Oregon Public Broadcasting

Hundreds of Oregon’s business leaders met in Portland Thursday to talk about how to weather the recession. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, the consensus was that while things don’t look good, the state is in a better position than it was in 2002.

During the last recession, company owners and government leaders held their first business summit - in which they championed a stimulus package.

They’re doing the same thing this time except rather than focus on just transportation, they want the state to help schools and businesses that deal in alternative energy.

Senator Ron Wyden said there’s also a need to restore Oregon’s battered forest industry – in an environmentally responsible manner.

Ron Wyden: “Now we’ve got to go and do is go out there and thin the millions of acres of second growth forest and get that timber to the mills.”

To a chorus of clapping, Wyden said cutting would provide more jobs, protect groves of old growth, and reduce catastrophic fires.

Governor Kulongoski didn’t stress extra cutting, but his stimulus package does include money for schools, healthcare, transportation and alternative energies.