Farewell to Eric Strobel
 It comes with sadness that EDCO bids adieu to Eric Strobel, Business Development Manager, after a six
year stint. He's moving his commute a few blocks away
to head up the Central Oregon office of Barrett Business Services.
Always quick with a smile or wisecrack, his easy-going
personality was an ice-breaker in both private and public arenas.
During his tenure, Eric worked successfully with literally hundreds
of companies across the region before EDCO had local offices outside Bend.
Eric's leadership was
instrumental in the formation of industry consortia, including: the High Desert
Enterprise Consortium (HiDEC), the Central Oregon Bioscience Industry Consortium
(COBiC), and the newly formed Central Oregon Brewers' Guild, designed to bring
companies together to increase productivity and share best practices. He also
quarterbacked launch of the Bend Economic Development Advisory Board (BEDAP)
that is now officially managed by the City of Bend. Until his replacement is
found, Eric will continue to staff HiDEC, serve as EDCO's representative on the
BEDAB and Bend Airport Advisory Board.
Eric keeps reminding us
that he's not gone, just across town, and working for a company that will likely
intersect with EDCO. Still, we will very much miss his institutional knowledge,
follow-up, eye for detail, and the levity he brought to the team.
Express Employment
Professionals has volunteered to lead the search for Eric's replacement. All
those interested in this opportunity should contact Karen Turner at Karen.Turner@expresspros.com or Connie Worrell
Druliner at Connie.Worrell@expresspros.com.
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EDCO rolls up its sleeves on two legislative issues
impacting recruitment efforts
EDCO is working with local legislators on the crafting of
two bills for the 2012 "Short" Session.
Allowing Industrial
Revenue Bonds - The first bill deals with updating of Oregon statutes
regarding the use of funds for a conduit issue of a taxable, private activity
bond (often referred to as Industrial Revenue Bonds or IRB). Currently state law
does not explicitly allow conduit bond issues of this type for things like
research and development or working capital. Legislation, proposed by Senator
Chris Telfer (R- Bend) in coordination with the Oregon Treasurer's office, would
allow these uses. The change is critical for a project that EDCO has been
working on for some time that intends to use conduit bond financing for
expansion of their technology-based manufacturing operations - possibly in
Central Oregon.
Exempt Data Centers
from Central Taxation on Intangibles More complex, this second
issue has significant implications for several current EDCO recruitment
projects. Covered broadly by the media (see this AP story),
Oregon's Dept. of Revenue (DOR) has determined that data centers are subject to
the same central assessment used for utilities operating in Oregon.
Simply stated, central assessment entitles DOR to exact property taxes on
intangibles (e.g. a company's brand, financial worth, patents and reputation).
 This presents a great deal of cost uncertainty, particularly for the
data center industry which invests multiple hundreds of millions of dollars in
facilities and equipment. With improvements to the region's power infrastructure
underway, it has become a deciding factor for location decisions in the
industry, including where companies like Facebook will make future investments.
Representative Mike McLane (R- Powell Butte) is proposing legislation that would
clarify the statutes governing central assessment to exempt warehouses for
information, transactions and computing - the key functions of data centers -
from central assessment.
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Highlights from Eric Strobel
Bend Companies...from tech
to textiles
Bend proposes including Juniper Ridge in
E-Zone: The City of Bend is proposing an expansion of the Bend
Enterprise Zone to include Juniper Ridge. The state must approve the expansion
and the process is expected to take several months.
 Agere a model of smart growth: Just
two years ago, Agere Pharmaceuticals was a two person startup,
located in a small nondescript office in an empty business park working hard to
get new customers. Today, the company is in a newly remodeled building with
brand new equipment, boasts a long list of happy customers, and is getting ready
to hire employee number 16. Agere has made smart use of local incentives to help
the company grow and actively participates in the business community, including
EDCO's recruitment committee.
Bend attracts Silicon Valley startup: Recent
Silicon Valley transplant Tom McCullough has brought his business, Instant Mobile Solutions, to Bend creating yet another exciting
technology startup. The product, called Insta-Pass, drives bi-directional
interaction between the service provider and the consumer with smart phone
technology. Tom presented his early stage company to a crowd of 90+ interested
attendees at EDCO's November PubTalk. EDCO is helping Instant Mobile Solutions
with business integration and investment contacts.
Changing the world one shirt at a time:
541 Threads' trendy urban
clothing--paired with its philanthropic mission to donate four meals to a local
food bank with each t-shirt purchase--has definite local appeal....and elsewhere
in the state and Northwest. The company plans to hire several
people, ramp up production and looks to
enter major markets in Oregon.
 Brewers Guild forms: The Central Oregon
brewing community, with the help of EDCO and COIC, has received a $12,000
federal industry cluster grant to create the Central Oregon Brewers Guild. The
guild will help to advance the brewing industry and its contribution to the
region's economy by providing education, advocacy, national awareness and
cooperative business practices. Projects include website creation, a marketing
campaign announcing the formation of the guild and attaining non-profit
status.
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Highlights from Jon Stark
Redmond Companies...from
aviation to educational content
Welcome, Aerodynamics and Current
Conceptions: This fall, REDI welcomed two new traded sector
businesses:
- Aerodynamics,
an aviation company that specializes in composite construction and kit plane
assembly, moved into an 8,000 sf industrial warehouse on SE Franklin. Owner
Steve Lorentzen has been in the industry over 20 years and is looking to expand
his business that currently has five full time employees by growing existing
government contracting work.
- Current Conceptions is in the education content development
business. The company is a leading provider in reproductive physiology
textbooks to over 140 colleges and universities worldwide and is led by Dr. Phil
Senger, a former Professor at Washington State University. Dr. Senger is
working on a new conversion tool to deliver his curriculum, considered by many
in the sciences discipline to be cutting edge, via online learning programs.
Now
you can live where you work...in Redmond: After several months of
workshops and public hearings, The Redmond City Council approved the new Mixed Use
Live Work (MULW) Zone at its November 16 meeting. The new zone
provides an opportunity for industrial companies to operate their business and
live on the same property, making it affordable for small enterprises interested
in keeping low overhead. REDI Manager Jon Stark shared, "After 18 months of work
to establish the zone, we look forward to helping the City promote this new
product which will provide a substantially different option for craftsmen and
other industrial entrepreneurs to locate their businesses on the same property
as their residence."
Redmond Tech Ed
houses region's new entrepreneurial excellence program: Curriculum
development continues for the new Redmond Technology Education Center with the
addition of a Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence and Development or "CEED"
program. The college recently hired Eric Spieth, former instructor and professor
of marketing and entrepreneurship at Humboldt State University and The College
of the Redwoods. Spieth is developing content for the new program which will
likely be comprised of multiple module coursework that can be taken individually
or as a series providing graduates an entrepreneurial tool-kit and an investment
ready business plan.
The program is scheduled to
launch in fall 2012 at existing COCC facilities before moving to the Technology
Center once it is completed the following year. This program will provide a
solid foundation of new business educational opportunities for entrepreneurs and
a continuum that if coupled with Central Oregon PubTalks, the
Bend Venture Conference, VentureBox and the
Small Business Development Center, is likely not replicated
anywhere else in the US.
Sisters
Airport an E-Zone addition: The City of Sisters and EDCO are working
towards a boundary amendment to add the Sisters Eagle Airport to the Greater Redmond Enterprise
Zone. This zone, managed by EDCO, includes approximately 274 acres of land
in Sisters (the State program allows inclusion of land in adjoining
jurisdictions).
"Adding the 32 acre
property allows the Sisters Eagle Airport to take advantage of the benefits of
an Enterprise Zone and provides a gateway to the existing business parks in
Sisters," notes Sisters Economic Development Manager Mac Hay. The amendment
requires approval from local taxing districts and support of the zone
sponsors--Deschutes County, the City of Sisters and the City of
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Highlights from Jason Carr
Prineville Companies...from
food formulation to social media
Recipe to market: Crook County Open
Campus is teaming up with
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Food Innovation Center in
Portland | Prineville's EDCO office to help
food entrepreneurs take their products to market, from A to Z. The goal is to
bring a series of workshops offered by the Food Innovation Center in Portland to
Prineville's Open Campus facility, teaching food safety, storage, packaging,
business planning, and marketing. The hope is to cap the workshops in spring
with a PubTalk at Solstice Brewing Company featuring the food entrepreneurs.
Facebook expands: Construction crews
will stay busy in Prineville for at least another year. Facebook broke ground in
October on the second building, which is expected to be about 330,000 sf in
size. An average of 250 construction workers will be on site during the project,
continuing the economic activity that has greatly benefited local businesses in
Prineville. Facebook currently has 55 employees and expects to add 10 more with
the second building.
...and did you know?
- For each
Facebook data center employee, at least one additional job is created by vendors
and suppliers.
- Facebook's
expenditures have rippled through Prineville and Crook County, impacting retail
stores, restaurants, hotels and local governments. In fact, franchise fees the
social media company pays for power each year to the City of Prineville at full
buildout will total $1.0 million; its current power franchise fees are lower but
still quite substantial.
Crook County
H.S. looks to reestablish
technology programs: High school leaders hope a grant through the
Department of Education will help bring back its manufacturing and technology
program. The goal is to offer a robust curriculum of math, CAD/CAM, welding,
physics, and business classes for students interested in the manufacturing
field. EDCO's Prineville office is helping garner support from the business
community, with grant awards expected by February.
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Highlights from EDCO Venture Catalyst, Jim
Coonan
VentureBox launches: A Central Oregon
accelerator was announced as planned at the Bend Venture Conference. The name of
the accelerator is VentureBox, which will be headed by Jim Boeddeker and hosted
under the Tech Alliance, a 501(c) 3. VentureBox has received $76K of funding
support, including a $26K grant from the Oregon Community Foundation via the
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. Additional funding came from Deschutes County and
private individuals. January is the target
date to start the accelerator's first class of entrepreneurs. Contact Jim Boeddeker for more information.
BVC Conference breaks records: Over 300
attendees gathered for the
2011 Bend Venture Conference
which witnessed several records, including most applicants ever (47), fueled by
the new Concept Stage Award. The concept stage winner, Audioname, was selected by
the audience as the best among six finalists and named recipient of the
BendBroadband Local Concept Award for $10K value. The biggest winner was Redmond
based R.E.S Equine, selected by the LLC
investment group of 40 investors (another record) for the Launch Stage
Award. The investors were able to break yet another record by raising
$250K and maximizing a matching investment from the Oregon Growth Account. Thank
you investors!
...and attendees said: Post-event survey
results indicated 100% of respondents would recommend the conference to friends
and colleagues; interestingly, 38% said they lived outside Central Oregon either
some or all of the time. Also well rated were the pre-conference reception,
seminars and the unConference.
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Upcoming Events (in order of timing)
Dec 9 & 11 - Popular Holiday Magic
Concerts
Sponsored by Abilitree (formerly CORIL), these concerts return on December
9th and 11th this year at Summit High School, presented by the Cascade Chorale
of COCC and the full orchestra under the direction of James W. Knox. Holiday
Magic is a benefit for Abilitree, whose mission is to empower people with
disabilities to grow their abilities for independence, work productivity and
full inclusion in their community. Held at Summit
High School Auditorium, the December 9th evening event starts at 7:00pm; the
December 11th matinee begins at 3:00pm. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased
online or by calling 541
388-8103 Ext. 200. Jan 18 -
2012 Central Oregon Forecast
This
event is put on by Cal Lutheran University's Center for Economic Research and
Forecasting. The impressive speaker lineup includes:
- Bill Watkins, the Central Oregon Economic Forecast
- Andrew Sorkin, author of Too Big to Fail, ...more
- Tim Boyle,
President/CEO, Columbia Sportswear Company
- Dr. Martin
Regalia, Senior V.P. and Chief Economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (via
Satellite) ...more
The
event will be held at the Riverhouse Hotel and Convention Center in Bend.
Registration and breakfast start at 7:00 am and the seminar starts at 8:00 am.
Individual registration is $75 until Dec. 15, $95 though Jan 17, $110 the
morning of the event. Tables for 10 may
also be purchased for $750. Registration details
here.
Jan 18 or 19 start - Certified Production &
Inventory Management classes
The
next round of classes will be offered at COCC. Check here for more information and registration
details or call 541-383-7270.
- Basics of Supply Chain Management, Wednesdays, 1/18 to 03/21/12 6:00-9:00 pm
- Master Planning of Resource, Thursdays, 1/19 to 03/8/12 6:00-9:00 pm
 Jan 26 - PubTalk
Plan for it now! Bend Venture Conference emcee extraordinaire, Jim "Gator" Hudson, will be our keynote speaker for January's PubTalk. A 23-year law enforcement veteran, Hudson is nationally recognized as an expert on white collar crime. Co-founder of Amcrin Corporation in 2000, Hudson merged the
company with 3VR Security, Inc. of San Francisco and now serves as its VP of
CrimeDex Services. Hear how this former detective built and sold a successful
tech company. PubTalk is 5:00 -
7:30 pm at McMenamins.
Feb 16 -
EDCO Annual Luncheon at the Riverhouse.
Save the date!
It's not a forecast this year, but an in-depth look at projects,
jobs, and results. Call 541-388-3236 for more information.
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Thanks to Renewing EDCO Members
We'd like to express our thanks to these members, many
longstanding, whose financial support enables EDCO's efforts to create jobs and
diversity the Central Oregon economy. Individual:
Blue Space Markets (2008), Cascade Sotheby's International Realty - Ray Bachman
(2008), Daley Construction (2010) Bronze:
Cascade Business News (1994), MacKay & Sposito, Inc. (2009)Platinum: Mid
Oregon Credit Union (1986) Silver:
Foreterra (2010), MHi (2004)
As an eCon Update reader, we know you
are engaged in Central Oregon's economic future. We value your comments and
story ideas; please send those to Ruth Lindley.
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