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Seldom has Oregon seen so many major changes in key business roles.
Tom Potter will replace Vera Katz as mayor on Jan. 1. Phil Knight stepped down as head of Nike Inc., Portland's most prominent homegrown industry. Vicki Phillips took over the helm of Portland Public Schools. Sandra McDonough now leads the Portland Business Alliance. And Neil Goldschmidt left public life in an unforgettable fashion. 2004 served as a year of transition.
Here's a look at a handful of the changes that will shape business in coming years.
For 12 years, local business operators made sport out of blaming outgoing Portland Mayor Vera Katz for their complaints.
She fielded blame when businesses left town, when business income tax bills came due, when panhandlers plied their trade downtown and when war protesters disrupted Rose City commerce patterns.
Katz also drew fire from denizens who believe that she's actually acquiescent toward business. They cite heavy police presences at several protests, as well as her support (which ultimately led to the passage) of a stricter "sit-lie" ordinance interpretation that targets panhandlers.
Detractors also say that her passionate support of attracting a Major League Baseball. team proves that she's actually in lockstep with business, which would presumably benefit from the presence of a bigleague team. Nonetheless, even strident baseball supporters regularly and publicly lambasted her.
So did Katz, who leaves office Jan. 1, get a fair shake from business?
Probably not. And she has an idea why.
"Let me start by being critical of myself on, that score," she said. "I probably in retrospect should have been far more visible by meeting and greeting with business leaders, and be more involved in the personal contact because relationships are really what it's all about."
As proof, she pointed to regular informal midweek lunches attended by such business shapers as parking lot magnate Greg Goodman and Melvin "Pete" Mark, perhaps the city's most prominent developer.
"I think I was invited just once," she said.
Whereas Katz forfeited building such personal relationships that may have won her more fans, she argued that the city instead successfully - albeit quietly - convinced many companies that could have fled Oregon to stay.
"We identified the companies that we were happy to have in...