Business View Magazine May 2023

133 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 5 These cancellations led to the layoffs of approximately 75 full-time members of staff and hundreds of variable-hour employees. “It was a really stark time for us; we were down to the minimal crew of folks who knew how to maintain systems, protect the center, maintain client relationships, and begin to strategize how to come out of it, not knowing when and how we would come out of it. That said, I’m incredibly proud of the work that we provided the residents of our region at the convention center,” he adds. To support the community during the pandemic, OCC opened a drive-thru COVID testing center for a local hospital. A physical distancing shelter was also opened on the premises, providing a safe space for the city’s homeless population. When extreme wildfires hit the Portland region in the midst of the pandemic, the facility became a Red Cross emergency evacuation shelter. Finally, in the fall of 2021, when the vaccines began rolling out, OCC opened its doors as a mass vaccination OREGON CONVENT ION CENTER