Dec 8, 2025 | AOC Business Partner
Sponsored content contributed by AOC Business Partner: OSU Extension Service
It sounds like the setup for a holiday romantic comedy – Priya Rajarapu works as a Christmas tree expert for Oregon State University’s Extension Service, helping Oregon’s 300-plus Christmas tree growers produce a healthy crop each holiday season so that the state can export millions of perfect trees across the world.
But this job is more science than sentiment. In her Extension role and as an assistant professor in the College of Forestry, Rajarapu, who earned her doctorate in entomology, is studying how to keep Oregon’s holiday industry thriving as the climate changes.
“Oregon is a perfect place to grow evergreens because of the climate,” she said. “Our mild summers and wet winters are ideal for native species like noble and Douglas-fir that are traditionally among the most popular Christmas trees in the Western United States.
“If you’re sick you call a doctor. If you’re a Christmas tree grower who has a sick tree, you call me.”
As temperatures rise and weather patterns shift, the cost to maintain a healthy crop of Christmas trees is rising. And once-rare extreme climate events, like the 2020 fires and the 2021 heat dome in Oregon can have decades-long impacts on forests that affect the holiday tree industry.
“Our goal is to help the current and future growers sustain production of Christmas trees on their land,” Rajarapu said.
Long a sustainable industry, with at least one tree going into the ground for every one cut, Christmas trees are an important agricultural crop for Oregon. Oregon sold 3.17 million trees in 2023 (the most recent year for which federal statistics are available) – making it the top Christmas tree grower in the United States and contributing $118 million to Oregon’s economy.
Industry associations estimate that Christmas tree prices should remain stable this year, averaging about $12 to $15 per foot, and don’t anticipate that tariffs and trade policies will have a significant impact on the tree industry. To support growers, Rajarapu and her colleagues are working at North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora to develop new resilience strategies.
For example, an ongoing study is looking at different mulch alternatives to understand whether any of these mulches boost seedling survival during their first year. Native noble fir make up just over half of Oregon’s Christmas tree sales, but in recent years, OSU Extension experts have also been studying the genetics of introduced species from Eurasia that are potentially more resilient to climate change.
Before his retirement, Rajarapu’s predecessor Chal Landgren personally carried seeds back from Georgia, establishing the new species at the three-acre field site that she now oversees. For example, Nordemann and Turkish fir, both native to Georgia, now make up a small but growing percentage of Oregon’s crop. These new-to-Oregon species can hold their needles longer after they’re cut and displayed.
“They’re drought-and pest-tolerant,” Rajarapu said. “That reduces the need for inputs such as chemical insecticides.”
More than half of Oregon’s Christmas trees are sold in California each year, with other Western states, Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Panama, Singapore and Maldives among Oregon growers’ top markets, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
“With consistent water, these new species can hold their needles for four-to-six weeks indoors,” Rajarapu said. Additives like sugar or alcohol that claim to lengthen a tree’s life indoors aren’t backed by scientific evidence, she explained, but lots of water, especially in the first few days, is key to a tree that lasts the season.
“When you buy a real tree, you’re supporting a local business,” said Rajarapu, who is planning to display a noble fir at her home this year. “And it just smells and feels like Christmas.”
Read this article online: https://beav.es/JYm
Story by Misty Edgecomb, Oregon State University
Story source: Priya Rajarapu, OSU Extension Christmas Tree Specialist and Assistant Professor, College of Forestry
Photo caption: Priya Rajarapu, Christmas Tree Specialist at Oregon State University Extension explains the characteristics of various tree species.
Photo credit: Oregon State University
Dec 8, 2025 | AOC Business Partner
Sponsored content contributed by AOC Business Partner: CIS
The dates are set for the 2026 CIS Annual Conference: Feb. 25–27 at the Salem Convention Center.
Each year, CIS brings together Oregon counties for three days of learning, networking, and collaboration. Whether you’re a first-time attendee or a familiar face, this is your opportunity to connect with peers, explore new ideas, and gather practical takeaways for your county team.
Now in its 24th year, the conference focuses on what matters most to county government — relevant content, meaningful connections, and strategies that strengthen local operations and services across Oregon.
Attendees can expect sessions on employee benefits, risk management, pre-loss strategies, and other best practices designed to help counties manage risk, support employees, and enhance service to residents.
Flexible Attendance Options
The 2026 conference offers flexible ways to participate. County staff can attend in person in Salem, join virtually, or combine both. For example, you can take part in Wednesday’s Public Safety or Small Members Track on site, then participate in the rest of the event online.
All registrants — whether in person or virtual — will have access to every session on demand through the Attendee Hub, available within an hour of each presentation.
Register Now and Save
Conference registration is now open at cisoregon.org/conference. Attendees who register by Jan. 16 will receive a $50 early bird discount on their registration fee.
The event kicks off Wednesday with two specialized learning tracks — one focused on public safety agencies and another tailored for smaller members where funds are more limited — followed by two full days covering HR, benefits, legal updates, and emerging risks.
Mark your calendars for Feb. 25–27, 2026, and reserve your spot today for a conference that’s as practical as it is energizing.
Tailored Learning for Counties
Small Members Track
Managing county operations with a smaller tax base often means wearing many hats — and this track is designed to make that job easier.
Sessions will strengthen foundational knowledge across CIS programs and services, with topics such as:
- CIS Essentials: A Complete Overview of CIS’ Services
- Safety & Emergency Management 101
- Property & Liability Claims Basics
- What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: HR Essentials for Small Employers
- Cybersecurity Essentials: Affordable Resources for Small Members
- Maximizing Your CIS Benefits: Tools and Trainings for Small Employers
Whether you’re new to CIS or ready to make the most of your membership, this track offers practical tools and insights you can use right away.
Public Safety Track
Designed for city and county public safety professionals, including sheriffs, sheriff deputies, and jail commanders, this track focuses on risk reduction, leadership, and wellness in county public safety.
Sessions include:
- Fostering Effective Relationships — Learn strategies for strengthening communication and collaboration with elected officials, community members, and partner agencies to build trust and shared understanding.
- Fit to Serve: Fitness for Duty — Learn the legal and practical steps in evaluating and managing fitness for duty in law enforcement and fire agencies.
- Early Detection, Better Outcomes — Discover innovative tools and early-screening practices that help identify health and behavioral issues in custody before they escalate.
- Top 10 Ways to Get Sued — Explore the most common legal pitfalls facing public safety agencies — and how to avoid them.
- When the Call Comes In — Prepare for, respond to, and recover from critical incidents while supporting employee well-being and minimizing risk.
- Navigating Line-of-Duty Loss — Hear from the Oregon Fallen Badge Foundation on how to support families, coworkers, and communities with compassion and care after a tragedy.
Both tracks take place Wednesday, Feb. 25, and include breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus full access to virtual and on-demand sessions through the Attendee Hub.
Member Grant Reminder
Each CIS member entity receives a fully paid Member Grant (scholarship) that covers:
- Conference registration fees
- Conference meals
- One night’s lodging
Use your grant to attend in person or apply it toward virtual participation. Visit cisoregon.org/conference to register and learn more.
Oct 29, 2025 | AOC Business Partner
Sponsored content contributed by AOC Business Partner: UrbanForm
Counties and jurisdictions across Oregon are navigating an era of heightened collective responsibility. From meeting ambitious housing targets and newly adopted state mandates to managing limited staff capacity and budgets, local governments are under pressure to deliver more and faster with fewer resources. One of the most persistent and fundamental barriers is zoning: not just the rules themselves, but the very nature of how those rules are accessed and communicated. This is the information infrastructure of zoning.
In 2024, the Yamhill County region piloted a new approach that offers valuable lessons for jurisdictions statewide. Working alongside 10 incorporated cities, elected officials, local housing leaders, major employers, and non-profit housing advocacy groups, Yamhill set out to reduce friction in its development process by creating a shared zoning resource accessible across the county. To power this work, the region adopted UrbanForm, a digital platform that translates thousands of pages of zoning code into verifiable parcel-specific answers to questions like: What can be built here? What are the known constraints? What’s the fastest path forward?
The benefits quickly became clear to stakeholders on both sides of the counter. City staff who previously spent hours researching zoning details were able to point folks towards an interactive map that could generate accurate parcel-level reports in minutes. This freed up limited planning capacity, improved the quality of applications, and reduced the basic information retrieval and back-and-forth that often clogs up staff time and slows projects down. Smaller jurisdictions in particular gained access to a level of planning support they would not have had on their own—creating more equity across the county. For developers, the availability of instant access to basic zoning information meant reduced risk and an open-to-business, customer-service oriented, getting-to-yes mentality.
Perhaps the most important takeaway, however, is not technological but cultural. UrbanForm Yamhill’s success came from acting as a convener: bringing cities, employers, and housing advocates into a collaborative framework where zoning was treated as shared infrastructure rather than siloed local code and knowledge. That trust created a foundation for faster permitting, clearer communication, and stronger alignment between public and private partners. It also demonstrated that innovation does not always require starting from scratch—sometimes it means building a better bridge between systems that already exist.
Results from Yamhill have won the project an award from the regional Council of Governments. But the most telling measure of success may be the simplest: the positive word-of-mouth amongst government staffers that have led to the adoption of UrbanForm across 26 jurisdictions, and counting, in Oregon this year alone.
By approaching zoning clarity as a regional responsibility—one that supports staff, empowers cities, and reduces barriers for housing and infrastructure—counties can position themselves as leaders in meeting Oregon’s most urgent challenges. As the state continues to pursue ambitious housing goals and climate-friendly land use policies, having zoning information that is accurate, transparent, and accessible will be critical to success.
The lesson is simple: when zoning becomes clear, collaboration becomes easier, and communities move forward together.
Oct 29, 2025 | AOC Business Partner
Sponsored content contributed by AOC Business Partner: NW Natural
Our region is at a critical energy juncture, and there is a growing need for coordinated energy sector planning. While historically, gas and electric utilities have done their planning separately, more stakeholders are recognizing the interdependence of today’s energy landscape.
Electricity demand in the Pacific Northwest continues to grow in large part due to data centers, manufacturing, and electrification. As that demand grows, natural gas plays a vital role in filling the power gap, especially during extreme weather events. January 2024’s winter storm illustrated just how vital coordination across utilities—and investments in both gas and electric infrastructure—continue to be.
How do we meet the region’s growing energy demand while maintaining reliability, affordability, and resiliency? That is what a group of regional gas and electric providers are coming together to address.
Last month, this work was showcased at the Regional Energy Symposium, a gathering hosted by Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, Northwest Gas Association, Western Power Pool, and Public Generating Pool. The symposium convened policymakers, utility leaders, regulators, and other stakeholders to discuss the challenges of joint energy planning and how to address them. This work will continue to be a significant priority for NW Natural and our partners over the coming years.
As NW Natural readies our system and storage facilities to meet winter’s energy demands, there are also things you can do to prepare for the winter!
Going without electricity for more than a few hours can turn an inconvenience into a significant concern. Many natural gas appliances work in a power outage including:
- Cooktops
- Fireplaces
- Many hot water heaters
- Backup natural gas generators
Click here for helpful videos on how these natural gas appliances can operate safely even when the power is out.
An appliance inspection and tune-up can lower gas bills, improve equipment efficiency, and extend the life of appliances.
We know people are experiencing higher costs of living, and bills can be challenging. NW Natural offers a variety of payment assistance programs including our income-eligible bill discount program.
*NW Natural works in the following Oregon counties: Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Douglas, Hood River, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, Washington, and Yamhill.
Oct 29, 2025 | AOC Business Partner
Sponsored content contributed by AOC Business Partner: The Partners Group
As a commercial insurance broker specializing in public entities, we often hear a familiar refrain: “We don’t handle sensitive data directly, our vendors do.” Whether it’s a county outsourcing tax payment processing, a city using a cloud provider for record storage, or a school district contracting payroll to a third-party app, many organizations believe that shifting operations to vendors also shifts the cyber risk. Unfortunately, that assumption can be costly and dangerous.
Third-Party Reliance Doesn’t Eliminate Liability
When a public entity uses outside vendors for IT, billing, data management, or any other online activity, the exposure doesn’t disappear. Most contracts with third-party providers include liability limitations and hold-harmless clauses that protect the vendor, not the municipality or district. If a vendor’s system is breached and residents’ personal data is exposed, your entity will likely still bear the brunt of public scrutiny, notification obligations, regulatory fines, and legal costs. Even if the vendor bears the costs of repairing data, your organization may be unable to provide essential services for weeks or months. The time it takes to return to business in ransomware attacks ranges from three weeks to up to many months.
You can outsource operations, but you can’t outsource accountability. Cyber insurance ensures that when a vendor fails, your services remain financially protected, and most policies also provide forensic and IT experts and communications professionals to get services up and running as soon as possible with appropriate public and internal communications.
Real-World Example: Business Interruption From Vendor Outage
Consider a regional water district that relied on a third-party software vendor to manage billing and service requests. When the vendor’s servers were hit by ransomware, the district couldn’t issue bills for over six weeks. The disruption didn’t occur on their own network, but the result was the same: lost revenue, overtime for manual workarounds, and reputational damage.
A well-structured cyber policy covers these business interruption losses, even when caused by a third-party service provider. Without that coverage, the district must absorb the financial hit while still fielding angry calls from residents.
Phishing: The Human Element
Cyber incidents are often sophisticated but bad actors’ access is often very basic and relies on human error or psychology. One small Oregon city fell victim to a phishing attack in which an employee received an email appearing to be from a vendor requesting updated banking information. Payments were redirected to a fraudulent account for nearly a month before detection. The funds were unrecoverable.
This is a classic case of social engineering, a coverage extension under most cyber policies. Even well-trained staff can make mistakes under pressure. Cyber insurance helps recover the financial losses from these scams and can also cover forensic investigation, notification, and legal response.
Public Entities Are Prime Targets
Public institutions maintain large databases of personal information, often with lean IT resources and outdated infrastructure. Hackers know that municipalities and school districts can’t afford extended downtime, making public entities prime targets for ransomware and extortion.
Even if your entity uses a vendor for email, payroll, and data storage, you’re still responsible for ensuring the continuity of essential services and protecting constituent data. Cyber insurance fills the gaps that neither general liability nor vendor agreements address.
The Bottom Line
Third-party vendors play a vital role in modern government operations, but they are not your safety net. A single breach, outage, or phishing attack can ripple across essential services, disrupt budgets, and erode public trust. Cyber insurance is a fundamental layer of protection for every public entity, regardless of size or sophistication. The Partners Group specializes in providing this coverage to match and protect your needs.
Oct 29, 2025 | AOC Business Partner
Sponsored content contributed by AOC Business Partner: Covenant Global
Not long ago, one of our clients — a mid-sized organization responsible for critical community services — had a wake-up call that changed how they viewed cybersecurity forever.
It started like any other week. Then, late one evening, unusual activity appeared on their network: a legitimate business program being used for malicious intent. Within an hour, our team, supported by Fortify’s layered protections, detected and contained the threat before it could spread.
By the next morning, the organization’s leadership was side-by-side with our engineer reviewing every device, seeing firsthand the difference between being caught off guard and being prepared. Exhausted but grateful, they said what so many organizations only realize afterward:
“Now I understand. Now I know why this matters.”
That incident could have led to weeks of downtime, disrupted operations, and a loss of public trust. Instead, it became a one-day lesson in why a strong cybersecurity foundation is not optional — it’s operational resilience in action.
Fortify: Strength Through Preparedness
Covenant Global’s Fortify framework was built for organizations that protect people, data, and public trust.
Fortify strengthens your Microsoft environment, hardens configurations, and establishes continuous monitoring and governance aligned with CISA and CIS 18 standards. It’s a proactive approach to compliance and security — ensuring your organization is not only protected, but ready to respond and recover when needed.
Cybersecurity isn’t about fear; it’s about foresight. And foresight is leadership.
Let’s Continue the Conversation at the AOC Conference
We’ll be at the AOC Annual Conference in November, and we’d love to connect in person. If you’re ready to take a more proactive approach to cybersecurity, this is the perfect time to start.
Ask us about your Security Score Assessment — a complimentary, data-driven review that benchmarks your Microsoft environment against CISA-recommended security standards.
Together, we can help you protect what matters most: your people, your data, and your ability to serve your community.
Schedule your Security Score Assessment today or stop by our booth at AOC to learn more.
