Corvallis, Oregon
Karla Chambers co-founded Stahlbush Island Farms in Corvallis with her husband in 1985. Today it is a nationally distributed, vertically integrated farming and food processing company that uses sustainable farming practices to produce more than 100 products for retail, industrial, food service, and home use throughout the United States. It has received both local and national recognition for the last four decades for its commitment to sustainability, safety, and agricultural innovation.
Ms. Chambers was appointed as the first woman Chair of the Oregon State Board of Agriculture in 1996. She was recognized by Food & Wine Magazine as one of the top 25 Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink in 2014. In 2018, she was named a Woman of Influence by the Portland Business Journal. Karla served for 20 years on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Portland and San Francisco, and one of her paintings, “Nest Egg,” hung in Janet Yellen’s office in Washington D.C. She has also served as Chair of the Board of the Ford Family Foundation, Oregon’s largest family foundation. In 2014, she and her husband, Bill, received the Dean's Award for Family Business Leadership by OSU’s Center for Family Enterprise. They were recognized by Oregon State University in 2021 as recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Legacy Award. While founders of Stahlbush, Chambers are fourth generation family business, with more than 135 years in Oregon agriculture.
Ms. Chambers holds a B.S. in Agriculture and Resource Economics and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies in Agriculture and Resource Economics, Business Administration, and Political Science from Oregon State University.
