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Portland Business Alliance Facts

What is the Portland Business Alliance?
Greater Portland's Chamber of Commerce.

When was the Portland Business Alliance formed?
The Portland Chamber of Commerce, the precursor to the Portland Business Alliance, was formed in 1870. In 2002, the Portland Chamber of Commerce merged with another local business organization, the Association for Portland Progress, to form the Alliance.

How many members are there?
More than 1,400 businesses throughout the Portland-Vancouver area.

Are most of your members large companies?
No, in fact 80 percent of our members have 50 employees or less.

How is the organization managed?
The work of the Alliance is overseen by a 56-member Board of Directors. The current chair of the Board is Charles A. Wilhoite, Principal of Willamette Management Associates. The incoming chair is Roger W. Hinshaw, President of Bank of America - Oregon & SW Washington.

The Alliance has 30 employees on staff. Day to day activities of the Alliance staff are overseen by Sandra McDonough, Alliance President & CEO. She has a team of senior directors including: Pamela Knowles, Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel; Mike Kuykendall, Vice President of Central City/Downtown Services; Bernie Bottomly, Vice President of Government Affairs and Economic Development; Megan Doern, Communications Director; and Brenda Falash, Director of Membership.

For a complete staff list, click here.

What is the major function of the Alliance?

• Business growth and expansion. One of the Alliance's goals is to drive economic development, job growth and investment through strong programs, events and partnerships. The Alliance aims to provide opportunities for growth and advancement of our members' businesses.
• Ensuring regional economic vitality. The Alliance develops and advocates policies which contribute to a healthy business climate for the central downtown core and the region.
• Keeping downtown Portland clean and safe. The Alliance manages Downtown Clean & Safe for Portland Downtown Services, Inc. to ensure that Portland's downtown is the best place to live, work, shop, and play. BID resources are also used to provide crime prevention training, business assistance for retail and office operations, staffing for downtown neighborhood associations, and market research and downtown and retail marketing.

How is the Alliance funded?
Through annual membership dues, special events and sponsorships. Political activities undertaken by the Alliance are separately funded by the Political Action Committee. Alliance members are allowed to contribute to this fund.

What are a few of your most recent successes?

• Rolling out the area's first Regional Business Plan. Modeled after the Oregon Business Plan, the Regional Business Plan was designed to establish a business-driven vision of the region's economy and develop a set of initiatives to pursue. The plan, the first of its kind for the area, was developed by a steering committee made up of a diverse group of business leaders who conducted a year of regional forums, executive interviews and data analysis. The plan emphasizes the importance of regional cooperation, identifies core values, highlights business clusters to nurture and develop, and outlines recommendations in four key areas.
• Assisting in finding a temporary local solution to the school funding crisis. In light of the severe funding crisis facing local schools, the Portland Business Alliance Board of Directors agreed to support the Business License Fee surcharge continuation.
• Calculating the cost of congestion for the Portland metro area. The Portland Business Alliance teamed up with Metro, Port of Portland and the Oregon Department of Transportation to commission a study that provides base-line information about the relationship between investments in transportation and the economy. The Cost of Congestion report provides useful information to Portland's decision-makers and serves as a springboard for future discussions about planning for and investing in the Portland metropolitan region's transportation system.
• We helped focus attention on the growing problem of increasing water and sewer rates, ultimately working with the City Council to reduce the tax on those rates and to manage costly capital investments more effectively.

  Where are you located/other contact info?
  Portland Business Alliance
  200 SW Market Street, Suite 150
  Portland, OR 97201
  Telephone: 503.224.8684
  Fax: 503.323.9186