Greetings and welcome to Friday! It was SO NICE to see the sun out this week, but it looks like a windy, rainy weekend. Time for some long-form cooking and a fire in the fire place!
A HUGE thanks to our Board of Directors for your efforts in scoring the 2022-23 Community and Economic Development grant applications and for the lively discussion and recommendations from yesterday’s BoD meeting. The next step is scheduling a slot in an upcoming County Commissioner meeting and presenting those recommendations. It was also great to “get the band back together” after several months!
A busy, busy week this week! Here’s our weekly update:
Blue Economy::
On Monday, the Blue Economy study advisory team met virtually. It was, once again, an awkward romp through a delicate political minefield (with Business Oregon setting off a few explosions… again). Mark Farley and I were tapped to draft a cover letter to the final report from the advisory team. Mark and I discussed it several times, and I put together an initial draft this morning and got it off to Sarah and Mark for review. Sarah and I also met with Mark at Hatfield on Wednesday morning to plan out our near term (as in next few weeks) Blue Economy tasks and responsibilities. I always leave so energized after those conversations (and learn so much)! – Paul
I read the O2IH grant project description on Tuesday in preparation for Paul and I’s meeting at Hatfield Wednesday morning. – Sarah
Broadband::
We sent out a reminder for the Broadband 101 event next Friday, plus did some coordination with Solarity on an upcoming localized broadband survey. – Paul
Communication/Marketing::
This week on the EDALC Facebook page I created posts for an Oregon Coast SBDC Paid Leave class, the Nye Beach Montessori School’s successful Kiva Loan, and the upcoming OCCC and Lincoln County School District’s CTE fair. – Sarah
Community Connecting::
Ok, I know this one is philosophical, rambling, and teaser-filled, but that is how my week has rolled, so I went with it. I figure anyone who actually reads my all of updates is already a part of my choir at this point, so… – Leslie
Here it is: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XkkXyPbUbMHgQhrAG3XoUKMr-safZ01N5-QoLNjPjYc/edit?usp=sharing
(This is an awesome read from Leslie, and very thought provoking – I urge a careful and considerate read. It left me thinking long after! – Paul)
Creative Economies::
On Tuesday, Mayor Cross and I presented on ART Toledo to a large stakeholder meeting hosted by the Oregon Arts Commission. They are working with consultants from the Cultural Planning Group to build Oregon’s Creative & Cultural Districts Program to support the economic development of communities across the state. It was a well-attended group and it focused on real-world efforts underway in two Oregon communities: Hillsboro and Toledo. It’s so cool seeing our collaborative work recognized in such a large forum! – Paul
On Monday, I added Spanish translations to the new ART Toledo Phantom Gallery application form. I worked on the ART Toledo newsletter and sent it to some of the committee members for review. I also worked on adding regional artists to the mailing audience. Thursday morning, I attended the ART Toledo fundraising subcommittee meeting and Paul joined me for the regular meeting afterwards. – Sarah
Events::
Potential dates for our March EDALC Board of Directors Celebration Event ™:
Thursday, March 16th
Thursday, March 23rd
We’re looking at 5:30 until 8ish… let Sarah or Paul know if any of those dates won’t work, and we’ll pick the most available one… it’ll be a ball! Sarah has been working on this for quite a while – venue chasing, and we’ve got some cool options!
Organizational Development::
This week, I held evaluation meetings with Sarah and Leslie. What wonderful EDALC teammates! The meetings were very positive and rejuvenating. Two things came to light: that we need to take a more active leadership role in some of our projects to keep them rolling at a good clip and that we need more collaborative brainstorming time together. We’ll start working on the second point next week when we start up regular weekly brainstorming meetings. – Paul
I found some reports and an entrepreneurial ecosystem building playbook to learn more about entrepreneurial development. – Sarah
As part of yesterday’s board meeting, we discussed bringing on some potential new board members in key sectors of our local economy. Here are some of the names we discussed:
Cindi Fostveit (NW Natural) – Utilities
Jason Holland (Oregon Coast Council for the Arts) – Creative Economies
Gregory Price (new SBDC Director) – SBDC, Entrepreneurship, Youth Entrepreneurship, Renewable Energy
Alison Robertson (Lincoln City) – Municipal Partner
Majalise Tolan (LCSD) – Educational Leadership
We also discussed having someone from lodging – what about Drew Roslund (Overleaf Lodge, south county)?
Any other suggestions? Do you want to direct the staff to reach out and gauge interest and time availability?
Our Communities::
Depoe Bay – Thursday morning, I attended the Depoe Bay Chamber of Commerce’s AM Networking event at the Depoe Bay Community Center. It was VERY well attended, and it’s so nice seeing so many of our smaller market chambers starting to flex and grow. – Paul
Waldport – On Wednesday, Sarah and I met with Waldport City Manager Dann Cutter and Councilwoman (and former EDALC board member!) Susan Woodruff. It was a very positive meeting and they are SO glad we’re now located in Waldport. We talked about some potential project work we could collaborate on and also talked about potential future funding (I’d already broached the subject with Mayor Holland). It looks like we’ll be on the agenda in June to brief their City Council on all things EDALC. – Paul
Project Work::
I updated Oregon Prospector listings on Tuesday and Friday. I also talked with Paul Lawson about his commercial property and was finally able to get it listed! I updated the opportunities for entrepreneurs slider with new business courses throughout the week. I reviewed the community and economic development grant applications on Thursday in preparation for the board meeting. I updated the average rent of commercial buildings in Lincoln County spreadsheet on Friday. – Sarah
Supporting and Connecting with Partners::
Georgia Pacific – Yesterday, Sarah and I had a lunch meeting in Toledo with Jonathan Farmer, GP’s new Public Information Officer. It was a very positive first step in building a strong working relationship and we were able to key him in on a few opportunities and things to keep his eye on. It also seems like there may be some near-future chances to collaborate together in the realm of entrepreneurship development – Paul
OCCC – Thanks to Birgitte for giving us a short overview on the College’s upcoming ballot measure. We’ve attached the flier she shared with us yesterday.
As a reminder – your Board of Directors resource page is here:
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 🙂