful projects and services that end up miles apart, New Columbia integrates the community, the economy and the environment, proving again that Oregon is one step ahead of the nation in planning and building a better quality of life for our citizens.
New Columbia is also green. It is built to LEED standards – which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – and includes a wide array of green building components, from water conservation to solar energy.
But today’s ribbon cutting is not just about housing. And it is not just about creating a sustainable and viable main street for New Columbia. It is also about family wage jobs – and training or retraining Oregonians to fill those jobs.
No one understands the importance of a helping hand – and being given the opportunity to work – better than I do.
I was raised by nuns in a home for boys. While I was there, I don’t remember anyone saying – Teddy I expect great things from you. But I was willing to work hard – and seize the opportunities that came my way.
When I got out of the Marines, I worked as a bricklayer and steelworker. It was honest work at a living wage.
Those experiences taught me the importance of hard work – and helped shape my belief that the best social program is a job.
That is why it is so important to me – personally – to be here today. I want every Oregon family to have the same opportunities for a good education and a job that I’ve had.
For many Oregonians that means going to a four-year university. I’m doing everything I can to make that possible – from holding the line on tuition costs to making sure all Oregon students with good grades receive financial help from the state.
But what about the majority of young Oregonians – and older workers whose jobs are at risk – who do not want to go to a four-year institution?
A degree from a university is not where they see their future. But they still want the opportunity to acquire a marketable skill that can lead to a family wage job.
One place for people in North Portland to find that new skill is here – at the WorkSource Center in New Columbia.
Let me explain why this Center – and other like it – are so critical to Oregon ’s economic future.
To begin with, Oregon is experiencing rapid job growth.
We’ve created over 100,000 jobs in the last three and a half years. We have the fifth fastest growing economy in the country. And in the Portland metro area, we are projecting 270,000 job openings in the next ten years – 180,000 of which will be replacement jobs.
In Oregon, we are going to need 700,000 skilled workers to fill openings created by economic growth and retirements by 2014.
How are we going to meet this demand for skilled labor? By creating an education system that is second to none, and that meets the needs of every Oregonian – from pre-schoolers to older workers looking for a second career.
For the past year, I have been talking about my vision for a seamless system of education in Oregon that begins with pre-school and continues on to K through 12, community colleges, four-year institutions, and skills training.
I call this the Education Enterprise – and it includes my commitment to increase funding for K through 12 by 12-percent over the next two years, and post-secondary education by at least 10-percent.
But the Education Enterprise is not just about getting substantially more money into the classroom. I also want Oregon to be the number one state in the country for training and re-training.
And I promise you – we will be! Here’s how.
By being the best in developing strong partnerships with business and labor – and creating a strategic plan, led by the Oregon Workforce Investment Board, that will give our state a globally competitive workforce.
By being the best in aligning the skills of workers with the needs of employers.
By being the best at leveraging federal and private funds.
By being the best at getting our high schools and community colleges to work together so that students who don’t want a four-year degree – but do want a technical skill, a health care career, or a trade – can get the training they need.
And by being the best at bringing workforce training opportunities to the places where Oregonians live, work, and raise their families.
That is exactly what we’re doing today at New Columbia.
WorkSource Oregon is an idea that I’ve been promoting for the last three years – and it is absolutely critical to my economic development agenda, and to bringing new jobs to North Portland – and communities across this state.
The purpose of a WorkSource Center like this one is to co-locate and integrate all workforce services in one place, and then to deliver those services in the most efficient way possible to job seekers, workers and businesses. I want to make sure that every Oregon business and every Oregon worker knows they can access services – on line or in person – through WorkSource Oregon.
Today, although New Columbia is still a work in progress – the WorkSource North Center is ready to open.
For the citizens living in North Portland, completion of this center means easy access to training opportunities – and a brighter future for your children and this community.
For Portland business owners, completion of this center means being able to find highly motivated workers with the skills that you are looking for.
And for Oregon , completion of this center means a continued focus on more living wage jobs; more revenue to invest in education, workforce training, housing, and health care; and another step forward toward a future of prosperity, equality, and economic opportunity.
Thank you. Now let’s open the doors to opportunity.
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