"The only mistake that may have been made by Oregon State gov. tech people was letting Federal officials talk into going outside Oregon for the website project."

should read

"The only mistake that may have been made by Oregon State gov. PROJECT MANAGERS was letting Federal officials talk into going outside Oregon for the website project."

Like the other response, I also worked at the state data center, and even had input into the design (much of which was never followed, shocker). The tech side of the SDC had problems, due to poor management, and many SMEs have left including myself. The IT infrastructure powering the healthcare applications, however, worked reliably even if the applications didn't.

There was a comment below about how to get younger operators involved. Here is one market growing in interest.

I belong to a handful of 4x4 clubs in Oregon and one of them is organizing its members to get their operator's license to be able to coordinate people during cleanups, wildlife rehab projects, and offroad events. We can run multiple groups miles apart and stay in touch via simplex or a repeater. The members are beginning to realize the power of communication over 2m versus CB.

I am also very much into back country exploration and in this type of travel, vehicles tend to get spread out. Someone stops for pictures or the kids need to get out and run around, dogs needs water, etc.. With a simple setup, everyone can stay spread out, avoid each other's dust, and stay in contact. It is very sweet.