Board Member Guest Blogs: Steve Vincent

In preparation for an upcoming series on Moving Forward through Change, SOREDI’s Executive Committee was asked to share a few thoughts on change: professional and personal. Steve Vincent, SOREDI Board Member, and Oregon Regional Business Manager at Avista, contributed the following responses.

• What is the biggest change your company has made during the past 20 months?

If we could just put COVID in the rearview mirror, then I’d like to focus on changes to Avista’s natural gas supply serving the needs of homes and commercial buildings throughout the Rogue Valley. In the past twenty months we’ve seen State of Oregon public policy changes that now enable Avista to pursue carbon reduction goals. Through new legislation and recently adopted administrative rules, Avista is now able to purchase renewable natural gas and carbon offsets.

• Do you foresee more economic changes coming for your business/industry?

Definitely! Avista is launching a comprehensive plan to reduce the carbon footprint associated with natural gas by thirty-percent by 2030, and one hundred-percent by 2045. This decrease will be carried out through expanding energy conservation, purchasing carbon offsets (through projects that might include reforestation or carbon capture technology), and the purchase of local renewable natural gas that could include landfills, wastewater treatment plants or dairies. In the very near future, a renewable natural gas customer choice option will be considered by the Oregon Public Utility Commission. This will allow Avista’s customers to voluntarily purchase renewable natural gas similar to what many utility consumers have come to purchase in Pacific Power’s Blue Sky program.

• How have you been able to react to change on a personal level?

Well, if we have to come back to COVID, over the last 20 months I’ve missed the in-person conversations and seeing colleagues in the community over coffee or lunch. So many of those conversations start out casual then lead to new opportunities to collaborate on something big. As I think about the broad extent of different non-profits Avista contributes to (from human service and youth organizations to community development) there’s a lot missed when we’re all limited to phone conversations and Zoom. I think it’s compromised our community’s collective ability to solve problems together and I think I might be missing out on being an effective resource. We haven’t necessarily been set back, but there are fewer opportunities to find ways to work together and solve community needs.

• What do you think about the changes SOREDI has made? (Shifting focus to grants, etc.)

I’m grateful for SOREDI’s outreach and grant making to businesses on behalf of Jackson County, Josephine County and all the municipalities in between. SOREDI’s staff have been entrepreneurial and innovative in crafting these critical jurisdictional partnerships so I feel lucky to be associated with the success by just being on the board.

• Can you provide a favorite quote on change?

“You’ve not lived today until you’ve done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan

(The quote’s not necessarily limited to change, but an echo of the life of a non-profit).

Thank you for sharing, Steve!