Greetings and welcome to Friday!
Here’s our EDALC update for the week:
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Project Associate Onboarding – Sarah was in for a half-day of work this week, getting familiar with the computer, where all the digital files are and such. I’m trying (very hard) not to info-dump on her too quickly – it’s always drinking from a firehose when you start a new position. She did proof, edit and get out an ART Toledo press release to the local and regional press. And Curt – you’d be proud of me – I think I got Sarah’s MSoft account all set up so that we didn’t loose admin access to her computer – woo hoo!
O2IH – We had multiple O2IH-related conversations this week, several of them to better prepare for a submission for a Regional Innovation Center planning grant. We’re having conversations all along the coast to see if we can submit a “combined” coastal proposal for a Blue Hub (O2IH) – since Business Oregon wants one application per regional development district, this is a bit of a political zig, but it might just be the right impactful move. In a frustrating revelation from Mark Farley, it appears as if the state’s lead economist has been telling folks that the “Blue economy just isn’t a thing” here in Oregon – ugh (and wrong)! Business Oregon is currently fighting that fight at the state level, but it points even more to the need for a Blue economy workforce sector survey. We should have word whether that funding will come out of the short session in the next few weeks, or we’ll have to return to getting that done with local partners and funding already pledged to the effort.
Economic Report Update – This just in from Commissioner Jacobson – made me smile on a Friday afternoon!:
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I think the economic development study update is something we could likely fund, I will actually put in an internal ARPA funding request next week for this. Given that we have had a pandemic and a wildfire, I think doing this study now would be very helpful in thinking about how our economy suffered and using that data to better guide investments in programming, etc. So yes, I think that is doable. As I said, I will put in a request for that through our internal ARPA fund.
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Homework – I spent a good amount of time this week on a couple of “homework projects”. One is drafting a proposal for the City of Newport for the first phase of their City Center project work. The other is diving into the materials that Birgitte shared with me to get me up to speed on the OCCC’s strategic planning process.
Youth Entrepreneurship – I had a great conversation with Majalise Tolan this afternoon (thanks for making the intro, Karen!) about ways that our entrepreneurial work through the Rural Opportunity Initiative can include some of the business and entrepreneurial education initiatives the school district is pursuing. We had a productive chat and came up with some first steps – and like a good educator, she also sent me home with some homework!
Upcoming – Next Monday will be our official statewide ROI kick-off meetings. I’ll be having lunch with Toledo Mayor Rod Cross to discuss all things Toledo. We’re having a local stakeholder meetings on outdoor recreation workforce development. I’ll also be meeting with the Newport Chamber to begin planning (in earnest this time, I hope) the economic summit which is scheduled for early May.
Tossing Out a Request – Just checking again to see if any of you have a surplus largish meeting table for the EDALC office. If so, please let me know.
As a reminder – your Board of Directors resource page is here:
Also, our March Board meeting will be on Thursday, March 3rd. Here is the Zoom info:
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Topic: EDALC March Board of Directors
Time: Mar 3, 2022 03:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9178104987?pwd=bVJDN0VlUEM3aG9EaFhJQUZjcDJHUT09
Meeting ID: 917 810 4987
Passcode: 0NyksK
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I thought I’d share this very interesting, very level-headed article on the events leading up to the invasion of the Ukraine – it gives context to some of the doom-scrolling hyperbole:
Thanks for ALL that you are doing out there! Please reach out to me if you need anything at all.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Cheers,
-Paul 🙂