The Business Plan Framework: A Vision of Shared Prosperity
The Oregon Business Plan offers a strategic framework for Oregon to achieve not just prosperity, but Shared Prosperity. This holds that all Oregonians should be able to prosper, regardless of race, region, or economic circumstances. It means we must intentionally remove institutional barriers holding people back and, at the same time, afford them support and access to the resources and opportunities needed to thrive.
Four Goals
Four goals represent the Shared Prosperity vision.
- Grow Wages to boost the economic well-being of Oregonians. That calls for increasing productivity and elevating the skills of individuals.
- Increase the Share of People Working, building an environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. In particular, find ways to bring displaced workers back into the economic mainstream.
- Grow Household Wealth. Greater personal wealth for Oregonians, especially at lower and middle income levels, increases family security and intergenerational well-being.
- Increase Economic Mobility, allowing new generations of Oregonians, regardless of race or place, to thrive economically.
Three Policy Imperatives
Achieving these goals requires a focus on three interrelated, mutually reinforcing imperatives that must be pursued together through state policies and investments. They are:
- ECONOMY: Grow, Create, and Attract Good Jobs. A healthy, productive economy is essential to Shared Prosperity. It creates good jobs that enhance financial security, intergenerational wealth, and wider opportunity for individuals and families. It funds essential public services. To build a strong economy that’s rich in opportunity we must nurture “traded sector” businesses that sell their products and services beyond their own locality, and typically outside of Oregon. We must create the conditions that enable them to start up, grow, and compete regionally, nationally, and globally.
- EDUCATION: Prepare Oregonians for the Jobs of Today and Tomorrow. Now more than ever, all types of education and training past high school determine an individual’s success in life, the vitality of our communities, and our economic strength and prosperity. Education and training are key to closing opportunity gaps and preparing Oregonians for meaningful careers. The Oregon Business Plan envisions that all Oregonians – especially those historically underserved and marginalized – will have more equitable access to higher levels of education and training that prepare them for the future and put them on the pathway to opportunity.
- OPPORTUNITY: Provide Supports that Empower Oregonians and Ensure that Zip Code Is Not Destiny. Family and education supports for Oregonians with fewer means will help them achieve greater agency, financial stability, and personal and family wealth. This calls for desegregation in housing, investments in early childhood stability and learning, transforming social safety net policies into instruments of mobility, and adopting culturally specific solutions to immobility.
Priority Initiatives to Achieve the Goals and Imperatives
With these imperatives in mind, the Business Plan identifies a select few priorities that address needs and opportunities appropriate to tackle in the year ahead. In recent years, these priorities have included overhauling Oregon’s manufacturing strategy, investing in workforce education, expanding broadband access and use, accelerating housing supply, and several other initiatives.