Check out the speakers for #ELGL14 – Growing Our Regional Economy.
John Topanga, President, ECONorthwest
Bio: John Tapogna is President of ECONorthwest and oversees the firm’s overall business strategy and operations. Since his arrival at ECONorthwest in 1997, Tapogna has built practices in education, healthcare, human service, and tax policy. He has directed analyses and evaluations for a wide variety of clients including the Oregon Business Council, Oregon’s Chalkboard Project, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and numerous state and local governments.
First paying job: Double-loop roller coaster operator, Six Flags Over Texas
Soundtrack of your life: House of the Rising Sun, The Animals
Book you are currently reading: Capital in the 21st Century, Piketty
Anything else: Love Ducks, Dodgers, Hood-to-Coast, and Roadfood
MODERATOR: Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian
Bio: Oregon tech has considerable breadth, ranging from Intel’s multibillion-dollar factories in Hillsboro to hip startups in downtown Portland to data centers springing up in Oregon’s hinterlands. My goal is to corral all this news and communicate it to a diverse audience, give it economic context and to explain the technology itself. And I get to see lots of cool tech.
First paying job: Grocery store bagger
Soundtrack of your life: “I Dream a Highway,” Gillian Welch
Book you are currently reading: “The Ocean at the End of the Lane,” Neil Gaiman
Anything else: Mike lives in SE Portland with his wife and two daughters.