Oregon Economy

Land in the Willamette Valley owes its fertility to the Missoula Floods, which deposited extra soil from Eastern Washington onto the valley floor.[24] This soil is the source of a wealth of agricultural products, including cattle, dairy products, potatoes, peppermint, hops, and apples and other fruits.[25] Oregon is also one of four major world hazelnut growing regions, and produces 95% of the domestic hazelnuts in the United States. While the history of the wine production in Oregon can be traced to before Prohibition, it became a significant industry beginning in the 1970s. In 2005, Oregon ranked third among U.S. states with 303 wineries.[26] Due to regional similarities in climate and soil, the grapes planted in Oregon are often the same varieties found in the French regions of Alsace and Burgundy. In the northeastern region of the state, particularly around Pendleton, both irrigated and dryland wheat is grown.

Vast forests have historically made Oregon one of the nation's major timber production and logging states, but forest fires (such as the Tillamook Burn), over-harvesting, and lawsuits over the proper management of the extensive federal forest holdings have reduced the amount of timber produced. According to the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, between 1989 and 2001 the amount of timber harvested from federal lands dropped some 96%, from 4,333 million to 173 million board feet (10,000,000 to 408,000 m³), although harvest levels on private land have remained relatively constant.[27] Even the shift in recent years towards finished goods such as paper and building materials has not slowed the decline of the timber industry in the state. The effects of this decline have included Weyerhaeuser's acquisition of Portland-based Willamette Industries in January 2002, the relocation of Louisiana Pacific's corporate headquarters from Portland to Nashville, and the decline of former lumber company towns such as Gilchrist. Despite these changes, Oregon still leads the United States in softwood lumber production; in 2001, 6,056 million board feet (14,000,000 m³) was produced in Oregon, compared to 4,257 million board feet (10,050,000 m³). in Washington, 2,731 million board feet (6,444,000 m³) in California, 2,413 million board feet (5,694,000 m³) in Georgia, and 2,327 million board feet (5,491,000 m³) in Mississippi.[28] The effect of the forest industry crunch is still extensive unemployment in rural Oregon and is a bone of contention between rural and urban Oregon.[citation needed]

Oregon occasionally hosts film shoots. Movies wholly or partially filmed in Oregon include The Goonies, National Lampoon's Animal House, Stand By Me, Kindergarten Cop, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Paint Your Wagon, The Hunted, Sometimes a Great Notion, Elephant, Bandits, The Ring, The Ring 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3, Short Circuit, Come See the Paradise, The Shining, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, The Postman, Free Willy, Free Willy 2, 1941, and Swordfish. Oregon native Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, has incorporated many references from his hometown of Portland into the TV series.[29] Oregon's scenic coastal and mountain highways are frequently seen in automobile commercials.[citation needed]

High technology industries and services have been a major employer since the 1970s. Tektronix was the largest private employer in Oregon until the late 1980s. Intel's creation and expansion of several facilities in eastern Washington County continued the growth that Tektronix had started. Intel, the state's largest private employer, operates four large facilities, with Ronler Acres, Jones Farm and Hawthorn Farm all located in Hillsboro. The spinoffs and startups that were produced by these two companies led to the establishment in that area of the so-called Silicon Forest. The recession and dot-com bust of 2001 hit the region hard; many high technology employers reduced the number of their employees or went out of business. OSDL made news in 2004 when they hired Linus Torvalds, developer of the Linux kernel. Recently, biotechnology giant Genentech purchased several acres of land in Hillsboro in an effort to expand its production capabilities.[31]

Oregon is also the home of large corporations in other industries. The world headquarters of Nike, Inc. are located in Beaverton. Medford is home to two of the largest mail order companies in the country: Harry and David Operations Corp. which sells gift items under several brands, and Musician's Friend, an international catalog and Internet retailer of musical instruments and related products.Medford is also home to the national headquarters of the Fortune 1000 company, Lithia Motors. Portland is home to one of the West's largest trade book publishing houses, Graphic Arts Center Publishing.

Oregon has one of the largest salmon-fishing industries in the world, although ocean fisheries have reduced the river fisheries in recent years. Tourism is also strong in the state; Oregon's evergreen mountain forests, waterfalls, pristine lakes (including Crater Lake National Park), and scenic beaches draw visitors year round. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, held in Ashland, is a tourist draw which complements the southern region of the state's scenic beauty and opportunity for outdoor activities.

Oregon is home to a number of smaller breweries and Portland has the largest number of breweries of any city in the world.[citation needed]

Oregon's gross state product is $132.66 billion as of 2006, making it the 27th largest GSP in the nation .[32]

Oregon's biennial state budget, $42.4 billion as of 2007, comprises General Funds, Federal Funds, Lottery Funds, and Other Funds. Personal income taxes account for 88% of the General Fund's projected funds.[33] </ref> The Lottery Fund, which has grown steadily since the lottery was approved in 1984, exceeded expectations in the 2007 fiscal years, at $604 million.[34]

Oregon is one of only five states that have no sales tax.[35] Oregon voters have been resolute in their opposition to a sales tax, voting proposals down each of the 9 times they have been presented.[36] The last vote, for 1993's Measure 1, was defeated by a 72-24% margin.[37]

The state also has a minimum corporate tax of only $10 per year, amounting to 5.6% of the General Fund in the 2005-2007 biennium; data about what businesses pay the minimum is not available to the public.[38] As a result, the state relies almost entirely on property and income taxes for its revenue. Oregon has the 5th highest personal income tax per person in the nation. It has the lowest taxes per person of any western state,[39] and the 9th lowest total tax burden in the nation.[40]

Some local governments levy sales taxes on services: the city of Ashland, for example, collects a 5% sales tax on prepared food.[41]

Oregon is one of 6 states with a revenue limit.[42] The "kicker" law stipulates that when income tax collections exceed state economists' estimates by 2 percent or more, all of the excess must be returned to taxpayers.[43] Since the inception of the law in 1979, refunds have been issued for seven of the eleven biennia.[44] In 2000, Ballot Measure 86 converted the "kicker" law from statute to the Oregon Constitution, and changed some of its provisions.

Federal payments to county governments, which were granted to replace timber revenues when logging in National Forests was restricted in the 1990s, have been under threat of suspension for several years. This issue dominates the future revenue of rural counties, which have come to rely on the payments in providing essential services.[45]

Most of state revenues are spent on public education.[46]

A warehouse in Halsey storing grass seed, one of the state's largest crops.