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Economic Development for Central Oregon has a staff of seven professionals:
Roger Lee has been the Executive Director of EDCO since September 1999. He has 14 years of economic development experience, working in business development for the Seattle/King County Economic Development Council and economic and community development for Baker City/County in Northeast Oregon. Roger is a graduate of University of Washington in International Economics. His industry experience includes employment at Hewlett-Packard Co., and Idaho’s largest electric utility, Idaho Power.
Networked throughout the Pacific Northwest with colleagues in the field, he has served as the president of the Oregon Economic Development Association, board member of the Pacific Northwest Economic Development Council, is a current board member of the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP) and is involved in several committees at the state level in charting the future of economic and community development for Oregon. Locally, he serves on advisory boards for Opportunity Knocks, Entrepreneur’s Foundation, and Central Oregon Resources for Independent Living.
At EDCO, Roger is responsible for the tri-county area’s economic development strategy, business recruitment, oversight of the organization and its satellite offices, and development of special projects including industrial parks, expansion of commercial air service and creation of new programs to assist the region’s traded-sector employers and improve the overall business climate.
Eric Strobel joined EDCO in January 2006 as the Business Development Manager. Eric possesses over 14 years experience in the film industry, information technology, and management. Most recently, he was the District Manager at Central Electric Cooperative where he managed the Bend service center, the customer service department, and acted as an Account Executive for the coop’s larger members in Bend.
Eric received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications from San Diego State University and has lived in Bend since 1992. He has been heavily involved in the Bend community through United Way, Rotary Club of Bend, and is currently the co-chair for Bend 2030, a community visioning project.
As the Business Development Manager, Eric is responsible for meeting with businesses throughout the three-county area to help with issues such as business finance, facilities development, manufacturing processes, product marketing, workforce training, attracting and retaining labor force, and incentives for expansion.
EDCO launched a new program to provide specific economic development services for the community of Redmond in May 2003. Funded by private and public contributions by Redmond area investors to Redmond Economic Development, Inc., the program is headed by Edward "Bud" Prince. Bud brings a wealth of business, community and economic development experience from a 24-year career with Pacific Power where he held various positions including Director of Public Information, Director of Customer Service, District Manager, Area/Division Manager and Director of Property Management. He also has experience as National Conference Manager with the Atomic Industrial Forum in New York, NY. Bud holds a degree in Chemistry from Monmouth College, Illinois, has completed PacifiCorp's Advanced Management Training Program and has special training in nuclear science. He and his wife relocated to Central Oregon from Tigard, Oregon.
As the Manager of the Redmond Economic Development program, Prince is responsible for helping existing businesses in Redmond with expansion or retention issues, working on behalf of Redmond on new business and industry recruitment projects, and on other strategic community-based projects with significant impacts to the local economy.
Like many others, Dayna Dudkowski was attracted to Bend by both the quality of life and the region's creative energy. With an extensive background in tourism and hospitality, Dayna began her Central Oregon career at the High Desert Museum, where she had the opportunity to learn about Central Oregon’s rich cultural and natural heritage. She joined the EDCO team in May of 2006 as the Events & Membership Development Manager, eager for a new challenge and wanting to gain insight into the social and business considerations of Central Oregon's growing economy.
Dayna's prior experience include nearly four years at The Oregon Garden in Silverton, where she planned private events and assisted with large public events such as Earth Day Celebration, Summer Concert Series, July 3rd Celebration and others. Prior to that, Dayna worked in hotel and event management in San Francisco, Chico, Palm Desert and Ravendale, California.
At EDCO, Dayna is responsible for Membership Development and Event planning. With over 300 EDCO members, she is busy meeting new members, bringing them together through major networking events and sharing resources and knowledge in the community. She also assists EDCO’s strategic partners with event and meeting planning and execution.
Ruth Lindley joined EDCO in November 2006 as Marketing Manager. Ruth brings thirty years’ experience in marketing with high tech, communications, publishing and consumer retailing industries. Most recently, she was the Regional Operations Manager at Unicel, responsible for 16 stores in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
Prior to moving to Bend in 2002, Ruth was Marketing Director for InterTrust Technologies Corporation, developer of secure computing technologies, where she managed the PR surrounding a high profile, successful patent lawsuit against Microsoft. Ruth spent 18 years at Target Corporation and, as Marketing Director, initiated innovative customer loyalty and ethnic marketing programs. As an independent consultant for six years, she worked with companies including Sunset Publishing to create custom magazines to extend company branding. Ruth holds a degree in Consumer Economics and Consumer Textiles from UC Davis, a certificate in e-commerce, and is involved in Bend's arts community.
As Marketing Manager, Ruth manages EDCO’s PR efforts, portfolio of publications, serves as the “hub” for business intelligence for Central Oregon, and is responsible for website marketing.
Erin Chaiet joined the EDCO team as the Office Manager in December of 2001 upon relocating from Idaho with her husband. Her extensive customer service skills and administrative operations experience stem from positions held at the University of Idaho.
Erin holds an undergraduate degree in Spanish from the University of Idaho and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from George Fox University. When not in the office at EDCO, she is most likely substitute teaching in the Bend-La Pine School District, where she enjoys working with children.
Her responsibilities at EDCO include accounts payable/accounts receivable maintenance and tracking, payroll reporting and execution, database creation and management, event support, editing, and numerous other daily activities.
Jason Carr joined the EDCO team in June 2007 as Manager of the Prineville/Crook County Economic Development program. Carr brings over 10 years of media and community experience to the position and a strong knowledge base of individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout the Central Oregon region.
Central Oregonians may recall Carr as KTVZ NewsChannel 21 primary anchor from 2002 to 2005. Carr spent nearly a decade with KTVZ in a variety of reporting positions including business and government, sports, and community issues as well as producing and writing assignments. For the two years prior to joining EDCO, Carr was Anchor, Reporter, and Producer at KEZI 9 News in Eugene, Oregon.
As the Manager of the Prineville/Crook County Economic Development program, Carr is responsible for helping existing businesses with expansion or retention issues, working on behalf of Prineville and Crook County on new business and industry recruitment projects, and on other strategic community-based projects with significant impacts to the local economy. The Prineville/Crook County Economic Development program is a partnership between EDCO, the Prineville/Crook County Chamber of Commerce, Crook County, and the City of Prineville, and local businesses.
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