Published 10:10 am Thursday, October 29, 2026

A leading environmental advocacy group expressed hesitant support for the report’s focus on improving infrastructure.

Oregon should open up a “phantom supply” of land in the state for economic development by creating a $250 million industrial site readiness fund, expanding local programs allowing industries to set up across multiple jurisdictions and establishing dedicated swaths of underdeveloped land for future growth, according to a new report from business leaders.

The 29-page Industrial Lands & Economic Competitiveness report released Monday by the Oregon Business Council frames the state’s decades-old land use system as outdated. The system regulates residential, industrial and commercial development to protect Oregon’s natural resources and environment, including through limiting where and how cities can grow.…