Friday, April 15, 2022
News & Notes
WEA leader gets position in Biden Administration
   WEA Executive Director Gail Greenman received a distinguished opportunity this month from the Biden Administration.
   She has been honored with an appointment as the state executive director of the USDA Oregon Farm Service Agency, which is located in Tualatin.
   “Gail received an offer from the Biden Administration she couldn’t refuse, and we are excited for her. We want to thank her for her service over the past seven months and wish her the best in her new role in serving the USDA,” said WEA Board President Randy Ealy.
   "This is a bittersweet moment for me. I love WEA, its mission, and the people that make up the organization. While I’m sad to be leaving WEA, I have been offered an opportunity to serve in a position I have been striving towards my whole career,” said now former WEA Executive Director Gail Greenman. “I leave WEA, knowing it’s in good hands going forward. It has great leadership in its Executive Committee and its Board of Directors.”
   John Southgate has assumed the interim executive director role for the organization.
   Ealy said, “John is a seasoned professional in economic development and will be a collaborative addition to WEA’s team, as we search for our next executive director.”  
Talking regional issues with the candidates for Metro President
   Metro President candidates Lynn Peterson and Alisa Pyszka talked with WEA members and guests this week during an in-person Breakfast Forum.
   It was the organization's first in-person Breakfast Forum in more than two years.
   The two candidates answered questions about homeless services, housing, transportation, and economic development in the region.
   Peterson talked about the importance of access to opportunities for people - access to education, jobs, and healthcare.
   She said its important to help cities like Gresham be just as successful as a Hillsboro.
   Pyszka spoke about the need to get boots on the ground when it comes to the homeless situation and said there is program out of Rockford, Illinois that could be a resource.
   She said Metro has had two years to plan what to do with funds from the homeless measure, saying Portland is not coming back until the homeless issue is addressed.
   TVCTV will have a video recording available of this forum soon.
Intel celebrates the opening of local $3 billion expansion
   While WEA was talking with the Metro President candidates about economic development, Intel was celebrating the grand opening of its D1X expansion in Hillsboro.
   The new expansion will give Intel's team another 270,000 square feet of clean room space.
 “With the new expansion of our D1X factory, Oregon is well-positioned to deliver the next generation of leading-edge technologies,” said Ann Kelleher, Intel executive vice president and general manager of Technology Development.
   During Monday's celebration, the company also announced it would rename the almost 500-acre campus as Gordon Moore Park at Ronler Acres.
   This is the headquarters for Intel’s global Technology Development organization, where a team of about 10,000 employees honor Moore’s Law by creating new transistor architectures, wafer processes, and packaging technologies.
   Intel co-founder Gordon Moore made a prediction in 1965, known as Moore's Law that has guided innovation in the semiconductor industry for more than 50 years now.
   The company also announced the beginning of a new collaborative hands-on training program with experienced Intel employees that will teach students how to become semiconductor technicians.
Odds & Ends
  • Economist Josh Lehner's blog talks about our current economic conditions - still booming in the short term, but longer term is harder to predict.


  • Comcast announced it is participating in the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides eligible income-constrained households a credit up to $30 a month toward the cost of Internet service.
Events coming up
Wed. 4/20 at 12:00 p.m. - The Land Use & Housing Committee will meet in North Plains to learn more about the city's economic development activities and urban growth boundary. It's BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch). There is a hybrid option for those WEA members who are unable to attend in-person. For more information, contact Teresa Dunham.

Wed. 4/27 at 7:30 a.m. - The WEA Board of Directors will meet in-person at Jordan Ramis.

Th. 4/28 at 7:30 a.m. - An in-person Breakfast Forum with the candidates for Washington County Chair. at Embassy Suites (9000 S.W. Washington Square Rd., TIgard, OR 97223). To register

Fri. 5/6 at 12:00 p.m. - the Golf/Fundraising Committee will meet to talk theme, sponsorship, and registration for this year's Westside Golf Scramble, happening Monday, July 25.

Wed. 5/11 at 7:30 a.m. - The Transportation Committee will meet. All members are welcome.