A new business leadership group is forming in Salem to improve conditions in Marion and Polk counties for business owners by advising local government on how policies impact business. 

Businesses for Community is spearheaded by Salem attorney Mark Hoyt. 

He said in an interview that the group will focus on bringing the relationship between business and government into better balance to improve the local business environment and benefit the community. 

Its formation was unveiled Monday, Dec. 8, during a forum of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce.

He said the group differs from the chamber by having a charitable component, unlike the chamber. Second, the group will have more latitude than the chamber to focus specifically “on the business climate in our community,” Hoyt said. 

Hoyt said no specific action from Salem city government triggered the formation of the group, but that “the group was formed, in part, as a result of the challenges facing businesses in our community, some of which directly flow from policies set in city hall.” 

The group is still building its membership roster, Hoyt said.

The group’s board includes Rich Schultz Jr., of Cherry City Metals, Alan Rasmussen, of LHE Investments, Bill Riecke, owner of Bark Boys, Adam Stout, co-owner of Saffron Supply Company, and Rich Duncan, president of Rich Duncan Construction. 

Hoyt, with the law firm of Sherman Sherman Johnnie & Hoyt, is the board chair. 

Hoyt volunteers as a member of the chamber’s executive leadership council, served as the president of the Marion County Bar Association, and was formerly chair of the Mid-Willamette Valley Strategic Economic Development Corporation, better known as SEDCOR. 

“Our focus is not on individual business, it is on creating an environment where businesses can thrive,” Hoyt said. “That requires that there be a free flow of information from government, but also requires a government that understands and respects the importance of business and understands and respects the impact that regulations, particularly, rigidly applied, absurd regulations, can have on businesses locating or continuing to be located in this community.” 

Hoyt explained the group’s founding at the chamber event, which was attended by a number of local elected officials including Mayor Julie Hoy, Salem City Councilor Vanessa Nordyke and state Rep. Kevin Mannix, a Republican who represents north Salem. 

“If businesses fail, government fails. We all need stable government to succeed,” Hoyt told the business group. “So the members of Businesses for Community come together and are coming together to stand up for the reality that business, community and government are inseparably intertwined. If any one of those three do not thrive, all fail. We love our community too much to let it fail.”

Hoyt said he knows those with business interests in the area who have left the state seeking more fertile ground for success. He said improving the local business environment would help stabilize the situation, improving conditions for the community.

Part of that process will be working with government to “identify and streamline unnecessary or redundant regulations and processes,” Hoyt said. 

“Specific priorities are being set,” Hoyt said. “Among them are certain to be finding ways for business and government to work together to be sure each is helping meet the needs of the other.” 

Hoyt said while issues persist, he is optimistic about the group’s ability to work with local government to achieve its objectives. 

“Most of the time city staff is fantastic…but oftentimes there are situations where it seems that regulation, regardless of how inapplicable or unjustified, is king,” Hoyt said.  

Hoyt said that membership in Businesses for Community requires business ownership, a willingness to be named publicly, and a membership fee for $5,000. 

He spoke ahead of Eric Fruits, an economist and professor at Portland State University. Fruits told the audience that Oregon faces a circumstance where increasing taxes prompt higher earners and businesses to leave. In turn, local governments and the state need to raise even more in taxes to offset such losses.

He cited the state’s public pension obligations for taxing local governments to cover retiree payments. 

Salem alone has to pay $11 million a year more for pensions than it did in years past, a burden that is expected to worsen and which has weakened the city’s finances.

Fruits said the pension obligations are strangling cities and local governments across the state. 

He said one solution is a radical overhaul of the state Constitution, which protects pensions for public employees at the expense of all other government services. 

“We could probably add two sentences to the constitution that could solve all of our problems with PERS (Public Employees Retirement System),” Fruits said. “Without substantial PERS reform, the alternative is inevitable – watching every government in Oregon cut services to fund pensions while raising taxes.”

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.

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Joe Siess

Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.