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Economist Tim Duy was feeling optimistic Thursday morning as he kicked off the 10th annual Oregon Economic Forum. Not giddy, head-over-heels optimistic. Duy鈥檚 optimism was more tempered, and with good reason.

鈥淥regon鈥檚 looking pretty good,鈥� Duy, professor of practice in the University of Oregon’s economics department and director of the forum, said. 鈥淏ut 鈥� even as we improve, we still have quite a path ahead of us.鈥�

For starters, it鈥檚 going to take some time for Oregon to fully shake off the last lingering effects of the past recession, Duy cautioned those in the audience as they dug into a breakfast of bacon and eggs.

Add to that the fact that Oregon鈥檚 experiencing job polarization of the worst kind. from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis show that the state鈥檚 mid-wage jobs are fast disappearing. In the Portland metro area, most of those jobs are being replaced by higher-wage jobs. But in Oregon鈥檚 rural areas, mid-range jobs are being replaced main by jobs with lower earning potential.

There’s also a little thing called apathy that Duy worries could undo all of the good that Oregon has achieved recently.Oregon businesses will find themselves fighting against. It’s understandable that business owners might be tempted to take a break and coast on the momentum they’ve created, but that would be one of the worst things they could do, according to Duy.

鈥淲e need to continue to nurture our local economic to keep it going,鈥� he said.

Duy鈥檚 remedy for businesses looking to keep their forward motion going? Don鈥檛 place all of your eggs in a local basket.

鈥淒on鈥檛 just look inside Oregon, look outside our economy for opportunity,鈥� Duy said.

For companies seriously considering really spreading beyond Oregon’s boundaries, forum presenter Jim Mullinax offered one word: China.

There’s a wide range of opportunities for companies interested in grabbing a piece of the business action in China, but it isn’t a market to enter without doing ones homework, according to Mullinax, the former economic section chief of the U.S. Consulate

“By all means tread, but do so wisely,” Mullinax said.