Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

OREGON Population Per Capita Retail Telephones Lumber Electrical Motor Construction Cash Farm Bank Salaries, Income Sales Output Energy Vehicles Income Debits Wages For ease of presentation the 1939-40 figures in each category have been reduced to a base of 100. is important in this westernmost outpost at the mouth of the Columbia. Portland, The Dalles and Pendleton have flour mills. Large quantities of wheat are exported. Pasture land with deep grass supports livestock and dairying industries. The metal industry is third, led by primary metal production. Fabricating and specialized plants are expanding constantly. Tools, heaters, trucks and trailers, machinery and other metal products are produced in volume. Textile production is increasing, with nylon and other synthetics joining native wool. Pendleton fabrics are world-famed. Oregon's rocky coast, Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood and other natural attractions draw in tourists from all over the nation. Oregon spends $350,000 a year advertising its charms to tourists, about the same as Washington. The state is rather bashful about its commercial progress, maintaining a modest economic promotion unit that would startle an industry-seeking state in the South. Down in Dixie they discovered some years ago that energetic promotion campaigns plus tax and factory-site inducements would bring industries pouring in to take advantage of these benefits as well as a supply of eager labor. Southerners found that each new industrial job was leading to four or six corollary jobs in a few years. Current market information on Oregon is hard to find around state offices. Portland's active Chamber of Commerce and an economic service directed by Wesley C. Ballaine at the U. of Oregon Bureau of Business Research, supply excellent and upto-date information about what is happening. Budget troubles are blamed for the state's scant information facilities. Lack of surplus hydroelectric power is cited as a reason for the limited promotional effort since an influx of new plants, especially in the electrochemical and primary metal lines, would swallow kilowatts ruthlessly. Mr. Ballaine pointed out a trend in Oregon's economy that is likely to surprise businessmen. He said, "manufacturing is a relatively more important source of income in Oregon than in either Washington or California — the percentages being 22.1, 19.1 and 19.5 respectively." He reviewed the state's recent growth this way, "Each year it is becoming more profitable to produce goods and services for which there was previously no adequate market west of the Continental Divide. Oregon is now participating and will continue to participate in this development. Over the next decade, many new types of manufacturing and service firms will appear in the state simply because of the increase in the number of people living in the West." He predicted lumber, the mainstay of Oregon's economy, will probably hold its dominance for many years but the growth of other industries may decrease its relative importance. Figures of the Oregon State Unemployment Compensation Commission show that 65% of factory workers are engaged in forest products industries. Lumber is subject to seasonal fluctuations and the nation's general level of business, but these cycles are offset partly by the steady influence of Portland's broad economic base. Oregon is scenic, prosperous and its immigrants usually stay because of the high wages and outdoor recreation. Oregonians, to paraphrase a popular beverage slogan, will say in effect, "If you can find a better place, try it." PORTLAND THE CITY of Portland was inevitable. Like Manhattan Island and Pittsburgh, the natural advantages of this water junction were so obvious that a group of shrewd Yankee migrants took a quick look around, decided their thousands of miles of trail-blazing had not been in vain, unloaded their meager gear, and said "This is it." An observer of city economies and landscapes can go into a fast rapture after a few minutes in the "City of Roses." The raw resources and beauty of the region aren't exceeded in any American city. A gaze around the compass from one of many lookout spots shows the confluence of two rivers — Columbia and Willamette (and be sure to emphasize the "am" in Willamette). The panorama presents world-famed Columbia Gorge and snow-dazzled Mt. Hood, off to the east, plus other snowcapped peaks; the lush Willamette Valley to the South; rolling hills, valleys and Tillamook Mountains to the west, and the southern end of Puget Sound Valley to the north. The scenery is awesome. More important, it's green — a rich, lively blend of verdant tints combining the majesty of mighty forests with the prolific yield of moisture-fed, fertile soils. Portland's gifts from Nature lend themselves peculiarly to the stresses and mobility of the mid-20th Century economy. Its merging rivers supply water to busy factories, furnish routes for inland transport and feed a thriving Oregon fisheries business. A deep channel down the Columbia to the sea, 1 10 miles away, brings in ships from all over the world. Level river banks provide easy berthing for inland and ocean traffic. Within 40 miles is Bonneville, lowermost of a series of Columbia Basin dams. These structures produce more hydroelectric power than any other basin in the world, yet there still isn't enough. Plenty more is available if more dams will be built. Standing at the meeting point of two rivers, and two major valleys, Portland is the natural focal point for the entire Columbia basin, extending all the way from northwestern Wyoming into Alberta, Canada, to the north. The water-level paths from four directions that converge at Portland supply advantages that commercial carriers have been quick to utilize. Were some natural force to pick up this favored region, turn it around 180 degrees so it faces into the Atlantic, and then transplant the whole segment to the crowded and industrial East Coast, the chances are Portland would be the commercial center of everything east of the Mississippi. As it is, the city's expansion, while encouraging in recent years, has been limited to some ex Page 88 • January 9, 1956 Broadcasting • Telecasting