National business leader challenges state to create more jobs

U.S. Chamber of Commerce VP comes to Portland to call for return to free enterprise

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Nov 16, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

When the Portland City Council adopted its new economic development strategy in July, some economists questioned the realism of its goal of creating 10,000 jobs in five.

But now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has realized a far more ambitious challenge to create 20 million jobs in America over the next 10 years — 417,000 of them in Oregon.

John Murphy, the chamber’s vice president of international affairs, visited Portland on Friday, Nov. 13, to push the challenge. Oregon is only the second state Murphy has visited since the challenge was launched one month ago.

“Oregon is ahead of the pack,” he says.

Murphy acknowledged the numbers in the challenge were large, but said they were required to replace the jobs lost during the recession and to fill the needs of those expected to join the labor force during the next 13 years.

“That many jobs will be needed to meet the needs of those who lost their jobs in the recession and those who will be entering the job market by 2020,” Murphy says.

International trade

According to Murphy, the chamber is launching the challenge at this time because many of its members worry Americans do not understand how the free enterprise system works. The chamber has traditionally opposed government intervention in the marketplace.

But after Barack Obama was elected president and took office, the chamber supported many of his ambitious plans to rescue the economy because the recession was so severe.

“We supported the stimulus plan and the bail out of the American car industry,” Murphy says.

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