High Desert Enterprise Consortium (HiDEC)
Formed just two years ago in early 2007, HiDEC is a successful manufacturing and technology industry group serving Central Oregon. Currently, there are more than 20 HiDEC member companies which, collectively, represent over 3,000 of Central Oregon's workforce. Members represent a wide variety of industries, from aviation components to brewing, from factory built home manufacturing to high tech electronics.
The organization holds monthly training sessions to share best practices and professionally-developed curriculum in productivity and process improvement, waste reduction and other continuous improvement training. Additionally, HiDEC members meet regularly for industry roundtables to discuss common issues and hold learning tours throughout the region at member manufacturing operations. HiDEC has proved to be a highly effective forum for representatives of disparate industries to learn from each other to apply the best practices that transcend sector boundaries. The organization’s learning events are constructed to appeal to both general managers and to production staff alike; events are also tailored to varying levels of expertise in the lean adoption curve.
As traded-sector companies, many HiDEC member companies have extensive experience in selling their products to a global marketplace. The group benefits from the contributions of several senior executives who have traveled extensively in the lean world to better understand and implement best operational practices and processes in their companies.
Central Oregon is fortunate to have several highly qualified experts in lean training as well as change 
management consultants. HiDEC draws upon these regional resources as well as national experts. For two years, HiDEC has sponsored full day workshops with Mike Hoseus, Executive Director of a Toyota-supported organization dedicated to sharing the Toyota Way with education, community, and business organizations. Hoseus was a corporate leader for 13 years at Toyota Motor Manufacturing’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant both in human resources and manufacturing and is co-author of Toyota Culture, a book that examines what it takes to consistently apply Toyota's management principles for organizational excellence.
As an organization interested in expanding local educational resources to support Central Oregon’s diverse manufacturing base, HiDEC worked closely with OSU-Cascades in the latter half of 2008 to evaluate the demand for and type of engineering curriculum that could be offered locally through the state’s university system. A benchmark study indicated broad support for civil and operational engineering. OSU-Cascades is now in the early stages of drafting curriculum for potential launch in 2010.
For more information about joining HiDEC or the organization's results, please contact Eric Strobel, EDCO Business Development Manager, at 541-388-3236. Visit the HiDEC website to see the organization's activity calendar and its member base, and for articles about such topics as continuous improvement, the culture of safety, R&D and earned income tax credits.