SOREDI Welcomes New Board Members

Medford, Oregon – To begin the new fiscal year, SOREDI welcomes five prominent members of the business community to its Board of Directors. Formed as a partnership between private-sector businesses and public-sector jurisdictions, this addition strengthens the ties that support our efforts in job creation in Southern Oregon.

Greg Aldridge is the Executive Director of Development for the Coquille Economic Development Corporation (CEDCO).  Aldridge brings 21 years of experience in executive level management to the SOREDI board. He regularly navigates business development, mergers, and acquisitions, business plans, project management, real estate, contracts, negotiations, permitting and state and federal regulatory and entitlement issues. Aldridge cofounded and developed several projects for CEDCO, including telecom/broadband services, real estate development, and the revitalizations of CEDCO’s deep draft port property for international log exports. He is also a licensed real estate broker in Oregon. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from OSU and a Master of Arts degree from CSU Chico. Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge live part time in Jacksonville and part time in Bend, with their 14-year-old daughter.

Ron Doan is the General Manager of Umpqua Indian Utility Cooperative (UIUC) and the former Operations Officer for the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians. In addition to his current position, Doan brings 32 years of experience from his numerous management assignments at Pacific Power, most recently as the Director of General Business Management in Oregon, Washington and California. Doan currently serves on the following boards and committees: Community Cancer Center Board, Umpqua Indian Development Corporation Board, Douglas Timber Operations Board, Douglas County Industrial Development Board, CCD Business Development Corporation, Boy Scouts, Oregon Trail Council Board, Umpqua Business Center Board and the Umpqua Indian Utility Cooperative Board. He is the past president of both the Roseburg Chamber and the Roseburg Rotary Club. In 1994, Doan was named Roseburg’s “First Citizen” for his involvement in the Douglas County area. He is a graduate of OSU. Mr. and Mrs. Doan have four sons and ten grandchildren. They have lived in Roseburg for the past 25 years.

Pat Fahey is the Owner and General Manager of Southern Oregon Sanitation. Fahey brings his deep roots in Josephine County with him to the SOREDI Board. He has operated the Merlin Landfill and the Josephine County Septage Lagoons, in addition to starting up Pacific Systems, a software company recently sold to Bend Mailing, to offer digital solutions to the refuse industry. Fahey is a Founder and Charter Board Member of Our Community Bank in Grants Pass. He has served on the Grants Pass School District Budget Committee and was appointed by the Governor to serve on the RCC Advisory Board to assist with the incorporation of Jackson County into the RCC District. He has served as the Chairman of the Josephine County Budget Committee, Chairman of the Three Rivers Hospital Foundation, President of the Josephine County Library Board and President of the Grants Pass Rotary Board. Fahey has also been the Scoutmaster of Troop 23 for twelve years.

Thomas W. Fischer is the Principle Broker and Owner of Coldwell Banker Commercial NW. Fischer brings over 31 years of experience in commercial real estate to the SOREDI Board. Much of that time has been spent on corporate relocation, investment analysis, and land acquisition projects. Fischer has strong acumen in negotiations with a wide breadth and expertise in market knowledge. He is known for his abilities in coordinating and conducting negotiations, due diligence studies, market analysis, and the escrow process for real estate acquisitions and leasing. In 1993, Fischer co-founded Catalyst Real Estate Group, specializing in assisting biotech firms in the San Francisco Bay Area and became the owner of Coldwell Banker Commercial NW in 2008. As a licensed principal broker in both California and Oregon, he has consistently been a top producer and has built loyal client relationships.  Mr. and Mrs. Fischer have been married for 33 years and have two daughters, one a 2007 graduate of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the other a 2015 graduate of Portland State University, Oregon.

John White is the Region Manager of Western Oregon for Boise Cascade.  White brings 32 years of experience in the wood products industry to the SOREDI Board. He is responsible for five wood products manufacturing facilities, located in Medford, White City and Willamina, OR, employing 800 – 850 people. He was formerly the Business Optimization Manager for Boise Cascade, based in their Montreal, Canada office. White holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forest Engineering from the University New Brunswick. Mr. and Mrs. White have two grown children, two grandchildren and live in Eagle Point.

About SOREDI: SOREDI is a private, membership-based, non-profit organization, governed by a board of directors. Its staff is charged with local business expansion and new business recruitment efforts, financial assistance to start-up companies through its business loan fund, and management of Enterprise Zones in Jackson and Josephine Counties. The agency was formed as a regional economic development agency in 1987. Learn more at https://soredi.org.