BEND, OR -- A lawyer, an economist, and a businessman will take on the topic of immigration in Central Oregon, Thursday.
COCC Economics Professor Jon Wolf believes that America and Central Oregon benefit from having immigrants as part of the community. "Interestingly enough, in Central Oregon, our total immigrant population is less than 10% of our community, and yet, from a policy perspective, we have jobs to fill, and jobs that aren't being filled by our local community. Then one perspective is, we'd be better off having an influx of a large number of individuals from any location."
Wolf joins attorney Micaela Guthrie of the Bend Immigration Group and JELD-WEN Vice President Wallace Dale Corwin at Thursday's City Club of Central Oregon forum.
Wolf says that from an economic standpoint, having immigrants in the workforce gives all residents more choices. "If you can choose to do one job or another, and that leaves a job vacant, then I think that the business industry has to understand that they have to look for alternatives. If the job that's available is beneath somebody's skill set, it may not be beneath somebody else's skill set, so we find the labor necessary to do the work."
Thursday's City Club luncheon takes place at the Riverhouse on the Deschutes Convention Center from 11:15am to 1pm.
