Rep. Greg Smith's companies face hurdles, Wheeler County impacted

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Eastern Oregon University has been permanently closed. Now, residents of Wheeler County will be served at Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles. The SBDC in The Dalles has long served residents of Gilliam and Sherman counties.

For sixteen years, Greg Smith was the Director of the SBDC at Eastern Oregon University.

Smith's company, Gregory Smith and Company, LLC, was a subcontractor with Eastern Oregon University. His annual pay was $138,936.

The Times-Journal reached out to Eastern Oregon University, and to Wheeler County Judge Lynn Morley and Commissioner-Elect Matt Davis to see how many Wheeler County residents had been referred to services in La Grande, but received no response.

Across the country, Small Business Development Centers provide counseling and training services to entrepreneurs.

SBDCs have a unique model-they don't have staff at SBDC centers in universities or community colleges. Instead, colleges employ staff members who provide SBDC services. Typically, all SBDC services are administered by college staff.

Smith appears to be an exception, as his company was awarded a subcontractor status.

In Oregon, Lane Community College has a statewide contract for SBDC services. A source familiar with the situation said that it was Lane Community College that terminated the contract with Eastern Oregon University, after it failed to reign in Smith and questioned outcomes and services at EOU.

Smith's detractors say there is a pattern of high pay for his companies, which are predominately funded with public money, and low outcomes for impacted projects.

His proponents say that Smith brings needed resources and experience.

In addition to being a businessman, Smith is also the elected State Representative for District 57, which is comprised of Wheeler, Gilliam, Sherman, Morrow, Umatilla, Wasco, Jefferson, and parts of Marion and Clackamas counties. He is currently the longest-serving member in the Oregon Legislature and won reelection earlier this month.

Rep. Smith serves on the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees budgetary spending.

But in recent years, scandal has followed Smith.

The growing number of complaints and alleged conflicts of interest that involve Greg Smith created problems for the SBDC center in La Grande, the source, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Times-Journal.

Smith's departure from Eastern Oregon University is the latest in a string of incidents involving public money.

In 2022, Smith resigned as the Economic Development Manager in Malheur County after a rail reload center project saw ballooning costs. In October of this year, the board at the Columbia Development Authority in Boardman, where Smith serves as the CEO, forced him to repay funds from a salary increase that was not approved. Smith is earning $139,000 a year at that job.

In Wheeler County, Smith is the Director of the Wheeler County Development Corporation, a non-profit organization funded by the county, which pays him $2,500 a month, or $30,000 a year. The Wheeler County Court established the Wheeler County Development Corporation in 1999, and Smith joined as a subcontractor in 2001. According to records from Wheeler County, Smith has been paid $692,311 over the past 23 years. The organization did bring a call center for the Oregon Department of Revenue that employs several people in Fossil, and it also helped to build a fire hall in the town of Spray. The Times-Journal asked Wheeler County Judge Lynn Morley, who serves as the board President for the Wheeler County Development Corporation, about additional projects that Smith has spearheaded, but no response has been given as of press time.

Last year, Smith reported earnings of over $1 million, which are spread across several companies and multiple job titles that he holds.

Rep. Smith has gone before the House Ethics Commission regularly to declare potential conflicts of interest but has never faced censure or been found of wrongdoing.