Family owned Duckwall Fruit packs and ships more than two million cartons of premium pears every year in Oregon's Hood River Valley. In this episode, host Angela Wilhelms talks with Duckwall Fruit's Sara Duckwall and Ed Weathers about Oregon pears, running a century-old family business and much more.

For the past 15 years, Jeff Stone has the Oregon Association of Nurseries, which represents the state's expansive nursery and greenhouse industry. It is the state's largest agricultural sector, and Oregon is the nation's third largest nursery state in the country after California and Florida. About 80% of what Oregon's nurseries grow is sold outside the state, contributing to Oregon's trade surplus.

The Oregon Business Matters podcast talks with two pillars of Oregon journalism. Patsy Smullin is owner and president of California Oregon Broadcasting (COBI), the parent company of KOBI-TV in Medford. And Bob Wise is president and general manager of KOBI-TV. KOBI is an NBC affiliate in Medford.

Bob Wise has worked at KOBI-TV for more than 20 years. And last November, Patsy was honored as a "giant of broadcasting and the electronic arts" by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation.

Patsy and Bob talk with host Angela Wilhelms about their years in the broadcast business, the shifting journalism landscape, the importance of local news providers and much more.

Jordan Papé is one of Oregon’s busiest people. He’s the president and CEO of The Papé Group, a multigenerational family business that operates in nine states throughout the west. He is highly engaged in civic and public life, and he serves on OBI’s board of directors.

The Oregon Business Matters podcast talks with Jordan about the evolution of his family’s business, its work to fuel vehicles with clean hydrogen, the advantages and challenges of operating in Oregon, and more. 

Just in time for Oregon's summer tourist season, Oregon Business Matters talks with Escape Lodging Chairman and co-founder Patrick Nofield. Escape Lodging owns and manages hotels and restaurants in Cannon Beach, The Dalles, Beaverton and elsewhere in Oregon. Nofield also serves as board chair for the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Epic Aircraft's E1000 GX won the 2024 Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest. Epic President and CEO Doug King joins the podcast to talk about the Bend-based company, the E1000 GX and the challenges of operating a business in Oregon.

An interview with Oregon state Sen. Mike McLane, a Powell Butte attorney with more than 20 years of military service who has served as a circuit court judge, as Oregon House Republican leader - and even written children's books.

This bonus episode is a recording of comments made by OBI President and CEO Angela Wilhelms at the organization's Annual Meeting June 4 in Salem. Wilhelms' comments describe the policy-driven challenges facing Oregon's businesses and the failure of Oregon's political leaders to acknowledge, much less correct, them.

Dr. Memo Diriker is a faculty member in Salisbury University's Franklin P. Perdue School of Business and the founder of the StratACUMEN Group, which OBI engaged to analyze Oregon's regulatory environment. Dr. Diriker joins the podcast to discuss his team's work, Oregon's regulatory burden and ways other states have found to eliminate excessive regulations.

Sarah Pope is executive director of Stand for Children Oregon, one of the state's most influential public education-advocacy organizations. She talks with Oregon Business Matters about Oregon's ongoing struggles with statewide standardized test scores, what might be causing the problems and what policymakers can do to address them.