Oregon’s Business Environment

Is Oregon’s business environment good or bad for businesses? That question has generated an enormous number of public arguments over the past couple of years, spilling over into newspapers, talk radio, and the ballot box.

Unfortunately, these arguments have largely existed well outside the world of facts, relying instead on gossip, innuendo, and unsubstantiated emotions.

So, what are the facts? Here are just a few:

1. Oregon is tied for the second lowest business taxes in the nation. We have the lowest business taxes on the West Coast, according to the corporate-funded Council on State Taxation.

2. The same report showed that Oregon businesses get one of the best returns for their tax dollars. In fact, only two other states in the country give as much back to businesses in return for their taxes as Oregon.

3. Forbes Magazine recently ranked Oregon as the 6th best state in the country for business—up from 10th place a year ago.

4. The Tax Foundation (an anti-tax group) puts Oregon’s business tax climate in the top one-fifth of states in the nation.

In the past year, scores of businesses big and small have announced that they are moving to or expanding in Oregon. (See OregonOpenForBiz.org for a partial list.) And venture captal investment coming into Oregon has skyrocketed. In 2011, Oregon startups brought in $238.6 million in centure capital, a 25% increase over the year before. This beats the national increase of 22%.

Oregon continues to pioneer the sustainable economy, attracting international companies to locate here because of our investments in green technology.

So if taxes aren’t the problem, what is?...

While Oregon tends to have an unemployment rate slightly higher than the rest of the country, corporate tax receipts over the past year have shown significant growth. According to the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, corporate tax receipts for the quarter have increased 61% over what they were a year ago.

Small businesses in Oregon are facing some major challenges in opening and expanding—from large, national banks and credit card firms. In recent survey results, the National Small Business Association reported that 36% of small business owners had their credit lines or credit card limits decreased by their banks the last year. Not only does this restrict business owners’ ability to expand, it can also severely damage their credit rating.

Banks have also slashed their lending to small businesses, or have worsened the terms of their loans to make them less attractive. Without this access to capital, new businesses are often unable to open and existing businesses can’t expand and hire new employees.