PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The largest convention ever held in Portland is about to get underway.
The National Education Association’s annual meeting will feature more than 7,000 educators from across the country in Northeast Portland.
The three-day conference officially begins Thursday and runs through the Fourth of July weekend at the Oregon Convention Center.
The NEA is the largest labor organization in the U.S. The delegates attending are expected to generate about $18 million in business through meals, shopping, hotels, and coach buses.
Portland — despite its struggle to recover since Covid — was selected by the NEA two years ago for the 2025 convention.
“We are here in Portland because of the kind invitation we received,” said NEA Vice President Princess Moss. “Everyone has been bending over backwards here for our 7000 delegates to be here and to do the work of the National Education Association. And like I said, you’ve got some incredible educators who live and work in Portland and around the state of Oregon.”
Moss said the NEA wants “to be able to celebrate them and to learn from them and to communicate with them so that we can lean into the theme of our current convention, which is resilience, power and respect.”
Marcus Hibdon with Travel Portland said they bring groups in early to look at the city and see the potential for what could happen at the convention and how it could attract people.
“We think with the NEA this weekend, it’s done a great job. There’s more than 7000 people attending. It’s about $18.5 million worth of spending in our community,” Hibdon told KOIN 6 News. “So it’s a big deal for Portland, and it’s happening during a very busy, one of the best weekends of the summer — over the 4th of July. We have the Waterfront Blues Festival going on.”
And the Oregon NEA is thrilled to have the convention in town.
“What we’re learning is that educators across the country are coming to Oregon to celebrate our successes,” said Enrique Farrera, the president-elect of the Oregon Education Association. “But at the same time, we want to send a message to all Oregonians that we deeply care about Oregon students from all regions of the state at the same time that the National Education Association has our back.”
