Katy Coba, Director, Oregon Dept. of Agriculture

February 16, Volume 47, Issue 14

Oregon Agriculture:
Opportunities and Challenges

Katy Coba, Director,
Oregon Department of Agriculture

Friday, February 27, 2015

Opening program in a series of three:

“Agriculture in Marion and Polk Counties:
From Threshers to iPads”

State Director of Agriculture Katy Coba will open Salem City Club’s three-program series on agriculture by giving an overview of the agriculture industry in Oregon, highlighting Marion and Polk Counties' contributions to the industry and discussing agriculture’s promising future in our state.

Coba, a native Oregonian from the Pendleton area, will explain the opportunities in agriculture such as diversity of production, value added, market dynamics and consumer preferences. In addition, she will talk about agriculture’s challenges including water quality improvements, availability of water, continued access to production tools and consumer and producer positions related to technology enhancements including genetic engineering. The program also will touch on the February report on Oregon Agriculture presented to the Oregon Legislature by the State Board of Agriculture.

Appointed Agriculture Director in 2003, Coba works with the Governor, legislature, agricultural, environmental and consumer groups to carry out the state’s agriculture policy. ODA’s three-fold mission includes marketing Oregon agriculture, protecting its natural resources, and ensuring food safety and consumer protection. Coba works to market Oregon agricultural products locally, domestically and internationally including participating in trade missions to Europe and Asia.

Prior to this position, Coba’s career in state government included serving in Governor John Kitzhaber’s first administration in a number of capacities including Chief Policy Advisor, Economic Development and International Trade Policy Advisor as well as Director of Executive Appointments. She also served as Special Assistant to the Agriculture Director.

Coba, who graduated with an economics degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, has served as a member of the Oregon Tourism Commission, as President of the Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture and as a member of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Board of Directors.
Her volunteer roles include being a sports commentator for a local television station.

Other programs in the series include Technology on April 24 and “The 21^st Century Faces of Agriculture in Marion and Polk Counties” in Fall, 2015.

As is our tradition, we meet at the Willamette Heritage Center at the Mill, Salem. For lunch reservations, please visit our website at www.salemcityclub.com and register online. Reservations are due by noon Wednesday, February 25, 2015. Parking is free. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

State of the City Address
by
The Hon. Anna M. Peterson, Mayor

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
DOORS OPEN AT 11:30
PROGRAM AT NOON

SALEM CONVENTION CENTER
Co-hosted by
Salem City Club
Salem Rotary
Salem Area Chamber of Commerce
City of Salem

On Wednesday, February 18, Salem Mayor Anna Peterson will deliver The State of City Address at the Salem Convention Center. No RSVP is necessary. A $15 lunch buffet is optional and begins at 11:30 a.m. The West Salem High School Jazz Band will be performing.

The mayor said her speech would highlight accomplishments of the past year, but its emphasis would be on an action plan for 2015.

“I want to talk about the communities’ expectations of its government and how we, as a city, can meet those expectations,” Peterson said. Building community support for investing in a seismic upgrade of the Vern Miller Civic Center and developing a new public safety facility will be among the topics discussed in the mayor’s speech, she said.

Peterson also will present a new award from the Mayor’s International Council that recognizes the leadership of two Salem residents.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

SAVE THE DATES!

WINTER, 2015

Friday, March 13: "Silicon Sky: Drones for Business and the Public Good." Mitch Swecker, Director, Oregon Department of Aviation; Wendie Kellington, Lake Oswego-based attorney specializing in FAA permitting and entitlements for drone technology; and Brian Whiteside, Founder of VDOS Global, a Corvallis UAV inspection services company, and President of the Cascade Chapter of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

Friday, March 27: Retirement Security (or Not) in Oregon. Ted Wheeler, Oregon State Treasurer, will present comment and context for the recently released report issued by the Oregon Retirement Savings Task Force, which he chaired. The task force was created by the 2013 Oregon Legislature. To view a copy of the report prior to the program, please go to the following website:
https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2013I1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/40906

Thank You
Sustaining Contributors!

Platinum Contributors
Kathleen Beaufait
Keith and Madge Bauer
Channing Bennett
Egon and Diana Bodtker
Brian Fordham
Britta Lion Franz
Deborah Dancik and Edd LeSage
Sally Hollemon
Mary Kamppi
Steve Kenney
Jan and Les Margosian
Kathleen and Hans West
Larry Young
Bob and Leslie Zeigen