SchmidtShow PDX — Season 3, Episode 1:
Mike sits down with Curtis Robinhold to unpack the Oregon Prosperity Council’s just-released report: 66 listening sessions, 25 communities, 400+ pages, and a mandate to figure out why Oregon’s business climate isn’t competitive — and what to do about it.
About Curtis Robinhold
Curtis Robinhold is the Executive Director of the Port of Portland, where he’s overseen major projects including the newly completed PDX airport terminal. Earlier in his career, he worked in BP’s renewable energy business in Europe and served as chief of staff to Governor John Kitzhaber. This spring, Governor Kotek tapped him to co-chair the Oregon Prosperity Council alongside former Intel president Renee James, leading a six-month, statewide effort to diagnose what’s holding back Oregon’s economic competitiveness and chart a path forward. He’s also an award-winning environmentalist, a longtime soccer fan who’s lived in Germany and London, and the youngest of three brothers.
In this episode
Curtis’s path from Eugene to BP’s renewable energy business overseas, to John Kitzhaber’s chief of staff, to nearly a decade running the Port of Portland (and overseeing the newly finished airport terminal)
How the Prosperity Council came together with co-chair Renee James (former Intel president) and why they deliberately stayed narrow in scope
The bad news: Oregon ranks 49th in job growth, has a tax burden that surprises people once you look at the data, and a permitting/regulatory environment that businesses say is harder to navigate than neighboring blue states
The “spaghetti” of Oregon’s workforce development system — and why community college credits don’t even transfer between community colleges
Real stories from the road: Hill Meats in Pendleton, Salt & Straw’s Kim Malik on why she’s not expanding in Oregon, and Fort George Brewing’s infrastructure struggles in Astoria
The land use debate — Senate Bill 100 at 55+ years old, and whether it’s time for a “grown-up conversation” about adjustments
A Hamiltonian-vs-Jeffersonian detour on centralized power, abundance politics, and why big public projects (like the airport) get done when insulated from election cycles
Cap-and-invest, statutory vs. rules-based climate policy, and why Curtis thinks it’s time for the legislature to act instead of the executive branch
Oregon’s real strengths: food and beverage, athletic apparel, mass timber, semiconductors — and the “second paycheck” of quality of life
Rapid-fire World Cup predictions: France over Argentina in the final, Mexico over England in the quarters (whoops!), and strong opinions on Pilsners
Where to find the full report: Oregon Prosperity Council recommendations, released end of June 2026.
