SOREDI Celebrates with New Medford Downtown CoWorking Space

Medford OR – Wednesday, March 4, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm, SOREDI’s LAUNCH|Talk will celebrate the recent opening of Medford Cowork Collective in downtown Medford. A panel of local entrepreneurs will update the community on their business growth and progress. Tickets are $10. Ticket price includes appetizers and a drink ticket. Visit www.soredi.org/events to register.

Abigail Schilling, founder of Medford Cowork Collective will welcome guests and provide a tour of the new space. Additional panelists include; Jeff Sharpe, CEO of Sharpe Energy (Ashland), Linda Nichols-Plowman, CEO of EdForTech Corp (Phoenix), and Tia Bodington, Founder of Resource Efficiency Products LLC (Talent). Each panelists will provide an update on their recent business successes, and have a candid conversation about regional business challenges and pitfalls to avoid. An audience Q&A session will follow.

Medford Cowork Collective will also be represented by some inaugural clients. Guests will be able to discover how the coworking model fits into the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Southern Oregon. Similar spaces are already available in Grants Pass and Ashland, so a partner in downtown Medford gives us reason to celebrate!

During the evening, Colleen Padilla, SOREDI Executive Director will also make timely announcements. SOREDI has entered into an agreement with OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center) to create a seed fund for Southern Oregon startups, as part of OTBC’s Rural Oregon Startup Challenge (ROSC). The Rural Oregon Startup Challenge includes three regions in Oregon; Roseburg, Salem and Southern Oregon. With contributions from local partners and the Oregon Growth Board, this Startup Challenge model will allow local entrepreneurs to apply for $10,000 investments to seed their ongoing growth. More details will be available at the event.

LAUNCH|Southern Oregon is an initiative of SOREDI, created to support startup companies in Jackson and Josephine Counties. First Interstate Bank, the cities of Ashland and Grants Pass, the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), and Southern Oregon University (SOU) provide funding and direction for the LAUNCH|Talks, an ongoing series of inspirational and informative talks offered for entrepreneurs. For more information on upcoming LAUNCH|Talks, visit www.soredi.org/events.

About SOREDI: SOREDI is a private, membership-based, non-profit organization, governed by a board of directors. Its seven-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 http://www.soredi.org.