Portland chambers rally to build economic revitalization hub
May 15, 2025
Portland Business Journal
Recent conversations about Portland’s economic future — like those explored in the Portland Business Journal’s coverage of “Economic Nexus 2025” — center familiar strategies: market the city to big business, compete with global hubs like Austin and Singapore, and hope that prosperity trickles down.
But these strategies have never delivered for all our communities.
The Community Economic Coalition is advancing a fundamentally different vision: one that grows the economy from the inside out. We’re not pitching Portland as a product — we’re building it as a place where opportunity starts from within. If we want a resilient, inclusive economy — one that works for the people who live here and looks good in pitch decks — we must invest in the communities and businesses already shaping Portland’s future.
Every city reaches inflection points — moments when the decision to invest in a different future becomes a test of political will. For Oregon, that moment is now.
As Portland charts its path forward, the question of economic revitalization looms large. But revitalization isn’t just about luring corporate headquarters. It’s about grounding growth in the people, places, and potential already here.
The Community Economic Coalition is a partnership between the Northwest Native Chamber, Black American Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, and the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon. For years, our organizations have worked together to advance community-led economic development, support entrepreneurs of color, and build generational wealth in communities that have long been excluded from public investment.
In the face of federal retreat, Oregon legislators have a pivotal opportunity to lead — by investing in the Community Economic Coalition Hub and bringing a transformative, community-rooted vision for inclusive economic development to life.
The Community Economic Coalition (CEC) hub represents a rare and timely opportunity for the state to act on that bold vision — one that doesn’t just attract capital, but invests it in the communities long excluded from prosperity. One that begins not with a blank slate, but with the people who have already laid the foundation for a more just and resilient economy.
Slated for Northeast Portland, the CEC hub is a permanent, implementation-ready hub that brings this vision to life. More than just a building, it is the anchor of a broader ecosystem investment — designed to connect entrepreneurs of color with the tools, networks, and space they need to grow, lead, and shape Portland’s economy from the ground up.
The CEC hub will offer culturally responsive business technical assistance — hands-on support that helps small business owners launch, compete for contracts, navigate systems, and scale. Built from sustainable mass timber, it will also serve as a resilience hub during natural disasters and extreme weather. And it will foster innovation like community-owned clean energy — initiatives that reflect local priorities while building wealth across generations.
