Greetings and welcome to Friday!
Thanks so much to all who could attend yesterday afternoon’s Board of Directors meeting. I know quite a few board members were in far-flung places (for both work and pleasure), but we had a small but mighty group and some wonderful discussion.
It also looks like we shooting for the November 2nd BoD meeting and either our March or April meeting to be in person (with a hybrid option). We’re tentatively looking at Hatfield in November and Lincoln City in the Spring. We’ll keep you posted!
Here’s our staff update for the week:
Blue Economy::
Sarah and I met today with Robert Killen and Nate Gillen of Startup Blue. We reviewed initial responses to the Maritime Innovator Scorecard survey and discussed final steps to wrap up our contract with them over the next 3-5 weeks. – Paul
Cascades West Economic Development District::
This Thursday morning was our bi-monthly board meeting (I have the honor of serving as the vice-chair for the economic development district). We had an in-depth update from Sarah Means, the new “chip czar” for Oregon (and former Regional Solutions Team manager for our area). There is $240M in direct state funding to support Federal Chips act monies – so far there are 16 applicants requesting $500M (with three applicants in our EDD). All told, these investments will lead to the creation of literally thousands of jobs and tens of billions in investment in Oregon. So exciting! The board also heard updates from Solarity (covering Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties) and Lane County on broadband efforts. – Paul
Communication/Marketing::
I posted on EDALC’s facebook page this week about the Oregon Coast SBDC’s Starting a Business in Lincoln County course and an article that OregonArts Watch wrote on Toledo’s art scene, you can check it out here: https://www.orartswatch.org/toledo-a-coastal-mill-town-where-the-love-of-art-is-deep/?fbclid=IwAR3_tT_JgJ_6U05MiOJtfkuJLu_fduCT02kzqLCXd7jJejTw0SgoUu9VKic – Sarah
Creative Economies::
For ART Toledo this week, I updated the website after the last Art, Oysters & Brews event happened last weekend, as well as, adding all the winning Chalk the Block art onto the website. In addition, I worked on editing the Chalk the Block and AOB promo videos throughout the week. – Sarah
Events::
Paul and I discussed further Economic Summit planning and I reached back out to some potential locations about visiting their event space. – Sarah
PIER Program::
On Wednesday, Sarah and I attended the PIER (Planning, Infrastructure, and Economic Revitalization) selection committee meeting. This is a state-run program providing grants for wildfire recovery and future mitigation. Lincoln County’s share of the funds comes to $2.7M. The selection committee’s role is to help refine the application and the scoring criteria for Lincoln County applicants, and then score and recommend funding for these grants (minimum grant amount is $500k). – Paul
Project Work::
I finished the August board meeting minutes and updated our Monday.com project planning list. In addition, I updated the opportunities for entrepreneurs slider on the EDALC website and the Oregon Prospector listings. – Sarah
Rural Opportunity Initiative::
At yesterday’s board meeting, much of our time was spent reviewing potential ROI projects as we prepare for our 2023-25 ROI application (based on that document in our digital packet). We talked priorities, impact and the creation of a cohesive thread through the work. Next week, Sarah and I will review the list and set some initial priorities as well as the scale and potential costs of the possible projects (ROI could bring in about $40K per year). We’ll get that back out to the board for comments, ideas and thoughts. – Paul
Supporting and Connecting with Partners::
This week, I travelled to Toledo for a working lunch with Mayor Cross and Andrea Formo, GP’s new Public Affairs Manager. We tried out the new Hawaiian fusion restaurant (Cafe 233) and I got to enjoy some Spam (TM) with pineapple! We had a great, in-depth discussion, and it looks like we’ll have some wonderful opportunities to partner with GP in upcoming efforts, including reviving a long-overdue lunch round-table with Toledo businesses (something I was planning with CJ Drake). – Paul
Upcoming::
Next week I’ll be meeting with Lisa Norton (CTSI) to roll up our sleeves and look at potential BEAD-funded broadband projects and how they might dovetail with CTSI’s efforts (which will be funded from a different grant pool, though originating from the same ARPA infrastructure dollars). – Paul
As a reminder – your Board of Directors resource page is here:
I’m off early this afternoon to head to Salem for a Friday/Saturday training put on by the Oregon Community College Association for new Board of Education members – looking forward to it!
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 🙂