SOREDI Announces New Events and Partnership Position and New Hire, Michelle Manion

Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. (SOREDI) is pleased to announce the hiring of Michelle Manion in the new position of Events and Partnership Development Manager, as of March 16, 2018. Manion brings over 25 years of sales and relationship building experience with Mary Kay Cosmetics to SOREDI. For the last 16 years, Manion has held the position of Senior Sales Director, performing in the top 1% of a 3.5 million person sales force. She also holds an Associate of Science degree in Nursing.

Manion is new to the Medford area, having lived in Pendleton for numerous years, where she raised four sons. She has a passion for serving non-profit organizations and working with teams that produce results, noting that she “derives much energy from event planning, fundraising, and community outreach.”

SOREDI Executive Director, Colleen Padilla, adds that “we knew Michelle was a great fit from the start, with her responsive ‘can-do’ attitude, resourcefulness, and bright demeanor, all of which complement our core values at SOREDI. We exist to help advance business expansion in Southern Oregon and we’re confident that Michelle will help keep our events and special initiatives relevant, efficient and effective for the business community.”

As the Events and Partnership Development Manager, Manion will be tasked with venue coordination, project management and sponsor liaison responsibilities. As SOREDI’s Annual Meetings, Southern Oregon Business Conferences, Manufacturers’ Summits, LAUNCH|Talks, Industry Tours and now LAUNCH & Tech Symposiums become more popular and robust offerings to the community, Manion will have opportunity to quickly integrate into the Medford business development ecosystem.

Manion and her husband, Evan MacKenzie, moved to Medford in April 2017, when he accepted a position as Planning Director for the City of Phoenix. They reside in Medford.

About SOREDI: SOREDI is a private, membership-based, non-profit organization, governed by a board of directors. Its eight-person 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.