Former CEO of Oregon Business & Industry Lands A New Gig That Will Take Him Back to Salem

Former state Rep. Mark Johnson will lobby for the Port of Cascade Locks.

Cascade Locks and Bridge of the Gods. (Bill Reynolds)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Mark Johnson is headed back to Salem.

The former CEO of Oregon Business & Industry will has been hired as the new government affairs director of the Port of Cascade Locks. Johnson represented Hood River in the Oregon House for seven years and also chaired the Hood River School board.

His new job was first reported by the Hood River News.

Mark Johnson

Johnson resigned his legislative seat in 2017 to become the first leader of OBI, the new statewide business organization that resulted from the merger of Associated Oregon Industries and the Oregon Business Association. OBI fired Johnson in April after receiving complaints about derogatory comments Johnson had allegedly made about a former colleague, state Rep. Diego Hernandez (D-East Portland).

Johnson's new post, of course, may require him to lobby Hernandez.

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