THE COUNTY SCENE
Eco Devo Update
The long awaited update to the comprehensive economic development plan was presented this week to a combined meeting of the Umpqua Economic Development Partnership, the Industrial Development Board, and a room full of interested citizens.
The update is focused on the development of family wage jobs in the county. It took a look at our current employment clusters and correctly highlighted our focus on sustainability as having a strong potential to be a unifying concept to differentiate our region from our competitors. Our forest products sector and Orenco Systems are just two examples of businesses in the county that define success by balancing economic, social and environmental values. In interviews with a diverse group of county businesses, sustainability was clearly contributing to the bottom line and was being successfully integrated as a business practice. Further, Douglas County has businesses who are leaders in their industries for green product development.
Building an economic development strategy under the umbrella of sustainability will translate beyond the manufacturing sector and be readily adaptable to tourism, agriculture, service, and other components of our county scene. Our developing wine industry is a natural to embrace this concept. I am hopeful that the potential of the strategy will be recognized across the board and we will develop a consolidated marketing effort for Douglas County.
The update makes clear that we have strengths and opportunities. Our use ready industrial sites and our speedy, customer service oriented permitting processes are not easily replicated by other places. We have a good economic development team that gets an amazing amount done for its size.
On the flip side, our lack of modern, useful buildings is a problem. Further, economic development is seen as a function of government, and we need more private sector (business) investment and involvement.
The group that attended the roll out was energized and excited about honing our strategy and coordinating and communicating with other sectors to broaden our efforts. We all recognize that these are very crummy times to expect to land a bunch of new family wage jobs right away. As well, we recognize that these are ideal times to get focused on selling our strengths and strengthening our weaknesses. Having a road map to move us along is a very valuable tool.
Susan always welcomes your questions or comments. Please contact her by email at morgan@co.douglas.or.us; by mail at Douglas County Courthouse, Room 217, 1036 SE Douglas, Roseburg, 97470; or by phone at 440-4201.
August 25, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Thank-you Suzan for the updates, and comments on events such as the Alcan closure. It isn’t my intention to make this a religious discussion, but a sentence in the Alcan piece, “It is frustrating to realize that all of the factors in Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Roseburg plant are beyond Douglas County’s ability to control.” brought a quote to mind.
“Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know the difference.”
-Saint Francis of Assisi-
Recently I’ve had the opportunity to interact with many community members volunteering time and effort to help us all come out of this economic situation a better County. It is an exciting time to me, and all of the efforts of you and the others are very much appreciated. Tough times bring people together, and while the money situation isn’t all we wish it could be, the sense/value of community is doing better than I can ever remember it. There are people sitting across the desk from one another looking for common ground and solutions that five years ago would never have taken the time to hear the other side. Another thought that comes to mind, regardless of how many new “family wage jobs” are created, if families had kept up with outspending thier income, it wouldn’t have mattered. The new sense of worth, extending beyond the almighty dollar is really refreshing, and could potentially have as much positive impact on the quality of life of our community as the money a plant full of workers may have been able to pump into the economy.
Just my 2 cents worth…
-Tim-