Greetings and welcome to Friday! Remember, it’s Friday the 13th, so be careful out there!
As we bid a tearful goodbye to the Bacchanalian excess that was the 2022 International Economic Development Week, I think we can hold our collective heads high for a week well-celebrated and also for raising some serious awareness.
All in all, we:
-Had the first of a recurring economic development column appear in the News-Times
-Blasted out multiple MailChimp campaigns, reaching about 200 folks each pop
-Produced a video (with awesome work from Casey at the News-Times) that showcases EDALC and our board and will have a life-span far past the week (a EDALC logo-branded version is now on the About Us page of our website)
-Saw a three-fold jump in website traffic
-Saw a 200% increase in Facebook people reached
-Saw a nearly 400% increase in Facebook post engagements (when folks take some sort of action on the post)
-Did a County Connections radio show and podcast with Commissioner Claire Hall
-Posted two awareness-raising ads in the News-Times
-Created a large printed poster-board of our efforts, plus a professional four-page handout
-And finally, hosted the first-ever event at COVE (the Coastal Oregon Visitors Experience) event last night – we had over thirty folks there for a wonderful, casual and conversation-rich event, and even helped to facilitate some art sales! Thanks to the Board members who could make it! I think it was a great “coming out” in-person event for post-COVID.
Here’s our EDALC update for the week:
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Sarah’s Update:
This week I was primarily focused on International Economic Development Week! I started off on Tuesday by sharing our EDALC video on Facebook. Afterwards I worked on the MailChimp ad for our event on Thursday. Next, I added the EDALC video to our website and also added the Phantom Galleries video to the ART Toledo website. Later I ordered thank you cards and worked on creating a new Phantom Galleries page in order for it to be accessible on a mobile phone.
On Wednesday, I started the day by researching possible projects to do with the Oregon Cascades West funding they offered. Later, I wrote the minutes from May’s board meeting and posted about our Meet-and-Greet event on Facebook. On Thursday, I attended the ART Toledo meeting online, worked on the ART Toledo website, and prepared for/attended our EDALC event.
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Paul’s Update:
Blue Economy – Mark Farley and I met early in the week at Hatfield to continue planning our Congressionally Directed Spending projects, with a special focus on the “order of operations” of who to connect (and in what order) to be the most successful and inclusive in our coalition building. We also have funding in from YBEF and funding coming from Northwest Oregon Works for the blue sector survey – I meet with Econorthwest next week to start laying the groundwork for that project. A HUGE high-five to Commissioner Jacobson for getting funds directed to EDALC so that work can finally commence!
CWEDD – This Thursday morning, I was elected by the Cascades West Economic Development District Board to serve as the vice-chair of the district for the 2022-23 fiscal year (Lane commissioner Heather Buch will continue as chair). I also scored an unexpected $3,000 grant from CWEDD this week for some preliminary, pre-CDS work building a Blue Sector network map – they want to get involved in the Blue Economy, and who am I to stop them?
Mass Timber – I attended a presentation from the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition. They were the only Oregon EDA Build Back Better proposal that received round one funding. They have submitted for round 2 and are still waiting to hear back. Their efforts are pretty inspiring – they are working to use lower-grade wood fibers harvest by wildfire restoration work to develop panelized products that can be used in workforce housing. They are working on an initial project of single family and duplex homes in Milwaukee. They are also providing some interesting technical assistance with rural communities and updating their ordinances to be “mass timber ready” for residential construction. They are starting out in wildfire affected ares and Lincoln City will be one of the recipients of that assistance.
SBDC COVID Call group – This week was the monthly COVID call, and we had a lively discussion on the lack of a county-wide strategic plan for economic development (something I’ve been lobbying for since day one on the coast). The group is looking to be of value going forward and wants to build off of the last two years of collaboration – so it looks like it’s a strong possibility that we may come together to develop that strategic plan, at least at a high level. Count me in!
Newport – Leslie Palotas and I had a meeting in Newport on Monday with Spencer, Peggy Hawker and her replacement Eric. We talked through the potential grant-funded position of Leslie finding a home with EDALC and the funds being provided by Newport (some extra grant funds that they have available). I think we have a clear path forward to make that happen, and Leslie and I will be meeting next week to draft the proposal to Newport upon which the contract will be built. I also expect our professional services contract from Newport to be coming in any day.
Toledo – I heard this week from Rod Cross that the approved FY2022-23 Toledo city budget has a 50% increase in their planned EDALC investment – from $10,000 to $15,000 and it’s locked and loaded. Way to go Toledo!
Business Classes – On Thursday, I presented at the SBDC’s business management class, just wrapping up nine months of vital business operations training. I talked about what EDALC does and resources for businesses available locally. This week was also the last class in the first CO.STARTERS cohort we funded through ROI. That class was facilitated by Misty Lambrecht and helped a dozen entrepreneurs evaluate their business ideas. It was presented through Reinventing Rural and the Foundry Collective and sponsored by EDALC.
Are You a Gamer? – If you want to learn about the early days of PC game development, my video podcast on “Talkness Monster” is now up:
Upcoming – Next week will be a short week, so we’ll skip the weekly update and catch up on the 27th. Sarah and I will be trekking to Pendleton for the Rural Development Initiative’s Regards to Rural conference. Our conference fees are being paid by Business Oregon as part of the ROI program – and it’ll be great to connect with the other 22 ROI communities.
As a reminder – your Board of Directors resource page is here:
I’ll be out for most of the day Monday – we’re taking Susan’s Mom to the airport for her return flight(s) to Illinois. We had a great visit and consumed SO much awesome seafood!
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 🙂