Ryan Deckert is the president of the Oregon Business Association. Prior to this position, Deckert, a Democratic politician from the US state of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, served in the Oregon Senate, representing District 14, which includes parts of Beaverton

Beaverton, Oregon

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...

 and the Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 neighborhoods of Garden Home and Raleigh Hills

Raleigh Hills, Oregon

Raleigh Hills is a census-designated place and neighborhood within the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It is located in the southwest hills in Washington County, with Beaverton to the west, West Slope to the north, and Progress and Garden Home to the south...

.

Early life and career

Deckert grew up in Beaverton and graduated from Beaverton High School

Beaverton High School

Beaverton High School, is a public high school located in Beaverton, Oregon. Opened in 1902, it is the oldest high school in Beaverton.-History:...

 before receiving a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Oregon

University of Oregon

-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

. He later worked as a development director at Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

 and for an architecture firm.

Political career

In 1997, Deckert was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives

Oregon House of Representatives

The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....

 representing District 8 in Beaverton, becoming, at the age of 25, the youngest member of that year's legislative session. He was re-elected to the position in 1998, defeating Republican Henri Schauffler, with support from a coalition of moderate Republicans led by Mary Alice Ford

Mary Alice Ford

Mary Alice Ford , was a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of California, the moderate and pro-choice Republican served in the Oregon House of Representatives for 15 consecutive years representing Washington County.- Early life :Ford was born Mary Alice Hood in Los...

. In 2000, he ran for the Oregon Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Eileen Qutub.

Deckert resigned from the Senate in October 2007 to become the president of the Oregon Business Association.

Personal

Deckert and his wife Inga live in the Garden Home neighborhood and have a five-year-old daughter and twin daughters, age two.

External links

• Oregon Business Association website