This month we had McKenzie Malone and Jacob Falkinburg with Venture Portland come and talk about their mission to support business associations throughout the Portland Metro Area. As a member of Venture Portland, NIBA benefits directly with grants, training and communication that is offered through Venture Portland. Additionally they act as a direct liaison between business associations and city government. This Fall, Venture Portland awarded a 4000.00 grant to NIBA in order to hire a part time Executive Director. Thank you Venture Portland!

Our keynote speaker this month was Sam Adams from the Mayors Office. The time was spent exclusively on how Mayor Wheeler plans to roll out a comprehensive and potentially controversial plan next week which would put a ban on camping in public spaces throughout the city. We were informed that there are approximately 700 camps within the city boundary of 146 square miles and the plan includes setting up 3 “campuses” throughout the city to accomodate the homeless community. Where these proposed campuses are located was not revealed at this time, however they would be setup for families and people with pets. Sam informed us that The mayor will ask the county and state to assist with funding AND ask metro to reallocate regional tax to provide more funding for Multnomah County. Currently the City of Portland/Multnomah County has 78% of region’s homeless but only get about 33% of that funding. We encourage everyone in our business district to follow this proposal as it is released next week.